While I don't use LED's, I find the same is true with my setup of T 5's in my basement. I doubt it's from the light source. For me, I think it is a combination of fans and dry ( low humidity) base. I also find my Echies, which is the primary plants under lights, maintain their great color all winter long and don't get etiolated. My Aeonium Mardi Gras went from drab green/white to a deep purple banded color in a matter of days!!!!

This one hasn't completely changed but was all green/white prior to be placed under the lights.

This one has changed dramatically, IMHO.

How warm is it where your plans are - maybe that's why they are thirsty?

Or, maybe you are too concerned :)? - do you check if they need water or just looking for 'signs'?

Maybe I am underwatering, but it is about 1x/week -sometimes longer- before I water. Many jades are in cooler spot and they got watering about 2weeks ago.

My aeoniums started looking better while still outdoors but it was getting cooler, end of Sept or beg. of Oct. A. canariense is dark (but it was most of the year-except more limpy when hot), A. balsamiferum is definitely growing now and has many small offsets:

I'm trying to keep the room cool, but average temp is about 75*, much much cooler than when they were outside this past spring/summer.

When they're outside. I'm terrible at watering & generally, they only get rain, without supplement from me.

These days, I spend most of my time cleaning up withered leaves & trying not to knock over plants as i reachfor the ones with puckered leaves & light pots.

I know it's water that they needed because turgor improves dramatically & they'regood for 4-5 days before showing signs of drought again.

I'm having a helluva time keeping up.

NOT that I'm complaining :D

The rosy blush & leaf turgor makes me feel like i can last the winter, but that remains to be seen.

As far as checking to see if they need water, no, I don't. what draws my attention is dried up leaves & condition of plant.

If all is good, i leave alone. I have too many to fuss over =D

I am keeping them bit cooler, most around 68*F, and nighttime around 60*F. I have a spot closer to the heating outlet, it gets warmer there. I find I have to water those more often.

I should add that in past, all my plants have been overwintering in much cooler temps, just touch below 50*F. Lights were set on timers, and they got watered approx. 1x/3weeks or less - I was not living in the same house at the time...I worried about them being too cold, but after first winter I realized that they were in good condition (perhaps even better than when I used to fuss with them!) After 3 winters like that, they are now going to be in warmer temps - hopefully, I won't kill them with too much love (=water!) I am still hoping to figure out how to create a cooler spot for them...

I do pretty well same as you when outdoors - they get watered when it rains. Only if we don't get rain for more than a week or longer, I take the hose to them. I use tweezer to p/u any debris, keep knocking too many over as you do, or even breaking the leaves.

edited to add 2nd paragraph

Hahaha!!!! I keep a pair of rat tooth tweezers for that exact purpose in my kit!!!

The crested ones in particular can be untidy. i have them arrangedn the wire shelving with taller ones in back & shorter in front, still knockingm down though =P

I have yet to get my watering routine down. Right now, it'skind of willy nilly.

I'm going to the dollar store this weekend to get plastic trays to assist.

Right now, I'm inspecting for bugs & need for water, about 1 hour per day. On the following day, i pick up where i left off, since i can'tet them all watered at once.

How long does it take you to water?

I gotta get better at this or scale down.

hookilau ( please tell me if you prefer to be addressed differently ) what are the specifications on those costco shop lights you have? lumens, watts, temp... etc

I have a costco near me and I'm currently looking into grow light options! The last time I went to costco, they had a couple different ones to choose from, but I was hesitant in purchasing one to try it out.

http://m.costco.com/4’-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain%2c-2-pack.product.100284402.html

Yes, the link above are the ones I bought, except at our Costco, they went from 39.99 to 24.99. I happened to find myself at a Costco further out on LI this past weekend, but they still had them listed at 39.99.

I had been eyeballing them since last year but they were more $$ than I wanted to spend .

I am cautiously optimistic that not only will these work for me, but are inexpensive to run.

I'm going back to Costco this weekend to get 2 more to hopefully cover the reSt of my collection.

I only want to prevent etiolation until the weather here in NY is favorable again. Just the 2ish weeks of sitting in low light, waiting for me to get my butt in gear, weak, floppy and well spaced out growth was evident on several of my plants.

That has since resolved with tight, compact growth on the terminal ends, but a few are changed forever :/

I'm planning on updating with pics this weekend, right now it's kind of a mess in there & I'm actively avoiding doing anything new there but watering the puckered.

Trying to make it to Friday, so I can get everything in order =)

It's important to note that there are differing opinions on whether this is a good set enough set up to recommend.

I needed something that didn't require hard wiring, was not flush mounted, inexpensive and as user friendly as the old fixtures, less expensive to run & would prevent etiolation.

So far, this seems to be a good fit for me, but time will tell. One thing is for sure, my bluer plants are loving this lighting. The purple ones are also flourishing in a way they hadn't efore, even when outside.

I just realized I have a case of Feit LED standard bulbs available.. I decided to experiment also (while waiting on grow bulbs), and see if I can get any results. I shall update if something drastic happens...

Hookilau, how did your plants do after a full winter? I would love another update. I am trying LED.shoplights to overwinter my plants for the first time.