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Light distance issue.

Jcal

Decumbent Fanatic
Hey TF. I need some advise.
I've been having a clearance problem with my current setup. I need to create around 2 or 3 foot of space above my plant so that they can flower freely. Is there any lights that will be strong enough to give me that space and still provide plenty of light for them to grow?
 
What plants ? My lights are about 24" above many of my plants including Nepenthes, Heliamphora, Cephalotus and many Utricularia and Drosera.
 
Mainly want to do this for cephalotus. I broke off a lot of stalks beause my lights are around a foot or so away. Don't want to have to same problem again.

I currently use t8s.
 
I would definitely upgrade to T5's and use a combo of 10,000K cool spectrum bulbs and 3,000K warms. That should allow you an easy 3' of space while still giving out ample light. You can also use mylar on 3 sides to reflect any wayward light back towards the plants.
 
If you have the money, upgrade to LED's the stalks could literally touch the bulb then :)
 
I would definitely upgrade to T5's and use a combo of 10,000K cool spectrum bulbs and 3,000K warms. That should allow you an easy 3' of space while still giving out ample light. You can also use mylar on 3 sides to reflect any wayward light back towards the plants.

Cool. Ill start googling

If you have the money, upgrade to LED's the stalks could literally touch the bulb then :)

Im open to LEDs, but my main purpose to avoid contact.
 
T5's work great especially if you are looking at increasing the distance, however, what they are also great at is producing a ton of heat and the bulb is extremely hot to the touch. So if any plants get rather close, or in your case flower stalks, they will get burned. That is just my two cents :)
 
T5's work great especially if you are looking at increasing the distance, however, what they are also great at is producing a ton of heat and the bulb is extremely hot to the touch. So if any plants get rather close, or in your case flower stalks, they will get burned. That is just my two cents :)

I seen what you talking about now. Makes perfect sense. Got any recommendations?

Most of the LEDs I see for plants have massive heat sinks and fans. Something I haven't seen with t5s. Do they really run that much cooler.
 
Describe the set up a bit. In an enclosed grow tent most of the cooling advantage of leds will be lost. If on the other hand the hot air coming off the heat sink can freely escape up, significant cooling advantage can be obtained with leds. Plus with the proper optics on the emitters significantly more light can be focused 3' down.
 
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  • #10
Done some research and I guess it depends on how much power you pump into to led. At some point the can generate lots of heat, but generally do not create much heat.

Seriously considering LEDs now. Forgot about the lenses that can focus the light down.
 
  • #11
Done some research and I guess it depends on how much power you pump into to led. At some point the can generate lots of heat, but generally do not create much heat.

Seriously considering LEDs now. Forgot about the lenses that can focus the light down.

Honestly, It depends on how much you want to spend.My leds were given to me, but average cost was about 2000 dollars. I will never go back to t5s after getting them. My leds are 300 watts. It DOES produce heat, but only because I have 4 heatsinks with 4 cpu fans, I use the heat to heat up my grow tent, if it goes over 83f i have the ac kick on. But, cooling leds is a huge benefit because of the increased durability and longevity of the bulbs :)
 
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  • #12
good lord! what brand of lights do you have?
 
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  • #13
I need to create around 2 or 3 foot of space above my plant so that they can flower freely.
I found that this is an exercise in futility. Cephalotus flower stalks can easily reach 3 ft & my U. humboldtii had a stalk last year that was over 4 ft. Unless you're growing climbing tuberous Drosera, it's often easier to bend the stalk over once a week to keep it out of the lights (assuming that you have at least 12-18" now).
 
  • #14
I found that this is an exercise in futility. Cephalotus flower stalks can easily reach 3 ft & my U. humboldtii had a stalk last year that was over 4 ft. Unless you're growing climbing tuberous Drosera, it's often easier to bend the stalk over once a week to keep it out of the lights (assuming that you have at least 12-18" now).

Thank you for sharing your experience. I tried bending them last year. The would grow like that for awhile then still randomly snap b

In hindsight I guess I don't need every stalk to survive. I will try to ponder some other ideas or just make due.

In my led searching I have found my dream panel.

Kind-led xl-1000 is the things dreams are made out of. Worth watching the video.

http://kindledgrowlights.com/product/led-grow-light-fixtures-k5-xl1000/
 
  • #16
Check out Rapidled.com. You can build your own set that would be perfect for your needs. The fact that there are solder less options make it very flexible. There are some good threads here that show some good results with rapid led setups. When I have time I'm going to share my setup.
 
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