I want to buy a grow light to supplement the light my houseplants get during winter
Can I just buy a commercial 2000 lumen LED tube lights and call it a day? I don't want to spend 200 bucks for a grow™ light™
I want to buy a grow light to supplement the light my houseplants get during winter
And by commercial LED tube light I mean something like pic related
They already get sunlight so it shouldn't be too under powered, I don't think
No. Standard LEDs don't emit enough of the wavelengths plants need. Florescents, on the other hand, do work as a ghetto option. I grew a few pot plants myself using them in a closet. But you have to keep them very close to the leaves, so you have to adjust their height frequently and they work better with "bushy" plants than tall ones. Check used ads for grow lights before you buy florescents though, since most new growers give up and sell their equipment cheap. If you can get proper growlight for $100 you're much better off with that.
I'm not growing weed as I'm not a melanated person of crime
Also, 5000K LEDs emit the same wavelengths as the sun, albeit localized to certain peaks
How many lumens did your lights emit? If they're regular commercial florescents then I think my idea would work, as they already get sunlight from the window
Asks question
Gets answer
No I know the answer already
Why bother bro?
His rationale was wrong but his answer was useful
Commercial lights emit around the same amount of lumens, which is what's actually important, not the type of lamp
>Commercial lights emit around the same amount of lumens, which is what's actually important, not the type of lamp
Lumens =/= wavelength bro
The weed thing is just an example. I also used compact florescents to grow normal herbs like mint and dill, they work for that too.
>albeit localized to certain peaks
This is the problem. Those peaks need to be centered on the specific red and blue frequencies that plants need in flowering and vegetative growth respectively. Grow lights are engineered to do this. LEDs designed to look good for human eyes generally do not. But the only way to find out for sure is to try it.
Already bought one for 25 bucks, see
If it doesn't work, I'll just replace my kitchen light with it, but it'll still be fun to see what happens
How high is your lamp btw? I'm thinking about putting it like 10cm above the plants
Where are you that grow lights cost $200?? We have three we use for seed starting, microgreens etc and they were only about 30 bucks each. It's really not that big an investment and yes, it makes a huge difference.
Growing greens, and seedlings is much different light requirements than growing to fruit bearing.
Go with full spectrum led quantum boards for the win.
ALSO, don't go by advertising, go by wattage used.
Alright, I bought a long LED light that came prebuilt with a ballast that's 6400K at 3800 lumens
It's honestly annoyingly bright, couldn't imagine a 20,000 lumen grow light
Why not just let nature run its course, though? If it's winter, it's supposed to be less sunny. You wouldn't trust eating the fresh tomatoes from the supermarket when they're out of season, why force your home plants in a similar manner?
Because they're mostly citruses olives and other such mediterranean plants whilst I'm quite a bit further north
Because it's possible with modern technology. Frick out off here with that hippie shit. The plants are just happy to grow.
Are you telling me you live through the dark winter without electric lights? Only working during the few hours the sun is up? Because that is the way nature intended. Right?
>Why yes, I do listen to nature and in winter go to bed earlier, rest more, eat fattier and home preserved foods, how could you tell?
>Got a really healthy tomato plant growing
>Starting to get too cold to keep it outside
Is a grow light enough? I'd hate to see such an amazing plant fricked up by being cramped indoors with only that light if it needs more. Is windowlight during the day + grow light later good enough?
a proper grow light produces blindingly bright purple light. if you're going to use one, make sure you have some sort of shade you can use to cover your plants when it's on. get mylar sheets.
>a proper grow light produces blindingly bright purple light.
no