DIY reflector box for indoor bonsai lighting..

[Redwood Ryan]

If by Dawn Redwood, you mean Bald Cypress... then yes, that would be considered a tropical...

I disagree. Both are strictly outdoor trees and need a dormancy.

 

[f1pt4]

I disagree. Both are strictly outdoor trees and need a dormancy.

you are correct. I just assumed by seeing them grow in Florida, that they can live in warmer weather year round.

 

[Lynn Cardwell]

FWIW my Dawn Redwoods stay outside all year round. They drop needles in the winter, and explode with growth in the summer. I'm pretty sure your winters are milder than ours. Keep that Dawn Redwood outside! The rest, I don't know...

If by Dawn Redwood, you mean Bald Cypress... then yes, that would be considered a tropical...

 

[Lynn Cardwell]

Thanks for this. My Dawn Redwoods are outside, as you say they are tough little blighters and will survive anything UK weather can throw at them. It's the 'short day/deciduous trees that I worry about. At present they are bare of leaves and in sheltered place in glassed outside porch. Plenty ventilation, min temps about 8C at this time of year, although Global warming is driving all gardeners mad here at the moment.

 

[GrimLore]

disagree. Both are strictly outdoor trees and need a dormancy.

Thanks for this. My Dawn Redwoods are outside, as you say they are tough little blighters and will survive anything UK weather can throw at them.

There are four Bald Cypress on this growing shelf in 8 inch wide pots sitting in containers containing 3 -4 inches of frozen water... tough is an understatement Took this picture about a 1/2 hour ago -



Grimmy

 

[dannylightning]

I was referred to your "White Box" design for my indoor tropical. Reading through this thread, it seems the white interior is really all that matters. Is their a specific reason you chose cardboard? I just picked up a 12 year old Fukien Tea/Carmona Bonsai and need to get a light fixture set up and want to build this to help with humidity. Could I use plastic or wood...just as long as its white?

looks like a am late on the reply.. white cardboard is what i found laying around when i went looking for something to use so that is what i decided to use.. the tree is growing like crazy. i had to trim it the other day cus it was looking so shaggy and misshapen, it had long shoots all over the place and lots of new leaves growing on the tree.. now its started even more new growth.. it had little buds on the branches and 12 days later they were long shoots with leaves and loads of them, new leaves all over the place.

since its growing in rocks instead of soil it needs watered once a day, i use jacks 20-20-20 to water ever 4 days or so, the light stays on it for 12 hour, some times longer if i forget to turn it off and its a very happy tree under that light.. i would say this is working great, when i took the box away to trim it i could see how much light was lost.. so much more light is getting to the back and sides of the tree thanks to the box.. i would say its works...

,

 

[dannylightning]

actually here is a photo of the tree the day i got it and a photo of he tree today, and i really did cut allot of leaves off and you can see how much growth is had since i got it..

before i trimmed it you couldn't see anything but leaves and maybe the bottom 1/3 of the trunk or so..

 

[GrimLore]

actually here is a photo of the tree the day i got it and a photo of he tree today

You have done great- looks happy as could be! Nice to see the update too. You "might want to treat those roots a little different and the process for now is simple but easier explained on the phone. PM me with a time and date and I will call and explain

Grimmy

 

[dannylightning]

You have done great- looks happy as could be! Nice to see the update too. You "might want to treat those roots a little different and the process for now is simple but easier explained on the phone. PM me with a time and date and I will call and explain

Grimmy

here is a up close of the roots. they look pretty interesting, i dont know much about working with roots, i usually mist the roots with water after i water the plant not sure if that does anything or not but, ill shoot you a pm.

 

[Culper Woodhull]

actually here is a photo of the tree the day i got it and a photo of he tree today, and i really did cut allot of leaves off and you can see how much growth is had since i got it..

before i trimmed it you couldn't see anything but leaves and maybe the bottom 1/3 of the trunk or so..

View attachment 126594 View attachment 126595

Wow, I can see a major difference.I haven't built my white box yet. I want to slowly acclimate my Fukien Tea to any new environmental changes, as they're a bit finicky. Thanks for the update and photo's....looks great dannylightning.

 

[milehigh_7]

I wouldn't do that. White works. Foil will create hot spots because it's hard to get completely flat. It's also not as reflective as you may think.

Glad you chimed in Ryan. This one is true but hard to get your head around sometimes. The other thing I would add it to keep the law of inverse squares in mind. Google it if you don't know it. Basically you need your light source close.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

I usually put mine on a boot tray, lined with rocks and filled with water. This is in front of a south facing window as they get the most light, but my collection has now "outgrown" this space so I'm looking into indoor lighting.

I'm thinking LED will be the way to go, that should work right?

I like the idea of this light box, any updates on your setup @dannylightning?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I usually put mine on a boot tray, lined with rocks and filled with water. This is in front of a south facing window as they get the most light, but my collection has now "outgrown" this space so I'm looking into indoor lighting.

I'm thinking LED will be the way to go, that should work right?

I like the idea of this light box, any updates on your setup @dannylightning?

I'm working with cool white LED strips mounted on aluminium frames. I can tell you, the initial investment is sickening. Lights are just the tip of the iceberg. I have full automated climate control now. But once everything is in order, it's a very rewarding system. Climate control and even air filters sound like next-level shit, but trust me, allergy-wise it's better to do it sooner than later. The house is getting a serious bacterial and fungal spore load, on top of localized raised humidity (bathroom molds).
With a few plants, that's not an issue. But a system bigger than a few feet will eventually (4 years or so) cause health issues for inhabitants. I've spent 5K on dermatologist and allergy tests with negative results, only to conclude my indoor garden was causing everything. A HEPA filter fixed everything. Rash free for 6 months now!
Count on at least 800 bucks for a decent start. Sure, it can be done for less. But you'll want to upgrade anyways later which will make part of the initial investment obsolete, that's just burning money and I'm a cheapskate.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

I'm working with cool white LED strips mounted on aluminium frames. I can tell you, the initial investment is sickening. Lights are just the tip of the iceberg. I have full automated climate control now. But once everything is in order, it's a very rewarding system. Climate control and even air filters sound like next-level shit, but trust me, allergy-wise it's better to do it sooner than later. The house is getting a serious bacterial and fungal spore load, on top of localized raised humidity (bathroom molds).
With a few plants, that's not an issue. But a system bigger than a few feet will eventually (4 years or so) cause health issues for inhabitants. I've spent 5K on dermatologist and allergy tests with negative results, only to conclude my indoor garden was causing everything. A HEPA filter fixed everything. Rash free for 6 months now!
Count on at least 800 bucks for a decent start. Sure, it can be done for less. But you'll want to upgrade anyways later which will make part of the initial investment obsolete, that's just burning money and I'm a cheapskate.

Can you post some pictures of your setup?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

L-shaped frames screwed together to make the outer frame. The central crossing bars are flat aluminum. I hot glued every electrical connection so that it's spray water resistant. Not water tight, mind you.


Tie rips, tie wraps, whatever those things are called, were used to hold the strips in place. The factory double sided tape actually does a good job at it, but a little extra doesn't do harm.

For this system I'm using 4 computer fans (2 in, 2 out), ripped from an old PC. Those are 12V, with a power regulator in between so I can control the speed of each fan individually. It was part of that computer, so I figured I'd use it. I have used silicone to dampen the sound of the fans. It gets kind of annoying after a while, since they're mounted on some plywood that amplifies the vibrations.

LED's are powered by, a 45W power thingy. Is that called an amp? I don't know. It came advised with the LED strips. That was the most expensive piece of equipment: 60 bucks a piece.

Air filters are home made boxes with slots to hold X-shaped frames (like oldschool picture slides, but an iron mesh sandwich would work as well). The X-shaped frame holds cut-to-size household HEPA filters; 1 layer of dust filter, and 1 layer of active carbon filter (which were way cheaper than cannabis filters, and cannabis filters need serious airflow to work). They're kind of built-in right now, I cant show them.

If you'd spend more than a day building the framework and attaching the strips, it would look a thousand times nicer. My lights are covered by a ceiling of some sort, so one has to bend over and then look up past the lights to actually see the framework. I made the decision to not make a piece of art out of it, but just something that works. Saved a lot of time.

1 system is 160x60x60cm with 3 metres of LED's mounted on 3 bars. This is meant for shade-loving tropicals. Uses just 1 fan and both the air entry and exit are filtered.
The other is 60x60x60cm with 2 metres of LED's mounted on 6 bars (2 sides, 2 crossing and the other 2 sides). This is meant for sun loving tropicals. Uses 4 fans and only air exit is filtered.
The 60x60x60 with 2 metres of LEDstrip crammed into that tight space, is enough to keep internodes short on most plants. Just in case, you could make 2 extra crossing bars, or 3 even, packing another 150cm of strip.

Cost wise:
Lighting: 250 euros total (frame and amps included)
Air: 30 euros total (including DIY frames, holders, housing)
Other building materials, like soldering wire, hot glue, drill bits, screws, etc. : 50 euros
Arduino kit to monitor soil, air, temperature and log it to an SD card: 45 euros and 16 hours of learning how to connect and code those things starting from scratch.
Timers: 15 euros.
Total: 390 euros, or 450 dollars.

10800cm2 or 11.62 square feet of floor space.

Please note that I did not include the cabinet itself, with fancy glass sliding doors, fire extinguishers and all that. Which was about the same amount of money.
If only I would have spent that money on trees..

Anyways, it's here now. Replacing the LED's would cost me 20 bucks. Based on their lifetime estimated to be 4 years, that's way cheaper than T5's which burn up in 6 months and cost me 20 bucks a piece (and you always need 2).
The T5's are brighter and do produce more heat. They're the easy way to go. But more expensive on the long run.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

View attachment 213524
L-shaped frames screwed together to make the outer frame. The central crossing bars are flat aluminum. I hot glued every electrical connection so that it's spray water resistant. Not water tight, mind you.

View attachment 213525
Tie rips, tie wraps, whatever those things are called, were used to hold the strips in place. The factory double sided tape actually does a good job at it, but a little extra doesn't do harm.

For this system I'm using 4 computer fans (2 in, 2 out), ripped from an old PC. Those are 12V, with a power regulator in between so I can control the speed of each fan individually. It was part of that computer, so I figured I'd use it. I have used silicone to dampen the sound of the fans. It gets kind of annoying after a while, since they're mounted on some plywood that amplifies the vibrations.

LED's are powered by, a 45W power thingy. Is that called an amp? I don't know. It came advised with the LED strips. That was the most expensive piece of equipment: 60 bucks a piece.

Air filters are home made boxes with slots to hold X-shaped frames (like oldschool picture slides, but an iron mesh sandwich would work as well). The X-shaped frame holds cut-to-size household HEPA filters; 1 layer of dust filter, and 1 layer of active carbon filter (which were way cheaper than cannabis filters, and cannabis filters need serious airflow to work). They're kind of built-in right now, I cant show them.

If you'd spend more than a day building the framework and attaching the strips, it would look a thousand times nicer. My lights are covered by a ceiling of some sort, so one has to bend over and then look up past the lights to actually see the framework. I made the decision to not make a piece of art out of it, but just something that works. Saved a lot of time.

1 system is 160x60x60cm with 3 metres of LED's mounted on 3 bars. This is meant for shade-loving tropicals. Uses just 1 fan and both the air entry and exit are filtered.
The other is 60x60x60cm with 2 metres of LED's mounted on 6 bars (2 sides, 2 crossing and the other 2 sides). This is meant for sun loving tropicals. Uses 4 fans and only air exit is filtered.
The 60x60x60 with 2 metres of LEDstrip crammed into that tight space, is enough to keep internodes short on most plants. Just in case, you could make 2 extra crossing bars, or 3 even, packing another 150cm of strip.

Cost wise:
Lighting: 250 euros total (frame and amps included)
Air: 30 euros total (including DIY frames, holders, housing)
Other building materials, like soldering wire, hot glue, drill bits, screws, etc. : 50 euros
Arduino kit to monitor soil, air, temperature and log it to an SD card: 45 euros and 16 hours of learning how to connect and code those things starting from scratch.
Timers: 15 euros.
Total: 390 euros, or 450 dollars.

10800cm2 or 11.62 square feet of floor space.

Please note that I did not include the cabinet itself, with fancy glass sliding doors, fire extinguishers and all that. Which was about the same amount of money.
If only I would have spent that money on trees..

Anyways, it's here now. Replacing the LED's would cost me 20 bucks. Based on their lifetime estimated to be 4 years, that's way cheaper than T5's which burn up in 6 months and cost me 20 bucks a piece (and you always need 2).
The T5's are brighter and do produce more heat. They're the easy way to go. But more expensive on the long run.

This is extreme, great write up!