LED GROW LIGHTS Greenhouse Lighting

[Serpo]

Not sure what happened there but they are the same video and skip the first sales bit and can see the plants growing fast



<div style="background:#000000;width:600px;height:370px"><embed flashVars="playerVars=showStats=yes|autoPlay=no|videoTitle=LE D GROW LIGHTS Greenhouse Lighting" src="http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/1900779/led_grow_lights_greenhouse_lighting.swf" width="600" height="370" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" name="Metacafe_1900779" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></div><div style="font-size:12px;"><a href="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1900779/led_grow_lights_greenhouse_lighting/">LED GROW LIGHTS Greenhouse Lighting</a> - <a href="http://www.metacafe.com/">Click here for more free videos</a></div>

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1900779/led_grow_lights_greenhouse_lighting/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1900779/led_grow_lights_greenhouse_lighting/

[Glass]

Its worth noting that these plants are getting both natural light and lamp light. I'd be interested to see what the light penetration and intensity is as the plants fill out. The lights are fairly high. Perhaps for broad leaf type plants and that kind of spacing the light penetration doesn't come up. I still think closer to the plants would be better to utlise the maximum energy being emitted.

Plants need a spectrum of light for maximum growth. As long as the lamp is putting out the right spectrum for the phase of the plant then it should be ok. The lights in that video appear to be very warm which would make them more suited to fruiting phases. The lettuce plants aren't really a fruiting plant and I would have thought a cooler spectrum would be better for foliage production: of lettuce leafs.

I think the one thing people are startled by is the speed of growth in a healthy vegetable garden. It can be pretty staggering. You can come home from a days work and see huge new growth in just a day. It's really pretty impressive what you can achieve it in the garden or in a greenhouse and or a hydro system.

Personally I'm not convinced leds have the reliability that is needed yet and the cost per unit is very high. Granted the side effects of lighting, heat and energy consumption are mitigated but only if the leds have a decent lifespan. I have also not seen many led lights that include the spectrum information in the specs. I think just about every other type of lamp or globe has this information but the leds that I have seen advertised don't.