LEDs for lettuce and microgreens

Yeah it seems like a crazy amount. I need to get back on a diet. If I'm selling a healthy diet I should look less pudgy. I'm just so addicted to southern style sweet tea, and nothing but sugar will do.

Should be able to get lettuce to a seventh of a pound per head in four weeks from my reading, some do better than that.

Don't grow iceberg. Only reason to grow your own is to try odd and unusual varieties. It was either key lime or crisp mint lettuce that was sweet to the tongue straight from the garden. That and no pesticides which is a big plus when doing other leafy greens.

If you like spicy try green wave mustard greens. It's likened to wasabi. Very tasty. Normal mustard greens are not to my liking but love green wave. It's also fun to give to the unsuspecting

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.

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Definitely a great candidate for stacking. With the Veros you may find that you no longer need AC or very little. That will really put a dent in the electric bill

I use a Vero10 at 150mA to light my living room but I can swap out the driver with a 300mA and give you a report on how much distance to canopy would be ideal.

It looks like 7-8" from canopy would give you a good spread at that intensity.

Nice, thanks supra.

I'm in Texas, definitely need ac here, but yeah hopefully would take a good bit less

http://www.gpnmag.com/daily-light-integral-defined

Lettuce and greens are not going to need 17 dli. I have some japanese mustard thriving outside above 45N and I am averaging 3-5 dli over the last 2 months or so....kale too....

Most species of lettuce [Lactuca], if not all, are shade tolerant and many are shade dependent. Lettuce and most greens will have far lower dli requirements most other veggies [Especially those who we are dependent on for fruiting...... where 17 dli is usually a minmum or healthy growth]

You can see evidence of or reduced light levels not affecting lettuce growth in local forests where weedy lactuca species are even now in December, full of growth. This is a time where light levels are significantly reduced and air temps average between 40-50F during the day......

Yeah it seemed strange to me, but that's where cornell university information puts them for full growth. I forget which type of lettuce that was though. They say another type gets tip burn about 15.

So how much square footage would you give a Vero 10 for growing lettuce?

ROF42 said:

Yeah it seemed strange to me, but that's where cornell university information puts them for full growth. I forget which type of lettuce that was though. They say another type gets tip burn about 15.

So how much square footage would you give a Vero 10 for growing lettuce?

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I have a serrano doing good under 20 w/sq. ft under 4x Vero 10 3500k. I also have some kale as cover crop in my seedling pots that exploded under that much light [1+ inch of grow per day] .....10w's/ a sq ft? Wasn't that Supra's original recommendation? I think that would be a good place to start.

Imho, I think you will find that colder species that are heirloom varieties will even lend themselves to as little as 5w/sq ft for growth.....just a though, not really predicated on anything but my own gardening research and such.....

Thanks. That may be part of my problem. I bought seed earlier in the year so looked for heat resistance in the description.

Supra said a third watts which brought it to 60 something. But one per square foot is just easier to space out for even coverage. Plus that's underdriven at 300ma.

The green wave is Japanese I believe. I'd assume your mustard is pretty spicy too.

I need to get lacento kale going. I miss that stuff

Nice setup with the fluorescent lights! How far apart are those tubes from each other?

The way I see it ...
This set up will benefit greatly in many aspects ( i.e. energy consumption ,water utilisation ,final product quality & quantity ),by the use of a blue+red LEDs combination.
This combination is the most efficient power-wise ,from any other possible solid state alternative.
Many researches for lettuce and other green leafy herbs,shrubs and vegetables ,have underlined the many advantages of
blue+red monochromatic solid state lighting.
The most important of all is the increased anti-oxidant content (vitamins,flavonoids,etc ) in the final fresh product.
Furthernore some low driven warm white COBS ,like VERO 10 or Vero18 ,can be utilised along with red and blue diodes,
in order to provide the rest of wl ,but most importantly to provide a good color rendering light ,
so that the visual inspection and health / vigor checking of the plants is possible / feasible .

May a suggest a DIY -ready solution ,along with few COBS :


CC driver on board,also ...


http://www.led-mounting-bases.com/product.php?id_product=338


Fluos,remain a nice illumination solution ,but with low power efficiency ,decreased service life ,lower quality & quantity final product yields and of course those mercury drops awaiting to become a hazard and few more disadvantages ..

I may also suggest a brand :

Multiple Hans Panels(the 150 W ones )
http://www.bonsaihero.com/index.php/led-growlight-150-watt
Maybe ,with the spectrum (LED diodes ) slightly custom-tuned ..


I can't think any other alternative ,as the best illumination solution for this set-up .

Cheers.

ROF42 said:

Thanks. That may be part of my problem. I bought seed earlier in the year so looked for heat resistance in the description.

Supra said a third watts which brought it to 60 something. But one per square foot is just easier to space out for even coverage. Plus that's underdriven at 300ma.

The green wave is Japanese I believe. I'd assume your mustard is pretty spicy too.

I need to get lacento kale going. I miss that stuff

Click to expand...

what lettuce varieties are you running? interested, as I have got on a kick over the last year and a half or so and greens too.

I actually just read up on green wave from a local organic seed supplier/grower, think I am going to pick up some and give it a try, to compare to what I have now. I only know it is from a mix of organic greens and can't find the genius/species info.....but it is stout almost like 2 year old horseradish root. The leaves are still popping after a hard freeze and have tanged up a few salads of the last few months

@stardustsailor
thanks, I'll look into the anti oxidant thing. I'd have to go a diy route. Those hans panels are pricy and don't cover a four foot wide table like I need. I don't see coverage listed for those light engines.


@anomuumi
I forget, I'll measure when I go over there. On the seed table it's 6 evenly spread across an 8 ft table. With the pvc pipes, well not near enough light.

@Abiqua
I've been through a number. I'll post the current ones when I go over there. I need to seed out several hundred pots today

@Abiqua
List planted today. Some of these are common, all from johnnys selected seed I believe

Paris island
outredgeous
Black seeded Simpson
dark red lollo rossa
Concept
Firecracker
Green star
Salad bowl
grand rapids
Caesars favorite
Little gem
slo bolt
Loma

Anomuumi
Currently 16 inches apart for seed starting bed (6 lamps). My next lamp has 8 over an 8 foot table and I'll redo the current light with 8 as well

How does lettuce do in cooler environments like say a cool basement?

Should do fine as long as you have the light. Lettuce is a cool season crop

Sweet looking rig for sure.