LED Grow Lights

[dkh2]

LED Grow Lights for the 6 week indoor seedling start up.

OK guys I'm researching this and I tell you there is a war going on with the stores
that sell the regular grow lights against the guys that sell these LED lights
I just got off the phone with a stare that sells regular stuff in Portland Oregon and man
the guy was lying through his teeth about LED light bulbs
I also asked him why all his stuff was 50 to 60 percent off .....I think I hit a nerve on that one
The reason I'm looking at these is that there very low on electricity usage 12 to 15 watts
for the one I want but I don't want too send away to Hong Kong for it.
I just want to get them growing with a cheaper than 150 dollar set up.
I seen these bulbs for around 29 to 39 bucks with a 50,000 hour life span
Any way have any of you guys ever used them ?

 

[dkh2]

That's a 12 watt bulb there

 

[FmGrowit]

Why not just build a cold frame? Natural light is way better than fake light. I start my seeds outside at the end of March or early April and they always grow to full maturity.

 

[dkh2]

Here it can get below freezing at night in April
I have a green house But I don't put any seedlings in it before May
I want these to start around the first of April under a controlled environment
where it's 70 degrees pretty much all the time To give them the best start possible

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I know nothing of leds, how many lumens/ what kelvins are they?

Cfls are cheap and work great

 

[dkh2]

That one is 460-465nm (blue) and 630-640nm (red) its like having one 2000K and one 4500K bulb

Here is another one of just blue LED

 

[dkh2]

Exclusive Tight-Grip Clamping System
Green Thumb CFL lights are great for helping orchids, bonsai and all houseplants to maintain healthy growth. This grow light comes with a full spectrum 40 watt CFL bulb and 6' power cord. The 5000k bulb provides increased output in the red spectrum which promotes flowering in plants. The 5000K bulb is full spectrum bulb which promotes overall plant growth. Bulbs are 5000 lumens (Equal of two 150W incandescent bulb). Average CFL bulb life is 10,000 hours. Bulbs fit into a standard medium socket. Requires 110/120 volt outlet. Bulb Size 6.5" x 2.5"
29 bucks for this one

 

[SmokesAhoy]

You don't need cfl "grow lights" head down to walmart and get the 150 watt equiv soft whites. should run around 10 for the bulb. Soft white is the blue spectrum.

 

[deluxestogie]

Why not just build a cold frame? Natural light is way better than fake light. I start my seeds outside at the end of March or early April and they always grow to full maturity.

Don,
I'd love to read the fine details of your method and facilities. Maybe a photo of the cold frame setup.

As you and many forum members likely know, the historical tobacco growing regions depended on being able to plant seed in an open bed (preferably a freshly cleared and burned patch in partial shade on a gentle south-facing slope) in late spring, to have transplants available by late May or early June. Since the seed germination is temperature dependent, the broadcast seed would wait for the soil temp to increase before germinating. This process was usually successful, though sometimes not.

Being able to avoid the tedious intricacies of indoor germination, heat pads, grow lights, and the purchasing and handling of countless little pots would be a welcome change. I believe your average last frost date is a bit later than mine (which is 15 May).

Bob

 

[BigBonner]

I have to coment about the timing and temperature of seed germination .
Back years ago when we sewed outside tobacco beds .
In late fall tobacco beds would be plowed and sometime gassed shortly after . Beds were covered and beded down with plastic for the gasing .
Some farmers in early February would take the plastics off the beds then work out clods in the soil , then sew the seeds in February covered with light straw and then covered with cotton fabric pegged down . Plants would come up when they were ready to .Cold , frost or freezing had no effects on the plants .

I always sewed my beds in March on a warm dry day . My plants would be ready to transplant the same as the ones sewed in February.

Now using a green house is totally different . Seeding one week later than the other will be a weeks difference in transplanting time .
The sun in a green house in early spring feels like the middle of summer

Adding extra fertilizer under younger plants will make them grow at a faster pace but the faster grown seedlings will be extremely tender and will snap of easily .

I also forgot to mention about Ember days . I try not to plant tobaco on Ember Days . I was always told tobacco would not grow or may die after transplanting tobacco .
I did plant on Ember Day one year and the tobacco had to be replanted . I don't know if there is any truth to planting signs or not . Old timers when I was young had signs to go by . When to plant corn , set chickens , fish , plant taters , everything has a sign to go by .

 

[FmGrowit]

I've never used a cold frame for tobacco, but have used them many times for tomatoes, broccoli, peppers etc...the same principle applies to tobacco as any vegetable garden plants though.

I've always used a temporary green house with raised beds. My beds are 4 way pallets turned upside down with the bottoms covered in filter fabric and filled with soil-less potting mix. The soil-less mix is just peat moss with fertilizer and a little compost mixed in.

For a cold frame, I've always used an old storm window hinged to a south facing barn wall. The sides can be made out of plywood cut on an angle and the front is basically a 1 x 6 cut the length of of your storm window.







For the bottom, put down a layer of brick or a few inches of gravel for a few days before you load the flats into the frame. The brick will absorb plenty of heat during the day to radiate enough heat to prevent the seedlings from freezing. If prolonged period of below freezing temperatures are in the forecast, you might have to put a 100 watt light in the frame for a couple of nights, but I don't remember ever having to do that. You can add insulation on the outside of the frame if you want to. Hay, straw even leaves work fine as insulation. I think the biggest advantage to using a cold frame over starting seeds indoors it the plants will be a lot easier to harden off and they'll be on the same clock as the sun. Indoor plants could be tricked into thinking fewer hours of sunlight means it's fall and time to make seeds...that's just my theory though.

Just remember to lift the window during any sunny days so you don't cook the plants.

My greenhouse is another story though. I almost always have to use a heater to warm up the beds and keep the temperature up.

 

[Chicken]

i plan on starting mine under lights,,,

but going L.E.D. is much more expensive than a normal PLANT/AQUARIUM bulb and fixture would cost,,,

ive allready constructed my box, and done a test run in it,,,

i grew some CASTOR-BEAN seeds in it,, the temp was good,,,,,and i put in a fan to circulate the heat..{ which isnt much}

,,my box waiting on its plants,, with '' DAYLIGHT..PLANT/AQUARIUM BULBS,''

..

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-12-22
//

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-12-22
//

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-12-22

i insulated the box,,,,allthough the temp's in florida dont get real cold, i aint taking no chances,

...

By chickenhawk435 at 2012-01-06
///

By chickenhawk435 at 2011-11-28

the box im using,, is also my baccy kiln,

 

[dkh2]

The CFL Light I'm looking at costs 30 bucks and that's with the
Clamp-on Fixture + 40W 5000K Bulb $29.95

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/lights.shtml

 

[Chicken]

The CFL Light I'm looking at costs 30 bucks and that's with the
Clamp-on Fixture + 40W 5000K Bulb $29.95

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/lights.shtml

the light you had in your link,,, i.m.o. will work nicely,,,,

me personally,,, id use a ''y'' type fixture, and just buy 2 of these bulbs,

 

[dkh2]

Well I bought neither What I bought was a T5 6500k 24 watt High Output single 24 inch tube "Blue" Florescent bulb type.
It cost 28 bucks for the fixture and bulb and tomorrow I'm gonna start some tomato's.
If I am happy with the results I'll expand this system later on.

 

[Daniel]

BB By putting together things you have said in two separate posts I take it you start seed (In beds outdoors) In march for a June 5th or later planting. Is that correct. What abotu a greenhosue where the plants will grow from the time the seed is sown? Also how tall do your plants get before being set?
After reading the messages yesterday I am thinking about moving my seed starting date back even later than April 15th and shoot for a first week in June set date rather than May 15th. Last year I was able to grow all my plants indoors to about 6 inches tall in 6 weeks. I realized then that faster did not necessarily mean better but did not recognize any problems. I basically looked for them to be compact and well developed but have nothing to go by in the way of comparison. Some of the start times I am reading seem huge to me. Starting plants 3 months early. by what I did last year I would be harvesting some of the tobacco in three months.
It was my impression that my plants where short but they produced on average 1.8 ounces of cigarette tobacco per plant. What it seemed to me was that even though the plants where stunted they still produced almost the same number of leaves and that the leaves where not stunted nearly as much as the height of the plant was. I had a couple of varieties that produced nearly nothing so that throws the average off.

Anyway after the last couple of days I am wondering if a longer slower start woudl be better for my tobacco. If so how long should I shoot for to bring the starts to a 1 inch leaf length. I can do that in 4 weeks right now. I have to stay with this shorter size this year due to space as well as I do not have the larger pots to transplant to this year. Last year I would transplant the one inch leaf size plants to a 6 inch pot and continue to let them grow to a 6 inch leaf size or larger. This would be at 6 weeks. then they would be set outside. I am pretty sure I can slow the growth down by setting them outside when it is cold but not freezing.

Does tobacco naturally sprout in colder months and take longer in getting going?

Mainly I am trying to get better at starting the plants. I already don't see any problems but realize their is always better.

 

[BigBonner]

Daniel

I use a green house , Only the light from the sun and gas as heat when it gets cold .

At one time I only used outside float beds these beds were made the same as the ones in my green house . Outside float beds only use plastic cover when the seeds are seeded and plants are tiny . The plastic has to be removed every day before the sun get warm . It can be cold , but when the sun pops out it will get hot under the plastic and kill the seedlings from the heat . Outside float beds I put a typar cover over the beds from seeding to transplant . Here is some reading on float beds .

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id132/id132.htm


Here is a picture of some early plants I raised to sell last year I think these were started around March the 20th not the date the picture was taken .This is the size ( Maybe a little bigger not much ) I transplant into my fields .

Here is the trays I direct seed into

Over fertilizing young plants will make them snap with a little wind . Starve them some to make the tuff and they will take off growing better .

 

[dkh2]

Here is a picture of some early plants I raised to sell last year I think these were started around March the 20th not the date the picture was taken .This is the size ( Maybe a little bigger not much ) I transplant into my fields .

Are there mini versions of float trays .....Something on the size of 24 inches by 18 inches ?

 

[BigBonner]

Are there mini versions of float trays .....Something on the size of 24 inches by 18 inches ?

All the float trays I have ever seen was the same size . 26.5" long x 16.5" wide x 2.5" deep.

 

[dkh2]

I didn't know that.
I always assumed they were about 4 foot long.
Do you put some sort of moss in the bottom of the holes to keep it from
draining out into the water or does it stay in there by it self ?