Chilli light rigs.....where to start?

[Bigmallly]

I just added some 30w (not 35w sorry) to our table lamps and put something reflective behind it like foil
I've took it a bit further and lined a blanket box with foil and drilled a couple of holes so I can get my lamps and heat mat in

I found white card to be more effective than foil.

[Guest]

I just added some 30w (not 35w sorry) to our table lamps and put something reflective behind it like foil
I've took it a bit further and lined a blanket box with foil and drilled a couple of holes so I can get my lamps and heat mat in

Thank you. Now I know how to get more use out of my brooder boxes

[Kristen]

This was the setup when I first started with it (26/1/14):
[ATTACH=CONFIG]51866[/ATTACH]

Fluorescent lights need to be almost touching the plant, otherwise the light power is wasted (inverse-square law - so double-the-distance from the plant and the light power reduced by a factor of 4). Provided not too hot (which tubes won't be) then should be able to get them as close as 2" from the plants; put them at a foot away instead and that is 192x less power (if my calculations are right?)

I found white card to be more effective than foil.

Seemed counter-intuitive to me, but when I started using reflectors for seedlings I had on the windowsill (i.e. on the room-side of the plants) I read that kitchen-foil is a poor reflector and also creates hot-spots, and flat white card or (non-gloss) paint is better. Mylar is better still, but not by enough to make it worth the serious Dosh - unless you have a bit lying around, or are growing a very high value crop Nudge-Nudge + Wink-Wink

[Two_Sheds]

I love the idea of getting chillies going in jan/feb but ... I don't have a heated greenhouse

Neither do I.
I used to start my chillies indoors in Jan/Feb, but now I get stronger better plants* from a March sowing in the unheated greenhouse

No fuel required


* This year was the best ever: I have 6 ristras hanging indoors and about a dozen Lemon Drops still to pick

[Penellype]

Fluorescent lights need to be almost touching the plant, otherwise the light power is wasted (inverse-square law - so double-the-distance from the plant and the light power reduced by a factor of 4). Provided not too hot (which tubes won't be) then should be able to get them as close as 2" from the plants; put them at a foot away instead and that is 192x less power (if my calculations are right?)



Seemed counter-intuitive to me, but when I started using reflectors for seedlings I had on the windowsill (i.e. on the room-side of the plants) I read that kitchen-foil is a poor reflector and also creates hot-spots, and flat white card or (non-gloss) paint is better. Mylar is better still, but not by enough to make it worth the serious Dosh - unless you have a bit lying around, or are growing a very high value crop Nudge-Nudge + Wink-Wink

Yes, you are right about the lights needing to be near to the plants, and I did lower them after that photo was taken. That was why I used chains rather than a more fixed mounting, so that I could adjust the height of the lights as the plants grew.

The reason behind the white card being more reflective than foil is that when light shines on something the colour you see is the wavelengths that are not absorbed by the material. Therefore something which is black has absorbed all wavelengths, and something that is white has absorbed none (and therefore reflected them all). Although foil is shiny, it is also grey, which means that it has absorbed quite a lot of the light shining onto it.

[Kristen]

I used chains rather than a more fixed mounting, so that I could adjust the height of the lights as the plants grew.

I have chains and also some clever friction rollers. I find the chains particularly handy for light-rigs-over-seedlings as I can raise the light rig and just "hook" the chain onto the hooks at a suitable height, attend/water/whatever the seedlings and then unhook the chains so that they revert to the original hooked chain-link for correct height above the seedlings.

The friction rollers mean I have to reposition the rig each time I move it up and back down again, which I find is more faffing about. I now use the rollers only for my Metal Halide lights, which need moving up periodically as the plants grow, but the lights are a couple of feet above the plants anyway, so don't need moving daily for watering etc.

something that is white has absorbed none (and therefore reflected them all). Although foil is shiny, it is also grey, which means that it has absorbed quite a lot of the light shining onto it.

Very interesting, thanks

[Lamboluke]

Well I thought Id try germinate some chillis in the boiler cupboard and they are just about up through the soil.
Just going to have to see how they do on the window for now and if they die off try again on March as two sheds does.
Will see how it goes.
Would love a light rig though'