FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Jaws wrote:I still reckon if you are viewing your plants frequently/and in same room as you live most, fluorescent for the eyes is better

Fluorescent will make the plants appear more as the human eye would see them in natural light. The red/blue LED grow lights do tend to make the plants look primarily red, with a purple tinge; that's why I use a bright-white LED flashlight to examine the plant's under a red/blue LED growlight.

Its more that my head finds the reddish light not comfortable to sit around

Yeah, those colors are sorta annoying... No offence. I like a regular fluoro T5

I am still following this topic closely...

I think I see a bakers rack and some leds in my future

would this led work? http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/led-red-6 ... p-503.html
thanks!

tc3driver wrote:I think I see a bakers rack and some leds in my future

If the GlowPanel 45 LED lights work as well as (or possibly better than) the LGM 540 lights, then that will bring the cost of lights per 4-foot shelf WAY down, into the hopefully affordable range.

I have both LED grow lights now (18 LED-Grow-Master 540 bars covering 3 four-foot shelves, and 6 GlowPanel 45s covering 2 four-foot shelves) so between goldslinger and me we can probably give others a good idea of how the lights perform and the relative difference in affect on the plants between the ultra-expensive LGM 540s and the much more affordable GlowPanel 45s. All it takes is a few weeks of growing time and patience.

squirtoman wrote:would this led work? http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/led-red-6 ... p-503.html
thanks!

Unless someone has experience with that specific LED light, it would be hard to answer your question. But I can make a few guesses. That LED light produces only red light, not red and blue like most LED growlights. Plants use the blue light also.

In addition, that is just one, 1-watt LED. That is not much light. One GlowPanel 45 is about 28 watts, and since almost all the energy of LEDs is expended in light, not heat, the GlowPanel 45 is about 28 times as bright as the LED light in the link you posted, and in my own setup, I'm using 3 GlowPanel 45s to cover one 4-foot long shelf of plants. You would have to buy 84 of those little red-only single-LED lights (as in the link you posted) to approximate or equal the light of those three GlowPanel 45s.

So although I haven't tried the light you mentioned, I would say that it is inadequate when used by itself, both in terms of spectrum coverage (hue) and amount or intensity of light. Two of those lights, one red and one blue, when placed a few inches from the leaves, might be able to grow one or two low-light loving African Violets. That's just a guess since I have no experience with that light, but here's a quote from the site and product you linked to that seems to support my guess:

Typical application (of this LED light) is to have an array (many) of these bulbs as a primary lighting source, or for just a small plant.

ok ill try getting a PLT or CFL instead lol

You should get a T5...

ooooh ive found a good LED light here....i think all its gonna be for is getting seeds to grow not plants. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hydroponic-Lamp ... 302&sr=8-1 take a look!

bump!

Hello? will anyone reply to me?

Nobody apparantly has tried them, but that never stops me from giving My opinion.

it's only a 10 watt unit, and someone in the 'reviews' section commented that it wasn't the correct spektrum anyway. You may notice a difference on a houseplant like a philedandrum (sp?) but for sun loving plants like the vft, You would probably have to have them almost touching the plants to have any benefit. I think it's a cheap knock off of the 45's that We've been speaking of, IMO. I think a Chinese company soldered a bunch of blue and red led's together without regard to spektrum, knowing that some percentage of that would be in the target range. My 2 cents.

I could be dead wrong, if You want to try them, You would not be out alot of money if they don't work, and You could give a review.

If You can't afford led's right now, HO t-5 Fluoresents are Your best bet.

I like the 'Sunblaze' brand. Very good and You can join many together and they are UL listed, but not expensive, like some units. They are sold as single strips so You can space them individually over the width You want on a shelf. Highly recommend if You go T5.

The main reason I trying LED'S is to have a better, more focused light benefit to the plants, per watt, to save money on many units that I need. I also like not having the U.V. and heat burn on the edges of the leaves, teeth, etc. especially in My low humidity of 27% right now. I also, like Steve, need something milder for plants just deflasked from tissue culture, and would hopefully give them a good jump start, better rooting (red light), and faster, denser growth.
Better production and quality to the customers, to put it in a nutshell.

LED'S are definately not for show, unless You waste some wattage on units that have white led's mixed with them. Your plants will look very ugly under them.
I, like Steve, are trying them for commercial applications, but I think there are benefits to be had to Anyone at this point. I am going to post more pics soon, and You can see for Yourself.

Gary

Gary

I'll try it,if i doesn't work i'll ebay it and buy some T5's

squirtoman wrote:I'll try it,if i doesn't work i'll ebay it and buy some T5's

Good! I hope it doesn't work so you can see the awesomeness of T5. They are much brighter, less annoyinger, and better, IMO