Best tips: "just get growing. Don't complicate it. Work within your limitations." I WAY over did it last year. We're in a 3 bedroom top floor apartment and my garden was across the street. I was hauling trays and trays of my little guys out there daily to get them the sunshine they needed because I didn't have the set up for it. I will definitely be scaling back this year. :) Thanks for the encouragement and permission to, in this case, go small.
Great advice, and couldn’t agree more. We’ve been growing things forever, so it’s always important to remember that we don’t NEED to over complicate a very natural process 😉✌️
I have found that if it’s Amazon recommended it’s probably sponsored and paid reviews. Those products I always get offers for five star reviews. I stopped buying the recommended ones.
If your starting seedlins you can use jus about any light you want from shop lights to expensive grow lights, there is some differences though, led lights will double your seedlins size in half the time, proper grow lights will do even more, as for grow lights that people elude to for growing those 🤔specific herbs, then you have to take into account that you are growing plants through their whole growth cycle or to maturity, so if your starting plants that will be transplanted into natural sunlight then use the starter lights you can afford, if the plants are going to remain indoors for their full life cycle then spend the money and get the best you can, the end result is worth it and the lights will pay for themseves
Love this video. As a pretty new gardener who is investing pretty heavily in grow lights - this was a great, easy breakdown of all the information I'm struggling with in my own research. Thanks for making it all a bit easier and putting me at ease this season!!
hi Melissa, how are you? so you still adopt grow light for your gardening now? may i have your contact for more communication about the effect of grow light?
Helpful hint: Hold the back of your hand beneath the lights where the tops of your plants are, if it's too hot to hold it where it is than the lights are too close.
I usually place them 12" away 6 hours on 18 hours off for younger plants.For fruiting plants 24" apart for 12 hours on 12 hours off. It's very helpful for led lights.
Most INFORMATIVE VIDEO on Grow Lights I have ever seen!!♥️ I'm newish to gardening and start plants indoors in a south facing window. I'm in zone 5 and have been wanting to have fresh greens in the wintertime, but all the confusion over grow lights has stopped me dead each time after some online searching. Even youtube light reviews were a waste of time. THANK YOU!!! I finally feel I can go out and buy a light.
10:00 "These lights are 1,000 lumens; these are 30,000 lumens. That means I can have these lights 30 times as far." Nope. Light diffuses by the distance SQUARED. That means a light 30 times as bright can be ~5.5 times as far away (the square root of 30), not 30 times as far away, for the same effect. So if you would want to keep that little light 5 inches from your plant, you want to keep the bigger light about 27.5 inches from your plant to get the same effect.
Glad you explained that as I was just about to start on it. Bearing in mind though that the Inverse Square Law, I believe, is applicable to a point source of light I'm not too confident that it relates the same to a long tube, but I guess the main principle holds good: you move it twice as far away as it was and you only get 1/4 of the lumens on the same leaf area.
@@hungsblomsterhus399 Thanks for asking and I wish I could give you an answer. I have just fitted two ceiling lamps each of 1200 lumens. If was growing plants under them I think I would have the about 1 ft. away. So with yours maybe 2-2'5 ft away maybe? Assuming no damaging heat being given off. I'm no expert so I would try it and take care how the plants do.
Take-away: Buy the best you can afford; be realistic; test/learn; understand what the light is doing in terms of distance, etc. Great resource, but this video is essentially a "I am not going to give you specific recommendations and do your HW first"
He also explained wattage, lumens, and temperature (for the life of me I cant understand why lights and light recommendations were ever based on wattage). He described how distance affects lumens and also demystified the difference between led and cfls (they can both work). So unlike most videos that just say "use this this is what I bought", I can now search on my own for a light and bulb that has the lumens and kelvin I want, while gauging the long term price of electricity I use against the short term price of the unit, for example with a cfl (more wattage but cheaper up front) vs led (cheaper long term, more up front). So now when I shop online I'm not just looking at brand names and erroneously using wattage to determine light output, I can read a label and understand what info is relevant and why and whether a light or bulb might meet my needs. I think that's a little more than "do your homework", it's all the tools I need to understand what I'm looking at when I'm doing my homework
I've been trial-and-error gardening for a few years now. Last year's seed starting was a leggy disaster. I think I finally understand lighting! Thank you!
Oh my gosh thank you so much for this video. You explained it so simplistically but even this old lady understood exactly what you were saying. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I have been thinking about getting grow lights for a little while now and this video has helped me immensely in my choices. I had no idea that there were so many variables.
We have a 4x4 grow tent with two 100w led grow lights. Last year was successful up to the day I transfered in the ground and went to work the next day. 40 mph winds took out my entire garden. Direct seeding, a couple of months late, still had a great yield.
I believe the intensity of a light decreases according the inverse square law. That is, if you double the distance the intensity that reaches the plant is 1/4. 3x the distance is 1/9. The video says that the 30,000 lumen bulb can be 30 times further away than the 1000 lumen bulb. Actually you would use the square root of 30 (approx 5.5). Therefore a 30,000 lumen bulb at 5.5 ft provides the same light as 1000 lumens at 1 ft. The video is correct to point out that the closer the bulb, the more lumens reach the plant. But as you increase the distance the lumens drop off much much faster than the simple ratio described in the video.
Thanks! I’m an “old school” photographer who needed to be able to *use* that formula when lighting and photographing large groups - sometimes without a light meter, several years PD (pre digital). However, I’m relatively new to gardening, and didn’t want to be “that photo-nerd guy,” to a RUclips content provider who is so helpful. :)
Good question Mark, its said where people that make these videos wouldn't delete the ones that are wrong or outdated, maybe the money has to do with that???
The size and height of the grow area determines the light you want, the taller the plants you want to grow, the more likely you will need more powerful lighting. For seed starting and small plants, small grow tents are wonderful. I have a 2x2x4 tent turned o it’s side with 150ish watts of t5 lighting, and 3 heat mats(for starting) and a 4x4x4 with 600w of led for getting full size tomato and peppers out at the beginning of the season, and my neighbors are always jealous of my massive early harvests in mid April
can the lights be too close? damaging? what do damaged plants from too close lights look like? I have 6500 k . and 2200 lumen Thanks for any assistsnce
Thank you so much. After many failures on my beautiful light table, I followed the instructions in this video. This year my seedlings are beautiful and healthy!
You can double or triple the amount of light hitting your seedlings BY USING ALUMINUM FOIL REFLECTORS to keep the light energy in the growing area....and NOT ILLUMINATING the whole room as is shown here. Apply some aluminum foil to some cardboard sheets to make panels that reflect the light (and heat) back into the growing area on the top, bottom, ends and sides (monitor that heat so it doesn't exceed ~75 degrees F... the LED Lights do produce some heat). The rest of the room should be pretty dim if you've minimized the light energy escaping from the growing areas. Any light that escapes is wasted energy on your electric bill. DO NOT BUY "GROW LIGHTS". Instead, buy LED "Shop Lights" at ~ 1/3 to 1/4 the price. A single 5000 lumen LED (~40 watt) can be purchased for under $15. The Spectra (the wavelength profile of the light) ARE NOT optimized for plant growth, but I'VE NEVER SEEN any growth difference between the $15 shop lights and the expensive $90 to $150 optimized "pink/purple Grow Lights". Two of those $15... 5000 lumen lights will take care of a typical 20" X 4' growing shelf BUT ONLY IF YOU USE THE ALUMINUM FOIL REFLECTORS. Without the reflectors, you'd need 3 of the 5000 lumen fixtures for each shelf instead of just two. The savings from fewer light fixtures + the decades of power savings will pay for the $3 of aluminum foil (and cardboard) you'll use *immediately* (from the $15 per shelf saved by eliminating one light fixture for that shelf). The aluminum foil panels ALSO keeps the growing area humidity levels up. Seedlings love that higher humidity. If you start seeing mold and fungus growing don't worry too much about it (unless your seedlings are wilting). Your seedlings LOVE fungi and bacteria growing in the soil. If it grosses you out, go ahead and open up the panels for some air flow...OR quit watering so much!! The mold and fungus will only grow (on surfaces) in very high humidity conditions. You will need to water these growing shelves less often...so watch out for the mold thing. And monitor the temperatures - adjust ventilation to keep humidity below ~70%. Amazon has cheap thermometers that show both temperature and humidity.
thankyou...i am growing those type of plants.....mines was doing some serious stretching, one of my plants is suffering but i took it out the dirt and now its growing roots.....i brought the right lights and adjusted my heater correctly so i can heat the soil a bit more. the soil was a bit cold because im growing close to the basement but i put the heater up to point more towards the plant. i have buckets with just water sitting in the room for humidity. it's keeping the soil nice and moist and even though my healthy plant stretched from previous, i'm confident because the plant is nice and green.
I find by using timers and automating the lights it makes it a lot easier to manage the light time. Allowing me time to get everything done in my busy life and not have to worry about whether or not I turned on the plant lights home or the office.
Lumens are what humans see. Plants see PPF Photosynthetic Photon Flux, which means how many photons of light per second make contact with your plants. Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density is that measurement of PPF at a specified distance from the bulb.
I've read this too and trying to understand it.. it's not talked about a lot. But can you make a light recommendation then based off of this (I find most light info doesn't tell you information about this)
The number on the fluorescent bulb has to do with how many 1/8ths of an inch wide it is. A T8 is one inch dia, T12 is an inch and half. Depending on where you are growing you may want to put a heat mat under your plants. I grow mine on top of a spa cover when it gets a little warmer out and it gets the heat that passes through. Soil temp is important. I have a convex mirror behind it to maximize natural sun gain which in spring can be spotty - hence the grow lamps.
Love the video. It is so nice as a gardner that is new to starting seeds to have a video that gives you the information without overwhelming you. This is the first video about grow lights that didn't say you needed a specific set up and instead gives you the tools to make the best choices with your budget. Thank You.
I agree. Love learning the concepts so that I can make it work with what I have and not feel like I need a PhD. A lot of what Luke said makes sense having experienced some of these things first hand. Thank you Luke for making your video useful.
Dude, I love your videos, seriously, what a wealth of information you carry in that head of yours. You are very kind to share it all with us. Great energy, too--although I have noticed you're a little more cranky in your winter videos, which I suppose is completely understandable! I appreciate all of your vids and once again, thank you.
I replaced some of my florescent tube lights with a LED lights from Amazon. They come in a set of 6, 20W, 6500K, 2200 LM. I really like that they are cool to the touch so I don't have to worry about burning any leaves if it should touch the light.
Great video man. Bought some LED that I'm building some growlights of. They are really purple in the color. I got some that draws 100 watt and man are those bright. Used one single LED last year with success. Have an awesome weekend, Andreas from Off Grid Sweden 🇸🇪
Luke great episode about lighting. For people looking to just do plant starts I found a 6500K, 1600 lumens, 14 watt, LED, 48 inch T8 that will work on a standard shop light fixture. Great blue daylight for starting plants from seed. I picked up a four pack at Lowe's for under $30.
Custom Garden Solutions (or anyone else)- could you provide a link by chance? I can't find that one and would love to purchase a low cost option! thank you!
Also luke I don't want to nitpick but this is important: the amount of light your plants receive is inverse square of distance, not directly proportional but inverse square. Distance is insanely important. The inverse square law doesn't mess about.
@Legendas Monarquicas just tempurature. Lumens will determine how far away from the pland you can place your light every 1000 lumens is a few more inches. Watts will tell you price per hour of run time. Lower watts less money in the long run. But yes the only difference with standard lights is kelvin. If you are trying to grow indoor professionally those are completely different lights. And very expensive.
In another video you had said seeds that float are no good. Well I planted the ones that floated & they are growing. They are pumpkin seeds. Thanks for the videos
I keep fish and gravitate towards aquarium lights, they are trying to grow plants in water and usually show the wattage and Kelvin and sometimes the PAR, they can come with a timer dimmer
I have noticed that the color spectrum of 6500k LED lights has significantly more blue than regular T5. It seems that going with a 4000k LED has a much better looking distribution of color. I believe this is because all white LED lights are actually pure blue with a phosphor coating that shortens the wavelengths. From what I have seen, a 6500k LED spectrum is likely to be too skewed towards blue.
Cheapest time of the year that I find bulbs and fixtures on sale is actually in the spring. Right when demand goes DOWN and when everyone is moving their stuff outside.
After spending several days watching videos and trying to sort through reviews, I came to the conclusion that it was better to build what I needed myself. I have three 6,000K 10,000 LUM LED headlight bulbs. The 200 watt transformer runs $43, and I found three 10"x10"x3" stainless mixing bowls for twenty bucks to act as the reflectors. I figure that two of those units on a three foot bar mounted five feet off the floor should be sufficient for peppers and potatoes in a 3x4 space. Your thoughts on this? Suggestions welcome, regarding distance from the plants et al.
Please ratio the difference between the wattage use of the various sources used to grow plants, a tall order Luke but I believe we would all benefit from this information in these transitional times. Love ya' son, keep on going.
I recommend looking up photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). 400 - 520nm ~6500k (violet, blue, green): peak chlorophyll absorption 520 - 610nm ~4000k (green, yellow, orange): little chlorophyll absorption 610 - 720nm ~2100K (red): promote flowering and budding 720 - 1000nm (far red): little chlorophyll absorption, influence flowering, need to be used with other spectrum for best result Also I don't recommend buying those reddish or purplish LED grow light and have it shine through your windows.
Apparently the most efficient grows lights have about equal green to red in their spectrum and only 10-20% blue. Green light not being used is an assumption that has been taken as fact, in reality only a small % of green light is actually reflected (which is what you see), green is best and penetrating the canopy leading to less loss of lower leaves, which is good for indoor growing since you have only one angle of light (green is still the least efficient though). So yeah i agree on not getting purple lights but for a different reason. But yeah lumens is what humans see not what plants use. Not sure he will want to shell out for a par meter though, it will help him get optimal light placement though (and if he reviews his lights he cant give us nice data on them)
@@my_freelance_life I wasn't talking about finding inexpensive grow lights. I was referring to finding the PAR information on the inexpensive seed starting grow lights that many people are talking about. I found some really good deals on Amazon for 150w and 300w lights, but they were still way more than the $15-$30 price range that people are busy talking about right now in his Facebook group.
Luke for plant starts I found a 6500k,. 1600 lumens LED, 48 inch T8 for under $30 for a 4 pack. Great for plant starts. I got them at Lowe's if you can believe that.😎😎😎😎
Fun fact, the T and a number denotes the diameter of the bulb. They are measured in 1/8ths of an inch. A T5 is 5/8 of an inch. A T12 is 12/8 of an inch, or an 1-1/2 inches. A T8 is 1 inch in diameter, because it is 8/8ths of an inch. Another fun fact, cannabis needs an insane amount of light. You need to keep the lights about as close as you can without burning them, unless you have spent some money and got some insanely powerful lights it needs to be pretty close for that plant. The 4 digit number with a K before it should be at minimum 5,000K and as he said preferably 6,500 K. Happy growing.
You might want to clarify that the fluorescents you are speaking about are fluorescent tubes. Compact fluorescents are the curly ones that generally replace the normal 40-60-100w light bulbs. jes sayin' 😎
I find a multi bulb t5 with half the bulbs being over 6000 k and the other half around 3000 k will do exceptionally well for growing and flowering plants.
Just recently switched 4 of my bulbs with the agroled isunlight 41 watt t5 alittle pricey but going to replace all soon so much better. At my local grow shop $23 for the grow bulbs 27 for bloom and 29 for bloom plus UV.
bish bosh You will have to keep us updated on how they do. I’ve never heard of them, but I just looked them up. They didn’t have a very good review on the Amazon site but it seemed like most of the bad reviews were about the condition people received them in. Keep us up to date about how they are working for you.
Just a small caveat, luminosity (lumens) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.. That is to say, if you move the grow light from 1 foot away to 2 feet away, the lumens will be 4 times lower!
I use a couple MaxLite shoplights strung together, each one is 5000 kelvin and it works fine for seedlings. I've grown an entire room full of massive plants off those lights before and the results were okay but not great so I wouldn't reccomend them for that. But for seedlings they work really really well and they're like $10 a pop.
Thank you for sharing the Kelvin amount you used. I just purchased some inexpensive 5,000 kelvin lights for my seedlings and was worried maybe I went too inexpensive. Glad to hear that someone else did fine using that kelvin amount to get their seedlings started. 👍🏻
A lot of people love the mother lights. Its a led light bar that can be replaced after it burns out and under 250 for them. Idk thats still a lot to try them.
hey, are you still looking for led grow light? I have led grow light suitable for all spectra of the whole growth cycle. If you are interested, we can talk about it.
Unless I'm going crazy, the lumen output is directly proportional to the *square of the distance* from the target. Assuming you have a light at a distance of 1m and at that point you have a measurement of 1000lumen, if you put the light at a distance of 2 meters, then the light reaching your plants should only be a quarter of that, i.e. 250 lumen. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
I have a 4 foot, 4 tube fluorescent panel that I overpowered by using 2 digital ballasts to replace the 1 old one. Regular 4 foot cool white tubes are bright enough for seedlings if they are overdriven like that, and it's a regularly used, safe and legal approach. I can't sprout some things in the house at 18-19C so on top of the panel light I'm sprouting more seeds in flats. When I needed an extra seed mat I coiled up a long LED rope light and laid a piece of plywood on it, then used the thermometer to see if I needed a tray spacer under the trays.
Purchased a 4 headed LED grow light that can be charged with Solar power banks. Il see how they get on in the spring while the sun becomes more effective. They were not expensive but are very portable and they don't use any electricity from the mains so I am good with that.
If you took a black body and it was heated to 6500K it would radiate light with a spectrum similar to a bulb labeled 6500K. More high energy waves (more blues). At a lower temp, 2500K the black body would radiate lower energy waves (more red and infrared). Not to confuse with Lumens. A black body at those temps would be VERY bright. Plant formation is heavily dependent on light spectra. You'll never get a light as bright as the sun, but you can get bulbs to emit the spectrum your plants will need. Love the videos Luke.
Great content! Thanks for sharing. Calling a T5 or a T8 fluorescent tube a compact fluorescent bulb kept making me cringe. CF are those small folded or twisted tubes made to fit where a standard incandescent light bulb was used.
Luke, before I bought my grow lights I watched youtube videos on growing marajuana lol. I figured if it would grow that it would grow a great tomato plant. I watched grow videos and light reviews for months. Then bought a 65 dollar 300w led. It works amazing for my seed starts and I could grow a tomato plant to fruit if I wanted. My seedling room.is very purple lol. I'm sure if anyone seed the light our the window they would think I was growing other things but im not. Just a crazy tomato grower here lol. But I do love this light. Hugs
The ones that are on his ceiling are leds. That would be the $700 ones he was talking about at the beginning. He is making a video for beginners that is why he didnt go into detail on those
Did you just say $700.00 a piece? That is nuts! I just purchased 4' 100 watt 5500 lumen equivalent day light LED lights at Walmart for $14.00 dollars a piece. I have the lights on chains and put the lights around 10" from the lights and raise them as the plants grow to keep them from getting leggy!
Megan Lusardi There are so many factors to your question. Depends on what you are growing, what stage the plant is at, what type of light you are using, etc. The general rule is to throw as much light as you can at your plants but there is a cost/benefit ratio that you will run into. Lights should be like 6 inches from the canopy unless you have a light that generates a lot of heat that could burn the plant.
Hi Thank you for the video. I am brand new to gardening and I am planting in my apartment. How often and for how long should I keep the light on? And when is the best time of the day? Thank you for your help in advance.
Good video. You kept saying "compact" fluorescent. I knew what you meant but they are just fluorescent lamps. Compact fluorescents are screw in type with a ballast built into the base.
Yep, you be right on Mr WireMan4160. Retired electrician of 40+ years. Every time he said Compact Fluorescent I was saying wwwwwhat? I've got a couple of old drop in 4 tube T12 troffers . I'm going to change out the ballast to T8 and put in four 6500K lamps. That should give me about 12,000 lumens per troffers.
You didn't say how many lumens we need to use if we do use shop lights. 6500K but how many lumens? That would have been helpful. A lot of new gardeners (like me) need to start with something less expensive.
1. LED is best but cost a lot $ 2. Compact fluorescent T5 are cheap and gets the job done. His are from FERRY MORSE 45$. 3. The light needs to be 6500k ( k is for kelvin) 4. The more lumens the further you can put it from your plants.
Best tips: "just get growing. Don't complicate it. Work within your limitations." I WAY over did it last year. We're in a 3 bedroom top floor apartment and my garden was across the street. I was hauling trays and trays of my little guys out there daily to get them the sunshine they needed because I didn't have the set up for it. I will definitely be scaling back this year. :) Thanks for the encouragement and permission to, in this case, go small.
Great advice, and couldn’t agree more. We’ve been growing things forever, so it’s always important to remember that we don’t NEED to over complicate a very natural process 😉✌️
It's difficult to read reviews online because there's too many companies paying for reviews and 5 stars.
So true. It makes me mad
Same, I recently bought one online and they offered a $15 Amazon card for five star reviewers🤦♀️
I have found that if it’s Amazon recommended it’s probably sponsored and paid reviews. Those products I always get offers for five star reviews. I stopped buying the recommended ones.
Do you have an Etsy account?
i usually read the 3 star reviews, since no one would pay for a 3 star
"I'm not growing other things..." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Luke you're a trip. I so enjoy your personality and your channel. Keep growing and sharing my friend.
He's talking about mushrooms...right? 🤔
@@michaelsoltesz3779Not quite, mushrooms are not photosynthetic, but you're close lol
@@michaelsoltesz3779 weed
If your starting seedlins you can use jus about any light you want from shop lights to expensive grow lights, there is some differences though, led lights will double your seedlins size in half the time, proper grow lights will do even more, as for grow lights that people elude to for growing those 🤔specific herbs, then you have to take into account that you are growing plants through their whole growth cycle or to maturity, so if your starting plants that will be transplanted into natural sunlight then use the starter lights you can afford, if the plants are going to remain indoors for their full life cycle then spend the money and get the best you can, the end result is worth it and the lights will pay for themseves
Love this video. As a pretty new gardener who is investing pretty heavily in grow lights - this was a great, easy breakdown of all the information I'm struggling with in my own research. Thanks for making it all a bit easier and putting me at ease this season!!
hi Melissa, how are you? so you still adopt grow light for your gardening now? may i have your contact for more communication about the effect of grow light?
Helpful hint: Hold the back of your hand beneath the lights where the tops of your plants are, if it's too hot to hold it where it is than the lights are too close.
...literally just did this
this does not work with LED.
but leds don't give out heat that doesn't even make sense
I usually place them 12" away 6 hours on 18 hours off for younger plants.For fruiting plants 24" apart for 12 hours on 12 hours off. It's very helpful for led lights.
I just bought a ge grow light LED, how far should they be from the tops of my 3 week old peppers? 🌶
Most INFORMATIVE VIDEO on Grow Lights I have ever seen!!♥️
I'm newish to gardening and start plants indoors in a south facing window. I'm in zone 5 and have been wanting to have fresh greens in the wintertime, but all the confusion over grow lights has stopped me dead each time after some online searching.
Even youtube light reviews were a waste of time. THANK YOU!!! I finally feel I can go out and buy a light.
10:00 "These lights are 1,000 lumens; these are 30,000 lumens. That means I can have these lights 30 times as far."
Nope. Light diffuses by the distance SQUARED. That means a light 30 times as bright can be ~5.5 times as far away (the square root of 30), not 30 times as far away, for the same effect.
So if you would want to keep that little light 5 inches from your plant, you want to keep the bigger light about 27.5 inches from your plant to get the same effect.
Glad you explained that as I was just about to start on it. Bearing in mind though that the Inverse Square Law, I believe, is applicable to a point source of light I'm not too confident that it relates the same to a long tube, but I guess the main principle holds good: you move it twice as far away as it was and you only get 1/4 of the lumens on the same leaf area.
@@TerryMcGearyScotland Can I ask you a question. If i buy a lamp with 4000 Lumens. So how far can it stay from the surface of plants?
Thanks
@@hungsblomsterhus399 Thanks for asking and I wish I could give you an answer. I have just fitted two ceiling lamps each of 1200 lumens. If was growing plants under them I think I would have the about 1 ft. away. So with yours maybe 2-2'5 ft away maybe? Assuming no damaging heat being given off. I'm no expert so I would try it and take care how the plants do.
Ok, at least one person understands Newton's inverse square law.
I’m so glad someone said this!
Take-away: Buy the best you can afford; be realistic; test/learn; understand what the light is doing in terms of distance, etc. Great resource, but this video is essentially a "I am not going to give you specific recommendations and do your HW first"
You just saved me 12 minutes. Thanks.
Thank you!
He also explained wattage, lumens, and temperature (for the life of me I cant understand why lights and light recommendations were ever based on wattage). He described how distance affects lumens and also demystified the difference between led and cfls (they can both work). So unlike most videos that just say "use this this is what I bought", I can now search on my own for a light and bulb that has the lumens and kelvin I want, while gauging the long term price of electricity I use against the short term price of the unit, for example with a cfl (more wattage but cheaper up front) vs led (cheaper long term, more up front).
So now when I shop online I'm not just looking at brand names and erroneously using wattage to determine light output, I can read a label and understand what info is relevant and why and whether a light or bulb might meet my needs. I think that's a little more than "do your homework", it's all the tools I need to understand what I'm looking at when I'm doing my homework
@@DylanBoyce did you find one that seems like a good option? I feel overwhelmed with all of the choices!!
Saved me 10 minutes, thanks.
I've been trial-and-error gardening for a few years now. Last year's seed starting was a leggy disaster. I think I finally understand lighting! Thank you!
Oh my gosh thank you so much for this video. You explained it so simplistically but even this old lady understood exactly what you were saying. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I have been thinking about getting grow lights for a little while now and this video has helped me immensely in my choices. I had no idea that there were so many variables.
We have a 4x4 grow tent with two 100w led grow lights. Last year was successful up to the day I transfered in the ground and went to work the next day. 40 mph winds took out my entire garden. Direct seeding, a couple of months late, still had a great yield.
I believe the intensity of a light decreases according the inverse square law. That is, if you double the distance the intensity that reaches the plant is 1/4. 3x the distance is 1/9. The video says that the 30,000 lumen bulb can be 30 times further away than the 1000 lumen bulb. Actually you would use the square root of 30 (approx 5.5). Therefore a 30,000 lumen bulb at 5.5 ft provides the same light as 1000 lumens at 1 ft. The video is correct to point out that the closer the bulb, the more lumens reach the plant. But as you increase the distance the lumens drop off much much faster than the simple ratio described in the video.
ooof, finally, I'm not the only one who caught this! :D
Thanks! I’m an “old school” photographer who needed to be able to *use* that formula when lighting and photographing large groups - sometimes without a light meter, several years PD (pre digital). However, I’m relatively new to gardening, and didn’t want to be “that photo-nerd guy,” to a RUclips content provider who is so helpful. :)
@@MarkBohland I hear you, but the content provider should also know this and give accurate info to his viewers. Plants be dyin' with this error!
Good question Mark, its said where people that make these videos wouldn't delete the ones that are wrong or outdated, maybe the money has to do with that???
The size and height of the grow area determines the light you want, the taller the plants you want to grow, the more likely you will need more powerful lighting. For seed starting and small plants, small grow tents are wonderful. I have a 2x2x4 tent turned o it’s side with 150ish watts of t5 lighting, and 3 heat mats(for starting) and a 4x4x4 with 600w of led for getting full size tomato and peppers out at the beginning of the season, and my neighbors are always jealous of my massive early harvests in mid April
Can you post a picture?
can the lights be too close? damaging? what do damaged plants from too close lights look like?
I have 6500 k . and 2200 lumen
Thanks for any assistsnce
Thank you so much. After many failures on my beautiful light table, I followed the instructions in this video. This year my seedlings are beautiful and healthy!
You can double or triple the amount of light hitting your seedlings BY USING ALUMINUM FOIL REFLECTORS to keep the light energy in the growing area....and NOT ILLUMINATING the whole room as is shown here.
Apply some aluminum foil to some cardboard sheets to make panels that reflect the light (and heat) back into the growing area on the top, bottom, ends and sides (monitor that heat so it doesn't exceed ~75 degrees F... the LED Lights do produce some heat). The rest of the room should be pretty dim if you've minimized the light energy escaping from the growing areas. Any light that escapes is wasted energy on your electric bill.
DO NOT BUY "GROW LIGHTS". Instead, buy LED "Shop Lights" at ~ 1/3 to 1/4 the price. A single 5000 lumen LED (~40 watt) can be purchased for under $15. The Spectra (the wavelength profile of the light) ARE NOT optimized for plant growth, but I'VE NEVER SEEN any growth difference between the $15 shop lights and the expensive $90 to $150 optimized "pink/purple Grow Lights".
Two of those $15... 5000 lumen lights will take care of a typical 20" X 4' growing shelf BUT ONLY IF YOU USE THE ALUMINUM FOIL REFLECTORS. Without the reflectors, you'd need 3 of the 5000 lumen fixtures for each shelf instead of just two. The savings from fewer light fixtures + the decades of power savings will pay for the $3 of aluminum foil (and cardboard) you'll use *immediately* (from the $15 per shelf saved by eliminating one light fixture for that shelf).
The aluminum foil panels ALSO keeps the growing area humidity levels up. Seedlings love that higher humidity. If you start seeing mold and fungus growing don't worry too much about it (unless your seedlings are wilting). Your seedlings LOVE fungi and bacteria growing in the soil. If it grosses you out, go ahead and open up the panels for some air flow...OR quit watering so much!! The mold and fungus will only grow (on surfaces) in very high humidity conditions. You will need to water these growing shelves less often...so watch out for the mold thing. And monitor the temperatures - adjust ventilation to keep humidity below ~70%. Amazon has cheap thermometers that show both temperature and humidity.
your experience and the way you explain things for an old man like me makes your presentations enjoyable as well as informative. Thank you
thankyou...i am growing those type of plants.....mines was doing some serious stretching, one of my plants is suffering but i took it out the dirt and now its growing roots.....i brought the right lights and adjusted my heater correctly so i can heat the soil a bit more. the soil was a bit cold because im growing close to the basement but i put the heater up to point more towards the plant. i have buckets with just water sitting in the room for humidity. it's keeping the soil nice and moist and even though my healthy plant stretched from previous, i'm confident because the plant is nice and green.
I find by using timers and automating the lights it makes it a lot easier to manage the light time. Allowing me time to get everything done in my busy life and not have to worry about whether or not I turned on the plant lights home or the office.
How wonderful to see your video featured in Homestead monthly! It is so nice to see my favorites come together
Lumens are what humans see. Plants see PPF Photosynthetic Photon Flux, which means how many photons of light per second make contact with your plants. Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density is that measurement of PPF at a specified distance from the bulb.
Bill Southard well that zinged right over my head 😂
@@kelcritcarroll Flew so high above mine that I'm not sure I saw it
lumens is more common to use - even in d packaging of the bulbs being sold. just convert lumens to PPF unit, so he was correct to use lumens.
This is beyond the scope of most small growers. 90/10 rule in action.
I've read this too and trying to understand it.. it's not talked about a lot. But can you make a light recommendation then based off of this (I find most light info doesn't tell you information about this)
The number on the fluorescent bulb has to do with how many 1/8ths of an inch wide it is. A T8 is one inch dia, T12 is an inch and half. Depending on where you are growing you may want to put a heat mat under your plants. I grow mine on top of a spa cover when it gets a little warmer out and it gets the heat that passes through. Soil temp is important. I have a convex mirror behind it to maximize natural sun gain which in spring can be spotty - hence the grow lamps.
Love the video. It is so nice as a gardner that is new to starting seeds to have a video that gives you the information without overwhelming you. This is the first video about grow lights that didn't say you needed a specific set up and instead gives you the tools to make the best choices with your budget. Thank You.
I agree. Love learning the concepts so that I can make it work with what I have and not feel like I need a PhD. A lot of what Luke said makes sense having experienced some of these things first hand. Thank you Luke for making your video useful.
We find timers to also be really great to make sure they are getting the right amount of light hours.
2:42
I used to use compact flourescents.
I still do, but I used to too.
Mitch!
RIP Mitch!
Dude, I love your videos, seriously, what a wealth of information you carry in that head of yours. You are very kind to share it all with us. Great energy, too--although I have noticed you're a little more cranky in your winter videos, which I suppose is completely understandable! I appreciate all of your vids and once again, thank you.
I replaced some of my florescent tube lights with a LED lights from Amazon. They come in a set of 6, 20W, 6500K, 2200 LM. I really like that they are cool to the touch so I don't have to worry about burning any leaves if it should touch the light.
Could you post a link?
I'm completely inside this yr for the veggies and i kinda understand, thanks.
Thanks for breaking this down! I tried to do myself an educate in grow lights, but everyone has made it so complicated.
You're so charismatic, made me smile on the first 3 seconds of video. Should get your own TV show.
That intro is the only motivation you need to start your garden
Thank you! Once again you had a video on exactly the info i needed. I've learned probably 75% of my gardening knowledge from MIgardener
Thank you Luke! The lights were are my last step, and now that you have cleared this up I can get growing!!
Great video man. Bought some LED that I'm building some growlights of. They are really purple in the color. I got some that draws 100 watt and man are those bright. Used one single LED last year with success. Have an awesome weekend, Andreas from Off Grid Sweden 🇸🇪
Very helpful and, dare I say, illuminating.
Luke great episode about lighting. For people looking to just do plant starts I found a 6500K, 1600 lumens, 14 watt, LED, 48 inch T8 that will work on a standard shop light fixture. Great blue daylight for starting plants from seed. I picked up a four pack at Lowe's for under $30.
Custom Garden Solutions (or anyone else)- could you provide a link by chance? I can't find that one and would love to purchase a low cost option! thank you!
It also shows two comparables Phillips and Osram on the right side of the page.
"You should spend as much as you've got in your budget"
What can I get for 12 cents?
a seed and the sun^ good luck
I'll sale you my 10 cents.
Look on Facebook marketplace. You can find a bunch of free stuff like grow lights.
Me: what is a reasonable budget? 30? Or 100$
Luke...*talking about some $700 lights.
😰😰😰
Also luke I don't want to nitpick but this is important: the amount of light your plants receive is inverse square of distance, not directly proportional but inverse square. Distance is insanely important. The inverse square law doesn't mess about.
How would you measure this? With wattage?
nvm. i understand :)
Those are not compact fluorescents - CF’s are the twisted bulbs, you have regular fluorescent bulbs, T5 are the smaller diameter kind
Legendas Monarquicas light intensity and color
@Legendas Monarquicas just tempurature. Lumens will determine how far away from the pland you can place your light every 1000 lumens is a few more inches. Watts will tell you price per hour of run time. Lower watts less money in the long run. But yes the only difference with standard lights is kelvin. If you are trying to grow indoor professionally those are completely different lights. And very expensive.
@Legendas Monarquicas The light spectrum of grow lights is tuned for vegetation or flowering. Standard lighting fixtures work ok for vegetation.
In another video you had said seeds that float are no good. Well I planted the ones that floated & they are growing. They are pumpkin seeds. Thanks for the videos
Might want to consider checking big box stores for clearance. I found that Ferry Morse for $10 😊
I keep fish and gravitate towards aquarium lights, they are trying to grow plants in water and usually show the wattage and Kelvin and sometimes the PAR, they can come with a timer dimmer
So informative - thanks. I've been 'in the dark' with my lighting. LOL
@@chunlingcui2851 I didn't buy from Amazon. Love the lights. Don't know the name.,
Best video I’ve seen on grow lights. Thanks man
“Leggier than Stretch Armstrong” 😂 😂
I have noticed that the color spectrum of 6500k LED lights has significantly more blue than regular T5. It seems that going with a 4000k LED has a much better looking distribution of color. I believe this is because all white LED lights are actually pure blue with a phosphor coating that shortens the wavelengths. From what I have seen, a 6500k LED spectrum is likely to be too skewed towards blue.
I love finding growlights on clearance in the late summer/fall!! They work!
Cheapest time of the year that I find bulbs and fixtures on sale is actually in the spring. Right when demand goes DOWN and when everyone is moving their stuff outside.
Great Video. You have explained the basic fundamentals of Grow lights in a broad spectrum. Peace.
After spending several days watching videos and trying to sort through reviews, I came to the conclusion that it was better to build what I needed myself. I have three 6,000K 10,000 LUM LED headlight bulbs. The 200 watt transformer runs $43, and I found three 10"x10"x3" stainless mixing bowls for twenty bucks to act as the reflectors. I figure that two of those units on a three foot bar mounted five feet off the floor should be sufficient for peppers and potatoes in a 3x4 space. Your thoughts on this? Suggestions welcome, regarding distance from the plants et al.
Please ratio the difference between the wattage use of the various sources used to grow plants, a tall order Luke but I believe we would all benefit from this information in these transitional times. Love ya' son, keep on going.
I recommend looking up photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).
400 - 520nm ~6500k (violet, blue, green): peak chlorophyll absorption
520 - 610nm ~4000k (green, yellow, orange): little chlorophyll absorption
610 - 720nm ~2100K (red): promote flowering and budding
720 - 1000nm (far red): little chlorophyll absorption, influence flowering, need to be used with other spectrum for best result
Also I don't recommend buying those reddish or purplish LED grow light and have it shine through your windows.
That is definitely the "true" answer, but almost impossible to get for inexpensive home lights.
Apparently the most efficient grows lights have about equal green to red in their spectrum and only 10-20% blue. Green light not being used is an assumption that has been taken as fact, in reality only a small % of green light is actually reflected (which is what you see), green is best and penetrating the canopy leading to less loss of lower leaves, which is good for indoor growing since you have only one angle of light (green is still the least efficient though). So yeah i agree on not getting purple lights but for a different reason. But yeah lumens is what humans see not what plants use. Not sure he will want to shell out for a par meter though, it will help him get optimal light placement though (and if he reviews his lights he cant give us nice data on them)
@@my_freelance_life I wasn't talking about finding inexpensive grow lights. I was referring to finding the PAR information on the inexpensive seed starting grow lights that many people are talking about. I found some really good deals on Amazon for 150w and 300w lights, but they were still way more than the $15-$30 price range that people are busy talking about right now in his Facebook group.
Luke for plant starts I found a 6500k,. 1600 lumens LED, 48 inch T8 for under $30 for a 4 pack.
Great for plant starts. I got them at Lowe's if you can believe that.😎😎😎😎
@@CustomGardenSolutions How large would you want your plants to get under one of those lights before you would transfer them outside?
You are SO helpful, Luke!!! THANK YOU!!
I have busted lots of fluorescent tubes, usually with a mop handle.
Terri Cutlip lol
Too enthusiastic cleaner, i assume 🤔😃
Very relatable
Fun fact, the T and a number denotes the diameter of the bulb. They are measured in 1/8ths of an inch. A T5 is 5/8 of an inch. A T12 is 12/8 of an inch, or an 1-1/2 inches. A T8 is 1 inch in diameter, because it is 8/8ths of an inch.
Another fun fact, cannabis needs an insane amount of light. You need to keep the lights about as close as you can without burning them, unless you have spent some money and got some insanely powerful lights it needs to be pretty close for that plant.
The 4 digit number with a K before it should be at minimum 5,000K and as he said preferably 6,500 K. Happy growing.
Thank you you do it the best for zone 6!!!!
Be proud of your work and never stop sharing thank you
You might want to clarify that the fluorescents you are speaking about are fluorescent tubes. Compact fluorescents are the curly ones that generally replace the normal 40-60-100w light bulbs. jes sayin' 😎
I find a multi bulb t5 with half the bulbs being over 6000 k and the other half around 3000 k will do exceptionally well for growing and flowering plants.
Just recently switched 4 of my bulbs with the agroled isunlight 41 watt t5 alittle pricey but going to replace all soon so much better. At my local grow shop $23 for the grow bulbs 27 for bloom and 29 for bloom plus UV.
bish bosh You will have to keep us updated on how they do. I’ve never heard of them, but I just looked them up. They didn’t have a very good review on the Amazon site but it seemed like most of the bad reviews were about the condition people received them in. Keep us up to date about how they are working for you.
Just a small caveat, luminosity (lumens) is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.. That is to say, if you move the grow light from 1 foot away to 2 feet away, the lumens will be 4 times lower!
You need an egress basement window so if there’s ever a fire while you’re downstairs your plants can get out.
You saw the whole basement? He might have a door not in frame.
thanks . good info.
MIgardener is the best.
I use a couple MaxLite shoplights strung together, each one is 5000 kelvin and it works fine for seedlings. I've grown an entire room full of massive plants off those lights before and the results were okay but not great so I wouldn't reccomend them for that. But for seedlings they work really really well and they're like $10 a pop.
Thank you for sharing the Kelvin amount you used. I just purchased some inexpensive 5,000 kelvin lights for my seedlings and was worried maybe I went too inexpensive. Glad to hear that someone else did fine using that kelvin amount to get their seedlings started. 👍🏻
You explained that in terms I finally understand, thank you!
A lot of people love the mother lights. Its a led light bar that can be replaced after it burns out and under 250 for them. Idk thats still a lot to try them.
This is the simplest explanation I've seen about grow lights. And you've answered all my questions- Thanks!
Excellent information. Very well explained.
Thanks a lot.
Might want to look up the Inverse-square law with regards to a light source and distance. Interesting stuff.
f i n a l l y someone!!!
Inverse-square law works for point sources, but does it work for the more complex case of non-point sources like these long tubes?
I am going tonight to pick out some lights and this really helped.
hey, are you still looking for led grow light? I have led grow light suitable for all spectra of the whole growth cycle. If you are interested, we can talk about it.
Unless I'm going crazy, the lumen output is directly proportional to the *square of the distance* from the target. Assuming you have a light at a distance of 1m and at that point you have a measurement of 1000lumen, if you put the light at a distance of 2 meters, then the light reaching your plants should only be a quarter of that, i.e. 250 lumen. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
I also noticed the "you can have it 30 times further away" when comparing 30K to 1K lumens. That's definitely not the case.
Correct. Inverse square law.
Thanks, these are indeed so useful info for a beginner like me. :) the info of Watts and Lumens was they key for me.
I have a 4 foot, 4 tube fluorescent panel that I overpowered by using 2 digital ballasts to replace the 1 old one. Regular 4 foot cool white tubes are bright enough for seedlings if they are overdriven like that, and it's a regularly used, safe and legal approach.
I can't sprout some things in the house at 18-19C so on top of the panel light I'm sprouting more seeds in flats.
When I needed an extra seed mat I coiled up a long LED rope light and laid a piece of plywood on it, then used the thermometer to see if I needed a tray spacer under the trays.
Don't we just love the know it all videos! 😂
make a series where you start everything from scratch, but not from the perspective of a beginner but a pro.
Purchased a 4 headed LED grow light that can be charged with Solar power banks. Il see how they get on in the spring while the sun becomes more effective. They were not expensive but are very portable and they don't use any electricity from the mains so I am good with that.
Why aren't more videos made like your video? Simple, quick, concise and informative. Thank you!
If you took a black body and it was heated to 6500K it would radiate light with a spectrum similar to a bulb labeled 6500K. More high energy waves (more blues). At a lower temp, 2500K the black body would radiate lower energy waves (more red and infrared). Not to confuse with Lumens. A black body at those temps would be VERY bright. Plant formation is heavily dependent on light spectra. You'll never get a light as bright as the sun, but you can get bulbs to emit the spectrum your plants will need.
Love the videos Luke.
Now I'm more confused than ever.
me too
🤣🤣🤣
He should learn how to get to the point. Long winded talk talk talk. Huh.
You should take a large grow light called 🌞.
@@abuxxx3607 ok !😁😁
Great content! Thanks for sharing.
Calling a T5 or a T8 fluorescent tube a compact fluorescent bulb kept making me cringe. CF are those small folded or twisted tubes made to fit where a standard incandescent light bulb was used.
Thanks Luke this info was right on time I’m trying grow lights for the first time
Btw I’ve been using a 1100 lumen led bulb which is 14 watt and a few in a room and it worked great for me
Luke, before I bought my grow lights I watched youtube videos on growing marajuana lol.
I figured if it would grow that it would grow a great tomato plant.
I watched grow videos and light reviews for months.
Then bought a 65 dollar 300w led.
It works amazing for my seed starts and I could grow a tomato plant to fruit if I wanted.
My seedling room.is very purple lol.
I'm sure if anyone seed the light our the window they would think I was growing other things but im not.
Just a crazy tomato grower here lol.
But I do love this light.
Hugs
Could you post a link?
Good you is an honest young man
8:44 so what are these lights? (you forgot to mention that).
I think he intentionally left that out because the content was all about how to tell if any light is what you want or not.
The ones that are on his ceiling are leds. That would be the $700 ones he was talking about at the beginning. He is making a video for beginners that is why he didnt go into detail on those
I was browsing Amazon to purchase some lights for just a couple trays and thought what would MI Gardner buy? So, here I am.
You did the BEST job of explaining grow lights in a way that was both understandable and logical. Thank you!
Did you just say $700.00 a piece? That is nuts! I just purchased 4' 100 watt 5500 lumen equivalent day light LED lights at Walmart for $14.00 dollars a piece. I have the lights on chains and put the lights around 10" from the lights and raise them as the plants grow to keep them from getting leggy!
Hey Luke! Do you have a reference for how many lumens per feet away from your plants? Much appreciated!
Megan Lusardi There are so many factors to your question. Depends on what you are growing, what stage the plant is at, what type of light you are using, etc. The general rule is to throw as much light as you can at your plants but there is a cost/benefit ratio that you will run into. Lights should be like 6 inches from the canopy unless you have a light that generates a lot of heat that could burn the plant.
Hi Thank you for the video. I am brand new to gardening and I am planting in my apartment. How often and for how long should I keep the light on? And when is the best time of the day? Thank you for your help in advance.
Good video. You kept saying "compact" fluorescent. I knew what you meant but they are just fluorescent lamps. Compact fluorescents are screw in type with a ballast built into the base.
Yep, you be right on Mr WireMan4160.
Retired electrician of 40+ years. Every time he said Compact Fluorescent I was saying wwwwwhat?
I've got a couple of old drop in 4 tube T12 troffers . I'm going to change out the ballast to T8 and put in four 6500K lamps. That should give me about 12,000 lumens per troffers.
Great information! Thank you!
You didn't say how many lumens we need to use if we do use shop lights. 6500K but how many lumens? That would have been helpful. A lot of new gardeners (like me) need to start with something less expensive.
The lumens required is variable and depends on what you are growing.
great video !! thanks for sharing !!
How do you convert the LED watts to lumens? Seems like most of the LED grow lights on Amazon show watts only.
Thank you for being concise and too the point with whats important :)
Thanks again, buddy. I learned all this long ago when I grew the "other stuff" - but needed an update about T5's vs LED for seedlings :)
So helpful. Thank you!
Unrelated but where can I get that sweater your wearing? Very cool!
1. LED is best but cost a lot $
2. Compact fluorescent T5 are cheap and gets the job done. His are from FERRY MORSE 45$.
3. The light needs to be 6500k ( k is for kelvin)
4. The more lumens the further you can put it from your plants.
i love your sweater it looks like wolves and hawks
Excellent clip, thanks.