Moving Your Plants Indoors? Grow with lights!

8 years ago

Disclaimer: Some of you are far too deep into the dreaded 'Adenium sickness' and may not have the space to contain this many Adenium in your home. You have two possible solutions.

1) Rent the SuperDome

2) Send your Adenium to me.

Indoor
growing with lights!

For
those not accustomed to growing indoors: If you keep water and
fertilizer levels right, you should only have leaf drop when you
bring your plants in, or when there is a problem. Otherwise, your
leaves will stay on virtually forever.

If
your plant blooms, it may well bloom like crazy, and the flowers will
last a long time without the harshness of the sun and weather. We
want pictures!

There
are many different types of lighting solutions available for growing
indoors; we'll only be discussing the two I believe are superior for
our needs and the two I have tested over the past two years: LED's
and florescent.

LED

LED's
use very little power, and when they are used in grow lights, are 'tuned' to the correct color
spectrum to make plants grow and/or flower. High quality LED's are still
somewhat expensive compared to florescent.

Banks
of LED's in Panels

A
quality 12” X 12” 'bank' of LED's with a mix of red and blue
LED's should be $100-150. I use two GlowPanel 45's which can still be
found for $149 new, although I got both of mine on eBay for $99, they are very popular now and are even $149 on eBay. I overwintered my Adeniums with these and saw more blooms than
I had ever received outside. Many more. Another thing: your leaves
will turn a deeper green than you ever imagined. I believe the LED
colors spectrum is so perfect that the plant goes into 'overdrive'.

LED's
for Standard bulb socket

These
LED bulbs can be screwed into a standard socket, and are relatively
inexpensive. They usually contain 6-10 LED's and have a somewhat
limited effective coverage area when compared to the large banks,
which is obvious. (A quick count of the GlowPanel LED's gave me 112).
These bulbs can be found for as little as $20, and the only
additional cost is a standard socket with cord.

Florescent

I
bought two “shop light” florescent fixtures from Home Depot and
ran these alone in a test last winter. These fixtures each hold four
bulbs for a total of eight bulbs. My Adeniums did not grow as quickly
or bloom as much under this light. It will keep your plants growing,
but not 'overdrive' mode like LED's. One shop light can be purchased
for $49 and a 10 pack of bulbs will run another $34.

Notes
about indoor grows and the different lights

1)
I have a timer, but I always wind up setting mine to 24 hours on.
Always. I have never seen a bad response.

2) If you keep your growing area warm,
and the plants are actively growing, you will still need plenty of
water and you should still fertilize. If you use gas or another 'dry' heat, pay special attention to them.

3) Keep the lights as close to the top
of your plants as possible without burning. LED's are usually cool
enough for 2”, while florescent are variable depending on size and
output.

4) In keeping with #3, you will want the ability to raise and lower your lights. There are special devices made for this purpose, or you can create your own.

5) If you use florescent, you need to
purchase 6500K bulbs. These are considered 'daylight'.

6) Protect surfaces from water damage:
Drip pans for all pots, protection on walls from overspray, etc. Even
if you don't think it will ever get wet. Trust me, it will.

7) Choose your grow area well. A long
area along a wall can be perfect. Just remember that you will need
to access each of these plants for several months, so having them
'four deep' on the wall will make it impossible to water. Obviously, your light must also be able to cover whatever area you choose. If you can,
leave some space for getting down on your knees and tending your
plants. You'll thank yourself later. (and we also want it to be easy
for you to take all of those pictures!!)

8) LED lighting is the superior indoor
growing light, with somewhat higher initial cost.

Featured Answer

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

8 years ago

Jedoba I agree with your entire summary here. I find myself quickly replacing my florescent fixtures with LEDs. I'm sure the neighbors are wondering what the heck, it's a little early for Halloween but okay....

I've ordered a second Mars double unit and a tent to better control the temperatures. The only downside to upgrading to LEDs is the need to provide supplemental heat. The LEDs do generate a low amount of heat but not enough to sustain fast growth in young seedlings.

Tracy

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (28)

addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years ago
Nice summarization of the artificial lighting options Jedoba.
jedobaTX9b thanked addicted2plants Southern IL USA
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you. There is so much information that I did not include such as something called "overdriving" florescents which almost doubles their output. I figured I would start the thread and if anyone has any questions over the next few months, I'll be happy to help.

Anyone with information is welcome to join as well.

Many people still don't realize how well LED'S perform. This information should interest anyone attempting to grow tropicals up to at least zone 10, and most of us are 'zone stretchers'.
Related Discussions
clematis - how/when to move young plants from indoors to outdoors
Q
Comments (1)
Move them outside when you don't have any more frosts or freezing temps. You must let them get used to being outside, you need to acclimate them. Bring them out for one hour the first day and increase time for 2 weeks, then they will be fine. You could grow them indoors if they are doing OK, it's up to you. You need also to slowly expose to the sun. The first few days I would leave in the shade, slowly increasing sun exposure daily too. By the last day 8 hours outside and in the sun or whatever your exposrure is. They do need sun.. 14 days is about right, works best for me. I keep mine in the garden, one is about 25 years old. I added four more last year. The 25 year old one is massive, I cut it completely down every year. It grows like crazy and produces hundreds of flowers. Pruning depends on what type you have. 3 groups exist, each are pruned differently. Brushwood Nursery has a good grow guide for Clematis Here is a link that might be useful: Clematid Grow guide This post was edited by Drew51 on Sat, Mar 15, 14 at 16:42
...See More
When do you move your plants indoor for winter.
Q
Comments (12)
Although I don't plan it this way, this is pretty much how the timeline works out: First you have to have a few ratty old blankets & sheets. Then, when the nighttime temps get down to about 35°, you run outside with'em and carefully cover up the plants you're most worried about. This stage will often continue for 10 or more days. As the nighttime temps fall and the morning dew becomes ever heavier, you'll probably need to add to your stash of plant covers. I recommend nearly-worn-out rugs & towels. Ignore the dirty looks your neighbors give you on the days you don't have time to remove the covers before leaving for work. In my area Ma Nature usually begins to get serious about the whole Fall thing the 2nd week of October, sometimes with nighttime temps as low as 29°F. When this happens, a body has to shift into overdrive. First you must snatch any and all quilts, comforters, etc. off the beds, drag them outside, and heave them over the plants. Then back inside to the bathroom - grab every single towel you've got and artfully arrange them over the quilts & comforters. If you're still not sure, go for the throw rugs. Because all this stuff can get pretty heavy, you may have to haul a few chairs/stepstools/ladders outdoors to hold the weight off the plants. Remember, don't worry about the neighbors. Odds are that within a few days of you being left with no household linens the first real Hard Frost will occur. Here, Big Frost Day always starts off bright, warm, & sunny. You won't be at all worried about frost because earlier in the week the weatherguy told you not to be. On the way home from work you may notice that it's getting a wee bit cloudy - but you're still not worried as you once again go through the now-familiar nightly ritual of plant-covering. After supper you'll be watching the news on TV, all toasty in your jammies, and that damned liar of a weatherman will come on and cheerily inform you that there's a Hard Frost Warning for tonight. This news will play utter havoc with your happy thoughts and for a second - just a second! - you'll consider leaving your precious plants to fend for themselves. Then that little part of your mind that's somewhat unhinged will kick in and you'll leap to your feet and head to the rescue. After you've taken 5 or 6 steps you'll come to realise that it's raining and you're wearing slippers. Oh well, this won't take long! First you have to lift and drag the soaking-wet rugs, towels, sheets, old sweatshirts & boxer shorts, quilts, tablecloths, comforters, doilies, bedskirts, curtains, pillow shams, armrest covers, and every single afghan Grandma ever gave you off the plants without breaking anything. Obviously, this'd be a lot easier if it wasn't so dark. After all the coverings have been lumped in a giant, muddy heap, you can begin carrying the pots indoors. Well, I say 'carrying', but since the icy-cold rain is now pouring down, the pots will, by this time, be completely soaked. And really, really heavy. I'm pretty sure that cold water weighs more than warm. So drag/lug/roll the pots inside to their winter homes. For mine this is the carpeted front porch, which is horribly unfortunate, of course, since all the freakin' throw rugs will be outside in the soon-to-be-mouldering heap. Once you have all the plants inside that can fit, be sure to pick up the worms, chunks of mud, and gobbets of stuck-together leaves that fall off the bottoms. Before shutting the door to the porch you need to locate any cats or other small animals/children and remove them (they'll be digging in the pots). Luckily, you don't need to worry about cleaning anybody's paws since there're no dry towels. At this point you may want to remove your slippers and toss them outside. The first hard frost never happens on a Friday or Saturday night so you'll absolutely have to go to work the day after. Try not to worry about the neighbors... And that's how I decide when to bring in the plants.
...See More
Advice on lighting setup for growing flowering plants indoors
Q
Comments (1)
Hi Ã¢ÂÂSouthCountryGuyÃ¢ÂÂ, which information you were searching and you had found. I had some issue on setup of light in indoor cultivation. Hope your information can help me.
...See More
Grow light suggestions for beginner indoor growing?
Q
Comments (7)
Sorry to hear about the induction light, but I'm not surprised that it sold that quick , that was a great price. Here is a great website that explains LED lights: http://ledgrowlightsreview.org/ From what I've seen and read, unless you buy a good LED unit which has quality leds with lenses and good heat sinks, as described in the the guide there, is good quality over all, the LEDs are useless. It's still fairly new technology and unless you're gonna get the top brands that implement those lenses you're just wasting your money. A good unit costs around $1000 from what I've seen. Those units that you found on craigs list are a waste of money imo. My overall suggestion is go with what's known to work. There is a reason why most indoor growers either use Fluorescent, Metal Helide and High Pressure Sodium lamps.... because they work :) Sure you'll see and hear great things about those UFOs from people on youtube but unless you personally know the person keep in mind that those people most likely are either trying to sell this stuff or are just full of it. Just ask yourself this, this person who is selling them only after a month! He praises them :) but still selling them :) If they were so freakin great why wouldn't he keep them???? My advise, once again is to invest in Florescent T5HO setup. It's compact, runs cool and energy efficient, easy to disassemble when you'll move again, you can grow different varieties of plants and it works. If you want higher yields/grow tall plants and have lots of room for these lights than go with MH and HPS combination. If you're set on the LEDs than go with quality brands and spend the money. I'm gladly sharing what I know with you so no need to say sorry. That's what these forums are for.
...See More
addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years ago
Jedoba I read your post and thought to myself, two LED's? Did you get bit by the LED bug and have to get a 2nd right away? I find myself wanting to put LEDs all over my house. Kinda crazy, I know. There is only one item on my Christmas list this year! The 192x5w is what it will take to eliminate my florescent fixtures.

Tracy
jedobaTX9b thanked addicted2plants Southern IL USA
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I found a great deal where they were $99 combined. They are usually $149 each. At the time, I only had a few Adenium, and was even growing tomatoes. I know what you mean, I want these things everywhere! I would have an indoor jungle if I could only afford the lighting. My love for plants is neverending : my wallet is not.
ladylotus
8 years ago
Jedoba, wonderful information. I am really glad you were able to place the key points and include costs. Thank you.

What is "overdriving" florescents?
jedobaTX9b thanked ladylotus
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Overdriving a florescent panel involves opening the electical (often top) portion. Once inside, you can see a "ballast". In simple terms, the ballast takes the power from the wall socket, and converts it into a lower power that the bulbs can use.

In a two bulb florescent panel, the bulbs are powered by one ballast, with two positive and two negative wires - one set going to each bulb. To overdrive that panel, one would combine the positive and negative leads, and send both to one bulb rather than two. Then, you would purchase another ballast (usually around $10.00-15.00) and use it to power the other bulb.

It's a bit of work, and it shortens the life of the bulbs, but the result is ~90% more light. Since florescent bulbs already have a long life, it's really not bad.
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
I found something interesting today! I found a 225 LED panel for $37.99 with free shipping on Amazon. I'm going to purchase one and run it through the tests. It has 4.3 out of 5 stars.

Erligpowht 45W LED
Pagan
8 years ago
I got that yesterday, Jed. It's arriving on Wednesday. I also ordered this since I prefer to customize.

Pagan
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Oh, congrats Pagan! Can you tell me what you think of it when you get it?
addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years ago
Very cool, Pagan. Oh the excitement of a new toy! Or in your case, two! Are you going to use the light bars for along the sides? Tell us about your custom layout.

Tracy
Pagan
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Nah, I don't put lights on the sides, Tracy. For that, I use illustration boards--those things that are black on one side and white on the other. I paint the white side with elastomere paint (they reflect the highest amount of light) and cover three sides of the shelves where I put my winter growers as well as other succulents that need maximum light even when dormant in winter.

My adeniums used to just sit all over the house, out of the way. I think this year I will consign them to the basement where they will be lit but not get supplemental heating. I did that to a bunch of tworlings last winter and they just went semi-dormant which is perfectly alright with me.

I'll definitely take blinding pictures when I am done setting things up, Jed.

Now, LED lights are cool. But this arrived today, and this is the best toy ever.
I'll go stare at it more.

Pagan
Sinha
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Nice article about grow lights Jedoba, the types are really mind boggling though.A quick search on google yielded this result "http://m.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-led-grow-lights-china.html " lined up on aliexpress...which again makes it difficult to understand for the uninitiated.We have mostly 10-11 hrs of light in winters and it starts to be reaĺly cold by end dec/early jan. I have thought of covering my baĺcony with a plastic(transparent) to make it into a make shift green house.This winter atleast I am not going for lights till I see how they manage (the plants)
jedobaTX9b thanked Sinha
katiedolittle
8 years ago
Pagan what are you going to do with that tool you work wood to

roger
Pagan
8 years ago
My basement looks creepy after sundown and the LEDs are still on. There are only two plants there right now, but the autumn spraying has started. When I get the Erlwhatsis, the exodus will start. It will look even creepier.

Pardon the OT: I just needed a low-angle jack plane, Roger. I had to save up for a good one first. My general purpose plane right now is a No 4 and usually too aggressive for some things.

Pagan
Marie Tran
8 years ago
Jedoba, you are a serious grower....

I am looking into it this year, because I lost so many each year.

So can you show me the LED lights you get it from Ebay, I want to see what it looks like.

So I can get one for myself.

Thank you for all info. End of September already, soon the plants look so sad in the cold garage.

Marie
jedobaTX9b thanked Marie Tran
addicted2plants Southern IL USA
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Marie mine that are still outside are dropping all of their leaves. Can't believe we are already into September. Tonight the rest of my plants are coming indoors since temps will be below 50F degrees overnight. I just received my second Mars LED double unit yesterday. My tent will be here Friday. I am not done growing for the season!

Tracy
Marie Tran
8 years ago
Tracy, you are so right, we are gardeners, everybody wants longer growing months. Winter is so depress everytime I look at them.

But at least I am in Houston, I have about 2 more months before bringing them inside.

Marie
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Oh Marie! You are the serious grower here! I don't hate many things, but I truly hate winter. Even as warm as south Texas is, it's not warm enough to grow the plants I love year round.

So, after reading that adenium can have a difficult time with dormancy, I decided to research lighting options. Now that I have grown from seed, I am even more dedicated to caring for my babies. I'm sure we all feel this way.

The panels that I currently use are no longer manufactured, but are still available. My panels have 112 lights, and costs $149. Pagan and I found a newer panel made by another company that has 225 lights, and is under $40. Pagan ordered one of these, and I'm waiting to hear what they think about it. If it seems good, I'm getting two.
Pagan
8 years ago
Grrr
Phil UK zone 8b
8 years ago
Looks similar to my first led light I got via ebay for £19.99
Pagan
8 years ago
I finally received this contraption last Thursday and installed it last night. It is just as horrible as my two TaoTronic bulbs lol I'm glad I got the goggles.
I'm in the middle of the plant exodus at the mo. More notes later!

Pagan
Pagan
8 years ago
Okay, here are my thoughts so far:

This Erlwhatsis LED panel is a 45-watt fixture that provides about 20k lux of plant-yummy light at a distance of about 4 inches. This drops rapidly to 8k to 10k lux at a distance of about 10 inches from the panel. Light intensity also declines the farther the plant is from the center of the array.

I have two 12-watt TaoTronics bulbs on either side of the panel and they throw out 40k lux but they have a circular array of LEDs so that's actually only a light point of about 2 to 3 inches in diameter, declining rapidly outside the focal point. Basically you can put one plant in the middle and anything around that one plant will be poorly-lit.

Just to put in context, direct sunlight is over 100k lux, increasing in intensity as you get closer to the, er, sun, measured in astronomical units of 150 million kilometers.

To improve light distribution, I am planning to attach white panels on the sides of this shelf.

Above this setup is my other plant shelf, under T5HOs.

Now, if you want to keep your plants growing throughout winter, a 45-watt panel is not going to be enough light to keep your plant compact, especially if you are planning to heat the area up to summer temperatures and keep feeding them. This will work for me because I do not plan to keep them heated in the basement, nor to feed them. IME, this slows them down to the point of semi-dormancy. Basically, this is winter shutdown for some of my adeniums.

That said, LED grow lights generate wavelengths very specific for plant growth. That part, I have to monitor this winter since it will be very different from plants just scavenging usable wavelength from daylight T5HOs.

In my home office, though, that's a different story. That stays tropical all throughout winter.

I hope this helps someone!

Pagan
Dain (Zone 5a, high NM Desert)
8 years ago
Pagan, thank you for the info. It's exactly what I was interested in knowing. I think i need something that will put out about 30k lux at 10 inches. This panel seems too weak. The hydros seem too strong.
jedobaTX9b
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you Pagan! My LED panels create a similar level of light. I want to restate that I get less etiolated growth under these than sunlight even though the lux is much lower. As Pagan said, the sun contains ALL of the color spectrum - even portions that harm the plants, and therefore the lux numbers don't need to be the same.
Dain (Zone 5a, high NM Desert)
8 years ago
Pagan, how are your plants under the panel doing? In your opinion, how close to the panel is a good distance for your plants?
Pagan
8 years ago
The adeniums under the LED light does not seem to mind it, Dain. My panel draws only 45 Watts of power so the light is not as intense as the more powerful kits which can go up to over a thousand Watts, depending on what you get. As such they are as close to the panel as I can get them, because they just had a full summer out in 8 hours of direct sunlight.

Remember though that as it gets colder, I am hoping they will go semi-dormant in the basement. Nearly all my other plants are winter growers, and will need some attention. I don't want to have to babysit others that should really be sleeping!

I have two adults that I am consigning to the basement for the first time. They are each under 25-Watt LED bulbs, also as close as I can get them. No complaints so far. I don't expect anything significant to happen until the winter sets in completely.

Pagan
Sinha
8 years ago
Last night I ordered two led screw on bulbs.I am now fully convinced after my blue plastic experiment that it works.Will take approx 3-4 wks to arrive from China, by which time I will actually be needing them as winter would start here by then.

As for where to fix them...I am sure I shall find a solution for that!

Moving Your Plants Indoors? Grow with lights!

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

Comments (28)

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

Related Discussions

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

ladylotus

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

Pagan

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

Pagan

Sinha

katiedolittle

Pagan

Marie Tran

addicted2plants Southern IL USA

Marie Tran

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

Pagan

Phil UK zone 8b

Pagan

Pagan

Dain (Zone 5a, high NM Desert)

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

Dain (Zone 5a, high NM Desert)

Pagan

Sinha

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Moving Your Plants Indoors? Grow with lights!

Comments (28)

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

Related Discussions

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

jedobaTX9bOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author

jedobaTX9b
Original Author