incandescent death-ray?

15 years ago

Spring of 2008 I rooted and grew out 24 cuttings using a blue-light incandescent bulb which put out an unusual, but effective, blue light. Well, the blue bulb burned out, and I have not been able to find a replacement. So, this year I switched to a regular light bulb!

This Spring I had 8 cuttings, all well rooted and with growing leaves. Until I used the regular bulb, at which time all the leaves turned grey on their edges, curled up, dropped off the cuttings, and I watched as every last one of the cutting died. The light bulb was never any closer than 24 inches to the leaves.

Has anyone else had an experience similar to this, or were my cuttings victims of some mysterious pathology? I tried putting my hand under the light at a distance of 24 inches, and did feel some warmth, which is why I suspect the incandescent bulb is a death-ray to newly growing leaves....

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Comments (5)

kkfromnj
15 years ago
Sounds like insufficient/wrong light, at 2 feet doubt heat would be a problem, also not the best light for plants, general rule of thumb is 50 watts a sq ft for optimal conditions. I run various sized metal halide / high pressure sodium lights this time of year.

Here is a link that might be useful: lights
jackinct
15 years ago
The link does indeed provide some useful information. I've been using for about 10 yrs now for growing veggies & flowers from seed in my basement what are usually called "flourescent grow lights". The bulbs and the fixtures are typically available in the light bulb area at a home center and tend to be cheaper than at a garden center. These grow lights are suppose to reproduce the rays of sun's spectrum that the plants need. I have mine on timers and are set to go on & off as per my local sunrise and sunset (the rule of thumb for most plants is not to have the lights on 24 hrs day). I have the fixtures suspended on chains and I can raise the fixtures (by shortening the suspension length) as the plants grow; typically the bulbs are 3-4 inches above the tallest germination (they are all on a big long table so I don't have to bend). Being flourescent, they are not very warm at all to the touch.
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oxankle
15 years ago
I've tried growing plants under incandescent lights but never had any luck with it. Never killed one, but they just do not grow.

At present I have a never-used remote ballast and a fixture that will take either sodium or metal halide bulbs out in my barn. (They belong to my brother's widow) The materiel I've read indicates that this unit, 400 watts, will cover about a 4 ft square area. Twenty-five watts, half of what KK suggests. It also says that the intensity is goverened by distance from the plants, so apparently all that is needed to get 50 watts per square foot is lowering the fixture.

These units are pretty expensive but the literature says that they are cheaper than buying the grow lights individually? Anyone know?

Brother even opened the boxes before he passed away. I looked at the ballast but have not even opened the reflector box.

I put my cuttings in a clear Wal-Mart storage box and set it on a hot pad in front of an east-facing patio door. But then I am a widowed hermit and can get away with such. So far they (the ones in vermiculite) seem to be thriving. Last year I put them all in vermiculite and got tremendous results. This year those in perlite went belly up very quickly.
Ox
oxankle
15 years ago
I've just done a bit of exploring. I was floored to find that the bulbs for grow lights are so expensive; high pressure sodium and metal halides, 400 watts, around $30 each. I also found some LED grow lights but they seem to cover only about two square feet and run 13 watts or so. They are up around $50 per panel.

Conventional screw-in flourescent grow lights, 250 watts on Dallas Craigslist this morning, $50 each.

Anyone familiar with any of this?
Ox
steve_nj8
15 years ago
Ox,

Over the winter, I bought a four foot fixture that holds four bulbs for about $175 including four T5 Lamps - 54W,
6500K. It works like a champ.

incandescent death-ray?

Comments (5)

kkfromnj

jackinct

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