Indoor Light Setup

[eugen_onegin]

Hey All,

In typical fashion, my search for bonsai knowledge has lead me into 3 billion google hits in marijuana forums.

Does anyone have any experience in using HPS or MH grow lights for their succulents and indoor specimens? I would like to use something that doesn't have the glow of the sun emanating from my front window. A few things come to mind when I think about that: The famous leg lamp from Christmas Story, Clarks Griswold's 25,000 imported italian twinkle lights, and Obama waking up in the white house saying, "where the hell is that bright light coming from?"

I know 100 watt HPS can get really bright, thinking maybe a 50w would suffice. Naturally, I would like to use a sunny room, but my current home does not have any available sunny spaces. Just want to get something to turn on for 4-8 hours a day.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

You can find a ton of stuff just by searching this forum. I would suggest getting a cheap t5 rig because they are cheap and easy and won't blind the neighbors. I play around wiring up my on LED microchips to cpu coolers, but if you don't have an enclosure you risk getting spots in your eyes because they are so bright.

 

[quietobserver]

I use clamp lights with a splitter, each with 2x23 watt CFL's; one 5k and one 6.5k with the bulbs near the foliage. Ficus will actually grow with this cheap and basic setup. All my tropicals are smaller, works well for shohin and mame. I leave them on for 8 hours or so a day from fall through late spring and outside they go again.

I also have a friend who uses a tent full of cfl bulbs with pretty good success for a variety of things. Walmart sells the bulb receptacle on a power cord for 6 bucks or so, the bulbs are cheap, and they don't use much power. (about $1 a month per bulb if u run them 16 hrs, varies by electric rate where u are)

 

[HanoverFist]

I'm using a 125w (true watts) CFL. It's quite powerful and effective for what I payed for it. Grew he hell out of tomatoes/peppers with it. And now my Chinese Elms, Deutzia and Fukien Tea are loving it. This is what people use to grow their "medicinal herbs." I's T5 cfl not a T8/12 like the 32w bulbs. So its much more powerful.

Good, cheap option that will give good light - to a distance of 6". Beyond that range you must have MH or equivalent.

 

[Paradox]

I just bought and set this system up for my tropicals (Ficus and Brazilian rain trees)this winter.

Two 4 foot fixtures that hold each 3 bulbs of 32 watt T8 6500K Daylight
Pretty inexpensive at Home Depot and easy to make. I chose these fixtures because they had silver reflectors on them as opposed to black or grey for more reflected light.
Just tied the two fixtures together on each side with aluminum strip (picture below).
The setup can be raised and lowered to adjust to whatever height required as determined by the height of the trees.
Each light fixture can be removed individually to change bulbs.

 

[edprocoat]

Eugen, it really depends on the amount of plants and the distance from them you actually have to worry about. I enclose my tropicals in box with a small fluorescent grow light I bought at Lowes. It has an 18 inch bulb and is attached to the roof of the box about 3 inches above the highest plant and they grow while in there. When it gets real cold I put a regular 40 watt bulb in the corner top to add some heat. Inside your house a small grow light just above your plant will do better than an expensive large bulb 4 feet above the plant.

ed

 

[Txhorticulture]

Grow light

Buy a light meter (about 15 bucks) you will see that light intensity decreases very fast just a few inches away from a fluorescent bulb. And that conditions which your human eye, which adjusts to light levels, perceives as bright are in fact not bright at all.

HID lamps (high pressure sodium or metal halide) are much much brighter. But they get hot, use lots of electricity, and are well, suspicious.

I have a 400w Hps I've used for tropical plants and such in a spare bedroom upstairs. It was so bright it bathed the front yard in a warm orange glow and my neighbors thought i was growing pot. Something like 58,000 lumens. It also heated up the room and made me nervous id burn the house down.

A 100w hid lamp shouldn't be too bad though, and will be much brighter than all but the most expensive fluorescent set ups.

 

[MACH5]

For what is worth I don't grow plants in my basement but I do grow coral. These are extremely light demanding organisms and will only grow and thrive under the brightest lights. I have used 250W MH. Awesome growth with these lamps but due to the high heat they produce and the high cost of running them I switched over about a year ago to T5s with fantastic results. They are cheaper to run and run cooler while providing high par values.


Another way to go might be LEDs but these can get quite expensive for a good unit.

 

[FrankP999]

Mach5

....I switched over about a year ago to T5s with fantastic results. They are cheaper to run and run cooler while providing high par values. .....

Are you using T5-HO (High Output) or regular T5? What bulbs are you using? Thanks

Frank

 

[MACH5]

Frank yes they are T5 HO. I am using high quality ATI lamps on an ATI fixture.

 

[bdwarner]

When it gets too cold here ill put my tropicals in my basement under a 150 watt HPS "sun system". My ficus seem to like it and continue pushing new growth through our harsh winters. There is a small window above my lamp that I've blocked off tightly with cardboard to prevent cold drafts from creeping in and also deturring any strangers from "adventuring" into my house in pursuits of different greens.

I've read metal halides are best for compact vegetative growth as they are a true white light as opposed to a HPS which stimulates budding and flowering (my ficus do just fine as they don't flower). My lemon goes flower crazy but simply pinching them off helps keep it on track. Jerry Meislik's book "ficus the exotic bonsai" states HPS lamps will make ficus "leggy" but I feel mine do just fine. I think the heat from the lamp helps the plants too as my basement is wide open and stays very cool. I can easily fit 4 good sized trees under it and various smaller succulents as well.

I as well am lacking south facing windows so this is my best option. I was given my 'sun system' for free by a friend and it works good for me and dosent send my electric bill sky high either. From what I've seen on Ebay they are relatively affordable for a beginner like myself. Hope some of this will help.. of course this is all based on my own experiences. As for not 'lighting up the neighborhood'.. well thats going to be tough not to do no matter what lights/lamps you choose!

Let us know which route you choose and how it works out.

 

[Stiple]

I used to use a pair of 68W CFL's for over a year, and a few months ago started trying out cob LEDs. Search for em on ebay, amazon has a few sometimes as well. For the LEDs, there is a bunch of decent tutorials on the aquarium forums about building a light panel. I like the LED chips because they send all the light out in one direction, therefore being more efficiently using the lumens it can produce.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Logged back into this site to provide some comments about lighting.

This is my first season attempting to grow with an LED light. I bought a 900W Mars 2 LED, after reading all the positive reviews on it. Let me tell you, it is bright. As for growth, my trees have only been under it for less than a week or so now, but they're still kicking, so that's a good sign.

 

[Stiple]

Logged back into this site to provide some comments about lighting.

This is my first season attempting to grow with an LED light. I bought a 900W Mars 2 LED, after reading all the positive reviews on it. Let me tell you, it is bright. As for growth, my trees have only been under it for less than a week or so now, but they're still kicking, so that's a good sign.
View attachment 60540
View attachment 60541

I hope you update again in a few months, I was heavily considering using the red and blue lights only. I also like your tent, did you build it or buy it?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I hope you update again in a few months, I was heavily considering using the red and blue lights only. I also like your tent, did you build it or buy it?

I built this for less than $100. Super easy.

The plants don't really need the red, but this light has also got blue, white, and IR for balanced growth.

 

[davetree]

I built this for less than $100. Super easy.

The plants don't really need the red, but this light has also got blue, white, and IR for balanced growth.

I think they do need some red for health long term. Just make sure that light is high above your trees ! Keep updating. I assume it's a bit easier to control the temperature now ?

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I think they do need some red for health long term. Just make sure that light is high above your trees ! Keep updating. I assume it's a bit easier to control the temperature now ?

It's very easy to control temperature. No issues at all. The light is at least 3 feet above the trees. I'm unsure whether the light from LED drops off the further away it goes like it does with fluorescent.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I kind of miss my first LED setup pictured here.. I was thinking of giving something similar a go for the office.. maybe use the same jar to lock in the humidity.

50w-LED-Spotlight

100-wat-LED-year-two

This year I plan to have the rayon mop strand hydroponic system in place for when I go on vacation.

 

[KennedyMarx]

It's very easy to control temperature. No issues at all. The light is at least 3 feet above the trees. I'm unsure whether the light from LED drops off the further away it goes like it does with fluorescent.

Does the fixture need to be that far away because of the light intensity? I thought heat was the main problem with lighting setups, but that could just be the metal halides.

 

[davetree]

Intensity and blending the different spectrums are the reasons for keeping the light at this distance. You don't need to have it any closer.