Lighting too intense/ causing humidity loss?
Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:32 pm
I just received these cheap led lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q7 ... prod_image
and have mounted one above my lowland nepenthes (about 14" above the plant) in a covered 10gal tank with aluminum foil around 3 sides. According to the graph provided by the manufacturer, this should be giving me a bit below 1000 PPFD.
However, when I left the lights on for a while, they seemed to be too intense, causing sprayed water to evaporate very quickly and the humidity in the tank to drop over 25%, probably more if I left it on for longer.
The temperature also seemed to be climbing quite high, from 75F to over 90F in some parts of the tank in the short time I had the lights on. These are not very hot lights at all, and I can touch the bulb comfortably with my bare hands.
I covered the tank with translucent plastic for now out of fear of burning the plant. Is the light too intense? Are these kind of effects are normal, and how do I mitigate them if they are?
I tried using an iphone app light meter, but it is giving me around 220 PPFD, which seems far too low even if the manufacturer chart is inaccurate.
and have mounted one above my lowland nepenthes (about 14" above the plant) in a covered 10gal tank with aluminum foil around 3 sides. According to the graph provided by the manufacturer, this should be giving me a bit below 1000 PPFD.
However, when I left the lights on for a while, they seemed to be too intense, causing sprayed water to evaporate very quickly and the humidity in the tank to drop over 25%, probably more if I left it on for longer.
The temperature also seemed to be climbing quite high, from 75F to over 90F in some parts of the tank in the short time I had the lights on. These are not very hot lights at all, and I can touch the bulb comfortably with my bare hands.
I covered the tank with translucent plastic for now out of fear of burning the plant. Is the light too intense? Are these kind of effects are normal, and how do I mitigate them if they are?
I tried using an iphone app light meter, but it is giving me around 220 PPFD, which seems far too low even if the manufacturer chart is inaccurate.