Sunday, March 11, 2012

LED Grow Lights

Okay, I'm back! With any luck, my posting frequency will drastically increase from here :)

Anyhow, I recently discovered LED grow lights while shopping for grow lights on Ebay. Have you ever tried these? The red and blue variety I'm trialing are said to emit no heat and use 80% less energy than MH/HPS bulbs, and the red + blue combo stimulate a comprehensive range of plant growth processes.
     
I purchased this stick light on Ebay, and decided to use it in this wardian case. It's located away from the bright natural light coming through my southern bedroom window, but I won't cover it to keep all extraneous light out as a truly scientific method may require. I run a very informal garden hobby here.


Using a couple twist-ties at each end, the light is suspended from the peak of the case. No heat concerns make this part a breeze!

I chose two plants for which I have comparables in the natural light as well, this way I can determine the difference in lighting benefit: a sundew plant and a pothos cutting rooted in water. The peaks of the case have no glass, but the other panels will maintain decent humidity.

The more vigorous pothos is in the LED experiment, and his smaller cousin is in the window. The natural light here is filtered through a white bed sheet but no curtains.

Looks pretty cool! I may try some seed-starting in here as well, but for now it should be interesting to see how these plants respond to the LED's.


I'll keep you posted!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering about these LED lights. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be.

V.

Garden Broad said...

Me too...if they work I'll get bigger ones for my garden seedlings (when I have space for more gardening later.)

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

I saw those lights at a flower show and wondered about them. Thanks for testing them out! I love that Wardian case!!

Garden Broad said...

Thanks! I always wanted a wardian case, it was one of the first "luxury" things I bought when I got my new job :)