Lumen

[Dude]

I bought 3 Philips 60W LED bulbs, that's over 2400 lumen.

According to this cacti needs 2000 lumen per square feet.
http://cactiguide.com/article/?article=article17.php

Considering my collection is quite small, these new bulbs should cover most of my collection anyway.

It's not some fancy plant light I bought just standard LEDs.

Since the weather in Denmark has already begun to become rather grey, I was thinking of moving my plants into a room for themselves with no real natural light, the room is to the west, but have them under the LEDs all day and afternoon. I don't know if it's enough though?

[AnTTun]

As our Artificial Lighting Guru (aka Christer) said: its kinda hit & miss thing. Numbers sound right but only practice can confirm that. Or opposite. But you can always add a bulb or two. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Dude]

Thanks for posting.

I will keep you posted.

[MartinDK]

"White" LED light? Or a mix of, for instance, red, green and blue light? 3x60w LED bulbs could be enough - or not. The wave lengths are an important factor.

I use 48x3w LED panels with so-called "full-spectrum" light. The light is pretty intense and produce compact growth. I grow very heat- and light-demanding plants.

image.jpeg (85.59 KiB) Viewed 4217 times

image.jpeg (83.71 KiB) Viewed 4217 times

[Dude]

Hi Martin.

Nice setup! Those are some tight plants! Beautiful.

Could you please tell me where those LEDs you have can be bought?

[MartinDK]

Hi Martin.

Nice setup! Those are some tight plants! Beautiful.

Could you please tell me where those LEDs you have can be bought?

Thank you. Using this LED unit, you can literally grow plants as compact as you like. But the light is intense and red, and the units are somewhat noisy, so I wouldn't use it in my living room. You could but you definitely need a grow tent, then.

image.jpeg (124.49 KiB) Viewed 4171 times

I can highly recommend Mars Hydro LED units, https://www.mars-hydro.com/. Chinese stuff but quality products. The units simply produce outstanding results. Their support team is quite helpful and reliable and they ship fast (they ship from warehouses in Germany and the UK). In my experience, you receive your package within 8 days after shipment (last time it took only 5 days).

I use the Mars Hydro Reflector series. Their smallest unit has 48 LED's (100-110 wattage) and costs 800-850 DKR (shipment to Denmark included). My plants are 17 hours under lights. Monthly power consumption per panel is about 50 kWh, about 100 DKR (1 kWh costs about 2 DKR). If you buy a couple of heatmats per tent and heat up the tent to about 30 C, you can grow plants compact and fast. The plant in the first photo is only 16 weeks old. You probably won't be able to grow it faster even in tropical regions.

[MartinDK]

Apparently Mars Hydro has lowered their prices. The 48x5w units now have Epistar (high quality) 5w LED's and costs only 100 USD including shipment. I should order some more, then...

[DaveW]

I think your light is actually purple, a mixture of red and blue:-

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden- ... -light.htm

http://www.illumitex.com/impacts-colored-light-plants/

http://www.canna-uk.com/influence_of_colours

[MartinDK]

I think your light is actually purple, a mixture of red and blue:-

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden- ... -light.htm

http://www.illumitex.com/impacts-colored-light-plants/

http://www.canna-uk.com/influence_of_colours

Not quite red, but more red than purple. ;-)

[Dude]

Thanks for the info Martin.