Grow plants wit Led's

[thedude]

TheDude's grow chamber w/video pt1

Love and light! Literally what makes your garden grow!

LED Gardening by TheDude - pt1 video

Hi guys. I've been wanting to post in here for some time now. I need to completely read this thread but wanted to forward this video to others so i figured i needed post it here at the same time. I promise to read up to snuff later and be applicable.

Hopefully i'm not reiterating too much or contradicting anyone.

This is my first video documenting a full grow cycle for 4 tomato plants in a grow chamber light strictly through the use of high powered LED lights.
My primary lamp is a Procyon 100 (400watt equivalent) which includes red~635nm peak and blue~450nm peak wavelength LEDs. It consumes aprox 100 watts and generates far less heat than conventional high pressure sodium or metal halide lamps. In the future i plan to use water cooling on its heat sink and embed the tubing beneth my seedling soil bed to help induce root growth and keep the chamber cooler. For flowering I am using a custom built high flux red 640nm LED lamp that i am going to be pulsing at 292 hz (Nogier Frequency - read here Chee Energy - About Us and here http://www.esmhome.org/library/led.html). In my chamber I hope to provide some proof to illustrate how a plant's phytochrome Pr and Pfr levels can be controlled to produce fruits and vegetables through the management of the red and infrared spectrum.
In short order i intend to install an aeroponic feeding system whereby the roots hang inside buckets and are continuously washed in nutrient from a tank of organic tea. I hope to keep 4 tomato plants inside for an entire grow cycle and then weigh the total production against 4 tomato plants that have been grown in my outdoor garden.

I will be setting up and hosting a live feed as well as time lapse capturing of the growth in this chamber. Will update with links here in the near future.
Wish me luck.

Love and Light
TheDude

[ray0energy]

Dude welcome

Hi dude cool stuff man!!

This make my very happy to see that more
people are trying this out

LED the light be whit u

[datarecovery]

I read a few days ago somewhere while researching LED's that TRUE WHITE LED's don't exist, something about the blue's becoming whiter and whiter but not actually ever being truly white, yet.

Carin
File Recovery Software

[CosmicFarmer]

Nice Garden, Dude.

Yep white LEDs are really blue.

[Platon]

Does anyone has tested out what effect to plant would give LED flashing in some frequency or is there other colors effecting plant growing?

[dR-Green]

I started growing "lettuce" with a few clip on bulb holders and CFLs. They worked pretty well in terms of "flavour" compared to "proper" setups, but not so well on yield, but the key is in the positioning. Having a gigantic array over the top would not work well at all, it would just be a waste of energy. Better to have an even arrangement around the whole plant so the whole plant gets equal amounts of light. You don't want it growing upwards or outwards reaching for the most light, the idea is to keep it as compact as possible, keeping the lights as close as possible to avoid unnecessary stem growth and the plant wasting its energy on stem production. Sticks and stems are of no advantage, we want the fruit. So to achieve this, side mounted lights are necessary to try and get light into the middle and lower parts. Top down only is not sufficient unless you are using powerful/expensive HPS, and even then the same problem remains: The bottom of the plants still don't get the light you are paying to supply (hence Mylar being used and other materials to reflect as much light as possible).

Cosmiculture, groovy ;-)

I too have tried growing "lettuce" under the LED's. Got these strips of 12 led's from china and used 3 red strips for each blue one. about 100 strips per board. I dont know if its sacriligious or not but I called it my "Electric Jesus", because thats all I could think of when I saw it turn on. Maybe it would save me ?

In early growth, the plants were VERY satisfied with the light. Healthy, quick. But in mid growth and flowering, I had to keep raising up the light board and I could tell the bottom of the plant wasnt getting enough, so I added a cheapy grow light from the garden store, and it seemed in the area where the incandecant light and LED light mixed, it would confuse plants. they would grow away from that hemicircle, and the plants there looked either burnt or tired. I dont think they liked the mix. Also all I was giving em was miracle grow, that magic NPK firespitting technology which I know now is trash.

They did well but I have seen better with real HPS lights. One month, when I was away and my room was on autopilot and both EJ's running, my electricity bill was only 12 dollars. about 300 watts for 2 EJ's, compared to the theoretical 1500 watts of (1 big and 1 small) HPS light.

But personally, to have a room where soothing violet light brings up some plants, works very relaxing. I do not think I saved "MONEY" by 'brewing my own' , seeing how the lights were a thousand and the rest of the expenses might be around 500... Would have been cheaper to get my "FOOD" from the supermarket... but I did get alot of knowledge and experience which you couldn't have bought. and I still have my EJ!

It seemed after 1 year of use, 1/5 of the blue light strips had faults. They would flash on and off, and that cyclic nature prob. burnt them. They would always flash before they burnt out, but only the blue ones. The blue LED's used about .4 v more then the red ones.

So, yes, LED's work well. You either pay money in the beginning for better lumen producers, or pay money later for oversized electric bill.

[theremart]

RE: Leds

I started growing "lettuce" with a few clip on bulb holders and CFLs. They worked pretty well in terms of "flavour" compared to "proper" setups, but not so well on yield, but the key is in the positioning. Having a gigantic array over the top would not work well at all, it would just be a waste of energy. Better to have an even arrangement around the whole plant so the whole plant gets equal amounts of light. You don't want it growing upwards or outwards reaching for the most light, the idea is to keep it as compact as possible, keeping the lights as close as possible to avoid unnecessary stem growth and the plant wasting its energy on stem production. Sticks and stems are of no advantage, we want the fruit. So to achieve this, side mounted lights are necessary to try and get light into the middle and lower parts. Top down only is not sufficient unless you are using powerful/expensive HPS, and even then the same problem remains: The bottom of the plants still don't get the light you are paying to supply (hence Mylar being used and other materials to reflect as much light as possible).

I have just started trying led lights with my plants. Last night I started to use it with my duck weed.

I must agree with your thoughts about mylar. I get coffee grounds from starbucks. They use Mylar bags when they give you the coffee grounds so I decided to cut up the mylar and put it at the base of my plants. It seems to improve the amount of light the plant gets as it bounces back up to the underside of the plants from the mylar. I also think that it protects the bacteria at the root level from the light.

I have also been studing root systems. It seems that there are certain tempretures that are best for the roots so I am looking at ways to keep the roots at better temps for the microbes that feed the roots.

[dR-Green]

I have just started trying led lights with my plants. Last night I started to use it with my duck weed.

I must agree with your thoughts about mylar. I get coffee grounds from starbucks. They use Mylar bags when they give you the coffee grounds so I decided to cut up the mylar and put it at the base of my plants. It seems to improve the amount of light the plant gets as it bounces back up to the underside of the plants from the mylar. I also think that it protects the bacteria at the root level from the light.

I have also been studing root systems. It seems that there are certain tempretures that are best for the roots so I am looking at ways to keep the roots at better temps for the microbes that feed the roots.

Good point regarding protection from the light. I remember something mentioned about that, but it was too long ago for me to comment on it now, I'd just be guessing. But I think there is something to it, although I think the concern was protecting the roots rather than thinking of the microbes (I was using Dutch Bucket hydro systems growing the plants in clay pebbles).

Have you looked into Viktor Schauberger at all? I have his 4 books and one by Callum Coats, but I haven't got round to reading them yet so this might be covered in there somewhere. According to him water's preferred temperature is around 4 degrees C, but I'm not sure how root systems would like this cold temp. Water, being a living entity in this philosophy, likes shade and doesn't like to be exposed to sunlight for too long, which I presume also applies to indoor growrooms.

If you haven't come across any of that it's pretty crazy stuff, water molecules limiting their own velocity depending on their temperature and so on, so the river doesn't run itself dry or outrun itself on steeper sections etc. Pretty amazing information. Check this video out if you haven't already:

Sacred Living Geometry -Enlightened Environmental Theories of Viktor Schauberger

[Savvypro]

On the root protection, not that long ago I cam across a US company which does virtual gardening using a white bucket which they stack on top of each other (you can see what I mean at: vertigro.com). The material insulates the roots from temp changes, which allows for longer growing periods. And as they are white all light is reflected.

[markuskemy]

LED Grow Master Global has worked with universities, researchers and producers, hobby using LED lamps for almost a decade.Using only high quality components, and the current proven methods LGM placed as world leader in low-energy light plant.

[erschiessen]

questions

Nice Garden, Dude.

Yep white LEDs are really blue.

So since white = blue, does one really need to have 'true blue' LEDs for growth -or- can we get by with just 'white' and 'red'?

~~~~~~~~~
Reading this thread (and this messageboard) is outstanding.
Every time I click, my mind is opened more and more. I'm grateful for it - it has restored a little bit of hope for the world.
~~~~~~~~~

If one were to follow the 'recipe' of LED indoor gardening, what crops provide the largest punch with regard to nutrition vs. space?
It would be really cool to grow sweet corn in January or February, but I don't have the space indoors to do that.
It seems everybody and his home-gardening brother plants tomatoes.
I don't think we use enough tomatoes to put them in my indoor garden.
I'm thinking beans, beans, the magical fruit.

opinions?

[AquaLuma]

Wanting to start Building LED panels for this Thread

Hi,
I'm about ready to start building my own grow lights and wondered if I can Document a post it here on your thread, since Growing with LEDs is one of the reasons I got into all these circuit replications to begin with. You are correct the NASA stated in a power point presentation (I have it in my files somewhere & if I find it I'll repost it here for all) That 80% 660nm Red LEDS and 20% 440nm Blue was an optimal mix to grow most vegetables in space.
NASA was growing Potatoes and lettuce allong with dawf corn and wheat. Funny now that they have contracted outside sources for LED grow lights all the reports and Data about growing plants with LEDs has vanished from their achives on NASA servers.

Here's some more info about Freqs....

Plants have several types of pigments that allow them to absorb light for photosynthesis. Each pigment absorbs different wavelengths, so that the best wavelengths for plants depend on the type of pigment it has the most of.

Chlorophyll A
Chlorophyll a, which is present in all photosynthetic organisms, absorbs blue light with wavelengths of 430 nanometers (nm) and red light of 662 nm. It reflects green light, so that the plants that contain it appear green. Compared to other pigments, chlorophyll a exists most abundantly in plants.

Chlorophyll B
Chlorophyll b, which is similar in structure to chlorophyll a, exists in green algae and plants. It absorbs light of 453 nm and 642 nm. Chlorophyll a helps plants absorb a more extensive range of light wavelengths.

Carotenoids
All organisms that conduct photosynthesis have carotenoids. They absorb green light between 460 nm and 550 nm best. Plants that contain mostly cartenoids appear red, orange or yellow.


Attatched is a file about White LEDs being blue.

And to answer the question about can you use White LEDs instead of blue? Yes you can, but when you use only blue and red All power is in a a Freq The plant needs, so you'd be wasting power to get the same results as Blue/Red only.
.

[Hannah10]

Great grow.
Love that last shot. Like your plant is at a 1978 disco party.

Looking into diving in the LED world soon myself. Any chance I can get a rundown of lights and watts per each there is?you got 1-illuminator ufo-tri band spectrum-2-45 w red/blue panels-1-14w red/blue panel-the bulb fixture held 7-5w 660nm red bulbs-230w- I'd say I pulled close to what a 400w would pull.... without the heat.These things work, they just havent been used properly. The following pics are from my 250whps/350w led combo grow-I'm at 34 days flower. peace

[spiner]

it would be interesting energize the leds with pulses, so the leds will spent less energy. I guess if the plants with such light could grow at the same velocity. If I had a farm I could experiment it, but I can´t. Is similar to our eyes, if the led is turning on and off our eyes can´t feel the diference, but the energy wasted is less. The quimical reactions in plant cells is probably that do the same. Have anyone tried itĦĦĦ

[ComVac]

Truss System Green House

THE TRUSS SYSTEM

Constructing a large Quonset (half cylinder) type 40 by 140 building in three day, with all the materials that are needed to construct the building, would fit in the box of a pickup. We have a truss design made of a metal coated Mylar material that is injected with epoxy resin & fiber glass fibers. Once the tubular trusses configurations are inflated with the mixture then hardened, they are set upright to construct the skeleton of the building. A covering of a wide metal coated Mylar sheeting is then placed over the outer surface of the truss skeleton, and then are sprayed with a very hard insulating foam under the wide sheets of Mylar and between the trusses.
With some footings or foundation prior to the actual construction of the building, the fabrication of the building should take a three man work crew three days. The entire truss system would be quicker, while being stronger and lasting longer then most similar facilities. While the entire truss system would be the most economical, at about 1/100 of the cost in materials, used in metal and/or wood constructed buildings.
The greatest option being, Mylar is a great medium for applying solar collective inks.