-
ICMag and The Vault are running a NEW contest in October! You can check it here. Prizes are seeds & forum premium access. Come join in!
Diary PCBuds mini-grow
- Thread starter PCBuds
- Start date
PCBuds
Well-known member
I sent a PM to SuperBadGrower asking for his advice and opinion.
This was his response...
Haha wow dude! Really cool! Now your DIY spirit really gets a chance to shine with some good parts. I like it! And I think you can grow a really amazing plant in there.
How tall a plant can that space accomodate? Is it a tall or stretchy variety you're growing?
One thing I would advise is to maybe add some acrylic plate covers for them. Leaves touching the diodes is bad news!
https://ledgardener.com/forum/download/file.php?id=3555 (Image)
It might be a fire hazard, so I would be sure to take some precautions
Thats a lot of $ for plexiglass. Maybe you can find some plastic tubes. I'm imagining a tube shaped container for a poster that's rolled up. You could cut something like that in half and figure out a way to cover the strips.
You'll lose some % light but better safe than sorry.
Otherwise you could maybe add some garden fence-like material to keep the plants in check. I'm sure you can figure something out =)
Cheers!
This was his response...
PCBuds said:This is what I came up with for my Bridgelux strips...
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=360946&page=57
I would appreciate any input.
I can still change things while my plant is small.
Haha wow dude! Really cool! Now your DIY spirit really gets a chance to shine with some good parts. I like it! And I think you can grow a really amazing plant in there.
How tall a plant can that space accomodate? Is it a tall or stretchy variety you're growing?
One thing I would advise is to maybe add some acrylic plate covers for them. Leaves touching the diodes is bad news!
https://ledgardener.com/forum/download/file.php?id=3555 (Image)
It might be a fire hazard, so I would be sure to take some precautions
Thats a lot of $ for plexiglass. Maybe you can find some plastic tubes. I'm imagining a tube shaped container for a poster that's rolled up. You could cut something like that in half and figure out a way to cover the strips.
You'll lose some % light but better safe than sorry.
Otherwise you could maybe add some garden fence-like material to keep the plants in check. I'm sure you can figure something out =)
Cheers!
PCBuds
Well-known member
So now I'm all worried about wrecking my strips or starting a fire??!!!
This is a picture of LED strips that had the leaves right up against them...
I dunno, ...
They barely feel warm!!??
I'm not gonna turn them up.
I really can't see them starting a fire when I can barely feel that they're on..!?!?
There are three reasons why I'm hesitating from covering the strips...
1) I'm lazy and I thought my closet was finished.
2) I don't want to restrict airflow across the strips.
3) I don't want them to stick out from the walls too far.
However, I do have a few sheets of this stuff that came from 2'X4' fluorescent fixtures.
So, I will get off my lazy ass and try to make a bunch of covers.
The plastic is really hard to cut, it likes to crack and shatter but I might have some luck using my grinder with a cutoff disk.
A knife or scissors won't work.
I'll try to make them just slightly bigger than the strips and attach them directly to the surface of the strips.
One side of the plastic sheet is "corrugated" so it will allow air to flow between the LEDs and the plastic.
This is a picture of LED strips that had the leaves right up against them...
SuperBadGrower said:
I dunno, ...
They barely feel warm!!??
I'm not gonna turn them up.
I really can't see them starting a fire when I can barely feel that they're on..!?!?
SuperBadGrower said:Right, how hot they get depends on the power they receive (obviously). If it's quite low then there is no problem I guess, but that's why the saying is "better safe than sorry". I'd personally rather never even find out what happens when plants touch it for hours. They are also transpiring water all the time. These kind of strips are certainly not designed with that in mind (they are for home/office use, usually covered up in a led strip profile with diffusor). Teknik routinely warns people about it being a fire hazard and he really knows his stuff. with all that in mind, if I were to do a build like this I would certainly make sure there are no leaves touching them.
There are three reasons why I'm hesitating from covering the strips...
1) I'm lazy and I thought my closet was finished.
2) I don't want to restrict airflow across the strips.
3) I don't want them to stick out from the walls too far.
However, I do have a few sheets of this stuff that came from 2'X4' fluorescent fixtures.
So, I will get off my lazy ass and try to make a bunch of covers.
The plastic is really hard to cut, it likes to crack and shatter but I might have some luck using my grinder with a cutoff disk.
A knife or scissors won't work.
I'll try to make them just slightly bigger than the strips and attach them directly to the surface of the strips.
One side of the plastic sheet is "corrugated" so it will allow air to flow between the LEDs and the plastic.
PCBuds
Well-known member
I'm worried about trapping the heat in.
I want to have lots of airflow but I don't know how much I need to worry about that.
I am getting the hang of cutting the plastic though so it shouldn't take too long to cut the rest.
I don't think I'm going to cover the ceiling strips though??
I'll just top the plant if I have to and I've got 5' of clearance.
I was thinking of using my 5 SIL fixture so I can get the light closer and raise it up as it grows but I want to see what happens if I just fill the closet with light from the walls and ceiling.
I intend to have all the lights as bright as possible without them getting too hot.
The wire clips on the strips are keeping the plastic from touching the LEDs so they should ventilate nicely.
And the plastic diffuses the light as well.
I'm kinda liking that.
PCBuds
Well-known member
Love the new setup bud! Curious how it goes with all this side lighting and height. Could be a hefty round.
Thanks, Swanson.
I really don't know what to expect.
I made a lot of changes this round but I think my new SIP method is going to help a lot.
I'm hoping it will fix my over/under watering problems.
I think that was my biggest issue.
My clone is looking a little droopy and wrinkled.
I don't know if that's normal or not?
She's not dead though, so that's a good thing. Lol
How long does it normally take to root itself and start growing again??
ReikoX
Knight of the BlackSvn
Keep it covered, it doesnt have roots to transpire, so needs extra humidity. It should root and begin new growth in about 10 days.
PCBuds
Well-known member
q3corn
Active member
