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you guys would know: what's the most inexpensive way to set up grow lights? I got these dragon eye saplings I have to protect from winter and I feel like there's no way they'll get enough light without something extra. I can solder no problem but it seems like maybe we're in the era where hand crafting lights might be a dumb waste of time, it's not 2005.
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Oct 14, 2018 17:06
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SniperWoreConverse posted:you guys would know: what's the most inexpensive way to set up grow lights? I got these dragon eye saplings I have to protect from winter and I feel like there's no way they'll get enough light without something extra. I can solder no problem but it seems like maybe we're in the era where hand crafting lights might be a dumb waste of time, it's not 2005. DIY will give you the most light for the cheapest that's just the way it is. You could go with a kit if you want to save some money without going full diy. Cheap chinese lights are an option I suppose but my understanding is they're inefficient and I'm not sure if I'd trust them. Fluorescent tubes might be the easiest option. Weed forum (they'll tell you DIY unless things have changed which I doubt): https://www.rollitup.org/f/led-and-other-lighting.124/ Diy grow lights: https://timbergrowlights.com/ https://www.rapidled.com/horticulture-kits/
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Oct 14, 2018 18:21
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fuuuuuck i'm gonna have to go full diy then, that poo poo's pricy. I saw some of those bigass LED bulbs with the huge integrated heat sink that were around $30, i'm guessing that kinda poo poo isn't really gonna fly?
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Oct 14, 2018 18:38
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SniperWoreConverse posted:fuuuuuck i'm gonna have to go full diy then, that poo poo's pricy. I saw some of those bigass LED bulbs with the huge integrated heat sink that were around $30, i'm guessing that kinda poo poo isn't really gonna fly? It might you could try and see if it's sufficient. Like I don't know how much light you really need. https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/lamps/products/hlg-65 might be sufficient I honestly don't know. Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 14, 2018 |
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Oct 14, 2018 18:50
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I overwinter two potted lemon bushes in my basement every year with a couple of these and it works just fine. They don't fruit or grow during that time, but it keeps them alive until the spring.
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Oct 14, 2018 18:56
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Tomato update! I am starting to get blooms here and there as my tomatoes have grown to the size of their cages (42"). They look awful compared to everything else I've grown because their leaves always are dying off and the plants almost literally drip water off them which makes keeping mold under control a challenge of pruning and writing a PID control algorithm to keep the tent humidity constant. Everything else I've ever grown has been beautiful and lush and green all over all the time so this experiment depresses me a little. You'll also note that now that the lavender is shaded a bit it is really starting to grow quickly. First 3 months? 40mm tall. Last 1-2 weeks, tripled or quadrupled in size.
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Oct 21, 2018 17:33
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So I decided to scrap my Shishito and Fushimi pepper plants and have been growing Ajvarski and Red Marconi since before scrapping the plants. So here we are.    This plant has the most and biggest peppers so far. Also the smallest plant of the 8 here.  I had a couple extra that I was thinking of scrapping or putting outside. But surprisingly they have decent size peppers while being such pathetic plants. So I'll let these guys live for a bit longer to see how they'll fair.   It'll be interesting to see how much different the growth rate of the peppers will be between the small kratky jars and the DWC buckets.
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Oct 26, 2018 04:30
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loving lights, man. I've been reading and watching and sources (https://www.rollitup.org/f/led-and-other-lighting.124/) almost immediately get more complicated than I need or can do right now. Basically, I just want 1 good E27 to 'top off' a shady/indirect/northern window so that some full sun houseplants will be happier. Something like this but EU: CapnBry posted:For a low cost of entry, SANSI LED makes a pretty good 15W (actual power) white LED grow light. I'd say that's plenty of light for a single full grown leafy green plant, a couple of smaller plants, or a batch of seedlings. I've never tried their newer 30W and 40W models, but I feel like you wouldn't be able to use those to grow much more than one plant or two due to how you'd have to back the light away to get good coverage and the photon density drops off exponentially as a function of distance. So, looking at EU options, TaoTronics is seen as a cheap but OK brand, right? Looking at the: 36W TT-CL007 - https://www.amazon.de/Pflanzenlampen-TaoTronics-Pflanzenlampe-Wachstumslampe-Pflanzenleuchte/dp/B07GZP9GQZ 12W TT-GL20 - https://www.amazon.de/TaoTronics-Pflanzenlampe-Pflanzenlampen-Pflanzenleuchte-Zimmerpflanzen/dp/B00OZF129O
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Oct 28, 2018 14:57
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Nosre posted:So, looking at EU options, TaoTronics is seen as a cheap but OK brand, right? Looking at the:  And more like this (Cree E12 5000K "60W replacement" light bulb from the hardware store)  I'd say try just a "100W replacement" 80 CRI or higher floodlight? I'm also surprised that bulb I linked keeps going up in price. It was $10 for a while, then jumped to $16, then $20, now $21. Thanks, Obama! CapnBry fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Oct 29, 2018 |
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Oct 29, 2018 14:21
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Interesting, the CRI stuff is great info. So are red/blue layouts more of a min-maxing thing for different developmental phases (growth vs. fruiting, for instance), now? If >80 is enough, it looks like normal hardware store ones hit that. This is an 85 CRI, 150w equiv with Cree LEDs that looks promising https://www.amazon.de/Bonlux-PAR38-Lampe-Kaltwei%C3%9F-Flutlicht/dp/B019W2SCLA/
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Oct 29, 2018 18:47
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Nosre posted:Interesting, the CRI stuff is great info. So are red/blue layouts more of a min-maxing thing for different developmental phases (growth vs. fruiting, for instance), now? Nowdays, white LEDs are much more mature a technology, but pure red and blue are still a little cheaper to make I think and people have come to expect that the red and blue means "grow light" because we've seen them in media as the ubiquitous grow light. You can still use them, but all the clones out there usually wildly overstate their output by comparing them to high pressure sodium wattage, and even then probably overstating the specs. White LEDs can run in excess of 200lm/watt now and the phosphors are being continually improved because they're in everything now. The best part is that you can see your plant under white light, because that red and blue stuff really makes it hard to see if the plant is healthy, and it's much nicer to not have a bright purple shrub in the corner. You've got to be careful though on account of a lot of the red and blue lights call themselves full spectrum on account of they put out light on both sides of the spectrum. FULL RIGHT?! The min/maxing that people usually do now is using high color temperature while LEDs 5000-6500K which are bluish white in their vegetation stage because red light photoreceptors in leaves can trigger stretching. In nature, a leaf being hit with red light usually means it is in shadow so it tries to grow to get to more light. In the flowering stage of growing weed, they switch to low color temperature LEDs 2700-3000K (or as low as 1700K) due to the marijuana flowers getting bigger or more potent with a higher amount of red light (I'm not sure exactly where this idea comes from). Once weed plants are flowering they mostly stop growing taller so the red light doesn't have as much effect. For us normals, just growing regular plants indoors, 4000K-5000K is fine for the whole plant's cycle which is easy and great because 5000K LED lights are so ubiquitous at almost any store. 70CRI is fine, but 80CRI usually adds more if the higher wavelength red which theoretically can be beneficial. 90CRI usually adds a lot more red, including some near infrared which can be a benefit too, but those are kinda pricey for not much gain if any.
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Oct 29, 2018 20:45
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Thanks again for the details. This is totally something I could see myself getting way far into once I have more space. For the moment, I picked up a name brand 80+ CRI 4000k one that should do the trick for a few years, while hopefully the European market develops more for 90+'s.
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Nov 1, 2018 15:27
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On the thread's advice I got an HLG 100 and it's been working very well. I've been using a Kratky setup made with milk jugs and net pots and so far I've harvested lettuce and am currently testing cilantro, mustard, spinach, and basil. The only issue is that the leaves on two plants (one lettuce and one cilantro) seem to be drying out on the edges.   Has anyone seen this before? Things that might be relevant - The nutrient mix is one gallon of water with 1 1/2 tsp 2-1-6, 1 tsp 5-0-1, and 1/2 tsp 0-5-4 (basically halfway between "mild vegetative growth" and "aggressive vegetative growth") - The light is about 1 ft above - It's winter, so the air is likely dry - The lettuce is a head lettuce while the four others were/are looseleaf Apart from that there are a few variations I want to try with the Kratky setup going forward (seeing what happens when I try aggressive vegetative growth, refilling the cilantro as 1 gallon doesn't seem to be enough) and I've got Dutch buckets ready for when the tomatoes are large enough.
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Nov 24, 2018 00:24
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Hey there, newbie to the thread with some (maybe) dumb questions: What does the ambient temperature need to be for hydroponic vegetables? Temperature seems to be my main obstacle. I'm on the Nothern Plains of the US which is climatically Siberia. I have about a 20ft x 40ft section of unfinished basement, some of it is used for storage but suffice to say I have a LOT of space. I have my own well for a water source, it's pretty soft but alkaline. Water chemistry is not something I'm worried about, I have a PhD in Ocean Science (chemical and biological) so I'm incredibly familiar with complicated solution chemistry and nutrient ratio stuffs. I'm interested in starting some hydro veggies. I have a fairly large garden already but it would cool to keep some things in production over the winter. My main concern is temperature -- my basement maintains a fairly low temperature year-round, let's say ballpark 65F or 18C. I don't really want to try and heat the space, since the heating cost would probably outweigh any benefit from hydro gardening. Is it worth it for me to try hydro given the temperature? If all else fails I can provide  about pigments and trace nutrients and stuffedit: does anyone grow photosynthetic bacteria (cyanobacteria) for consumption, such as Spirulina? I've grown a ton of those bugs in the laboratory, I'm curious if it's a nice home "gardening" thing too I would assume probably not since anytime you're culturing bacteria you're also probably running a high risk of growing pathogens... Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 03:50
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Pellisworth posted:Hey there, newbie to the thread with some (maybe) dumb questions: My understanding is you're in good shape starting at 65 because pretty much everything you add will generate heat (lights, pumps, fans for air flow, dehumidifier if you find it necessary) and you want to maintain a nutrient solution temp of 68-72ish. Lettuces I believe like cooler weather while peppers/tomatoes probably want warmer. http://www.homehydrosystems.com/articles/Nutrient%20Solution%20Temperature/Nutrient%20Solution%20Temperature%20is%20Important.html Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Dec 7, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 04:05
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Duck and Cover posted:My understanding is you're in good shape starting at 65 because pretty much everything you add will generate heat (lights, pumps, fans for air flow, dehumidifier if you find it necessary) and you want to maintain a nutrient solution tempt of 68-72ish. Lettuces I believe like cooler weather while peppers/tomatoes probably want warmer. Cool, thanks! I'll plan some leafy greens for this winter and continue to post as I assemble things. Is there any general goon-approved lighting? I am used to waving dildo-shaped probes which measure in micro-Einsteins per second per meter squared so I don't know what the gently caress. Did you know the water-splitting (oxygen-evolving) step of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis involves a manganese (Mn) cluster? Let me tell you about how obscure transition metals are actually super important for plants!
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Nov 26, 2018 04:32
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Pellisworth posted:Cool, thanks! Not as simple a question as you might think. Budget? What do you want to grow? Lettuce is going to need/want less light than tomatoes. LEDS will be more expensive upfront but more efficient. You might want high pressure sodium / metal halides as they generate more heat. As far as brands go. https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/ https://timbergrowlights.com/ http://www.apachetechinc.com (I do not know if they're still considered good or efficient or whatever) https://fluence.science/ Marijuana growers tend to be the best source. https://www.rollitup.org/f/led-and-other-lighting.124/ Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Nov 26, 2018 |
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Nov 26, 2018 07:20
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Pellisworth posted:Hey there, newbie to the thread with some (maybe) dumb questions: I keep doing 50 hour work weeks under stressful conditions so I have been lacking the motivation to keep up with my pepper plants properly. It would help immensely if I would have built a one reservoir setup that feeds multiple plants. Instead I went with 1 plant 1 reservoir setup which I regret. I think I'll kill my plants tomorrow after work. There's actually red peppers on them now, but I think I'm going to start all over again with a proper setup. I think temps are just now getting cool enough where I can do kratky lettuce outside. I'll give it a shot on my next day off. Also I'm going to have to keep to maybe 4 plants maximum under my light setup for future pepper grows.
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Dec 7, 2018 04:46
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I got really tired of fighting my tomato plants. They were 5ft tall and if I cut a foot off the tops, it would just grow back in a 1-1.5 weeks. After every big cut, they'd stop flowering for a week as they would apparently put all their effort into new vegetative growth. Having to potentate flowers every morning with a vibrating stick was enough of a pain, and having to constantly manicure the plants was just more than I signed on for. As an experiment, I just stopped the watering timer to see how long the plants would go before they looked droopy. 1.5 days before there was any wilting on the tips from lack of water, which surprised me because I had been flooding 4 times a day. If I'd ever do tomatoes again (I won't!) I would drop it to at most twice a day with a serious squint eye at just one flood cycle per day. They transpire more water vapor than anything I've grown before, which is only reason I wouldn't be 100% comfortable with just 1 cycle per day. The ripe tomatoes on the plant were friggin tasty though. I had 6 that were almost fully ripe, a few that were just turning color, and a dozen+ green ones. The pinkish ones that I ripened off the plant ended up still pink on the flesh inside like a store-bought tomato, where those picked ripe were red all the way to their core. I made tomato nachos with them, which is just cheese, chips, spices and as much tomato as you'd normally see meat on nachos. Now I've ripped all that out and started a couple lettuces and a brussel sprout plant. I love lettuce. I can plant it and the next day it is already pushing up through the surface. Also I never poop on my lettuce which is pretty rare these days for commercial growers.
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Dec 10, 2018 21:44
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I'm working out a system for microgreens using 10x20 trays. Is there a nice way to get the fiber mat wet but not keep it soaked all day? The idea that seems easiest is an ebb and flow or 'flow to waste' system with 2 overflow holes, one small and low and one large and higher up. The fill would have to have enough flow to over-power the small hole, so the mat would be wet during the flow but the water would fall away after flow shuts off. This is my first try with hydroponics, am I heading down the right track?
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Jan 9, 2019 00:32
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taqueso posted:I'm working out a system for microgreens using 10x20 trays. Is there a nice way to get the fiber mat wet but not keep it soaked all day? The idea that seems easiest is an ebb and flow or 'flow to waste' system with 2 overflow holes, one small and low and one large and higher up. The fill would have to have enough flow to over-power the small hole, so the mat would be wet during the flow but the water would fall away after flow shuts off. I haven't done microgreens but my understanding is they don't require much water and so I'd probably just spray them if necessary after the initial soaking of the medium. https://sproutpeople.org/growing-sprouts/sprouting-instructions/microgreens/growing-arugula-micro-green-sprouts/
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Jan 9, 2019 00:49
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That's going to be cheaper, too. What do I do about mold/fungus? Sanitize every new tray or do I have to put something in the water?
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Jan 9, 2019 01:32
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taqueso posted:That's going to be cheaper, too. What do I do about mold/fungus? Sanitize every new tray or do I have to put something in the water? I tend to compensate or start over if I see issues. For mold/fungus I'd start over, clean everything and use less water/uncover /vent them sooner (assuming you use some sort of humidity dome or something which you might not do for microgreens I don't know) etc. It's not like microgreens take long to grow so it's not like you need to be invested in every harvest.
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Jan 9, 2019 02:07
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I think I'm going to put plastic sheeting around the whole thing or split it into two sections (one for the sprouts) if I run into problems just having one chamber. The humidity should be higher than ambient around here, we are < 50% almost all the time. I have a UV/ozone bulb I bought off aliexpress, I could potentially use that for the area or just the water. The area isn't inhabited at night.
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Jan 9, 2019 03:13
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taqueso posted:I think I'm going to put plastic sheeting around the whole thing or split it into two sections (one for the sprouts) if I run into problems just having one chamber. The humidity should be higher than ambient around here, we are < 50% almost all the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-ZeuB0pFo
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Jan 9, 2019 08:17
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Whatever this guy is doing, I want in! Also cool video, thanks! taqueso fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Jan 9, 2019 |
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Jan 9, 2019 15:29
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It's starting to look like a thing:  Misting stuff won't be here until next week, but the plastic sheeting has the humidity up to 60% with just the water in the trays. It's ~25% in the room right now.
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Jan 11, 2019 22:33
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taqueso posted:It's starting to look like a thing: When I said spraying I meant like a sprayer bottle to moisten the medium if it gets too dry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3RXQkh73yg Seems simple enough. Microgreens seem to have decent information out their as everyone seems to want to sell you their system but it's not like you have to buy coco coir and trays from them. On another note, go with radish they make for good sprouts so I imagine they'd make for good microgreens. Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Jan 11, 2019 |
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Jan 11, 2019 23:04
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I want to get watering automated, so my lazyness can't hurt me too much. I do have a little plant sprayer I've been using to mist for now. I have beets, cilantro, radish, mustard, carrot, and scallions going.
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Jan 11, 2019 23:08
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Mustard is taking off. I think my seed density might be too low. 
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Jan 14, 2019 23:57
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So I rebuilt it bigger and better: Now it has per-shelf fans, a much less cobbled together fog system, and an exhaust. I killed a bunch of plants while figuring out the proper cycle times for the fog and exhaust. Eventually got that pretty well figured out. Then I topped off the water in the reservoir and killed the fog fan by running it while it was being splashed continuously by the fogger head. All part of the fun... The lighting needs some work with the shelves closer together, too.
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Jan 28, 2019 21:32
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Looking good. Well looking as good as blue purple lights can I suppose. I got me a faucet/spout/waterbib that I can use year round so next year I'll have winter tomatoes. Well assuming I'm not lazy.
Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Jan 29, 2019 19:27
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I'm starting to get some positive results:
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Feb 6, 2019 20:36
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I've been growing Long Island Improved Brussel Sprouts since Dec 1. The plant is just massive and is bowing out the sides of my 32"x32" tent. I was also growing 3 heads of lettuce in there but since mid-January I took those out because they were completely shaded. Harvest time is supposed to be about 90 days but I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to get actual b.sprouts at all. The temperature here in Florida has been so high for the past month that the normal 62F-68F it would be in my house this time of year has been 70F-77F, and I hear that the brussels need it to be cooler for them to form tight sprouts. Does anyone have experience with these, because all I am seeing are loose tufts all up and down the plant (and sort of hard to take a picture).  I'm trying to decide if I want to pull it out and plant something new (if this is all it is going to do) or if I should wait it out another 2-4 weeks?
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Feb 25, 2019 16:37
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It looks impressive at least. I don't know about the brussel sprouts specifically, but I would give it a little more time before giving up on it.
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Feb 25, 2019 20:15
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taqueso posted:It looks impressive at least. I don't know about the brussel sprouts specifically, but I would give it a little more time before giving up on it.
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Feb 26, 2019 21:31
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Anyone have ideas for grow-chamber doors that aren't too expensive? I'm thinking about magnetic tape on the edges of poly sheeting, one small door per shelf.
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Feb 27, 2019 00:21
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CapnBry posted:If it isn't at least dotted with tiny green cannonballs by March 9th then we're going to look at planting something new. Maybe you need to adjust the light schedule to encourage it?
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Feb 28, 2019 19:11
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taqueso posted:Maybe you need to adjust the light schedule to encourage it?
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Mar 1, 2019 14:04
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I also saw the temp thing, it does seem to be a primary concern with brussel sprouts. And looking at light, the requirements seem pretty lax and people have success with spring and fall crops.
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Mar 1, 2019 15:26
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