Indoor, soil based activities.

[LndRcLvr]

Hello all.

I have never grown indoors before.

I have a 500w LED full spectrum light that I am growing autos under. It's not dimmable. I want to get the young plants into their final pots as soon as their first true leaves start to appear. They are currently breaking soil in 7cm pots

The growing area is 1.3 X 1.6 meter and the maximum height of the light from the ground is potentially 1.5 / 1.6 . Meters ( so roughly maximum about 1.3m from seedlings)

I also have made a small homemade ballast 30 x 30cm with 5 x 9w daylight bulbs in which I was going to start the seedlings under untill week 2 but reading threads it seems better to get Autos straight in the final pots.

Is the solution to raise the 500w light up higher at first and then slowly lower it down to the right height as per manufacturer hight guide to ease the seedlings in?

Or can the seedlings handle it.

Or am I just going to fail altogether?

Any advice appreciated

 

[LndRcLvr]

This is my light

Skyline 1000 LED grow lights – LED grow lights

ledhydroponics.co.uk

This seller was recommended to me by a friend, for customer service first and foremost.

It says it uses 500 w of power but it has the equivalent light of a 1000w HPS ( not concerned with comparisons)

Also for the time being the seedlings are under my homemade ballast with 5 x 9w daylight led bulbs

The plants are around 150mm from the lights. Should I move the lights any closer?

 

[LndRcLvr]

with a laser thermometer the surface of the seedlings are registering 26c

 

[Rastafarout]

Just remember to close and they’re fried .. there’s no come back .. further away can’t kill them so start further away , wouldn’t go closer then 1m with the 500w , the little lamp is perfect just don’t let them touch those bulbs

 

[LndRcLvr]

I've put some gravel in the bottom of the dish and water to keep the humidity up. It's very dry inside my house.

 

[JanKowalski]

At that stage, i use just 150w, CFL. Smart move, and energy saving

 

[LndRcLvr]

Just remember to close and they’re fried .. there’s no come back .. further away can’t kill them so start further away , wouldn’t go closer then 1m with the 500w , the little lamp is perfect just don’t let them touch those bulbs

Thanks buddy

 

[LndRcLvr]

I've also ditched the cocktail umbrellas they weren't doing much

 

[LndRcLvr]

/

 

[Ca++]

The hood you have made, is a lot of light.
You could get a light meter app on your phone, just to compare your build with the 500. You might be surprised how much light you have already.

 

[LndRcLvr]

The hood you have made, is a lot of light.
You could get a light meter app on your phone, just to compare your build with the 500. You

The hood you have made, is a lot of light.
You could get a light meter app on your phone, just to compare your build with the 500. You might be surprised how much light you have already.

 

[LndRcLvr]

Sorry ignore that last message.

I hope it has more light the 500w one cost me 20 times more! Do you mean measure the lights as I have the home made ballast now and the manufacturers recommended height for the 500w one and compare the current exposure to the one that the big room light will offer? I guess I want to get the plants in their final pots asap as they are autos hence the question. Or are you saying my little light may be too much for the seedlings?

 

[Ca++]

It's hard to say without a tape measure, but it looks like you have 50w over 1 foot. That would be over 500w per meter. I imagine your 500w light is to be used over at least a meter. Thus, your 500w light won't be any brighter. It will just light a bigger space.

500w spread over 10 foot, is no more ppfd than 50w spread over 1 foot.

Edit: You have more ppfd today, than many people have flowered with.

 

[LndRcLvr]

Yes that's correct. I have 45w in a square foot. My large light has a flowering footprint of 1.5 x 1.5 m which equates to less 21w per sq foot. So what does this mean for me in real terms? I need to raise the little light up to stop killing the seedlings,? Does it also mean the light will be safe to use for my seedlings in big pots but will use 10 times more energy to give them the same light? So that leads one to the question - if it's safe to put the seedlings under the big light is the extra yield worth the high energy cost?

Any advice appreciated

 

[Ca++]

I'm not sure what your 9w lamps are. They could be the latest class A lamps, giving the 1500 lumens of an old 100w, or they might be just giving the light of an old 40w. Any talk of LEDs in Watts, isn't really telling us how much light is being produced. If we look at your 500w light, it could be 2umol/w or 3umol/w and neither would surprise me. Though one is 50% brighter than the other.

Most people running these GLS lamps, used the 1500 lumen versions, at 2 or 3 per foot. That might of been 30-45w of walmart, per foot. As a flowering light.
This suggests you have a lot of light for seedlings. However reports suggest a seed is quite happy to sprout in the middle of summer. It doesn't need reduced light. Though I would play it safe, as would most people, and just use 3 of them 9w lamps over a foot.

While the plants are contained within that foot, there is no reason to switch to the 500w. It won't light that foot any brighter than your 5 lamps can. You are probably going to use that 5 lamp fitting, until you have a 40x40cm space. This is presuming these 9w are 40w equivalents. Not 100w equivalents. If you put 1500lumen lamps in, then you will veg a 50x50cm area within reason.


Perhaps get a $10 light meter

ppfd v lux readings. Help Me..

I managed to get this together It's a chart of different light types, and how a lux meter would read at different ppfd levels. I would very much like to put a ppfd and lux meter together under some leds to add to this information. Ideally, under Samsung LM301 led's at 3k, as they seem by far...

www.icmag.com

That will take the guessing away, and it's only a tenner.
Seedlings might be happy at 200ppfd. Moving to 300ppfd as they become plants. Then veg at 400ppfd. 600ppfd for bloom.
It will be much easier to meet these ppfd figures, if you have a light meter.
I suggest the cheap grey one in that thread, who's lux reading is easy to convert to ppfd, as it's just x3 (and move the decimal place until it looks right)

edit: for now, your phone app might not be terrible

 

[LndRcLvr]

@Ca++ I found an online grow light meter app called phone which gave me the ppfd for my led light type . At about 250mm above seedlings 5 lights was giving 494 par - 4 lights 336 par - 3 lights 265 par. So I'll stick with three. You advice was spot on my friend. Thank you

 

[GMT]

Damn too late to the party, as I read the thread I was dieing to point out someone had sold you umbrellas instead of seedlings . The only thing I would add to the great advice you've had already, is it's better to let them grow into the light, than to bring the light down on them. Moving the light up slightly now and then as they grow is the best way to do things. Otherwise your light inevitably becomes a yo-yo as you burn the tops every now and then.

 

[LndRcLvr]

Some damage done in just two hours before I got the par sorted methinks, two or three showing greying outer edges on the first true leaves I sowed another couple of seeds just to be on the safe side.

 

[LndRcLvr]

Damn too late to the party, as I read the thread I was dieing to point out someone had sold you umbrellas instead of seedlings . The only thing I would add to the great advice you've had already, is it's better to let them grow into the light, than to bring the light down on them. Moving the light up slightly now and then as they grow is the best way to do things. Otherwise your light inevitably becomes a yo-yo as you burn the tops every now and then.

Glad somebody got the joke. Thanks GMT

 

[LndRcLvr]

If you are anything like me, you long to stare at images of soil lovingly.

So here's my mix for the big pots:

50% Jacks Magic. 100lt for £12. Shop bought a blend of peat based and peat free compost (possibly wood and coir?)

20% sieved mineral soil consisting of worm casts from worms that have been breaking down leaf mould mainly, free from client garden in a woodland area.

30% medium grade Vermiculite:

Plus 3 tablespoons of fish blood and bone

And a pinch of over priced dried funghi

(Delia Smith really helped through those tough teenage years)

Potted up into 25 Lt pots and warming in the utility room.

Goodnight all