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Tropical Fruits

Do any of you use grow light in winter time

9 years ago

I move all of my tropical fruits back in basement during winter time. I do have windows and do get sun all day long if not cloudy. But for some reason my Malika, Pickering and Red Guava did not make it this winter. I got them last summer from Pine and did good during summer.

I believe that my basement got cold enough to kill it (I have small area heater), but I do have other older tropical plants in same area. I might try to use xmas lights on my plant this year to keep it warm. So my questions is do you guys use any type of LED grow lights and if so can you recommend any specific company.

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Comments (5)

keri_guy
Original Author
9 years ago
Anyone???
bananafan2
9 years ago
Ankurt, yes I do use florescent lights indoor for most of my indoor plants. In the Winter, I will bring in some more sensible plants from my garden to protect them. I don't know what kind of specific lights to use that is best for the plants, but I'm using the regular florescent tubes and sometimes the compact flourescent light (daylight) to just give them some lighting to help their growth while indoor. So far, the plants I have indoor are Christmas cactus, lilies, lavender and mini roses. I had to bring my Panudus (pandan), Rambutans, Soursop inside when the thermometer dips down too much for their comfort level. One of my Rambutan began to show signs of leaf growth while indoor with the light, so I guess it must be liking the attention it was being given. Now that the weather is warming up, it's sitting happily outside in the sun. Just my own little experience with indoor lights. Hope that helps.
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keri_guy
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for your reply bananafan2. I have few fruits in pot (mangoes, sapote, custard apple etc...). I have them by window but most of the time in Atlanta its cloudy in winter, so thought of adding some LED grow light to help bloom in Spring and keep it warm in my basement.
jbclem
9 years ago
I'm using High Output (HO) T5 flourescent bulbs, 4 ft long, in 4 bulb fixtures. They put out a little heat (I don't think LEDs put out any heat), and work very well. Since the fixtures are 48" long and about 24" wide, I've hung plastic sheets all the way around and down to the table...forming a kind of greenhouse which collects heat inside. I also have heat mats under the plants...this helps considerably, especially in the middle of winter when you want to germinate seeds. These T5HO bulbs produce plenty of light, lumen wise and I often have two (of the four) turned off to conserve electricity and this still works well.
keri_guy
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks jbclem. I was planning on using LED since they produce more lumens for size and wattage. I read on some other forum that LED do produce some heat, but again I will have heater around my plants.

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