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lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 6:57 am
by growthebestalways
ok hi im gary. im new to the vegetable and fruit growing. i have lots of seedlings that are growing pretty fast hydroponiclly with natural sunlight growing infront of windows. i have a spare room of 12ftby12ft. i have squash,cucumbers,lettuce,eggplant,grape,wheat,barley,tobacco,corn,onions,gardenbeans,watermelon,oats,two types of peppers. so heres my question ......... what would be the best efficient way to grow everything? im goin to keep everything hydroponic cause its already growing that way. would 2x 500 watt led grow lights give off enough lumens to grow better than store grade organic vegetable and fruits?? ive already got a plastic 55 gallon drum for my chemicals and pump. i have a solar paneled water pump to flow everything. i have light timers already. i have all my containers and mesh pots. what should i set my ph levels to?? and what nutrients should i use. remeber this is and organic hyrdoponic garden. thanks and hoping to get sum good answers.

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:04 am
by SisterMaryElephant
Welcome to the forums...

Sorry but 2x 500w LED will not cover a 12x12 room and many of those crops are not suitable for indoor growing. Corn, wheat barley and tobacco are all pretty tall crops. Also, different crops have different requirements so you're better off growing everything outside in soil or sticking to fewer choices.

Good luck...

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 12:43 pm
by growthebestalways
sry i should of been a little more specific i forgot to say that the room is also 12 ft tall. so its actually a 12x12x12ft room oh yea forgot to mention that it has no windows either. ive grown all these plants indoors before with hid and sodium bulbs and spents lots of money on vets and trying to keep the heat in just that room and not coming threw the house. reflective insulation and i can keep going on ive had massive hydroponic greenhouses/gardens. im talkin all the way to growing trees and palms that float around in ppls exotic ponds and hydroponic gardens. so i have purchased a lil 14 watt led light and its has boosted any plant that i put under it. this room is perfect for growing anything. so can someone tell me about how many watts of led lighting am i going to need to cover a 12ftx12ftx12ft room.

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:30 pm
by SisterMaryElephant
LED lights do not have the penetration power that a 1000w HPS light would. Tall crops with LED is not going to give good results but I wouldn't even grow many of those with HPS. YMMV...

If you're using the whole 12x12 for growing you'd need about 6000w to get 40w/sqft and that assumes that 40w/sqft is enough for what you're growing. Some plants require more, some less. Different plants and different heights will certainly require multiple lights, either way.

You have to be kidding. 14w LED lights are a joke...maybe for a small house plant or herbs perhaps but if you read the forums here you'll see that nobody is growing with such a small light. You'd need 3 or more of those to cover 1 square foot and you'd get virtually no penetration. Quality grow lights are using 3w or 5w diodes and even with 5w diodes you'll still not get the penetration power of a 1000w HPS light.

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:51 pm
by growthebestalways
i only bought a 14 watt to see if it would even grow anything i wasnt goin to use a bunch of 14 watt that would be dumb. ok a friend of mine has 1 500 watt led lamp and he is growing just about the same stuff as i am in a 6ftx5ftx6ft.if u know anything bought growing its not all about watt per sq ft its about the lumens u get to the plant. there really is no rule of thumb about watts. not trying to be an ass at all. just would like some real answers maybe im on the wrong forum.??

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:55 pm
by growthebestalways
there would be no reason to put lamps around tall plants just reflective papper on all walls. just like it would be in a tent. that way the light shines all around it.

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:58 pm
by growthebestalways
oh yeah and i also forgot to say that everything is already growing hydroponiclly so their is no need to just stick in soil and put outside. i dnt need info about no hps bulbs or none of that i have all of that i just dnt want to use it all again id rather try a more efficent way. trying to get more info on leds. isnt this an led forum?? not an hps forum??

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:32 pm
by SisterMaryElephant
Unfortunately you just don't understand the limitations of LED and how light science works. The higher the light from the surface the more light that is lost and no amount of reflective surface can change that nor will it make up for the lack of penetration that LED lighting has. You'll just have to spend a lot of money on lights to try it yourself and be disappointed in the results before you'll admit it. LED lights are not that much more effective than HPS, a 600w LED is about the same as a 600w HPS.

Yes this is a LED forum but that doesn't mean that LED is good for growing everything. LED is fine for small crops like lettuce but not for tall crops like corn.

I've been growing since the 70's so I do know a thing or two about it. I've tried to help you but you don't seem to want to listen and you obviously think you have the answers and refuse to be corrected. Maybe somebody else can explain it to you in a way that will make sense to you but I have to give up now.

Good luck...

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:49 pm
by growthebestalways
lol ok well my whole house garages barns and two out buildings are all solar and water powered. with leds i can run them on solar power. with hps bulbs u cant run them off solar power. ok well ill just prove you wrong i know i can make this work. it might be a lil bit maybe 800 bucks at most that aint shit but my grow room will run for nothing charged but initial equipment and a lil more labor than a normal grow room. see i build solar panels for a living.see i have no bill own house and property we are good livin great life. got natural springs on property got no worries. got underground bunker. bunker and house are safe houses and are radiation fall out safe. yeah so got a spare room i will have pics up as soon as i can recording progress week by week.

Re: lots of veggies

PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2012 3:56 pm
by SisterMaryElephant
I hope you do prove me wrong but I'm not holding my breath.

I look forward to your updates and pictures...