LED and seed heating
Jason Seemungal
Posts: 7
in Fruit & veg
Hi, I’m growing tomato seeds and have had great success last year using a heating element running below the soil line ... this year I’ve added LED lights around the periphery of the growing box.
Dusted cinnamon on top of soil to avoid damping off.
Do you use LED lights for growing seedlings ?
Jason
0
Posts
Yes, yes I do
although my set up is inside so I have 66w of LED on a large 60cm propagator. Yours is so much larger than mine though.
Have to agree with Freddies Dad, those lights will be of no use, except maybe ornamental.
for the fag ends of the aristocracy.
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Jason, you need dedicated growing lights if you want to bring your seed on early as there's not enough daylight yet. The intent is to simulate daylight to that effect you need lights which produce at least 10,000 Lux I believe. I use Sunblaster T5 lights to propagate my seed. Also they need to be at the correct height above the seed trays to gain maximum effect ( Lightmeter will confirm the right height I would think)
However there are now also a lot of LED grow lights which emit different colour light for root growth or leaf growth. I dont know much about these but if you Google LED grow lights you'll find the right light for growing rather than just an LED light which will have no effect.
Kili
Last edited: 24 February 2018 13:37:48
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'
That set up has enough full spectrum light to stop them going leggy without them - if those are the red and blue LED string lights we use in aquariums, rather than Christmas lights, then they are there to promote extra vegetive growth.
I have a similar thing in lightbulb form that is used in addition to my other LEDs.
Actually no. You just didn’t understand my post. Aquarium lights for aquatic plants are not the same as decorative LEDs, you can get them in string form and they go along the wall above, or behind, a long aquarium. They are turned on at night for the plants (the fish can’t see in that spectrum so don’t get disturbed). You can get a similar thing in fluorescent tubing and bulb form for planted vivariums but they are enormously costly, especially the bulbs as they can go ping at any moment.
What you need is the type of LEDs cannabis growers use for their crops!