Supplementing natural light

[ALToronto]

We're having the gloomiest winter that I can remember. Not only do we have about 6 hours a day of useful light, I saw sunshine twice in the last three weeks.

So even though my plants are in a south facing window, I feel the need to add more lights. I have set up an 8' (250 cm) track about 16-24" (40-60 cm) above the tops of the leaves, and I'm waiting for Ray's LEDs to arrive. In the meantime, I have a few high wattage CFLs to play with.

My question: how do I set up the 'on' times for the lights? I have a timer, and I can change it every day if I have to.

Here is my plant setup (lots more orchids on it now)

[WhiteRabbit]

[Ray]

Personally, I stick to 14 hours on, 10 hours off, year round.

[Pilot]

I grow exclusively under lights. I run mine at 12 hrs to simulate a change in season, and as much as 14 during the "summer". But since you don't grow under lights entirely, I'm guessing ray's recommendation will do pretty well for you.

[ALToronto]

Thanks for the replies. So do I just start turning the lights on for 14 hours/day, or do I increase the light duration gradually? And what about summer?

[zxyqu]

Ray's comment is solid. I'd start slowly to make sure you dont burn them. But I'd just make sure the lights are on when the sun is out, and off when/as it goes down. That way the plants don't get confuzzled.

[isurus79]

My plants under lights get 10 hours per day this time of year and 14 hours per day in the summer. I have my lights all on a timer that plugs into the wall, which is pretty cheap and easy to find. Are you using lights that you flick on with a switch or are they plug in until Ray's lights come in the mail?

[ALToronto]

I have a timer, but I haven't set it up yet. I plug in the lights (no switch on these, I just wired the plug to the track) at 8 am, when I leave for work (and it's just barely getting light at this time), and I unplug around 5:30. I plan to extend the plug and unplug times till I get to 14 hours or so. Then I'll set up the timer. But I'm worried about summer - when it's sunny, it gets pretty bright in that window.

To be honest, I don't think the CFL's are doing much. They're 20-23 watts, supposed to replace 100 w incandescents, and I have 3 of them on the 8' track. The plant shelf is about 9' long. But the light is so scattered, I doubt the plants are benefitting. Can't wait for the LEDs.

[Brooke]

The CFL's need to be very close to the plant for them to utilize the light.

Artificial light needs to run longer than a plant getting the correct sun exposure because the light is weaker.

There is no reason to gradually increase the new LED's when they arrive. They are relatively high above the plants and there is no chance to burn them.

I feel your pain on the gray winter - I didn't see a bit of sun for two weeks. With no sun, a g/h isn't very inviting.

Brooke

[isurus79]

Ya, the CFLs are pretty worthless for lighting unless they are right up close and even then I wonder how good the PAR is.

You will definitely like the LEDs from Ray. I have some of my bright light Catts under them and they are doing very well. The LEDs also gave my Stapelia variegata (cactus) a nice purple coloration, so the lights are definitely in the correct spectrum for photosynthesis.