Indoor Lighting
blupit007:
I will be overwintering all my hibiscus this winter. I have a nice (unused) south facing sliding glass door, but not of my hib's all will fit. So I will have to use some lights in my spare bedroom. There is 2 small windows in that room that wont help much at all. I have a Organically Grown store in town that sells all those really expensive lights... tempting because I would like to have seedlings and cuttings this winter, as well as the plants that didn't make the "nice window cut" to bloom. So what I'm saying is, I need to figure out a nice light system to grow seedlings and cuttings, as well as make some blooms on older plants. Any suggestions?
Charlie:
That is a really good question. I've been planning to come up with a solution to just this type of problem before next winter but haven't done so yet.
There is a new type of grow light that is supposed to be cheaper to buy and to run called LED lighting. I want to look into this some more and see if those are worth trying.
The most bang for your money will probably come from one of the fairly new fluorescent fixtures and bulbs that are more powerful than standard office type fluorescents.
Whichever type you end up with you will most likely need a light stand to hang it from over the plants. These look like portable clothes racks with a bar that is supported by legs at each end. The light is hung suspended from the bar.
Bart, who I mentioned in an earlier post above, grew some great plants last winter in the room he built inside his garage that had no natural light. He used the expensive HID lights that are 1000 watts of light in the right spectrum for growing plants. It cost him (about $1000) but his plants looked fantastic at the end of winter and then when he put them outside this summer they took off like crazy. He sent me a photo of an Island Queen that is 7 feet tall in a big pot - amazing since I've never seen it over about 4 feet but of course I cut wood from my plants all the time to make more plants. Below is the photo he sent me.
One of the big advantages of growing the plants in good conditions over winter is how fast they take off in spring. Our garden plants take forever to pull out of the winter doldrums but finally do and then perform great from July or August through November but hibiscus taken out of the greenhouse and placed in the garden in April do great from April on.
Charlie
helixturnhelix:
WOW! My props to Bart, I will be experimenting with Indoor lighting next year as well and would love it if he could give some more incite! :D
blupit007:
Holy crow! That is one great bush! I will keep my ears tuned for any more advise before the cold rolls back in! Uggg. I need to move to St. Maartin!!
Nievesgirl:
Quote from: Charlie on July 24, 2010, 06:48:01 AM
There is a new type of grow light that is supposed to be cheaper to buy and to run called LED lighting. I want to look into this some more and see if those are worth trying.
Since I was into Aquariums I can give a little info on LEDs a lot of hype has gone with these type of fixtures. I have not seen anyone buying LED fixtures for their aquariums simply because they are extremely expensive. I do not know if the price has dropped for some of these aquarium fixtures. I have seen some on a few aquariums but never long enough for people to get a true review on them. They are more energy efficient and run cooler
If they are making some for plant growth I think they will be expensive as well. I know some hard core DIY aquarist who have made their own LED fixtures.
I have been using Fluorescent on my hibiscus and I do get blooms :) I also get growth. Right now my growth and bloom rate is down because i need new bulbs. i will be bringing alot of my hibiscus to my aunts house and we are going to go in on a greenhouse soon ;)
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