LEDs for lettuce and microgreens

R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
Supra
So if I'm needing 192 watts from the fluorescent bulbs, I divide that by 3 and get 64 watts. So you're saying that should be a good number to use? So I'd find a happy medium between best coverage and upfront cost that adds up to 64 watts or more?

I need to figure out the DLI formula anonuumi used


Edit
The vero 18 at 30w, wonder if it could cover 4sqft, run 2 per 8sqft. Or get 3 of them over same area. Otherwise I'm up to 7 v10
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
Anomuumi

Nice finds. Your post got slipped in there on me. I had previously read speculations that it was long days that caused lettuce to bolt rather than heat but those papers look to say otherwise. Good to know.

Supra
How many vero 10 will that driver run? 4 at 300ma?

Pretty sure I messed up the math.
 
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SupraSPL

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
I believe that driver can run 4 or 5 Vero 10s at 280-300mA. There is a slightly cheaper bare version that I know for sure can run 5 Vero 10s at about 285mA..
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
Ha I didn't catch my mistake before you got there. Was in the middle of transplanting lettuce into the greenhouse.

I'll try running numbers with 4 to a driver.

Thanks
 
SupraSPL

SupraSPL

Well-Known Member
Yes if 192W of fluoro was doing the job previously, 64W of Vero 10 should match it. Sounds like you are aiming to cover 8 ft²? I believe 64W of Vero10 would do the job very well, very happy plants.

Depending on the shape of your space you could use a single Vero 29, although the coverage would not be as even and it would need a reflector to be optimized. In other words you would need a lot of vertical space. I use a 5000K CXA3590 on a CPU cooler at 18W to veg the tallest ladies. It works great and super efficiency (60%), but relatively expensive ($5/PAR W). A single Vero 29 at about 1.8A (66W, 40%, $1.25/PAR W). That would be the cheapest option because you could use a single $10 CPU cooler/fan
DSC07799a.jpg
 
C

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
I bet lightly run R+B arrays would work great for leafy greens.

Lettuce is a shade plant and thus does not have the same shade avoidance response that weed has.

I also know that lettuce seeds germination success rate is highly dependent on light intensity and quality. Darkness and 730nm will inhibit lettuce seeds from germination while a pulse of 660nm will cause the majority of viable lettuce seeds to germinate.
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
So for a 4ft x 8ft table:

Fluorescent - $132 setup, $77.40 monthly electric bill

Vero 10 - $340 setup, $25.80 monthly electric bill

Vero 10 is $208 more on setup, $51.60 cheaper a month to run. Paying back the difference in electrical savings in 4 months, and paying for itself completely in under 7 months.

Now to figure out if it's worth it.

Thanks everyone
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
Yeah lettuce is pretty short. To grow indoor the plan is to stack levels as close as possible to make most use of the air conditioned space.

From here I'll see what the market is like with my outdoor grow and see if it's worth going forward with an indoor grow.

Thank you all very much.

Now to plan out my personal pet project.

To come up with numbers for growing succulents, orchids, and micro miniature rose bushes indoors.

I want to mix leds into old Victorian esque vivariums like this
http://www.pennysdaybook.com/wp-content/gallery/terrariums/terrarium_victorianconservatory.jpg?ec9a06

Make the top solid to hide the leds and heat sinks.
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
So far the only number over seen for micro roses is " Very good success with miniature roses is obtained when the light intensity is in the 1400 to 1500 f.c. range." But this source also said to use a mix of warm white fluorescents, cool white fluorescents, and incandescents.


Orchids
Orchids_Lights_web.jpg
 
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PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
ROF42 said:
Yeah lettuce is pretty short. To grow indoor the plan is to stack levels as close as possible to make most use of the air conditioned space.

From here I'll see what the market is like with my outdoor grow and see if it's worth going forward with an indoor grow.

Thank you all very much.

Now to plan out my personal pet project.

To come up with numbers for growing succulents, orchids, and micro miniature rose bushes indoors.

I want to mix leds into old Victorian esque vivariums like this
http://www.pennysdaybook.com/wp-content/gallery/terrariums/terrarium_victorianconservatory.jpg?ec9a06

Make the top solid to hide the leds and heat sinks.
Click to expand...

Fluoros are a pretty good option for your current set-up, except for the rather low efficiency #s. Cobs(even if driven soft) in a stacked indoor farm are not your best option imo(spread will suffer greatly at close distances). You may wanna look at single emitter bar type led fixtures

http://www.bmlhorticulture.com/individual-light-bars-bml-custom-series/

http://www.thelettucepeople.com/product/philips-led-grow-light/

etc...........many more options


like I said before, it seems your running T8(T12?) fluoros already^^, why not just swap out for cree T8 led bulbs. work on 90% of the current ballasts. If it doesn't buy a couple T8 4ft single bulb fixtures for cheap @ local big hardware stores, you should add some reflectors on your current set-up anyways.


http://www.earthled.com/products/cree-4-ft-led-fluorescent-t8-replacement-tube-compatible-with-existing-ballasts?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&gclid=CO3Emdui2MICFVIV7AodoRQAiQ#.VJdVcsAKA

would be the most economical swap== no drivers/labor or heatsink needed

02c...................good luck on your build
 
R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
I tried talking to bml but he wasn't to communicative. The bars are clusters of leds every couple inches down the bar.

Reflectors on my table would be good. I currently have an insulation board with foil side down on top of my fixture. For the pvc setup can't do it, but it'll be moved to the greenhouse.

The cree replacement tube is expensive for a one to one replacement. Has less lumens and 10? Watts less.

How much height would a v10 need to cover one square foot driven at 8 watts?
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
ROF42 said:
I tried talking to bml but he wasn't to communicative. The bars are clusters of leds every couple inches down the bar.

Reflectors on my table would be good. I currently have an insulation board with foil side down on top of my fixture. For the pvc setup can't do it, but it'll be moved to the greenhouse.

The cree replacement tube is expensive for a one to one replacement. Has less lumens and 10? Watts less.

How much height would a v10 need to cover one square foot driven at 8 watts?
Click to expand...
YES..........but all of its 2100 lumens are going in one direction=== towards the plants:wink: no re-lamping for years, ROI should be easily achieved..........pricing will come down when its sold at the big stores eventually/hopefully.
 
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R

ROF42

Well-Known Member
Hopefully they start this spring, that's when I'll need to gear up. Gets too hot to grow outside.

@mc130p
Depends on how much lettuce one wants to eat. Joel Fuhrman recommends a person eat one pound of lettuce per day in his book eat to live. But that's without the standard salad dressings.
 
mc130p

mc130p

Well-Known Member
ROF42 said:
Hopefully they start this spring, that's when I'll need to gear up. Gets too hot to grow outside.

@mc130p
Depends on how much lettuce one wants to eat. Joel Fuhrman recommends a person eat one pound of lettuce per day in his book eat to live. But that's without the standard salad dressings.
Click to expand...
Haha, one pound! That's too much greens for me. I was thinking two or three sandwiches a day/5 salads per week, haha.
 
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