LED Grow lights

[Yak54]

I doubt that the Freelicht light is "the best out there" for what we do but it does a decent job for a reasonable price. I got my last one on sale for $40 but see they have raised the price recently. And I think it would cover your area ok. I'm not selling this light just sharing that it's working well for me and the one I got last year is still doing its job nicely. At 10" height your 4X20 area will be covered nicely.

In regard to your question about the coldest temp that young tomato plants can survive. I have found that exposing young plants to temps below 40 deg for extended periods frequently has a negative impact on their future productivity. While they will "survive" I'm cautious about hardening them off and exposing them to 40 deg temps for more than a few hrs. But that's just me. It has a way of "beating them up" for sure while not killing them. So my normal practice is to watch the weather forecast and when they are predicting temps in the low 40's I bring them inside after exposing them for a few hrs and this has worked well for me. I guess it depends on your definition of "survive". Good luck on your 23 season !

Dan

[JRinPA]

The cheap HF 5500 lights (#56781) I got last year are still going good. I haven't plugged in my old T5 4 bulb since I got these. Not sure what to do with that, sell, give, trash. It is still sitting where I pushed it last spring.

I use two of them over four 1020 trays. And I have a top shelf built over the table so it is 4 lights total. The table has 2 ft of work width in front and that catches enough light for the work area or leaving another two trays there. So I figure, four of these lights and you can do 8 trays + the work area, no problem.

The only problem I've seen with the light range is a little whitening of the cotyledons of the Cherokee Purples. I think I only have one other black, Black from Tula, and the single plant of that was fine. Don't think I've had any problems with any other varieties or plant types. The affected CPs are seem to be growing their true leaves just fine. So, weird and maybe not repeatable, but I figure I'd pass it along.

[Yak54]

JRinPA --- Sounds like you are growing quite a lot of seedling plants !!!

Dan

[JRinPA]

Yeah...extra soil block plants are like spring snowballs that no one else can make...seems too easy at times, but kids have to learn that life isn't always fair.

[Yak54]

Here are some seedlings waiting for grow bags in 2-1/2 weeks...IMG_1408 Medium.jpeg

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Dan

[Yak54]

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Some seedlings waiting for grow bags in 2-1/2 weeks


Dan

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

These are some of my tomato plants - hard to take decent pictures with the lights. Good growth. They did spend a few hours outside Monday and it was too breezy for day #1 even though I tried to block with bales - they looked a tad rough after just 2 hours. They will go outside again today and hopefully the weather will cooperate to harden off.

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[Yak54]

Those are looking pretty good ! Just put mine outside for the first time. temps are around 54 deg and light winds. I'll leave them out for 3-4 hrs and do the same for the next 3 days.

Dan

[svalli]

Even my tomato plants have been indoors this long, these are the best looking ones I have had for years. That special T8 reptile lamp with 5% UV-B was a good investment. I have to check, if the pet supply store has similar also for my T5 fixture. I have to buy those now, since after summer selling of fluorescent tubes will be banned. There are some terrarium LED-lights with UV-B, but those are still so expensive that I have to wait them to become more affordable and also more variety to choose from. I am now happy that I can use my cool white LEDs with the reptile tube to get healthy sturdy plants. I do run a small fan same time as the lights are on and I believe that it has also made a difference on how the plants look.

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Most of my tomatoes have buds forming and some have flowers on them and have set fruit. Now I just have to be patient and not risk them by moving to greenhouse when the weather is still a bit too cold. I do have a small heater for frost protection in the greenhouse, but since the plants look so good now I want to play it safe and wait that the freezing nights are over.

Sari

[Yak54]

Sari---Those plants look very good indeed !!! I'd say you got it figured out !

Dan

[Yak54]

My tomato plants are now spending more time outside than they are under the grow lights. Started to expose them to direct sun for a few hours each day. In the next 10-12 days they should be outside permanently in grow bags. Pepper plants are still under lights and should get potted up in the next day or two.

Dan

[slugworth]

if you can't babysit,throw cheesecloth over them.

[Yak54]

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So here is what they are looking like today.

[JRinPA]

I moved the tomatoes outside within a few days of my last post, and they took off in the plastic greenhouse I use. I planted them out two days ago. They were OK, doing them mass planted in DE and then pressed into rows in trays, but I much prefer soil blocks and go back to them for tomatoes next year. I got a little worried about the tomatoes' health due to the descriptions on the other LED thread. They were under those LEDs for 5 weeks. But after a few days outside they all looked fine to me, with the exception of the aforementioned CP plants. Those few that got white cotyledons also started the leaf twist thing. I did not select those for plant-out, of course.

I'm thinking I may mix in one fluorescent light next year just be safe. I can rotate the trays so all get some of it. Peppers and cole crops were really good under the LEDs. My old T5HOs made too much heat for cole crop starts. The only things that may be seem a little off are the tomatoes and perhaps the sweet potato slips. The SP leaves are purple, and were purple last year under the LEDs, but since I had bought the sweet potato in the store, I though it was just a purplish leaf variety. Now I'm wondering if its the LED lights. What a fun age we live in....

Peppers, tomatoes, and corn all planted out the last few days. The low cost, low heat generation, and low power use of the LED fixtures allow me to run more lights and have more flexible options for a grow area, so easier to get extra trays going inside.

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