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Low light levels

Hello, Zach here
As most of you know, I am a collector of pinguicula and drosera (I also keep many other species as well). Well, most of my collection (about 95%) is grown on a shelf placed in front of a large west facing window. It is nearing winter now, and I get zero light from that window, depsite being quite bright in the spring and summer.) The plants have shown a reduction of leaf size, and i am guessing it is due to the low light. I was wondering if anyone knows of a rather inexpensive form of way to use artifical lighting. I have one terrarium under gorwlights, and those plants seem ok. What is a good, cheap brand for lights? Can any flourescent light, if bright, work? Thanks-Zach
 
I had the same problem. As the sun moved south, my house blocked the sun from my plants on the porch. So, I just went to Home Depot, picked up two 6500k 4ft fluorescent lights, put them in the shop light fixture my dad happened to have laying around in the garage and made myself a simple frame from wood. I now have it suspended several inches above the plants on a timer from 6 AM to 8 PM. It seems to be enough light for the plants to do well, though I'm sure they would like a little more. I have not had them there long enough for the coloration to change, but I have noticed another wave of sundew seedlings sprouting with the increase in light levels.


SF
 
2 of those 2tube shoplight fixtures would work nicely. They need to fairly close to the plants though since regular 4' fluorescent tubes are not overly intense.
 
Oh yeah, costs. I think it cost me 6 bucks for two light bulbs and three bucks for the timer, one dollar for bolts. I happened to already have the fixture, so I don't know how much that would cost. I figure 11 bucks is a fair price to pay to keep my CPs growing!

SF
 
Tony,

2 ft bulbs are more intense than 4ft bulbs?? I thought they were the same thing, one was just longer.

SF
 
Snowy Faclon,
I believe that he means two of the twin-tube four foot shoplight fixtures... I hope that clarifies it!!
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Ciao!
 
Eh? er guess I better reread what I wrote.

actually kind of interesting because a linear fluorescent bulb of similar diameter puts out a certain amount of light per linear length. Which is why you get 20w for 2', 40 for 4', 80 for 8'.. ok so that's a bit off topic.

What I was trying to say was that 2 of the 2tube 4' fixtures would give sufficient light but even using 2 fixtures they would still need to be fairly close since light intensity for a standard fluorescent tube is not very high.

Or something like that anyway..

T
 
My light rack uses 3 - 4ft light fixtures each holding two bulbs for a total of 6. Each bulb produces 3300 lumens and are a mix of cool and daylight bulbs. Depending on the size of the plant, the tops are between 2-10 inches from the lights.

The lights fixtures cost $7 each. The bulbs $2 for the cool and $7 for the daylight versions. A timer was in use but was moved to another setup. Just waiting for the kind I like to become available again, $5 for the timer. The chains cost about $4 and the rack cost about $25 to make. The light rack is constructed from PVC pipe and some scrap wood. If you want the directions for making the rack I will send you the site I got them from. My rack is about 6 inches taller than what the plans call for.
 
Here is a photo of my better setup.

light_rack_6bulbs.jpg
 
  • #10
Nice light rack!

I use those adjustable, metal wire shelving units you can buy at any hardware store.  It's around $70 for a 6-1/2' tall, 4' long, 18" wide package with four shelves, so you could pack in a lot of plants.  It's easy to hang the shoplights from the wires of the shelf above, and even unhandimen like myself can set it up.  I have two, two-tube shoplights over the shelf right now.  It might be possible to fit a third, but i haven't seen the need because the plants grow great.

Old photo:
20030714-CP-CP%20Wonderland-my%20growshelf.jpg


New pic:
20031021-CP-Highland%20Terrarium%20and%20grow%20shelf.jpg


The mylar makes a lot of difference!

Tony, although the wattage scales linearly with the length of fluorescent lamps, the shorter lamps are less efficient.  Two 2' lamps produce less light than one 4'.  Just FYI.
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] (D muscipula @ Nov. 06 2003,9:54)]Tony, although the wattage scales linearly with the length of fluorescent lamps, the shorter lamps are less efficient.  Two 2' lamps produce less light than one 4'.  Just FYI.
Not sure what you mean by less efficient and less light.

The rating for wattage is actually a power consumption not light output. So two 2' 20watt tubes burn the same amount of electricity as a single 4' 40 watt tube.

Generally speaking two 2' tubes do put out a little less light than a single 4' tube of the same brand and model. This is simply because a little less surface area inside the tube is lit up if you take a 4' tube and break it into two halves.

Light output which is measured by lumens can vary dramatically and is totally dependent on the bulb. The higher quality daylight bulbs can put out 30% more light than the less expensive coolwhite tubes while using the same amount of electricity.


Tony
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Not sure what you mean by less efficient and less light.  
Basically, just what you said.  Whatever the reason, all other things being equal, you won't get the same amount of light out of two 2' bulbs as one 4' bulb, even though they nominally consume they same electrical power.  Don't mind me, though.  It's only of interest to those who are OC about lighting efficiency.
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The range of quality and specs within a single length can vary greatly, that's true.  The 'complete spectrum' bulbs tend to produce very few lumens (although better balanced spectra) compared to the more conventional cool whites.
 
  • #13
At least one twin bulb 4 foot fixture (the more the merrier), and as Tony states try to keep the surface of the pots as close to the tubes as possible for the best results. A rack will allow for possible expansion in the future, and will allow you to put the plants where you want them, instead of being confined to the window area. If you can do away with glass or plastic between the lights and the plants, this is MUCH better than terrarium culture. Even with forced air heating a film of vinyl draped down the front of the rack will allow for most species cultivation (not NEps or Heli's though). Good luck.
 
  • #14
well, this is what i did. I took all the light starved plants that seem to have smaller leaves (not too many, just few like D.montana tomentosa, hamiltonii, etc) placed them in a terraium, and but 2 flourescents over it. I went out a bought 2 fixtures with some very bright bulbs. Thanks for all the help-Zach
 
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