What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Light Challenged

Maxx

Someday is not a day of the week.
As the title states, I'm sort of light challenged when it comes to terrariums. I was going to set up a new terrarium and I have no idea what-so-ever of what kind of and how many lights to get. Anybody know what I should get and how many?

(I'm looking for something on the 'not extremely expensive side' and something that it may be possible to grow heliamphora under.)
 
Thanks Fryster, that helped alot. But it says all this stuff about modifying ballasts. Do I need to do all that if I get an elctronic ballast?
 
Well, for a terrarium you might.............

But I don't have a terrarium (don't believe in 'em), I have a grow-rack. I didn't have to mess around with the wiring of my lights. I suspect that most terrarium growers here didn't customize their lights either.

We'll have to wait and find out others here have to say. :)
 
maxx,

if you are talking about having to pull out the ballast and "piggy back" it as they put it...its not entirely necessary imo. electronic ballasts get warm but not burning hot like magnetics.

~b
 
Okay. I'm confused over this whole 'ballast' thing. From what I understand, ballasts do something with converting energy. My questions are...

1. What's the point of a ballast?
2. Do I need one?

Thanks guys for helping me out with this topic.

-Maxx
 
Okay. I'm confused over this whole 'ballast' thing. From what I understand, ballasts do something with converting energy. My questions are...

1. What's the point of a ballast?
2. Do I need one?

Thanks guys for helping me out with this topic.

-Maxx

1. http://home.howstuffworks.com/fluorescent-lamp6.htm
2. for fluorescent yes, it wouldnt work otherwise.

just go buy 4 ft. shop lights?
 
Ok thanks alot for your help guys. I think I get it now.
 
I'd recommend 6500K shop lights (highest lumens & CRI possible) - heliamphora are tropical I believe, so you *might* do better with 5000K, you'd have to check with someone who knows more than me. I use T12 bulbs, and with those you'd want at least 75 CRI, 84 would be better. Lumens at least ~2850 each bulb - 40-watt not 36-watt - and only get the brand name bulbs (e.g. Sylvania, GE, Phillips), as the generic ones start losing lumens rather quickly.

For temp issues, I've found that setting up a small fan to blow in between the lights and the top of the terrarium drops the average temp by up to 5 degrees or more, depending on how much the lights are affecting your terrarium's temp in the first place.

I got a 80mm computer fan (don't get the computer fans at radio shack, way overpriced), cut its computer connector off of the electrical wires, then got a 12V plug at radio shack, wired the fan to the 12V adapter plug (butt connectors & black electrical tape), and plugged it into the wall. The fan I got for $8 from a computer store also came with an adjustable fan speed, so I can basically control the temperature in my terrarium to an extent by adjusting the fan speed.
 
  • #10
Yeah I was thinking of getting some T12's too. About how much space do you think is suffiecent for a ventalation gap for my terrarium?
 
  • #11
I'd start as close to the terrarium as you can get, set up the fan, and watch the temp/humidity inside the terrarium. Adjust the fan speed and light height as necessary, keeping in mind that the ballasts (the part that gets hot) will 90% of the time be on the same side of the shop light fixture as the power cord.

Ideally, you want to keep the lights as close to the terrarium as possible so your plants get the most light. Worst case, if you're not putting your soil mix directly into the terrarium (e.g. you're using the tray method with the plant in a pot of its own), you can raise the plant up on a pedestal of some kind (upside down pot, ziploc plastic container, etc.) to get it closer to the light.

Always measure temp and humidity at the plant level (put the gauge between the top of the plant and its soil).

Good luck. :)
 
  • #12
I don't like to just flat out contradict people but I must disagree with Valydius on one point - a high CRI is not appropriate for plants. At least, "the highest possible CRI" is an inappropriate criteria. CRI and color temperature are factors having to do with the average color the light puts out. Plants can use light coming from several ranges, so there isn't a single color that you're looking for. (Besides which, "the highest possible" is stuff like UV radiation, X-rays, microwaves...) A lot of growers here report good success with a 50/50 mix of cool and warm white fluorescent bulbs, which are typically rated 6500K and 5000K, respectively. A higher color temperature won't necessarily be better for your plants. (It's also worth noting that, going by reports here and on other growing forums, fluorescent lights sold specifically as "grow bulbs" are no better and often worse than ordinary warm/cool white bulbs.)
If you really want to find the best light out there, the number you need to optimize on is the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR.) PAR is a measure of the energy in light weighted by its usefulness to plants (so energy in the form of green light, for example, is not included in this measure because plants can't use it for photosynthesis.) Unfortunately, very few bulbs are rated in terms of PAR; the best you'll probably be able to do is to look for independent lab tests and use them as a buying guide. Or, if you know the physics staff at your local university, you may be able to obtain a photospectrometer to do your own research. In any case, the next best thing to look at is lumens, which is a measure similar to PAR but biased towards light visible to humans (note that humans see very different light than plants.) By comparing lumens with respect to electrical consumption (watts) you can get an idea of how much energy the bulb actually sends out as light. Search the forum here for terms like shop lights or PAR and you can find a lot of discussion on the topic. In my experience, four or eight foot shoplights with 40 watt T12-size bulbs are cheapest and most efficient because they're the standard for industrial applications. The rest is a matter of finding good prices and quality bulbs. Remember that fluorescent bulbs lose a lot of power after the first six months of operation, so a cheaper bulb might be worth it the price means you can replace them regularly.
~Joe

PS - Also, when it comes to the CP FAQ, keep in mind that Barry is sometimes kind of a worst-case-scenario type of guy. Modifying your lights is probably not necessary... I don't know a lot of people here that do. I consider my shoplights to be free space heaters, as Washington is a little on the cool side.
 
  • #13
Okay guys I got a light today. I actually ended up getting a T5 fixture with metal 'dish' , if you will, that spreads out the lighting more.
 
  • #14
go get some four foot shoplights from homedepot for 8-9$
 
  • #16
I ended up building a plant rack/terrarium driven by the need for light. My apartment just does not get much light, even with a south picture window, due the building next to us blocking out nearly all the sunlight.

I just bought a couple cheap shoplight ballasts like D muscipula suggested, and put some 40w t12 daylight bulbs in. Stuck them on a timer to come on and off automatically. As a bonus, I can now control my humidity. After just two weeks with this setup, I can already see a difference in my Neps.

The drawback is temp control is proving challenging.
 
  • #17
Okay, my new terrarium is set-up. Its a 40-gallon tank with a T5 bulb. It's got some reflective stuff on the back wall. It's actually right in my room. I'm gonna try to hold the day temperature around 70F. The plants in it right now are (left to right) Judith Finn, Sanguinea, and some Capensis.

View attachment 304 View attachment 305
 
  • #18
Put some tin foil around it. Here's my terrarium.

SN850801.jpg
 
  • #19
Maxx- None of those plants need a terarium that i know of. Also have you though about the dormancy period for the finn? You could probably just put them under a light and scratch the aquarium. But since you have it i guess you might as well use it now.

Capensis- Do your plants get the right spectrums of light with those bulbs? And why do you have the front covered it is sad because now you cant look at your plants :(
 
  • #20
I know they don't need a terrarium, but I don't have anything else to put there right now and the Finn has never really pitchered so I wanted to see if increased light levels would help. Can you explain to me what you meant about the dormancy with the Finn?
 
Back
Top