horticulture

[allan]

Just got interested in this.
Any body here that grow stuff??

Here is the cheapest way i found to build a grow light.
IMG-20160409-WA0002.jpgIMG-20160409-WA0004.jpgIMG-20160409-WA0006.jpg

The color is adjustable by 3 current limiting POTS.
Light.jpg
The first test subjects.

[Iowatech]

Re: horticulture

That looks like a really neat set up, keep us updated!
For what it is worth, my horticultural endeavors are limited by plants being able to survive the single guy's care mode. As such, I will be setting some robust tomato plants out in the yard next month if the weather cooperates. I do need to prune the raspberry patch soon, though.
One word of warning, while mint plants and winter onions are really hardy, they will take over your lawn if you don't pay attention. (Luckily, I thought it smelled nice when I ran the lawn mower over them.)

[allan]

Re: horticulture

living in a commune. So the place is paved from corner to corner.
I like fresh herbs, buying them from the store is expensive.

Its just going into autumn here, in it will ice up in the mornings soon.
Winter in Africa is a bit different. Going from very cold to very hot in the same day.

Learned a lot about LED's and the different light colors plants need.
The sun stays the best.

I hope the experiment goes well.
Now just need to figure out when and how much plants need to "sleep".
Nutrition is also going to be a problem in due time.

[mongo]

Re: horticulture

I live in the country. I have a 30+ pots of herbs from different mints to basil on my back porch. I also have a garden spot that about an quarter of a acre that I grow every thing I can in. The hot peppers are planted in another spot on the under side of my property so my watermelon and cantaloupe don't have a hot taste to them ( that happen one year ). This is my unwinding therapy that helps me relax. Mongo

[allan]

Re: horticulture

So the light works great....

A little to great. I fried the tyme plant to its death. The origanum survived.
Had to lift it quite a bit away from it to be effective.

[Lagonda]

Re: horticulture

Mrs Lagonda is the greenfingered one in our house, my efforts are restricted to rigging up shade sails to stop the young veggies getting fried under the Qld sun. Even the winter sun can be tough on new seedlings.

And around this part of the world the sort of crops you grow indoors under lights are the sort that will get you a visit from the police. And they won't be handing out ribbons for growing a prize winning plant.

[NeoMatrix]

Re: horticulture

re : Green thumb ...

I have a brown thumb is that any help ?

I call it the reverse Midas touch.....

[Iowatech]

Re: horticulture

re : Green thumb ...

I have a brown thumb is that any help ?

I call it the reverse Midas touch.....

Sometimes I run into that too, at least with a few of the indoor plants. But I like to refer to that as evolution in real time.

[nekowaiidesu]

Re: horticulture

Looks awesome! Care to give us more details on how you made the lights?
I'm also in RSA, luckily I do have a yard of sorts, although it's mostly shaded. Got quite a few herbs outside that are doing alright. I used to grow outdoor strawberries in PA, only prob was the birds and monkeys always got more fruit than me. Wouldn't mind trying some indoor plants

[fixthecopier]

Re: horticulture

I know some guys who grow indoors, however they really don't like to advertise, and really did not want pics taken. It seems that people who were forced to grow indoors to insure privacy, have really perfected the art.

[allan]

Re: horticulture

Looks awesome! Care to give us more details on how you made the lights?
I'm also in RSA, luckily I do have a yard of sorts, although it's mostly shaded. Got quite a few herbs outside that are doing alright. I used to grow outdoor strawberries in PA, only prob was the birds and monkeys always got more fruit than me. Wouldn't mind trying some indoor plants

Real simple.
Use RGB strip lights. You should get some at the China mall. About R60 per meter.
I used 5 meters of the stuff. They were cut in about 300mm pieces and soldered in parallel.
Every color is current limited by a 100 to a 200ohm pot that allows you to change the color temperature.
Power the light with a 450W PC power supply because its the cheapest form of a 12A 12V psu you can get. About R185.
Glue the assy together with Q-bond and use sash cord to hang it.

.

I will disappoint the authorities with my choice of herbs. Its some real good origanum.

[qbert69]

Re: horticulture

So the light works great....

A little to great. I fried the tyme plant to its death. The origanum survived.
Had to lift it quite a bit away from it to be effective.

You mean Oregano???

I absolutely LOVE Oregano, especially with scrambled eggs!....I add equal parts of Oregano and Garlic Salt prior to scrambling eggs!...Sooo Delish!

Here's what you really need here!:

grow led chip | eBay

These are "Full Spectrum" LED's and you can even just get the LED chip!

The bigger ones such as this:

10pcs 10 Watt Full Spectrum LED Chip 380nm 840nm 900mA Plant Grow Lights New | eBay

you'd have to attach to an aluminum bar as a heatsink--could be a square aluminum tube with a fan at one end to blow through and cool the chip...in effect, make a "lightbar" with an integrated heatsink.

RGB is good, but the above lights also include more of the ultraviolet/infra-red spectrum.

Just remember, the color that the plant utilizes for growth and production are the colors that are NOT reflected...meaning the green in the LED that you have will be of little use since it is reflected by the leaves. The colors utilized are the blues and reds. The "Grow LEDs" are optimized in the color spectra for growth and production.

Good Luck and Let Me Know How it Goes!

[Iowatech]

Re: horticulture

I will disappoint the authorities with my choice of herbs. Its some real good origanum.

As at least some types of origanum are also known as oregano, and as oregano is a prime ingredient of really good pizza sauce, I am even more interested in the outcome of this.
(I'm also interested in the hue from the lights you find works best, which is more important.)
Keep us updated please!

[allan]

Re: horticulture

Those are better LEDs to use. But they are really expensive for 10W a piece.
R300 for 10W I pay R250 for 36W this way and its mounted on aluminum strips already.

There is a PC fan to get rid of the extra heat it produces otherwise they overheat.

The plants needs just a tad of green light looking at the recommended spectrum on wiki.
So they get turned up to take pictures otherwise the plants looks all purple.

I have Osram golden dragon LEDs that is 3W a piece with the proper aluminum prints.
Got them from a friend that builds proper aquarium lights but they need 24V as a supply.
Soldering surface mounted components by hand is a trick there is heat paste that needs to go on the back of the LED before it gets soldered to the print.
Plan is to use to PC supplies in series for that. Im not sure if that will work.

[qbert69]

Re: horticulture

Those are better LEDs to use. But they are really expensive for 10W a piece.
R300 for 10W I pay R250 for 36W this way and its mounted on aluminum strips already.

There is a PC fan to get rid of the extra heat it produces otherwise they overheat.

The plants needs just a tad of green light looking at the recommended spectrum on wiki.
So they get turned up to take pictures otherwise the plants looks all purple.

I have Osram golden dragon LEDs that is 3W a piece with the proper aluminum prints.
Got them from a friend that builds proper aquarium lights but they need 24V as a supply.
Soldering surface mounted components by hand is a trick there is heat paste that needs to go on the back of the LED before it gets soldered to the print.
Plan is to use to PC supplies in series for that. Im not sure if that will work.

For 24VDC from an ATX power supply, use the -12VDC for ground reference point and your +12VDC for your positive. That will give you 24VDC overall!

How to convert an ATX power supply to a lab bench power supply — Chris Shiplet