FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Any recommendations on screw in bulbs from Home Depot or Lowe's?

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I'm using 2 100W equivalent LED lamps in Daylight Color for a tank of Drosera regia seedlings. I'm using a homemade reflector and so far, 2 months now, the plants are happy with the light. I keep the lamps within 6 inches of the plants. Take a look at Hollyhocks homemade light fixture. $20 DIY Fixture

If I recall correctly, it was this model: 100W LED Daylight - 4 pack

Best price I could find locally was at Home Depot.

Good Growing,
Mike

How is your homemade reflector ?

roarke wrote:How is your homemade reflector ?

Homemade reflector is a piece of corrugated cardboard 12 inches by 19 3/4 inches. It is covered in heavy duty aluminum foil on both sides. There are two 1 1/8 inch diameter holes cut in the middle 10 inches apart and about 5 inches from each end. The purpose is to maximize the light hitting your plants and minimize the light escaping upwards.

To assemble, you need 2 100 W equivalent Daylight LED bulbs, 2 cord and plug assemblies, (or DIY equivalent) and the reflector. The sockets go on the reflector's back side, the light-bulbs screw in from the front side, and you're all set.

The internal dimension of a 10 gallon aquarium frame is about 9 3/4 inches by 19 3/4 inches. Gently bend the reflector assembly into an arched shape, looking like the old fashioned military Quonset hut barracks. The foil covered cardboard reflector fits perfectly into the inside aquarium frame. The LED light-bulbs generate very little heat, so no fire danger is posed to the cardboard. Notice that the ends of the arch are open, allowing air circulation and heat escape.

A person should not do any electrical work without a thorough understanding of the risks, dangers, and hazards, involved. They should follow all applicable laws, codes, and statutes. Blah, blah, blah, don't sue me if something goes wrong. This post is for informational purposes only.

I attached a couple mediocre pictures to show what the completed setup looks like. Go ahead and laugh.... It works. It currently sits on a 10 gallon tank lighting 2 one gallon pots of Drosera regia seedlings that I am slowly acclimating to real world conditions.

Here is one possible light socket, cord, switch, plug, assembly: socket/cord/switch/plug assembly



Good growing,
Mike

your homemade reflector is well made, but useless... the reflected light will be mostly lost, because of your wrinkled alu paper. But i guess its better than nothing by the time you buy a real reflector.





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I wouldn't say useless because of the wrinkles, but less effective. I don't think aluminum foil makes a very good reflector anyway. It seems to absorb a good amount of light. I prefer a bright white surface, especially on the sides and bottom.

I like the idea of LED, but the one thing I have to say is to make sure you get something that is high in lumens. I have bought leds before and they were only 1000 lumens. That was a big loss for my plants because they were used to about 1600 lumens.

I like the concept of it. And because of the conservation of energy it still would be effective even wrinkled. The only question is the efficiency of aluminum. Does anyone have any alternatives? I have two 5,600 led bulbs that I bought, and have a lot of random raw materials that I can make pretty much whatever I want. Just point me in the right direction.

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jlagrange9137 wrote:I like the concept of it. And because of the conservation of energy it still would be effective even wrinkled. The only question is the efficiency of aluminum. Does anyone have any alternatives? I have two 5,600 led bulbs that I bought, and have a lot of random raw materials that I can make pretty much whatever I want. Just point me in the right direction.

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If you had some sheet metal you could buff it out or hit it with a high gloss white. There is also metal tape you can get that is fairly shiny.

Here's a chart for reflectivity factor for different materials.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light ... _1842.html

I've always used flat white spray on the underside of the reflectors I've made. I usually grab some sheet steel, bend it up, fit my fixtures so it's one piece. Paint the reflector and put the light together. Then hang it up. Here's one of the ones I've made. I can take some better pics tonight, if anyone wants to see different angles of it. http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

boarderlib wrote:Here's a chart for reflectivity factor for different materials.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light ... _1842.html

I've always used flat white spray on the underside of the reflectors I've made. I usually grab some sheet steel, bend it up, fit my fixtures so it's one piece. Paint the reflector and put the light together. Then hang it up. Here's one of the ones I've made. I can take some better pics tonight, if anyone wants to see different angles of it.

20160924_085547.jpg

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

I would love to see what you have there

Hungry Plants wrote:

boarderlib wrote:Here's a chart for reflectivity factor for different materials.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light ... _1842.html

I've always used flat white spray on the underside of the reflectors I've made. I usually grab some sheet steel, bend it up, fit my fixtures so it's one piece. Paint the reflector and put the light together. Then hang it up. Here's one of the ones I've made. I can take some better pics tonight, if anyone wants to see different angles of it.

20160924_085547.jpg

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

I would love to see what you have there

My apologies, I was cleaning snow up last night when I got home. I'll get some good pics of them tonight though.

http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

Hungry Plants wrote:I would love to see what you have there

This is the best I can take of the whole fixture. It is actually two two bulb T8 Home Depot fixtures mounted together.


Looking down.


Mounting points.


http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 30434.html
http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/board ... 31990.html

Vary nice