FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

A couple od years ago I bought cool white and warm white LED (supposedly 6500K and 3200K) chips that were supposed to be 100W each. I tested them with power meter, nad their power draw never went above 50W - still, good enough. I bought two 12W-->32W converters nad hooked them to an old computer PSU.
Both LEDs heat up fast, so I attached them to CPU coolers.

I decided to use that setup to keep my drosera seedlings 'enlightened'. I had no idea (and I still don't) how far away the light should be, so I made it around 40cm high. I can always put something under the pots to get them closer to the light source and, because I used wood, there were no problems to make the thing taller if needed.

It looks extremely bright. Hopefully it's not too strong for tiny little seedlings. I'm in the process of hardening the plants, so they will no longer need saran wrap. I'll see how it goes.

Anyone did anything similar? Any thoughts or suggestions?

It sounds nice. Do you have any pics of it?

100watt per chip as in per led diode? thats very strong. for hardening plants. if the plant were in low light before. you need to slowly introduce the plants
into this strong light new setup.

Sent from my SM-N9005

I bought them as 100W per light that is built from more diodes. Their power draw was around 50W, which means I've been cheated, but since I bought them for around 7 USD each on an auction, I have nothing to complain about.

I did several photos. It's in testing phase so there's not much to see. If it works, I'll do better model.
Regarding light intensity... They were exposed to full sun a couple of times and under 25W lamp (very close). How can you tell if there's too much light, how can you tell if it's normal coloration or sunburn from too much light?
I did see some dew on uncovered seedling. There are seedlings however in another pot that stopped unfolding leaves, their almost completely grown leaves just stopped growing at one point, looking purple-ish, but they never unfolded. That happened on almost all the seedlings that caught their food.

PS: and another thing, I can set output voltage and make the lights stronger or weaker, I don't run them at full voltage yet. At the moment they are at a bit less than 30V, if I crank it up to 34, light intensity will probably almost double. Gains at this voltage are high and only small change gives visible changes in light intensity.

hi sorry fornlate reply. if the sundews are sun burnt. they will turn very red and small from stress. They healthy ones are pinkish red and full of dews.

Sent from my SM-N9005

I found out the issue was in soil, not in light intensity. My LEDs seem to be doing good job. Not sure about others, but I have several Drosera capensis seedlings that are doing great. In a bit over 2 months from germination, two of them became easy to feed and hungry - very hungry. Picture.

When I feed them, I sometimes still cover them with plastic cover, but they can easily manage 40% RH and they keep their dew on all the time.

That light looks bright and clean. I'd love to see your results as your plants grow.