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42 Comments
Will mirrors help?
❤
Thank you for spreading knowledge 🤓 Checking for signs the plants give us are always the way to go! 🌱 Just a question pop up after what you said. So I shouldn’t leave the grow lights on for more than 18 hours? Why is that? You said that in Alaska they get over that amount of daylight at certain times of the year. How does that differ from the grow lights, when it comes to length of time? 🤔
Good info. I also like to use mylar blankets around my grow racks to reflect the light back onto my seedlings. Seems to help keep them warm, too.
When my seeds first germinate I star them at a 16-8 for light/dark . Once they get established about 2 weeks after germination I bring them down to around a 12-12 or to resemble more of a spring day in Indiana. Around the 4th week I also introduce a fan onto the plants to get them good air flow since they start to get a little crowded and get them to become more sturdy by trying to stabilize themselves from what they think is the wind trying to blow them over. I feel as if while the fan drys them out faster it also prevents mildew from starting and forces the plants to take up the water faster before the fan takes the moisture away.
Luke, seeing a video from you puts me in a good gardening mood. I’ve learned a lot watching your videos and grew some amazing lettuce high-intensity style. My sister got me some of your seeds for Xmas and I can’t wait to try out the complimentary salad mix that was included!
Thanks for making these videos
I appreciate your help but I also feel like you said the same thiing for 13 minutes. Thank you though!
Could a reflective material on the wall help?
I've been growing red shiso indoors in just natural sunlight up around 46 degrees north and had problems with the plants flowering, which terminates the vegetative growing stage of the plant's lifecycle. I learned the hard way that they will go to flower if given less than 16 hours of light since they're obligate short day plants when it comes to flowering. There are so many variables regarding light that are plant-specific. It's hard to know what to even consider.
I wrap my shelves in Mylar blankets, and hang my Barrina grow lights from ratcheting pullies.
Really depends on indoor temperature where your grow setup is also.
0:23: 🌱 Optimizing grow light duration for best results
2:36: 🌱 Optimal grow light duration for best plant growth.
5:16: ⏱️ Optimizing grow light duration is crucial for plant growth, influenced by variables like light efficiency and distance.
8:16: ⏱️ Factors affecting the duration of grow lights include variables like light amount, distance, and environmental efficiency in minimizing wasted light.
11:16: ⏰ Optimal duration of grow lights is crucial for plant growth. It is recommended to stay within an 8 to 18 hour window, adjusting based on the type of plant.
Recapped using Tammy AI
Perfect "timing"!
ONLY 10-12 hours??? I'm not doing enough light, apparently. Thank you
That makes very good sense. I have some cheaper Amazon LED’s that work when they are smaller, but I need to run them much longer when they get larger 👊🏻💥👊🏻
I set a timer for my grow lights dependi g on what seeds i sow i adjust the time on my plants vegetables i tend to have the lights timed between 6 to 8 hour. Flowers i tend to have the lights timed 4-8
I do keep an eye on my plants i adjust my light scedule whwn needed.
I'm so dyslexic, I've always thought in terms of how much "rest" a plant would need from light.
I cant…😂 I just turn them on when the sun comes up and turn them off at sunset.
Basically light can signal plants to preform certain growths. I know this most with "weed" so i will explain using that. Weed has two signal using light. Above 12 hours and 12 hours or below. Above 12 tells it its atleast in spring and too release the growth hormone and continue growing. This hormone is steady released as light hits the plant. Another hormone is produced in the dark. When the darkness hormone is greater then the hormone from light it signals the plant to start flowering. Every plant has a different flowering period like tomatoes flower in summer thru fall instead of just fall. In some cases you will be ok with false signals the plant may go into a short shock period and recover. However certain plants are one and done, so if you signal it early you may lose the optimum growth. So i live in michigan, i can generally plant in may about 2 3 weeks in 6:05 AM Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Sunrise in Detroit, MI 8:53 PM Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Sunset in Detroit, MI. That's 14-15 hours light for me. So anything being pre grown will have at least 14 1/2 hours light so when it goes out its saying the right season for hormone signaling. not always needed with plants but if you do this you will never have a problem with early or late signaling.
Why are some grow lights red and others white?
I'm trying to see if I can grow alyssum as a houseplant. I've got tiny sprouts now. We'll see what happens.
Always good to find out what works for other people. My indoor plants are in a grow tent. I have two 600 watt, marine full spectrum led lights. I like them because I can grow with all blue/white leds and not get the too much light leaf burns. I try to keep the lights around 4" to 6" above the plant tops. I set my timer for 16 hours on to grow plants that are short and very dense. When I want blooms I shorten the day length to 12 hours per day. The inside of the grow tent reflects the light to the lower leaves to keep them full. Now out in my old greenhouse the plastic is not really letting in the full intensity I need for vegetables so I hung some cheap four foot led shop lights. They are a couple of feet above the plants but they are just there to add to the natural light levels from the sun. They are on a 12 hour on schedule. They've increased grow speed by close to 100%.
I’m excited to try to grow begonias this year!!😁
I'm really grateful for you, Luke. My main problem with most gardening resources is that they assume we know some basics that I personally did not know, as someone who was basically never around any gardeners but really wanted to learn. You're really great at explaining in layperson's terms all the little hows and whys that those other resources don't. The "whys" also make it easier to remember what you teach us. So, many thanks. 🙂
How long should your grow lights be on each day for best results?
It depends. 😂😂
We light our homes with grow lights already, just need to change what you think of as a lamp. Then you aren't wasting any electricity or money, the extra light becomes soft indirect lighting for the room.
There are places in your home you want light, turn a few of those places into growing areas. A high bay garage light (Thanks for the tip Luke) or small square LED pad where you'd have a tall lamp. A wide hallway and some T8 lights become hallway tomatoes or a nightlight near a bathroom.
It's like cooking in your kitchen.. how long you fry an egg depends on how you (the plant/each family member) likes it, your stove is electric or gas, your pans are steel or cast iron, you use butter or oil, how high you turn the heat.. for sunny side.. then maybe turn it down or off before you flip it for over easy.. if you like the edges crispy.. you get to know after a while 🌱🍳🌱 I'm having a tricky time with placement because my Plants are so many different sizes, and I want to utilize the light most efficiently.. annnd of course by the time I figure it out, then next 'crop' of seedlings will have to be moved and accomodated 😅
i bought all the mirrors i could find at yard sales and thrift shops and put the all over my grow room
What type of grow lights do you have?
Average time to keep lights on is 12 hours. Plants need down time. I have 5K full spectrum LEDs and Al seedlings do well. If your plants are stretching the light is not enough or too far away. The seedlings are looking like they are frying back it off.
Sunlight is 98000 lux per m2. I have 8×2200 lux grow lights. This only provides 18% the light of sunlight. That being said, I still get good result with them on for 10 hours a day keeping my poinsettias and a bay laurel alive. I may add another 8 lights and extend the time. BTW – the Wi-Fi wall warts are very convenient in metering the time the lights turn on.
What about covering your lights and plants with that heavy white /black plastic, would that concentrate the light Just in the plant area? Think i bought it at a hydroponic shop.
Definitely a question I have always had thanks 🙂
When starting seeds with a grow light and humidity dome, could I get away without drainage?
If you do alot of seed starting or growing indoors invest in a par meter.
I’m thanks for the good info. Just in time for me. Havagudun and have a blessed new year.
Luke it's very pleasing that you answered one of the questions I had about grow lights. I remember telling you what happened to me and how I fixed it. I had 2 tiny Roma tomatoes that I never transplanted. So I rolled the dice and transplanted them under my grow light. They are growing like crazy. I win! They may mature before I get them outside this spring, but I will enjoy watching them keep growing on. Another excellent video Luke. May the Lord keep blessing you and yours. Love you buddy.
Good timing! I started some lettuce and decided to use more reflective ( tin foil ) stuff for better light. I want to avoid buying lettuce for good, I never use that much but still like it around.
I'm growing kale indoors this winter. 12 hour on/off cycle under a 4 foot shop light is working out very well.
thx
The intensity (or illuminance or irradiance) of light or other linear waves radiating from a point source (energy per unit of area perpendicular to the source) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source, so an object (of the same size) twice as far away receives only one-quarter the energy (in the same time period). — Wikipedia
The biggest factor for how well your plants are doing inside is lumens. Outdoor sunshine is over 100000 lumens. So basically, the more the better. You don't need special lights, you just need high lumens at a cool colour (towards blue) for starting seeds. For time, minimum 8 for growing phase of seedings. If you keep a full grown plant indoors and want it to flower – switch to warmer colour light (red) and 18 hours. The idea is to mimic nature.