LEDs for lettuce and microgreens

ROF42 said:

I wired one up. About 30 minute run time and the heat sink was pretty warm to the touch but not too hot to touch.

Thinking I need to get one of those thermometers. I saw supra say something about a baby thermometer?

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Infrafred, cheap and easy to make a measurement....ordered one the other day and got a frisbee instead, oh China!

Essentially the same as a "laser" temp gun, just some won't go above a certain range like 40C and distance to object measured is very close or touching....

Thought about it after. Had fins down so maybe that's part of the heat issue

ROF42 said:

Best source for plugs? Didn't think about the drivers not having them.

Could each light be ran into a post and use one plug for each post?

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For connecting the driver to the led string I have used these.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Sets-2-Pin-Male-and-Female-Connector-DIY-New-/111403413862?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19f0293166
They are 22 gauge and are in the US. Most of the ones available on Ebay are 26 gauge and/or are shipped from China.

If you are trying to wire them to a single AC plug use a terminal block AKA terminal strip.
Like these...http://www.homedepot.com/s/terminal%20strip?NCNI-5

Thanks. I'll take a look at home depot tomorrow on my trip if I don't get iced in

ROF42 said:

Thanks. I'll take a look at home depot tomorrow on my trip if I don't get iced in

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Ideal makes Shure push in connectors. Cheap at Home Depot. Have some limitations, copper only wire being one, but they are an option, great way to attach multiple drivers to a single cord.

Check em out at least, many styles, even have some push in butt connectors as well. @Greengenes707 mentioned them in passing a bit ago, on using them. Found out there is quite a large selection at my local HD.

What is optimal distance from the led? I'm thinking of a display over a flowering bush that is about a foot tall. Wondering if I need to step up to more powerful leds for penetration

Plant Power: Dutch company harvests electricity from living plants http://zite.to/1xZKE0q

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagland_solution

"The Hoagland solution is a hydroponic nutrient solution that was developed by Hoagland and Arnon in 1938[1] and revised by Arnon in 1950[2] and is one of the most popular solution compositions for growing plants (in the scientific world at least). The Hoagland solution provides every nutrient necessary for plant growth and is appropriate for the growth of a large variety of plant species."

ROF42 said:

Not sure what hoagland is. My current setups are aquaponics and I want to see how the various set ups work with that. It's part of the reason I'm not going for hp aero. Too likely to clog

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Finally getting around to putting together the light. Going to put a board in the middle to mount the drivers on. Just have to figure how to attach them

churchhaze said:

You should try DWC/SWC with Hoagland solution or a variant using dry salts.

I've got some good recipes if you're interested.

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I'm interested in some of your recipes, please share. If you were to use the Hoagland solution would you just adjust nitrogen levels down during flowering or is that a recipe to follow throughout the grow.

I soldered these up tonight. May have destroyed two, I think the top on my soldering gun need to be replaced, or take a grinder to it. Heated up and melted plastic, by appearance seemed to have melted off the metal contact, or covered it in melted plastic I suppose. Either way it is no longer visible.

I wired up the drivers and noticed the red and black wires were reversed on some. I figured they just didn't care and randomly grabbed a color when putting them together. I was lazy and didn't pop them open because they were already mounted down. Checked afterwards, and found they had been put in the case upside down, they're not mounted inside at all

Looks like I may be playing with hydroponics soon. Seems the aquaponics isn't too good for fruiting plants. Appears I would need to dollar feed with kelp which would ruin any chance of organic certification.

I so regret trying to use the old soldering gun I had for the leds. I got a soldering iron and the difference was magical.

Got the lamp running. Photos in a bit, need to go make a stand

Vermiponics might be worth looking into.

Yeah eventually I want to get a food waste collection system going in the community. I have 4 acres of pure sand I want to make a mixed fruit orchard food forest on. Need lots to build up the soil.

There was an experiment done in rural new Zealand. 100 families in nine weeks collected 4.5 tons of food scrap I believe. Unfortunately the website is gone. With black soldier flies that leaves about one ton of compost and tons of chicken food.

Problem is getting the money to buy enough buckets and lids for a pilot project. I hate the thought of plastic but I don't see alternatives to do many things we use plastic for

That looks like it will make a great herblight!

It'll do well for veg I'm sure. I'm putting it to to start peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, ect.

After seed starting season I will test it on growing lettuce to replace my fluorescent lights. Plan to have it cover a 2x4 area and see how that goes. Roughly $90 in parts. 64 watts.
Hoping it can equal 192w of fluorescent in growth

Cucumbers 8 days after planting seed