[jonny_tinslecat]

cheers for putting me in the right section! (i never did know where i was supposed to stand!)

I have seen that a few do have more of a purple look to them, so a mix of the red and blue may be in order.

If i can get my hands on some more pots of the same size i will make some more rigs up - and maybe not run them from the usb (a bit gimmicky maybe - but hey it was only to waste a bit of time!). i have some red superbrights on order now, so they should be with me soon enough, and i'll have a play about.

I have read that with general growth the blue light only should make very close, tight plants - very compact, whereas with the red, they will be quite tall and leggy. but flower quickly. i wonder whether there could be an optimum point to swap from the pure blue to the red?!?!? - i sound like a mad proffessor - it was only started today as a whimsical way to get away from working!

I have to show you a pic of the naga under the blue light with no other lights on, how devious does it look?

[jonny_tinslecat]

My hubby has got an asbestos gob, so it's got to be all the hot ones that I grow..

dorset naga's are the best thing to solve that problem! ive a mate from brum that laps up pharl's like they are made of cream, but he was crying when he had one of my Nagas last year!

[richyrich7]

I have to show you a pic of the naga under the blue light with no other lights on, how devious does it look?

  something out of Quatermass 

[jonny_tinslecat]

dont know that - but i'm expecting the plant out of little shop of horrors in the morning

[richyrich7]

dont know that - but i'm expecting the plant out of little shop of horrors in the morning

  showing my age BGRN39oifsE

[sunshineband]

If we never hear from Jonny agains, we'll know why........ 

[GrannieAnnie]

Only just seen this topic jonny!  Neat idea!  If youever pass a plant nursery t night, they always seem to have orange lights on.

[sunshineband]

Only just seen this topic jonny!  Neat idea!  If youever pass a plant nursery t night, they always seem to have orange lights on.

Could that be so you can see if anyone is in there who shouldn't be? .Orange light is opposite blue on the spectrum so might be a way of us being able to see but plants having 'darkness' -- just an idea and it might be rubbish 

[jonny_tinslecat]

Orange light has very little effect on plant growth. i found this geeky chart showing levels of absorbtion relative to light frequency.



you can clearly see that it is the red and blue that have most absorbtion. someone even mentioned in the article, that the green light is reflected, which gives the leaves its green colour - i dont know if that is right though!?!

[sunshineband]

Yes it is right -- that is how our eyes distinguish colour, by the frequency of reflected light. Seems as though orange light might be the equivalent of giving plants a break form photosynthesis then 
Love the chart - very informative!!

[Fruity]

Very interesting. If you haven't done so already, you should rig up some controls that don't have the LEDs.

*edit* I see you have some windowsill controls. Perhaps you should have some pots with red, green and blue LEDs in them? (I mean every type in one jar)

[jonny_tinslecat]

when they arrive i will have some red LED's to include, so 1 purely red, one purely blue, and one mix of red and blue.

I dont see much point in doing the green light one - that seems to be pretty conclusive that it wont work!

[Riala]

I would also get in touch with someone about getting this 'design' of a USB Greenhouse copyrighted/patented and start selling on a grand scale!

I am serious, there are more and more people turning to gardening these days, and this would be perfect for heavy PC users like we are in this household.

Bringing the garden to our desk!

[jonny_tinslecat]

yeh, i thought of that, as i have a degree in industrial design - and thought it would be a good little project.
Unfortunatelly it seems that i'm not the only one to have this idea, and there a couple already on the market (albeit imo they look very cheap and nasty!)
i totally hadnt seen them before - the usb bit just struck me as i needed a 5v powersupply, and eyeballed a redundant usb lead. i think there is probably a market for a nicer looking one certainly.

Over the weekend i had a look at a few hydroponics setups on Indestructables - good website for little projects. a lot of people seem to be using these new 3w LED's! i didnt even know they existed - the light these things give out is immense! the only drawback is that they do produce a fair bit of heat.

i had the thought that if you used a liqudi coolong system (simular to what you see in high end gaming pc's to cool the processor) then you could utillise the spare heat as a "waterbath" effect under the plants to stabilise night time temperatures.

maybe one thats worth looking into!

[Riala]

*eyes up her PC's cooling system*

Hey!! I should just stick a plant inside my PC!! hahaaha, there are lights in there, a fan, even a glass side so I can watch it grow!