Grow lights

[Homegrowngoodnes]

I have been researching grow lights but they are all so expensive. During my search, I discovered that grow light bulbs are for sale separately from the entire grow light itself and I got an idea. Now while I am no electrician by far, I do know how to wire a darn light fixture. You can buy a plane jane ceiling light fixture for under $2 each, a single gang box is also under $2 each and I can get grow light bulbs for less than $3 each. I figure with what i have in mind to grow, I can make it happen with 10 grow lights for roughly $70 and get enough germination mats for about the same and a timer for about $10 and a temperature control for $20-30. That gets me nearly 100% germination rate for about $180! In theory...hahaha! I am not counting the cost of my grow medium and et cetera because those expenses would be accrued either way.

 

[deluxestogie]

How many 1020 trays are you expecting to require? In what kind of environment will you be starting the tobacco?

Bob

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

The seed will be germinated in a small heated and cooled room attached to my garage. It is approximately 60 sq ft and we keep it about 72 degrees year round.

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

I expect to use 16 to 18 48-cell trays.

 

[deluxestogie]

Have you considered the alternative of setting up cold frames, and using (free) sunlight?

Bob

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Cold frames? Theres only 1 south facing window in my house...

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

So a cold frame is like a miniature greenhouse? I do actually have some old windows...

 

[deluxestogie]

Building a Cold Frame [University of Florida].

 

[skychaser]

The seed will be germinated in a small heated and cooled room attached to my garage. It is approximately 60 sq ft and we keep it about 72 degrees year round.

Kick the heat up to 75 or 80 and you have a perfect place for germination. And forget about heat mats. 72 degrees is good too. A little warmer just helps them germinate faster by a day or two.

Florecent shop lights are cheap and work well but you need to keep them within an inch or two of the plants or they will stretch for the light and get very leggy. I used a cold frame my first year and it worked great. You can't beat natural light. Plastic works good and so do old windows. Just be sure to build it strong enough that wind doesn't tear it apart and remember to open it up in the mornings so you don't cook them during the days. A cold frame lets you skip that hardening off step too.

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Hmm the possibilities...

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Hmm the possibilities...

So with a cold frame i wouldnt need heat mats either? I mean its bound to still be in 40s n 50s in february...maybe 60s. Only time will tell i guess.

 

[billy]

id say recommended for healthy seedling growth is around 2,000 lumens per 1020 tray. so x16-18 trays thats around 300 watts of LED, actual pulled watts not equivalent. some plants after 1st month do best with double that, or start putting them outside in the day.
these things vary and the range in which a plant is not dead is rather large but its something close to that.
link-> amazon light this might be the cheapest/easiest way to get lumens instead of bulbs everywhere . just standard 6500k can grow seedlings fine or combine with window light if possible. each of those shining a 3'x3' space is appropriate. which sounds like alot but sunlight is several hundred times brighter than average indoor lighting. maybe that helps with visualizing lighting needs.

outdoor based things gives you free light at the cost of temps being the issue instead. might be overly cold at night. or solar oven in the day if not done properly. or require venting at proper times. buying lights gives you more plug in and walk away setup where you dont have to worry about as much.
with how cheap LED's are getting id probably go that way for peace of mind. but im lazy and OCD so worrying about my seedlings in a coldframe inst for me

 

[billy]

i was looking more at packs of lights like the ones i linked. some get almost 50k lumens for 45 bucks. that an absurd amount of photons per dollar lol.
thats about 6 times more lumens/dollar than professional grow lights. and 3 times more than cheapest shop lights i could find.
wish i knew i could have saved money on my garage lighting.

but otherwise the only point of the proper grow lights is bit better efficiency, dimming and easy height adjustment, and spectrum but any light 5000-6500k should do fine for seedlings

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

I would probably do 4 but that would be $100 in bulbs alone

 

[Yultanman]

id say recommended for healthy seedling growth is around 2,000 lumens per 1020 tray. so x16-18 trays thats around 300 watts of LED, actual pulled watts not equivalent. some plants after 1st month do best with double that, or start putting them outside in the day.
these things vary and the range in which a plant is not dead is rather large but its something close to that.
link-> amazon light this might be the cheapest/easiest way to get lumens instead of bulbs everywhere . just standard 6500k can grow seedlings fine or combine with window light if possible. each of those shining a 3'x3' space is appropriate. which sounds like alot but sunlight is several hundred times brighter than average indoor lighting. maybe that helps with visualizing lighting needs.

outdoor based things gives you free light at the cost of temps being the issue instead. might be overly cold at night. or solar oven in the day if not done properly. or require venting at proper times. buying lights gives you more plug in and walk away setup where you dont have to worry about as much.
with how cheap LED's are getting id probably go that way for peace of mind. but im lazy and OCD so worrying about my seedlings in a coldframe inst for me

Dont get the garage light. A newer style led grow light that pulls ~100w should bee under $100. Get one that uses lm301 chips. Get a dimmable one

It will come with a handy adjustable rope hanger. Probably a therm/hygrometer too and maybe some sunglasses

The garage light will work. Everything @billy said is correct. The difference with the grow light vs garage light will be a finer tuned spectrum, the addition of uv and ir light and green. All of these encourage more vigorous plant growth. Will you have success without them? Yes. However, by supplying everything the seedlings need your plants will be healthier and happier and more resistant to environment inconsistencies and imperfections

 

[billy]

ya but the problem is a nice 100 watt can do seedlings on maybe 3' x3'max. putting 1 high enough to cover his 16-18 trays youd be down to probably 100 PPFD readings and for me around 300 is where good transplants start.
so i was trying to just min-max output per dollar to make budget work. i have a rack of 6500k led tubes ive grown under so i know plain lights can work if need be. but its either budget on garage lights, some packs have 50-90k lumens for 48-60$ which would light the trays well if aranged in a rectangle with white walls or shiny walls, but missing the things of nice lights. otherwise number of plants indoors is too high for budget. option 3 is fashion something to raise seedlings outside. which is more viable for him than us cause hes in the south so should have plenty of season length where seedling arent needed to be inside like the north
or option 4? or 2 again. could maybe have a smaller light and heat mat setup and stagger planting dates if you have south length growing season

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

So, to cover 16 to 18 trays, how many 1200w grow lights do you suppose i would need?

 

[billy]

actually im just starting to think thats a bad idea, even though its my own, im a bit tired and slow, bear with me lol
well say a 4 pack of 160w, 64k lumen total. -> these 4pack lights on paper thats great if all the trays are togather and somekind of reflective wall on the edges. all would grow well to transplant size and it only 50 bucks.
but 13hr day at avg cost is $30 a month. so just in one growing season your electric cost already superseded your buy in cost. thats a reason why big indoor growers buy 800$ lights is cause they arent just overly fancy, they will be cheaper.. eventually...

so apparently i forgot my own reason why i upgraded from cheap lights. brute forcing bunch of cheap lights even if led is only cheap at first.

so i dont know what your goal is with so many plants but if you need them all at the same time id probably do something like cold frame option. or if timing dont matter and you want to have somekind of indoor light, staggered planting date option with 1 nice efficient light could be good, if that works for your goals, but we could discuss that if applicable

 

[Yultanman]

ya but the problem is a nice 100 watt can do seedlings on maybe 3' x3'max. putting 1 high enough to cover his 16-18 trays youd be down to probably 100 PPFD readings and for me around 300 is where good transplants start.
so i was trying to just min-max output per dollar to make budget work. i have a rack of 6500k led tubes ive grown under so i know plain lights can work if need be. but its either budget on garage lights, some packs have 50-90k lumens for 48-60$ which would light the trays well if aranged in a rectangle with white walls or shiny walls, but missing the things of nice lights. otherwise number of plants indoors is too high for budget. option 3 is fashion something to raise seedlings outside. which is more viable for him than us cause hes in the south so should have plenty of season length where seedling arent needed to be inside like the north
or option 4? or 2 again. could maybe have a smaller light and heat mat setup and stagger planting dates if you have south length growing season

Agree with you that more is better. 2 of the lights i mentioned running at50% light 4x4 for seedlings no problem with room to grow.

I do admit that i dont use artificial light all the way to transplant but use a greenhouse once i move them from cups to 1/2 gallon pots

So mileage may vary depending on how long youre keeping them inside under the lights.

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

At this point i am weighing all options and trying to iron out the details. Whatever will happen has to be prepared before time has come to pass. I calculated as much as my wife and i would consume in 1 1/2 years. If I use 48 hole flats there will be say 18 trays. If i go 72 hole flats then only need a dozen probably. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 850 plants altogether. It will save us approx $5,000 per year before cost. It will cost a bit more in the beginning but many of the things we need are reusable.