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Artificial Sunlight at Low Costs

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S

SKA

Rising Star
Hai Nexians,

I live in a pretty dark northern european country where winters are long, wet, dark and cold and sunlight and hight temperatures are rare.
I allways wanted to have a magical garden, but for now will have to do with a Balcony =(. I've grown Daturas, Brugmansias, Moroccan Mint,
Basil, Parsley, Chives, Cannabis and some other plants. Everything grows well in the short, sunny summers here, but pretty much goes dormant
and/or dies off when the long, dark, cold and wet autumns & winters start again.

I would like to grow alot more plants like Acacias, Mimosa Hostilis, A.Peregrina, A.Colubrina, Salvia Divinorum, Kanna, Caapi, Kava Kava,
Peyote & San Pedro. Most of these can't grow through the dark, cold months at all and those that do grow very slowly and poorly.



I've had the plan of buying an artificial sunlight-lamp to survive my plants through the dark and cold months, but since I don't
have all that much money to spend I can't afford a lamp that, besides making my plants grow, will also make my electricity bills
significantly grow. I've heard that such lamps are best left on for 12 hours(or even more) every 24 hour-period. ( at least this
is the case with Cannabis cultivation.) I've also heard those Lamps consume electricity like I consume jellybeans.


Now my main question is;
Would there be a way to use an artificial sunlight-lamp to grow the plants I described succesfully without getting burried in piles offar too high energy-bills?

Could proper artificial sunlight-lamps be made from a series of LEDs that use little electricity?
Maybe 1 lamp doesn't use up THAT much electricty and it's light & heat could be insolated with a sort of Alumina foil-greenhouse?
Perhaps build a large, indoor greenhouse frame, covered with alumina foil on the inside. With 1 lamp in there could the light and heat-levels
be maintained at tropical/subtropical levels without generating devastating energy bills?

Any ideas to solve my cold climate/low budget-problem would be most welcome.
 
high output lights will make alot of heat, and will need venting, not enclosure

foil is a poor reflector, white walls or mylar are better

led lighting has come along ways, but good systems aren't cheap

i've used 48" tube floro lights in my closet with good success on smaller plants, seedlings and loph grafts

good luck :)
 
I'd say put your plants a south facing window and supplement with a cheap fluorescent light fixture with a couple cheap fluorescent grow tubes in there. That's the least costly method I can think of to keep your plants happy over the long dark cold winters.
 
I'm not completely sure - but i think any lamp should be fine.

Basically plants need only couple of things: temperature, water, nutrients.
So in he winter place them close to a heater, i'm sure if its so cold there thy should be turned on? Temperatures of about 25°C are fine, some plants will die if higher, others will g row better if higher ...

There comes the problem with humidity into game. The heater will lower the humidity desert like. So what you can do, is to build a greenhouse with humidity system. I use a lot of them for my terraria. What you do is you take a pump from for example an old expresso machine or , yeah, how this thing is called... ? You know the things you use after teethbrushing? Its kind of pump that rinse your teeth? It spits water on your teeth... Nevertheless any pump producing some pressure works. Put a hose abouve your plants connected to the pump-watersupply. On the end of the hose put a dispenser, which will create a fine mist when turned on. This every hour for two seconds works great for humidity. But you wold need to buy an "expensive" 30$ time swich which you can programm in the seconds area. Or just use a ultrasonic atomization device. Lets say every two hours for some minutes... or more, depends on how dry the air gets.

This is only for the air humidity, you might still need to water your plants. Nutrients ... like once a month fertilize...

And last thing and really important your palnt needs light for its whole photosynthesis thingy :) You wont need an artificial sun. The plant needs red and blue light... so the wavelengths of about 480nm and about 650nm. A couple of fluorescent lamps is fine... at least thats what we use in the laboratory to grow all different stuff like tobacco or for example salvia...


have fun
 
SKA said:
I've also heard those Lamps consume electricity like I consume jellybeans.
Click to expand...
What is your rate for electricity? Unless you are growing a forest, the cost may be surprisingly low.
 
hey SKA, put some research into Fluorescent tubes, specifically T5's.

Its been a while since I have messed with this kind of stuff, but i believe the 5 is for 5/8 of an inch. which is the tube diameter.

The fixtures themselves are relatively cheap, and have built in reflectors, the higher output bulbs would put out enough heat to keep the place warm. and floro's are low wattage, with some of the most popular set-ups being a 4 tube fixture, with tubes at 23 watts each. at 92 watts for a large fixture, that can produce full spectrum lighting with some bulb variety, it may be just what you need, and in your budget.

Dont underestimate the power of fluorescents! they are often overlooked
Goodluck
 
If i was you,i would invest in t5 Fluorescents

T5 Fluorescents. ex: 54 Watts per fixture (about 30-60$,i bought the Sun Blaster brand that came with the light and ballast,no installing needed)
Its best used for smaller plants.You could use it for bigger plants but it wouldnt be as good as Metal halide lighting which isnt cheap.


Now ,just so you know,the T5 fluorescents are quite powerful,if you wish to buy those,i would also buy a hydroponic black and white drape to cover the growing area
The T5s give me an almost instant headache if i stay too long next to them.Must be the uv or something.

here are some links on cultivating with T5 fluorescents : 1 2
 
Thanks for all the help.

Would I be able to give light to plants with T5 Fluorescents about 16 hours of every 24 hour-cycle, for 6 months straight without using up incredible amounts of electricity?
I guess the pricess of electricity may vary alot from one country to another or even from one city to another.

I guess I could build the frame of a U shaped greenhouse from PVC tubes. The open end of the U could face my window on the south.
The inside of this indoor greenhouse could be covered with white, reflective material or aluminium foil. Whichever works best.
The open end would be sheeted with transparent, airtight material.

I guess there are simple, cheap ways to control humidity. Growing tropical plants requires a humid climate.
Simply spraying water in the greenhouse 2ce a day ( or 4 times on a really hot, sunny day ) could maintain desired humidity levels.

For Cacti I plant to make a separate compartment within the greenhouse, also facing the window on the south.
To keep humidity low in there, you could simply hang some sponges on strings with buckets/bowls to catch up dripping water.
They will absorb all the moisture out of the air, providing a dry air-climate for the cacti.


I have the PVC pipes allready. Need to get some white sheeting material and a fluorescent lightbulb and fixture.
I assume these lamps also create a fair amount of heat?

If the indoor greenhouse is isolated well might the lamp alone
be able to keep right light AND temperature levels for such plants as I described to grow succesfully here?
 
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