Terrarium - what kind of light should i use?

[wojtek0018 0]

My bulbs have been fine and going on 6 months now. Perhaps some will die, but I really doubt it. I think bulbs going that early are the exception, not the rule. That said, with how cheap CFLs are, replacing the odd bulb every 6 months is still worth it to me.

As for LEDs, I have zero experience with them. Many others would have to help you there.

Best of luck!

Maybe it looks fine but the wavelength (or something like this) can be different now, you can't see it, just some devices can.

Tapnięte z mojej Xperii SP

[wojtek0018 0]

I'm using these two http://www.econef.co.uk/shop/order/megaman-plant-lamp-e27-15watt-mm152-w1215p/ and one normal 2700K lamps and effects aren't as good as i thought - it should be better. my ampullarias dont produce pitchers, so do ventratas, sanguinea etc etc

[Odysseus 18]

Well, if none of those bulbs are at 6500k I am not surprised your ampullaria hasn't pitchered, as you will want 6500k spectrum.

I wonder if my wavelength has detiorated over the last six months....

The good news is, plants are growing, pitchering, getting some color so everything by my standards is going great!

Paul, what is the light you are recommending? Par lights? Do you have a link to one in specific? Sounds interesting!

[Guest paul y]

par stands for photosynthetic active radiation, or the portion of the spectrum that initiates photosynthesis in plants, when choosing an artificial light source it needs to output light that falls within that par portion, it was nasa who wrongly stated in the seventies that plants only responded to blue and red light, hence the underlying "rule" of lighting with blue and red lights.

plants have evolved under the entire spectrum of light unique to our parent star sol, recent research clearly shows that plants respond to a much broader range of the light spectrum than the blue and red wavelengths suggested by the nasa research, its the international cannabis community and companies that are blazing trails in light and photosynthetic research, its the hundreds of billions of pounds in that market driving the research and as the usa will be legal soon it will lead to more research and breakthroughs,

personally I only grow under broad spectrum bulbs, ss plasma is the very best source of light, mh/hps combos next, then t5/flouros then leds then incandescents.

this is just my personal preference gleaned from 15 years of commercial and private experience growing thousands of different plants under every type of artificial light on earth, ive even used mercury vapour bulbs made in the 80s!

[FredG 535]

Could we have some references to this recent research you keep citing?

[wojtek0018 0]

Does it matter if fluorescentic lamp is longitudinal like this http://img13.allegroimg.pl/photos/oryginal/39/75/51/63/3975516329 or spiral like this http://plantica.pl/allegro_plantica/img/pierdoly/06.jpg ?

I'm considering buying the second option because it's cheaper. I dont have to buy T8 sockets and stabilizers. What do you think?

How about two 6500K and one 10000K?

[wojtek0018 0]

My friend from carnisana.pl instructed me to buy these lamps:

1 x Phillips Master (6500K)

1 x Osram Fluora (8500K, 550lm)

1 x Phillips Aquarelle (10000K, 2800lm)

What do you think about this set?

[Odysseus 18]

Does it matter if fluorescentic lamp is longitudinal like this http://img13.allegroimg.pl/photos/oryginal/39/75/51/63/3975516329 or spiral like this http://plantica.pl/allegro_plantica/img/pierdoly/06.jpg ?

Either is fine. I haven't found that one grows plants and the other doesnt. It just depends on your setup and whether one fits it better or not.

So entirely up to you.

While Paul is saying spectrum doesn't, matter, I will simply say that you will have success growing with 6500K spectrum. I can vouch for it.

I haven't used any bulbs higher than 6500K so I don't know how well or how bad it will go. I imagine mixing them with 6500k will be fantastic. I would go for it. Try it out!

Edited February 23, 2014 by Odysseus

[Guest paul y]

to odyseus, im not saying spectrum doesn't matter, im saying that its best to give the plants as broad a spectrum as possible, hence why I grow under broad spectrum bulbs such as 6500k t5s, im saying I wouldn't grow under just a blue and a red led, 6500k is daylight colour/temp or white light, white light is made up of all the colours of the spectrum, the kelvin scale is a measurement of temp/colour (which in physics are the same thing, the scale runs from infra red to ultraviolet with the par spectrum falling primarily within the blue and red portions of that kelvin scale. nasa said in the seventies that plants only need narrow portions of the blue and red portions of the spectrum to photosynthesize hence the underlying "rule" of red and blue light, more recent research done by loads of big companies such as Philips (under the trade name gravita) maxibright etc etc have all shown that plants need a much broader range of light from the spectrum than just the blue and red portions of the kelvin scale. its not photosynthetic specific its overall plant health specific.

far red light has been shown to initiate the flowering process in some plants, uv light has been shown to affect seed shell density formation in every seed producing plant tested, neither of these are photosynthetic responses, yet they are responses to light.

ideally a bulb should perfectly recreate the light that is produced from the sun, and in any artificial set up that should be the main aim,to recreate the natural environment as closely as possible

Edited February 23, 2014 by paul y

[Guest paul y]

go to greens horticultures web page, on there is a running blog on the effectiveness of led lights,

they are growing chillies, quite honestly the easiest least demanding fruiting plants around. they are using a state of the art led unit and it is still being hugely outperformed by a mh bulb whose technology is over 20 years old.

until leds can outperform a "street light bulb" mh or hps (what is not shown is the third tent containing 500 watts of cfl which is also outperforming the led it wasn't included as its 100 watts above the control standard of 400 watts present in the other tents) then I would always advise using blue and red only leds as supplemental to a broad range spectrum bulb.

if using pure leds then I would advise to use diodes from as broad a range as possible to produce light from as much of the spectrum as possible.

[Odysseus 18]

Okay, I see what you mean, Paul.

I worded my sentence poorly, what I should have said is:

"While Paul is saying that the focus on 6500K doesn't matter as much as a broad spectrum could, I will simply say that you will have success growing with bulbs that are only 6500K spectrum. I can vouch for it."

And again, wojtek, your friend recommending a setup using 6500K bulbs mixed with some of a higher spectrum than 6500K sounds like it should work great. I recommend trying it out.

I certainly am not trying to say one should only use 6500k bulbs. Just that anyone who DOES only have 6500k will have similar success that I am having and can trust their plants to grow well.

Good luck!

Edited February 23, 2014 by Odysseus

[pmatil 21]

wojtek, I use currently 1 x Philips Aquarelle and 1 x Osram Fluora in my other terrarium (no room for more tubes). I've used Aquarelles for a long time but cannot anymore since they have stopped selling them in my country. For ampullaria you would also need high humidity.

[sciabokho 4]

I was reading here and searching for some light combinations...

This man uses 3000K for a Heliamphora. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to add one of this color to my 6500 K lamps.

http://icps.proboards.com/post/35741

Edited September 8, 2014 by sciabokho