Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Equipment Shed => Topic started by: Pauly1958 on January 15, 2020, 07:05
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Hi all
I was wondering if you can use led 60watt bulbs in a grow box or do they have to be special ones
Thanks
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Good morning Pauly1958, I don't think a 60 w LED will have the appropriate and required wavelengths of light.
Cheers, Tony. :)
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Apparently, cheap fluorescent ones will do (the old fashioned tubes that make your eyes ache!) But, Ikea do a proper grow light bulb for about a tenner, which seems like a bargain to me. I had their Krydda hydroponic salad system for Christmas, and its producing sturdy little seedlings already.
They do an E27 light fitting. I quite like the Vaxer one, too. It's cheaper than Krydda (but plastic) and the stand holds the light in a good position for the whole tray, so none of the seedlings are stretching towards the light, which I would worry about with just a lamp and bulb.
(I sowed the seedlings below on New Years day)
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Hi I have just finished researching this with a lot of help from a professional gardener.
Led lights use a lot less electricity than fluorescent lights. But, yes fluorescent lights will do the job.
If getting led lights you need a temperature of 6500K. Actually the same temp for fluorescent lights too. This temperature is good for propagation, seedlings and growing on.
Looking at various equipment two 25W strip Leds are needed to cover an area of two standard seed trays. Sunblaster T5s come to mind (very good reflectors with 80% increased efficiency). However these are specialist lamps which have efficient reflectors to get the maximum light on the plants. If using ordinary bulbs you will need more power as light will be lost, even with a home made reflector.
To encourage flowering, bulbs within the red light spectrum of 2700k are required.
I hope this helps.