LED grow lights......any advice?

Scorpio Rising wrote:

RoOsTeR wrote:Just to be clear. My responses have been to growing food with 'artificial' light ONLY. Not transplanting, or moving in and out as weather permits. My responses have also been geared towards PRODUCING FOOD (as I think I clarified in one of my original questions) and not an occasional snack or nibble or two.  
Others have offered up good suggestions at extending a growing season, but I am/was under the impression the question was actually producing food indoors under lights. Perhaps I have misunderstood the intent.

Truth.  I do not grow indoor food.  Totally different situation!

I naively thought I could produce food all winter under lights. Now that reality has set in, I am relegated to the "occasional snack or nibble or two" category.  Not even gonna use the greenhouse -- just a few plants in front of the windows in the sun-room.

Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

trolleydriver wrote:Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

Thanks, TD, but I have never met a "green" I didn't hate. They all taste like bitter grass to me.

countrynaturals wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

Thanks, TD, but I have never met a "green" I didn't hate. They all taste like bitter grass to me.

If you eat a radish microgreen you will think you are eating an actual radish! I grow daikon radish microgreens. If you eat a beet microgreen it will taste like a beet.

trolleydriver wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

Thanks, TD, but I have never met a "green" I didn't hate. They all taste like bitter grass to me.

If you eat a radish microgreen you will think you are eating an actual radish! I grow daikon radish microgreens. If you eat a beet microgreen it will taste like a beet.

I agree with TD.  A daikon radish green grown for about 10 days (before 1st set of true leaves appear) tastes just like a radish.  Try it.  just get a small plastic cup and plant a few radish seeds.  In approx 8-10 days you will have very radish flavored greens.

yolos wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

Thanks, TD, but I have never met a "green" I didn't hate. They all taste like bitter grass to me.

If you eat a radish microgreen you will think you are eating an actual radish! I grow daikon radish microgreens. If you eat a beet microgreen it will taste like a beet.

I agree with TD.  A daikon radish green grown for about 10 days (before 1st set of true leaves appear) tastes just like a radish.  Try it.  just get a small plastic cup and plant a few radish seeds.  In approx 8-10 days you will have very radish flavored greens.

Oooo, so it's like growing sprouts. WAY KEWL! I can do that all winter.   to both of you.

countrynaturals wrote:

yolos wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:Grow microgreens during the winter under the lights. They are packed with nutritious goodness and taste even better than the full grown plants. For example, microgreen radish plants taste just like radishes.

Here is one example ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gdGvT8oEdQ

Thanks, TD, but I have never met a "green" I didn't hate. They all taste like bitter grass to me.

If you eat a radish microgreen you will think you are eating an actual radish! I grow daikon radish microgreens. If you eat a beet microgreen it will taste like a beet.

I agree with TD.  A daikon radish green grown for about 10 days (before 1st set of true leaves appear) tastes just like a radish.  Try it.  just get a small plastic cup and plant a few radish seeds.  In approx 8-10 days you will have very radish flavored greens.

Oooo, so it's like growing sprouts. WAY KEWL! I can do that all winter.   to both of you.

Here is a link to the thread on microgreens growing.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t19999p50-microgreens-gardening?highlight=microgreens

Yolos wrote:Here is a link to the thread on microgreens growing.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t19999p50-microgreens-gardening?highlight=microgreens

That should keep me busy for awhile.  , Yolos.

Okay, here we go!

The lights arrived a couple of days ago, but the bulbs were too big for my fixtures, so I had to rearrange, rethink, and re-purpose.


Here is my winter bush cuke plant, grown specifically for this purpose. It's suffering from a touch of powdery mildew, but I'm working on that right now.


When I turned the light on, it was so bright I had to run back to the box and read the label again. It's really only 12 watts.




(Continued in next post.)

Here is my tomato plant, also grown for this purpose, and now under the other grow light.


These bulbs are about $25 each, so I won't be buying any more this year. With careful positioning and a little "time-sharing" plus the use of my old "cheap" plant lights, I should be able to extend my growing season by a month in the fall and get a month earlier start in the spring. That only leaves about 2 months of gardening "down time" which I need over the holidays anyway.

There are special glasses that can be worn with those lights.

sanderson wrote:There are special glasses that can be worn with those lights.

Good to know. Thanks, S.

Okay, here's a point of reference. Both tomato plant and cuke are starting to produce. The grow lights can't take credit for either one, since they were already starting when I brought them in, but if they continue to thrive, the full-spectrum lights will get full credit, since I couldn't make it happen last year with just the regular grow bulbs.

Here's hoping you get some fruits off the plants this winter.

Am I still allowed to say ............   Don't forget to give the plants a bed time ie. a few hours at night without light so they can take in oxygen like most normal plants do .

plantoid wrote:Am I still allowed to say ............   Don't forget to give the plants a bed time ie. a few hours at night without light so they can take in oxygen like most normal plants do .

On sunny days I only run the lights from 4 to 8. Cloudy days I run them all day, but still turn them off at 8ish.

sanderson wrote:Here's hoping you get some fruits off the plants this winter.

I just found some tiny new tomatoes that weren't there when I brought the plant in.

Don't forget to give liquid tomato feeds to them as directed on the feed label

plantoid wrote:Don't forget to give liquid tomato feeds to them as directed on the feed label

I fed them yesterday, P. Thanks for the reminder. I counted 8 little toms this morning.

Anyone here using the ceramic metal halide lights?  We stopped in at a garden place last week and we started talking lights.  He said that the LED's are still more of a new thing and are still not really consistent for production or life of bulbs.  But what he had set up and growing some nice plants, was the ceramic metal halide lights.  I questioned the cost of electricity with these, and he said it would only add about $12/month to the electric bill, doesn't put out much heat at all, and best of all (in my humble opinion), the plants look normal.  I want to see GREEN leaves, not purple (which interestingly enough is my favorite color, but not for leaves)!  I am very curious as to comments from you guys - especially those who have used them.  I'm really looking forward to getting this indoor garden started, and lights are just another thing I have to learn enough about...  SHEESH, the learning "curve" is a tight one and scary for this old gal!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's spring (Jan 28).  

I'm also going on record as saying LED grow lights really work. My inside basil is blooming, I got a cucumber, and dozens of cherry tomatoes. I have cilantro. I could have had microgreens, but planted the pea sprouts outside and chucked the rest. 

My efforts were half-hearted at best. If I had actually applied myself, I could have had an amazing winter garden in the house. Disclaimer: My indoor garden got a lot of natural light and direct sun, so the lights only get partial credit, but they're still better than the blue-painted Walmart regular grow lights. Next year I'll buy 2 more LEDs and have an indoor garden that will knock our socks off.

Photo of your indoor garden?

Sanderson - I assume you're talking to Country - we haven't built our home yet - that indoor garden is going to be a while.  I'll have a makeshift one in the rental home in a month or two though.  Moving established plants is going to be a lot of fun - not!

And Country - it's SO not spring for most of us - you turkey!!  LOL - don't make us in snow country hunt you down and rub your nose in the snow!  Just kidding of course.  Hey, we'll have 40 degrees for the next couple of days - woo hoo!

sanderson wrote:Photo of your indoor garden?

Okay, here's the long view. Yes, that's Sienna in the middle of it. She loves to sit out there under the lights -- whether they're on or off.

That's a Meyer lemon in the front, pineapples (grown from tops) in the middle, and grapefruit in the back.

Here's the middle part -- the front pineapple plant is from the top of the fruit I grew from the top of a grocery store pineapple. Poinsettia is still looking good from Christmas.


Here is the basil I grew from cuttings off my outdoor basil plant from last year, with my other Christmas poinsettia. The basil is already blooming. I may move it outside for the bees. That little branch is part of the fully-loaded cherry tomato (forgot to take picture of it).


Here is the grapefruit tree, fully loaded. I won't bring the citrus trees in anymore. Only did it for the sweet smell, but these new ones don't smell, so they will take their chances outside next year.


By the end of the day things will look slightly different as I add my seed trays full of winter veggies and spring flowers.

Very nice, CN. The pineapple from a pineapple is a success story.