New to this forum - need help with lighting

Hi - I asked this question in the Daylily Forum and it's not getting much of a response.

I'm interested in using high-intensity lights for raising daylily seedlings. I'm guessing hydroponic people know more about lights than most. Can you give me some advice for selecting one? I don't have a greenhouse, but would like to set one up in my potting shed so I can take care of a bunch of daylily seedlings I plan to sprout this winter.

What is the difference between the various kinds and what should I look for for this use?
I've been checking the hydroponic websites and I'm getting pretty confused.

Metal halide or high pressure sodium? I have found some fixtures that will accept one bulb of each. How much wattage?

Thanks in advance.

ivory

i do NOT know anything about daylily seedlings
BUT most hobby people raise seedlings under flourescent lights
you see the racks or shelfs with the lighting fixtures
sometimes only 2 bulbs sometimes 4 bulbs
they are anywhere from 20 watts each to 40 watts ea
so the max could be 4x40 or 160 watts per shelf
but they are kept VERY close to the seedlings
MH is VERY bright & generates a LOT of heat
so would have to be kept at a distance from the seedlings
to keep from burning them
HPS is very expensive but has the color spectrum for blooming
also very bright & needs to be kept at a distance
$$$$$ is what lighting is all about
i don't think i have answered your question
but hope you can make a better decision now

Dick

As stated above, Metal Halide are used mostly for growth and High Pressure Sodium for flowering (the yellow spectrum is supposed to encourage blooming).
On each of those there are speciality bulbs available which have higher output and or specifc color temperature values. IMHO for small operations it is not worthwhile to pay the premium for these specialty bulbs.
Flourescent is more economical for small growing areas or for plants with lower light requirements. HID is better for larger areas at which they are more efficient which off-sets their higher initial costs.
For MH for medium to high light plants calculate approx 5' X 5' coverage for 400W, 8' X 8' for 1000W.

Milan

Thanks for your advice.

Ivory-
I am also trying to grow plants indoors under grow lights for the first time. I found some good info about different kinds of lights at Home Harvest Supply and Alternative Garden Supply. the links are:
http://www.homeharvest.com/whichgrowlightisrightforme.htm

http://www.altgarden.com/site/library/html/lighting.html

Also, maybe someone can answer a question I have about artificial light. I am trying to grow a bunch of lettuces- radiccio, arugula, etc under grow lights. I have two containers each 8 x 24 inches. I have three 32 watt compact flourescents in fixtures with 6 inch reflectors hung about 2-4 inches above the plants. Is that enought light? And how many hours a day should I keep the lights on. I have heard 12 hours, 14 hours, and 18 hours. Does it matter that much?

Best,
nyrunningback

Hortalux has a new line of lamps called "Blue" there blue and yellow spectum are about even.
Also Sun Argo has a hps lamp with 30% more blue spectrum in it .

For seedlings most just use flourescent lights in pairs of one cool white and one warm white.
Then switch to eithere MH lights then to HPS.

in my room 8 x 12 , i got 4 flourescent shop lights ( 2 lamps each )
1 250watt hps and 1 400watt hps. i get some streaching between nodes on most of the
plants i grow becouse of the hps light.

if i had the $$$$ to spend on the electric i prolly would run 2 hps 400 to 600 wats and one MH
in the 200 to 400 watt area, setting it up with the MH light in the middle

Im thinking of trying some of the new compact flourescent lamps,
Argo Max 125watt , 8,700 lumens ( more the marrier and happy plants )
10,000 hours rated life
6400 K color
cost , around 80 bucks each



This message was edited Dec 1, 2005 10:56 AM

Ivory,

I grow seedlings under overdriven 48-inch T8 cool white fluorescent bulbs. By modifying a fixture to overdrive your bulbs, you get about 50% more light out of each bulb. The bulbs run warmer (but not hot) and their lifetime is reduced, but my T8 bulbs are rated for 20,000 hours, so if overdriving them reduces their life to only 10,000 hours, that isn't a big problem for me, especially since I get my T8s at Home Depot for $2 each in boxes of 10 bulbs. My 2-bulb fluorescent shoplight fixtures also come from Home Depot and cost about $8 per fixture, but since it takes two regular fixtures to make one overdriven fixture, my overdriven fixtures cost me $16 each, plus about half an hour of my time to make the conversion.

I use chrome wire shelves http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=18562&R=18562 as my plant stands and I can hang at least four 2-bulb fixtures over each 24" x 48" shelf. I think with the new narrower design of fixture that Home Depot currently has that I could probably get 5 fixtures per shelf. But I still have a bunch of the older design fixtures on hand and 4 fixtures per shelf is plenty. That gives 8 overdriven bulbs per shelf which would be equivalent to 12 regular T8 bulbs per shelf. That gives about 500 foot candles to the seedlings, which is plenty. However, by comparison, sunlight could easily run ten times that bright.

I use small electric fans to give a little artificial wind to the seedlings to make them sturdier. The best details about how to modify a fluorescent fixture to make it overdriven are given on a competitive forum, and I don't think that Dave's Forums would appreciate me linking to that forum, but you can find plenty of information by using Google.

MM

If you want to overdrive fluorescents, do a google for ODNO and "aquarium lighting." There are several excellent sites for this as many of the "aquarium plant people" do this.

Ivory,
I just planted daylily seeds a few days ago in my MegaGarden Ebb and Flow. Kind of an experiment, to see what happens. I have the under a 250w MH.

Go to the Brugmansia forum. I've posted a lot of stuf on there with my Brug Project, some info is on page 2 and more on page 3 of the forum.

Crystal

Thanks for all your advice on this subject. I ended up going with a combination Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium arrangement, which worked well last year. I started my seedlings under fluorescent shop lights and then moved them to the big light after they were up and going. Unfortunately, the HPS bulb blew over the summer and now I have to replace it. I think I'm going to go with just MH now, since I'm not trying to encourage blooming, just growth. Come spring, these babies will be going outside for the rest of their lives, so I really don't need the HPS.

Thanks again for the help.



This message was edited Feb 15, 2006 12:59 PM