Home Made Grow Lights

[MWN]

LED Workshop Light

I'm not sure what is available there, but here in the states our big box stores sell a LED light that is meant to be hung in your workshop. These lights also make very capable grow lights, especially if you use them in combo with other light(s). They are cheap to run, last many years with little loss of light output over time, and produce very little heat.

[Cadalot]

Yep the plan was to top them up that's why I left the soil low, I thought it would help feed them a little later expecting 14-21 days until I saw signs of life, like it says on the pack. Next some Tomatoes & Peppers me thinks, as an experiment with the same put in my Ikea Mini Greenhouse behind the patio door for comparison on germination.

[Bigmallly]

Nice one Al, I'm glad you like it. I assume they are Brassicas so I would top up the cups with compost & put them in the GH. You could put a large sheet of polythene over them if you think they need more warmth. Although I'm not sure you need the lights to germinate them.

[Cadalot]

Well Big Guy I have to say I'm impressed with the LED Portable Grow Station, I covered a row of the vending machine cups with cling film, and another with circles of flat plastic a couple of days ago to see if they made the germination any quicker, looked this morning and the poor little seedling were bending their heads on them and all but one plant has germinated, that means they have germinated in around six days and what you are seeing in the photo is a couple of days of growth.



I've never seen such fast germination, or growth of sprouts, So now germinated do you think they will be alright in the unheated greenhouse and I can get something else cracking on in the Grow Station?

[polc1410]

Thank Mal - I like Ray and watch him on a regular basis, I don't have the space for the steel tube but I'm going to fix correx to the underside of the shelf the fitting is fixed too and line the walls and create a white box, I may even all a removable front and use some insulation to assist in increasing the ambient temperature.

I have tested the mat over a three hour period and the results can be found here Alans Allotment: Tweaking & Researching Grow Station 2

Is your freezer on? You should get some decent heat off the condensor on that... ...bit of effort might be needed to get the heat to go where you want it - either using some ducting or even some sort of heat exchanger.

Ducting might mean a piece of tube (say 3 inch diameter) with a PC computer fan in it to blow the air from the warm part of the condensor on the freezer to where it should be warming.

Heat exchanger would mean wrapping the hot bits on the freezer with some thing tubing. A small circulating pump and then some form of block to disipate the heat. Fill the system with fluid and a pump in theory - although I suspect if your block is big enough you might be fine... ...something like an old radiator - and use that as a shelf to sit the trays on. Water with antifreeze in and then plenty of narrow bore copper round the freezer bits down below. Heat will rise and I doubt it will actually get that hot on the radiator so you might not need to force circulation....

Instead of using metal, why not try a piece of white hardboard, the type you get on the back of kitchen cupboards. I'm sure that would bend into a hood.

While a dome would be ideal, a tent shape would do OK. The white hardboard doesn't bend as easily as you will want and at some stage of bend suddenly splits.

Some off cuts of kingspan on the walls would help reflect (its foil coated) and would make a big difference. Off cuts should be easy to find near building sites etc. You aren't looking for lots.

[Bigmallly]

Instead of using metal, why not try a piece of white hardboard, the type you get on the back of kitchen cupboards. I'm sure that would bend into a hood.

[Cadalot]

Thank Mal - I like Ray and watch him on a regular basis, I don't have the space for the steel tube but I'm going to fix correx to the underside of the shelf the fitting is fixed too and line the walls and create a white box, I may even all a removable front and use some insulation to assist in increasing the ambient temperature.

I have tested the mat over a three hour period and the results can be found here Alans Allotment: Tweaking & Researching Grow Station 2

[Bigmallly]

Your setup is lending itself to something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy5fzPlsXK0

[Cadalot]

I have a temperature gun in the shed that I can't get into at the moment but I have just laid the longer sheet of timber in and I will be able to get three trays worth in there, and I have put the outside probe under the mushroom tray and turned the heat on and will leave it an hour or two and see what difference if any the heat mat is making, It didn't feel warm when I touched it yesterday.

Had a quick look at heated propagators and they are very expensive to cover an area three full trays in size and I don't really want to splash a vast amount of cash at this, I may just have to wait until the temperature rise or perhaps consider the Shop4 All Electrical Ltd Offers For Sale Dimplex Tubular Heaters which is £15.49 + vat or something similar just to bring up the temperature in the shed to between 15 - 20C

[Bigmallly]

Before splashing out anymore cash, I would be tempted to put a thermometer on the mat just to make sure it doesn't work. If not, I would go for a large heated propagator.

[Bigmallly]

...........Would the pruners & rake hang on the back of the shed door?

[Bigmallly]

Sounds a good plan Al..........looking forward to your progress.

[Cadalot]

I would think the more light the better Al, so I would paint it white. Plus maybe a bigger piece of board, once you start with seedlings you're gonna need all the space you can find especially if starting them off now.

I think you are right the bulbs are a Philips Tornado 42W E27 Edison Cool White Spiral Energy Saving Light Bulb and a Daylight 6500k Spiral SAD 42w Day Light E27 Low Energy Bulb but I will linie the back and left with correx fixed to the wall and have a removable panel on the right.

If I can find an alterative home for the tree pruners & rake then I have a longer board that I can screw to battens on to go either side of the freezer to stop it moving sideways but could cantilever either side giving me more layout space.

Now thinking about adding one of these in there Shop4 All Electrical Ltd Offers For Sale Dimplex Tubular Heaters just to bring the temperature up to 15-20 degrees rather than the heat mat which does not appear to be doing anything.

[Bigmallly]

I would think the more light the better Al, so I would paint it white. Plus maybe a bigger piece of board, once you start with seedlings you're gonna need all the space you can find especially if starting them off now.

[Cadalot]

I finally made space elsewhere for the lawn mower that used to sit folded up on top of the small Allotment produce freezer in the outside brick shed. See Alans Allotment: Brick Shed Grow Station 2

Now is it worth making a U shaped walled area in white to go around the back and sides painted white to reflect the light?

What do you think or am I over doing it?