Grow Lights...What do you use?

What brand of grow lights does everyone use? I want to know!

1. Brand & size

2. Pros

3. Cons

4. Price range for your chosen light. Is it low end, mid range, or high end?

5. Any other tips to consider when choosing a grow light?

Thanks!

Comments

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    Don't get one that sits on top of a seedling tray cover. Needing to keep the cover on encourages disease due to humidity--I'm losing a tray of watercress that way right now. Bummer!

  • lewis.mary.e
    lewis.mary.e Posts: 225 ✭✭✭

    Ferry Morse

    2 foot light fixture

    Pros - They fit inside of the bins we use to keep the cats from eating the seedlings.

    Cons - None so far.

    We bought 2 at about $30.00 a piece.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I bought the cheapest ones I could fine that had good reviews. $33 each for two double-bulb LED fixtures.

    https://www.amazon.com/Monios-L-Spectrum-Integrated-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B072J2T878/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Monios-L+LED+Grow+Light+Full+Spectrum%2C+30W+2ft+T5+High+Output+Integrated+Fixture+with+Reflector%2C+Hanging+System+Combo+for+Indoor+Plants&qid=1612972610&sr=8-1

    These replaced some single-bulb fluorescents that had been used for a couple of years previously. The simple fluorescents worked fine for growing seeds and sprouts all winter, but weren't putting out enough light to keep tomato starts from getting leggy.

    Also, there was no way to lower the fluoresecent light fixtures, which were screwed directly to the shelf above the shelf on which the plants were growing. The new grow lights hang from an adjustable wire, so I can lower the bulb to sit just above the plant and move the bulb upward as the plant grows.

    I'm looking forward to trying to start tomatoes and peppers this spring, and finding out if this solves the legginess problem.

  • water2world
    water2world Posts: 1,177 ✭✭✭✭

    Never used Grow Lights, but I think I will give it a try! @VermontCathy I like the fact that you can raise/lower the lights!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @water2world I figured that adjustable would be a non-negotiable for me. To have it fixed just seems like it could cause too many issues.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Part of your requirements will depend on what you are planning to grow and how long they will be under lights. Lat year my husband built me an 8 - 4 ft long bulb hanging set of lights suspended from a pulley so it could be raised and lowered as needed. It worked fantastic for seed starting and growing my starts to about 2-3 inches.

    At that point I transplanted into 4" pots and moved into the finally ready, greenhouse addition on our cabin. Since there was an open doorway between the cabin and it I was able to add a little warmth there just by using the woodstove we were already using to heat the cabin.

    If what you are doing is just greens like lettuce and such, we have used florescent lighting in the past successfully. That won't work if it is a flowering plant. Have not tried it yet with the led lights but should work the same.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @vickeym I am not sure yet. I would like multi purpose.

    I am thinking lettuce or medicinal & culinary herbs (all would be great), and barley mats for the birds. I am not sure if I want more than that right now.

  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It sounds like mostly greens at first and not flowering. You might give it a test with an led fixture or two and see what you think. If you like what your doing then replace them or add better lights such as the grow lights to expand your capabilities.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 2021

    I used to just use shop lights as I could get them free or dirt cheap. I have mainly switched to the lights that use less power now. I get thin chains from one of the hardware stores to raise and lower the lights

    Its necessary to have lights that adjust up and down. You put those lights as close as you can to the plants to help prevent them from getting leggy. My lights over my tomatoes are only an inch above them.

    @VermontCathy Pepper plants need started earlier than most seeds, especially the hot varieties. They can take up to 3 weeks to germinate so you have to take that extra time in to consideration.

    I also use a tanning sheet along the back side of my seed starting tables. It bounces light back on to the plants so they get every ounce of light they can.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin
    edited January 2022

    Okay, I'm back to this subject with a new and possibly irrelevant question.

    I'm looking at LED grow lights again. There are plenty of full spectrum lights to choose from. BUT...they are red & white/purple, white or yellow.

    Why are there different colors? Does anyone know?

    @VermontCathy How did your lights turn out? Did they work well? What did you end up growing under them?

  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,390 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I bought a Ferry-Morse table top grow light last year.

    It's 22 inches long.

    I paid $37 last year for it at Walmart. Seemed like a lot but it was the cheapest I could find.

    It worked well. (The problem is my cats think I'm growing things for them to nibble on.)

    I looked at the LED lights online but wasn't sure about them. Figured I'd get the old fashioned kind.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Yes, they are working extremely well. The sprouts and shoots grow at least as well under them as they did under the cool white fluorescents, but now I can successfully start tomatoes from seed, which never worked until I got the actual grow lights.

    Most grow lights look sort of purple. That's because plants absorb most of their energy from red and blue light, not green light, and the bulbs are designed to put out light in the frequencies that will do the most good.

    Look at it this way. Plants look green because they reflect green light. If they are reflecting it, they aren't absorbing it. They are absorbing the other parts of the spectrum, and that's the red and blue.

    If you have a green flashlight, a red flashlight, and a blue flashlight, and you point them all at the same spot on the wall, the spot will be white! Then turn off the green light, and you'll have a purple spot.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @VermontCathy I found it on the Canadian Amazon site & bookmarked it. I would prefer to listen to reviews from people I know are real and honest rather than just any old review.

    The other thing is it is just one instead of a set of 4.

    Thanks!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    I got my LED grow light today. Wow, that's a bright (magenta) light! I have to say, I'm not a fan of everything glowing that color! Haha

    I found a 4' one that will work for my space. My next thing will be figuring out how to change the wiring...which is not up to me to get done) & what to put in for a shelf in that area.

    I want to put an order in for the special herbs I have been thinking on too, but I've been so busy with other things lately (including going through a pile of new herb books and trying to figure out how we want to trap a weasel & protect the birds), that it's hard to get everything done.