Opinion on this lighted plant stand?

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

It looks like all the lighting that was discussed in this thread has dropped in price substantially. Perhaps due to the last few years supply chain problem? Or maybe increased production due to increased indoor growing.

That and it's last years model, but it worked great last year!

 

[Carol 83]

That and it's last years model, but it worked great last year!

Looks pretty handy. I dread bringing my shelves in and getting the lights set up in the fall.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Lighting is an interesting discussion. I've had this same discussion in bonsai as well as fish tank communities.

I don't know if this helps any but I put my tropicals under fluorescent full spectrum lights for the winter.

One table has 3 32 watt 6400 K bulbs and the other has 6 of those bulbs. I chose 6400K bulbs because that is the spectrum recommended for lighting on freshwater planted tanks. Yea the lights are white to me but humans don't "see" light the same way plants do.

Florescent lights come in a lot of different spectrums. My old office had 3400k lighting and I've seen 5000k among others. They all look white or whitish.

I have 6400k LEDs on a freshwater tank that gets good plant growth from Anubias nana and bartoli. Reef tanks require lighting in the 10000k range to support coral. I had a setup with LEDs for lower light requirement corals for awhile.

On both my tropical winter tables, I get growth during the winter on ficus and BRT.

I also use a 6500k light based on the same reason that I started with freshwater plants and have expanded to indoor tropicals.
The finnex brand leds were the first ones that I used. I have some spider farmer lights, some t5ho, and some finnex leds still in use.
I use timers on all my lights and my tanks.
I could not use any pink lights as a majority but some of mine do have a few blue and red mixed in. I am sold on the 6500k daylight spectrum for growing plants. My t5ho does give the best consistency in growth but it is a slim margin to the leds.

 

[HENDO]

I saw the price went down on this lighted plant stand, (same one in the subject), and I bought another one since I have more tropicals than last year. Got it for $139 this time with a $60 dollar off coupon. it was $229 last October. Highly recommend this one if anyone is looking for winter growth for tropicals for cold climates.

Really liking this thread, thanks All for the great discussion/input/info!

I may have missed it, but are you using this for the entire year or just Winter?

My climate probably warrants only a few months outside for Tropicals, if any, so I need something to use all year round or almost all year round. Wondering if this shelf unit is suitable for that?

I'm looking for decent growth, because tropical material is very scarce here so I'll need to develop everything.

Just purchase a Spider Farmer SF 2000 for a bench in my house, but I really like the thought of adding this shelf unit, to increase the size of my collection, grow cuttings, etc.

 

[ShadyStump]

Should do if you can place it in a sunny window. Ficus will do alright with just those lights, but more demanding species will probably want more light still. At least if you're expecting them to be under lights almost year-round.

Most tropicals will be happy outdoors as long as night time lows stay above 10C, and many will be fine as low as 6 or 7C, especially if highs go above mids 20sC. So you should have a minimum 3 months safe for most tropicals outdoors. Just watch the weather and match it to the tree.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Really liking this thread, thanks All for the great discussion/input/info!

I may have missed it, but are you using this for the entire year or just Winter?

My climate probably warrants only a few months outside for Tropicals, if any, so I need something to use all year round or almost all year round. Wondering if this shelf unit is suitable for that?

I'm looking for decent growth, because tropical material is very scarce here so I'll need to develop everything.

Just purchase a Spider Farmer SF 2000 for a bench in my house, but I really like the thought of adding this shelf unit, to increase the size of my collection, grow cuttings, etc.

I just use it during the winter months. I still put them outside in the spring when it's warm enough out because there's no replacement for the sun, but I do really like these shelves. I have them on a timer so they get anywhere from 12 to 14 hours of light. The lights produce a little heat, for example we keep the furnace on 70F during the winter and my temperature gauge on the shelf (bought separately) will read between 75-78F & I've never seen it go above 82F so it's not too hot. I do get good growth during the winter instead of the plants just surviving.
Current picture of the shelves. If I want to increase the humidity to grow aerial roots you'll notice the plastic bag on the right, that currently has a dwarf schefflera inside. Good luck


The plants in the farmer tray are the thirsty ones. I have them sitting on ceramic tiles so they don't sit in water. All my ficus & others tropicals are under the spider farmer lights.

 

[penumbra]

All plants do well with some outdoor exposure if carefully done. But I do have some plants that have never seen the light of day, having been raised under artificial light from cuttings.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

All plants do well with some outdoor exposure if carefully done. But I do have some plants that have never seen the light of day, having been raised under artificial light from cuttings.

That's interesting. What species are those? I even put my houseplants outside in the summer if they can tolerate it.

 

[HENDO]

Should do if you can place it in a sunny window. Ficus will do alright with just those lights, but more demanding species will probably want more light still. At least if you're expecting them to be under lights almost year-round.

Most tropicals will be happy outdoors as long as night time lows stay above 10C, and many will be fine as low as 6 or 7C, especially if highs go above mids 20sC. So you should have a minimum 3 months safe for most tropicals outdoors. Just watch the weather and match it to the tree.

I just moved back to Canada from TX so am learning how to "Tropical" all over again . There will likely be a few months where I can keep them outside, but we have intense temp swings here which are super dangerous for potted plants.

My indoor setup will be in the basement so unfortunately no natural light. I think you're right, if I get the rack/shelves and use it almost year-round, added light would be ideal.

Target indoor plants for me are ficus (Tiger Bark, Small Leaf Ficus / Too Little), Bougies, and P.Afra.

 

[HENDO]

I just use it during the winter months. I still put them outside in the spring when it's warm enough out because there's no replacement for the sun, but I do really like these shelves. I have them on a timer so they get anywhere from 12 to 14 hours of light. The lights produce a little heat, for example we keep the furnace on 70F during the winter and my temperature gauge on the shelf (bought separately) will read between 75-78F & I've never seen it go above 82F so it's not too hot. I do get good growth during the winter instead of the plants just surviving.
Current picture of the shelves. If I want to increase the humidity to grow aerial roots you'll notice the plastic bag on the right, that currently has a dwarf schefflera inside. Good luck

The plants in the farmer tray are the thirsty ones. I have them sitting on ceramic tiles so they don't sit in water. All my ficus & others tropicals are under the spider farmer lights.

Thanks a ton for all of your updates! It's very inspiring to see such a turnkey setup be so productive.

My basement will be a similar temp range to yours. Only 30~40% humidity in Winter though so the plastic bag method might be in the works. I'll probably do a tent for my Spider Farmer setup to crank up humidity. Really liking your farmer trays too - those will probably be a requirement for my setup.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

Thanks a ton for all of your updates! It's very inspiring to see such a turnkey setup be so productive.

My basement will be a similar temp range to yours. Only 30~40% humidity in Winter though so the plastic bag method might be in the works. I'll probably do a tent for my Spider Farmer setup to crank up humidity. Really liking your farmer trays too - those will probably be a requirement for my setup.

I'm also in the basement this year in a finished room we didn't use much. I find because all the plants 30+ are in the same room the humidity isn't bad mid 50's. Give an update if you end up getting the shelfing unit.

 

[Lorax7]

These shelves look really cool, but the one thing I wonder about is: how do you ensure that water never reaches the electronics on the lower levels when you water a plant on the top shelf?

 

[queenofsheba52]

@HENDO I keep my bougies under lights like this during the winter and they thrive. Of course I put them outside as soon as I can in the early summer. I bet you'll have good results too.

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

@HENDO I went down and took a pic of the temperature gauge. Little different numbers than I was quoting. The numbers on the left show the last 24 hours. I also have an oscillating fan on low in the room.



@Lorax7 You can see in this pic each wire shelf has a plastic liner. I don't water directly on the shelves unless I have the farmer tray in place. The ones not in the trays get watered individually in the basement wash tub.