New to grow lights, questions to be had. :)

12 years ago

I bought an indoor Lisbon Lemon Tree. During the winter my house gets no light hardly at all. I'm looking at grow light setups. Which bulb would be best for the tree? I've heard both Halide AND High Sodium would be best because one can help it grow and the other for fruit and flower development?

I also plan to purchase a separate setup for my veggie seedlings to start them indoors early. Would Halide be okay for these? Or should I use fluorescents?

Thanks for the help.

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Comments (5)

Dan_in_NYC
12 years ago
Metal halide(MH) is the best. High Pressure Sodium is also excellent. Fluorescent are good but not as powerful- they need to be even closer to the plant(and you need real fluorescent grow lights- not the cheap ones from the hardware store). With any of these, you need blue spectrum bulbs (6k) for plant growth and red spectrum bulbs (around 3k I think) for flowering- when the time is right. With the MH you can now get a single full spectrum bulb that has both growth and flowering spectrum in one. These are expensive systems- especially the MH and HPS. Also, they are intensely bright. I tried the MH system in my living room but it was WAY WAY WAY too bright so I switched it for a fluorescent system with 6 t5 bulbs- much nicer to look at. This website has a good chart for comparisons- good luck.
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide3.shtml

Here is a link that might be useful: Indoor Plant Grow Light Guide
countcoco
12 years ago
For seedlings, the best and most cost effective lighting is just a fluorescent shop light fixture.

For your lemon tree, I would recommend that you use an MH fixture. You can get purchase them cheaply on ebay. HPS are more expensive and using one won't guarantee flowering.
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brkieffner
Original Author
12 years ago
Okay, how about the distance from the tree? I also plan to obtain a dwarf pomegranate, a lime and an orange tree to grow with it. Will they all be okay growing under it?

Last but not least what about growing tomatoes with them? I know it's a few questions but I really love tomatoes and want to try getting them year round without worrying about the yuck of the supermarket.
phishead03
12 years ago
I had a TON of luck with a 90 watt LED fixture this past year. The light is extremely intense, and it doesn't consume as much electricity as HPS. I was able to keep the light well above my seedlings and they seemed like they got plenty of light. In fact, my Marigold seedlings didn't even try to stretch for it when it was 3 feet above the plants.

My only concern about the LED lights was that there was no UV exposure, which caused my plants to sunburn a bit when I moved them outside. Next year I am going to buy some 1W LED bulbs to put into the fixture to see if I can add some UV to the plants before they go outside.
kchorticulture
12 years ago
WAIT just a few short weeks, please for your own sake! this winter i conducted plant growth trials for a new company with an amazing new product (due to a contract i signed i am unable provide any details). I was blown away with what i saw. Last i heard they were planning on launching their site in august and when that happens i will post a link. but untill then all i can say is that it will make any indoor growing system you were to get now old news. no i do not work for them (unfortunatly) other than those trials, im just really excited about this and wish i could share more. email me if you have questions

New to grow lights, questions to be had. :)

Comments (5)

Dan_in_NYC

countcoco

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New to grow lights, questions to be had. :)

Comments (5)

Dan_in_NYC

countcoco

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phishead03

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