Growlight question

[sparrow100]

Morning!
I've treated myself to a snazzy Garland grow light garden. Just wondering, how far above the plants do you set the hood/lights? There's a lot of conflicting info on the internet, from a few inches to a foot/18inches.

Sorry this is so basic, am just starting out with them.

[bearded bloke]

I think you start off close to the soil & keep lifting the light as the plant grows (if it started off high above the soil the plant would grow leggy ?)

[bearded bloke]

Have a browse through here, there might be info in the posts or in some of the links ..... http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...hts_69290.html

[sparrow100]

Cheers BB.

[Jungle Jane]

My seedlings are quite close to my lights,ranging from 4" to an inch when theyve grown,if you put your hand under the light it feels a tiny bit warm,I use my fish tank light,so I can't adjust it. If you set yours up high,could you sit the plants on top of something to get them closer to the light until they grow bigger maybe? Or can you set it low & then change the height easily whenever you want? I've been thinking of getting an extra light,they're great for germination especially with our cloudy spring weather.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have one of those and it has proved very successful, I've used it to raise everything from tom to onion seedlings.

The first lot of seedlings I did I left the light about half way down the sliding rails, result weak leggy seedlings I threw the lot.

Now as soon as the seedlings germinate I lower the light down using the 'O' rings to within a couple of inches of the seedlings. There is very little or no heat comes off the lamps so little chance of frying the plants.

As I lift the light as the seedlings grow I have found that the addition of white paper around the growing area really helps. I just stick it on the lid with Sellotape and let it hang down the sides to concentrate the light.

[bario1]

I just got one as well, and in the instructions it says to position the lights 6cm above the leaves, and adjust it as they grow, but always 6cm.

[bearded bloke]

Thanks for the input guy's always good to hear from the voice of experiance

[sparrow100]

Thanks so much, from me and my onions.

[Chris11]

Just had a flashback to school day physics reading this.

The brightness or intensity of the light source is inversely proportional to the square of the distance

So if the lights are twice the distance away, you don't get half the light, you get quarter of the light. So you'd get 4 times the light benefit at 6cm compared to 12cm.

[Aberdeenplotter]

whoooosh, -----clean over my head Chris but yes, the nearer the light, the better the growth unless you cook theplants