FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I want to get a grow light, but can't really afford the high end good ones you see advertised.....so I read about LED's can be grow lights too....I found this product

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/White-Battery-lig ... 414b69cb28

or this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-LED-HOBBY-LIGH ... 1c0f4bad40


can this be used as a growlight?

I don't really know anything about growing with LEDs, but my guess is that those will not give out enough light to keep a plant healthy. A single might survive under them though if it's placed very close to the light.

I doubt those will give out enough light. Check out Hackerberry's post here http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/viewt ... =17&t=3490 to get an idea of how big you need your LED setup to be. Remember, he's trying that as a new setup so it may not work. You could also think about getting a CFL instead of an official grow light.

Like Matt and Blake said, you have to have a big set up with the lights. Those won't really work because they are small and just plain white. Either use CFL or Florescent tubes. Than you got you're most cheapest and best way, sunlight.

So could i give it a try or is it a complete waste of time and resources?

TW93AW wrote: complete waste of time and resources?

Basically yeah.

Yeah, those will not work.

Standard LEDs (which both of the links you posted use) are roughly 0.05 watts each, so the first one is 0.15 watts, and the second link around 0.6 watts.

You would need a lot more light output to grow plants. For example, hb's setup linked earlier uses 10 watts with success.

Ahhhhhh, the never ending search for artificial sun. Those puck lights won't even work to grow CPs. Plants need specific spectrums, intensity and color temperatures to respond to whatever you want for them. Besides, the sun also gives out different spectrums depending on the time of day, month, year and your location. So you will need to figure out what type of light intensity your plant came from. Some needs intense light and some don't. The internet is a very good resource to all our concerns about lighting. From my months of research and experiments, the best lighting system that is nearest to the sun`s spectrum is HPS. If you can afford a set and the hydro bills. Here are the best lighting in my opinion from months of experimentation.

Fluorescent Lightings
T5 - Efficient but the cons is that it emmits too much heat. Good for Sun worshipers and Heat loving plants like VFTs, Lowland Neps, Sarrs if you decide to grow then indoors.
T8 - Not as bright but very good success with all my plants.

LEDs

Red and Blue - Good for tropicals but not as good for Temperate plants.
White - The best wattage is 1 watt as it is the closest spectrum of the sun.

Hope this helps.

hb

Ok so the one i ordered which is this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-LED-Laptop-Li ... 3ca7292d65

so i've been using it for like a few days on some moss, where the failed VFTdied....and i shone the light on one particular part of the moss and it seems to be growing faster than the other parts, which may come to the conclusion that it actaully works

the light is a bit small, doesn't look like it has much coverage...maybe that's the reason why the vft died? and are you sure it's a 1 watt LED? but it's nice that it works for your moss good luck!

Yes I am sure it's 1 watt or more because I have asked the seller......and before my VFT didn't have a propogator or a light.....i think it just dried out or something

try growing your plants outside. natural sunlight is best

TW93AW wrote:Yes I am sure it's 1 watt or more because I have asked the seller......and before my VFT didn't have a propogator or a light.....i think it just dried out or something

Each LED needs to be 1W, not 1W total. Due to the way LEDs function the power dictates the spectrum they output.

Also, sorry to say.. but that is not a 1W LED.

I went to Lowe’s and got a nice desktop lamp. I then replaced the hot 60W bulb with a cold energy bulb. It’s a Bright Effects light that claims to reproduce sunlight levels inside the room. It’s rated at 100-watts but burns at 23-watts of energy. This was the only light my VFT was getting for about two months and the plant loved it. Now the sun is out so I have the VFT outside during the day.