Can I use GU10 LED bulbs for light?

[wahaj]

Hiya,

I'm trying to find a cost effective and eay to find system to provide suplimentary light to my orchids, especially over winter.

I've been told LED bulbs are low cost to buy, run and find.

I've found GU10 blue LED bulbs in a local DIY store (B&Q) and am wondering if I can use those. If I use a mixture of red and blue bulbs, would that be right?

Or should I be using the white light GU10 LED bulbs that they have?

Can these particular types be used as grow lights or do I need to get something that specifically states they can be used for hydroponics?

The ones I saw are like these ones:

GU10 LED Light Bulbs

Thanks!

[Ross]

This will dredge up lost threads I am sure, but the concensus a while back was that LEDs are a science "not quite ready for prime time." To me there are too many issues not addressed: The colors aren't friendly for viewing or photography of the blossoms, presuming you get any. The light intensity is not there. I agree the power consumed is pretty low, but the output is the thing, in the end. We strive for at least 20,000 lux minimum output. This will handle the "low-light" growers. I hate to say it, but my experience so far has been that t5 florescents give the best return of lux vs. energy input.

[Ray]

A lux is one lumen per square meter. I read an article recently that stated that "modern LED's can produce as much as 40 lumens per watt", so that would mean those bulbs can produce, at most, 72 lumens of light over a 50 mm diameter, meaning that right at the lamp, their output is 72 lumens per 1963 square millimeters, or 0.0000000037 lux - a long way from that needed by plants - even if they were right up against them, avoiding the inverse-square depletion.

[wahaj]

Hi Ross and Ray,

Thanks for the advice. The thing is I do have direct light coming into the growing area, plenty of it...I just want to be able to lengthen the days a bit, and improve lighting a lit bit in the winter....so these aren't the only light source they'll have.

Also I wont be photographing them in light from the LEDs, that will only be done by the ceiling lights in the living room or natural day light coming in through the windows.

Ray, as much as I respect your opinion and appreciate the advice, I've heard to the contrary from a lot of other people using them to grow orchids. My main concern is whether these particular bulbs are the correct LED bulbs I need, or should I be only be buying ones labelled suitable for horticultural/hydroponic use.

I guess if it doesn't work, I can tell you guys and you can say told you so lol.

Thanks again!

[Tele fan]

I use LED's with great results for my Masd. tank. Keeps the tank on the cool side and lots of new growth and lots of plants keep blooming. I agree with Ross that viewing the plants under that light is not the best. I also have a couple of tanks that are using T-5's with good results also. In these tanks I have plants with higher light/temp. requirements and they are happy too. I guess it really depends on the type of plants you are growing. If you are into cool growing low light plants then LEDS may work out for you, other wise I would use T-5's.

[jay]

I use LED's as well. I built my lights from kits that you can buy online. (not sure if I am allowed to post the link)

The thing about LED's is that it is hard to measure the light output without specialized equipment. This is because most light meters measure visible white light. The LED panel that I built has 272 LED's with a mix of 75% red/ 25% blue. The reason for this is that plants use mostly these wave lengths of light for photosynthesis. Most of the rest of the spectrum is not used and thus wasted.

I agree they do not make very good display lights, but I use them for growing, not display. They are low heat and low cost. They also have an estimated life of 7-10 years instead of 6-12 months.

[bonsai1504]

post the link, there's no rule against it here!
share what you know!

[jay]

LED Grow Lights - HomeGrownLights.com

[Fonzorelli]

@ wahaj
as long as the red LEDs are around 650nm
and the blue ones are around 430 you should be fine,