LED Grow Lights

[dkh2]

I did some searching around the internet for some home made float trays
and here is one made from 2 inch thick Styrofoam and Styrofoam cups
And I have a lot of 2and 1/8 Styrofoam left over from my attempts to make a kiln
All I need to do is buy some cups and I'm in business.

Keep in mind that I'm only going to plant maybe up to 40 plants so this will work for me

 

[Daniel]

Okay first of all this is not a challenge to BB and his ability to start a plant. I am really worried that peopel will jump to that conclusion. My photo also is not nearly as good at showign the plant as bb's is. this is a tray of 8 plants The pencil gives some reference as to how big they are etc. BB starts plants by the thousands if not hundreds of thousands. these plants must be grown so that they can be planted with a machine. I woudl no even want to try that stunt. I stick seed in the soil and do my best to get them to grow and grow well. I am not concerned about keeping them at any particular size etc. My question is which plant is most likely to grow better? seriously I have no experince to compaire and I think assuming the better looking plant woudl grow better is a mistake.
This was 8 of my plants from last year at 5 weeks of age. at 6 weeks they where to big to keep in this tray. At the time they where set out it was to cold and they got set back a little. In the end these produced on average 1.8 ounces of tobacco per plant being grown with 1 square foot of space in a 5 gallon bucket.


So my question is. Am I better off to do what I have been doing or switching to what BB is doing? They are not apples to apples. I am gardening he is farming. I can afford to give more time, space and attention to every plant. BB works with a crop.

 

[dkh2]

Well these threads tend to sway off course a lot.
When I see a new idea that I like to try I'll make a post about it.
From what I understand the float tray method has some good advantages for
the back yard gardener and the farmer.
It's a efficient use of water and fertilizers and the production of superior seedlings in
terms of uniformity and drought tolerance. Research has consistently shown that yields are the same or tend to be
better than from the conventional way.
I think most of us here are just bouncing ideas off one another a person can take it or leave it
and go with the way they want to do it.

 

[BigBonner]

Daniel

The plant in the hand in my picture needed to be trimmed off the longer leaves I trim with a mowing systen in my green house . More plants can be grown in smaller areas if trimmed . The plants in your picture shows alot of leaf to them . I assume you are fertilizing them heavy to get them at that size in 6 weeks .But I noticed the bud is low in the middle If you were to trim the larger leaves to give more air room the bud will stalk up a little higher . The large leaves in the hot sunshine will stress the plants more than smaller ones will . Those leaves showing now don't amount to much in the end they will be bottom trashy type of leaf .

The benifits to float beds is amount of plants per square footage . No every day wattering or fertilizing and you can raise flower or vegetable plants right along with the tobacco plants .
What you will need to do to care for them is keep a check on float water fertilizer and add as needed . Cover with plastic during cold times or alot of heavy rains .
You will need to trim the plants to even out the plants from smaller ones . Trimming will level them out and let air flow between the plants .10 Trays can be easily trimmed with a pair of sissors .

As far as amount of leaf produced from float plants or any plant will be determined by the soil type and the weather .Some years I will get close to 3000 lbs per acre and some years I will only get 1800 lbs per acre .Thats anywhere from .25 to .50 lbs per plant .

I say if what you are doing to raise plants is working don't change it , or try some of both and then you woill know .


This picture shows Dark fire / air on the left , Bursa in the middle and TN 90 on the right . These were set at the exact same day . Right after planting a heavy rain fell on the field about 4" worth of it .
Note the difference in the varietys growth .

This one is Burley planted in a field that was partially drowned out from rain , this was in part of the field that water didn't hurt so bad . One thing to say about this picture is the plants should have been topped earlier . I was way behind when we were topping this field .

 

[BigBonner]

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 ?

That home made float tray might work good for you .I did some last year just to see how they would do in styrofoam cups filled with my soil . What I did was take a cup and cut three holes at the base of the cups about the size of a pea , filled the cups with soil and added my pelleted seed . I placed them in a tray and filled it half full of water . The cups was put side by side with nothing in between , they wicked up water just like they should . This worked very well . the only problem with them for me is the amount of soil it took to fill one cup .I could probably get ten plant per one cup of soil using my 200 cell trays .
" NOTE" put seeds in cups before wicking up the water and never press the soil after wicking .

I know we may have gotten off topic . What I wanted to say is I think that you cannot totally reproduce the sun . Whether its cold or hot .

As far as moss or other types of soil wicking up proper moisture to germinate the seeds I couldn't tell you if it will work or not . Others may know about the moss and mixes .

 

[deluxestogie]

Larry,
What soil do you use within the cells of your float trays?

Bob

 

[dkh2]

That home made float tray might work good for you .I did some last year just to see how they would do in styrofoam cups filled with my soil . What I did was take a cup and cut three holes at the base of the cups about the size of a pea , filled the cups with soil and added my pelleted seed . I placed them in a tray and filled it half full of water . The cups was put side by side with nothing in between , they wicked up water just like they should . This worked very well . the only problem with them for me is the amount of soil it took to fill one cup .I could probably get ten plant per one cup of soil using my 200 cell trays .

Those Styrofoam cups look like 12 oz cups, they sell 4 oz cups at walmart too.
In this picture ..I got it from the same page as the other one they hardly put any soil in the cup.

 

[BigBonner]

Those Styrofoam cups look like 12 oz cups, they sell 4 oz cups at walmart too.
In this picture ..I got it from the same page as the other one they hardly put any soil in the cup.

Dan

For tobacco plants those cups will have to be filled to he top . If you don't you may get black root rot , The stem at the soil level will develop a rot in the lower part of the stem that meets the soil .
Another thing when the plants are the size of a half dollar piece they will be down inside of the cup with no air and cause the leaf to rot then the stalk and cause all kinds of problems .Tobacco has alot of moisture in the plants .
2 gallons of leaf clippings from my green house will weigh app. 25 lbs or more .

With the soil being low in the cup you will not be able to keep the water level right .With a full cup of soil you can fill with water until its a little over half way up the cup and not have to fill the container until the water level is 1/2 inch from the bottom of the cup .


Bob
Fortified sunshine is the soil name . There are other brands out there .



72 cell (vegetable) tray

75-80 cc of soil per cell

Dimensions: 13.5 x 26.5 x 2.5

882 cell (plug) tray

Dimensions: 13.5 x 26.5 x 1

Float trays:

Dimensions: 13.5 x 26.5 x 2.5


242 cell tray

20 cc of soil per cell



253 cell tray

17 cc of soil per cell



288 cell tray

15 cc of soil per cell



338 cell tray

approx. 15 cc of soil per cell


Dimensions: 13.5 x 26.25 x 3

200 cell tray

27 cc of soil per cell

 

[Daniel]

Larry, Thanks for that comment. I think I am going to stick with what I know in regard to starting seed this year. This field is going to be enough of a change for me in one year anyway. It is pushing all my space to it's limit but I can find room for all of them. I know as we expand our growing to other things like a vegetable garden I am going to have to switch to a more compact starting system. I will keep the trimming in mind prior to planting. I do see a stress on these plants when they first get placed in full sun.

 

[Daniel]

Larry, Thanks for that comment. I think I am going to stick with what I know in regard to starting seed this year. This field is going to be enough of a change for me in one year anyway. It is pushing all my space to it's limit but I can find room for all of them. I know as we expand our growing to other things like a vegetable garden I am going to have to switch to a more compact starting system. I will keep the trimming in mind prior to planting. I do see a stress on these plants when they first get placed in full sun.

 

[BigBonner]

Larry, Thanks for that comment. I think I am going to stick with what I know in regard to starting seed this year. This field is going to be enough of a change for me in one year anyway. It is pushing all my space to it's limit but I can find room for all of them. I know as we expand our growing to other things like a vegetable garden I am going to have to switch to a more compact starting system. I will keep the trimming in mind prior to planting. I do see a stress on these plants when they first get placed in full sun.

Daniel

Trim them anytime they start crowding each other .

 

[dkh2]

OK back to the light
I have 3 tomato, 5 lettuce and a bunch of herbs that came it's own little mini green house
all under my new little grow light.
And as soon as my worm bin thaws out I'll try some tobacco seeds with my
special blend of soil
I'll keep you posted

 

[dkh2]

This morning the Tomatoes are sprouting and starting to stand and some of the Herbs
but no Lettuce yet all in TWO DAYS I think I'm going to like this T5 light
So far it's doing what that guy at the light store said it would do.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Don't get too excited, you might be suffering from the placebo effect. The LED can't be having an impact on your tomato plants, they require heat and moisture to sprout but not light- Now if your tobacco sprouts in 2 days... that's a different story!

 

[dkh2]

It's not a LED light it's a 24 inch T5 6500k Florescent type light and 2 days IS RARE for Tomatoes.
It's also a very common sign of Worm Castings in the soil.
Worm castings do speed up germination of seeds
Worm Castings have a wide variety of nutrients and enzymes missing in most soils.
I think it's a combination of the T5 light and Worm Castings

 

[Chicken]

t-5's are very expensive,,

im going to use my 2' tubes and '' over-ride'' them in the future,,,,

overiding them means taking a ballast meant for a 2 tube system,,and making that 2 tube ballast push one bulb,

it increases the lumens of a normal bulb to be just as bright as a t-5, bulb, without the cost,,,

if your intrested i can find the you-tube link for you explaining how to do this,

 

[dkh2]

This one cost 28 bucks even ( No Sales Tax in Oregon ) it has an electronic ballast.
All the websites suggest 3 of them piggy backed together that would come to 84 bucks
and the electrical consumption of a 72 watt light bulb 24 watts per bulb for me that would be ok
because of my limited amount of available garden space I wouldn't need any 4 foot lights
I hope the damn power don't go off today and all those tomato starts go reaching for the light out the window
It's snowing big time now 7 inches forecast today and 8 inches tonight and a lot more tomorrow

 

[Chicken]

they make them where the whole assemblly has the tubes in them

a good website that is decentlly priced is,

high tech garden supply.com

and for 84 bucks or less you can get a 4 tube t-5 system with one cord, all contained in one unit,

 

[dkh2]

I saw those
I went to a local store and checked out stuff and bought what I could afford.
I have been getting very little work and I'll just have to buy stuff when I have the
cash to spare.
I all ready have a stand to put the fixtures into and it's expandable I figured it out and
I can put 3 of these lights in it and all will fit there nicely
I built it out of scrap wood and lined it with foil
I had a crappy T8 in it for 4 or 5 years and never was satisfied with it but this T5
is all ready doing a better job

 

[Chicken]

i hear ya brotha,

my job hasnt exactlly picked up yet ,,,hopefully tomorrow we start a new contract job,,,12 miles of road to resurface,,,

you should see the lights im going to use for my inside starting,,, 4 foot tubes { old as hell fixtures} i got 2 fixtures.. 4 tubes,,,

i just aint sure yet when i want to start my seeds... last year they were in the ground april 1'st. this year i may wait till may,,,so soon,, i'll be starting them,