What wattage of light is necessary

[Deavnx]

Hello,

I have a cabinet with dimensions 39.5” H x 32.5” L x 19” W I plan to use it to grow plants. I am planning to have my 40” split up into two sections, top section for seeds and bottom section for young plants. There will be two lights. One attached to the ceiling of the cabinet the second attached to the bottom of the shelf that will separate the seeds from the young plants.

My question is, how many watts should the lights be? How many watts for seeds? How many watts for young plants?


Looking forward to your replies. Thanks

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

Its not watts your after. Watts is how much power you are drawing. Florescent and LED lights draw way less watts than an outdated incandescent.

Lumens is what your after. Lumens is the measuremnt of light output.

I just buy the highest lumen LED full spectrum light I can get. The length I size to whatever trays I use or wire shelf length I have.

MOD

 

[Deavnx]

i cant find any long strip ones that will fit into my cabinet. i guess ill just have to use LED light bulbs. do you know any good ones? and how many lumens should i look for? thank you for replying btw! much appreciated

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

I bought these and happy so far.

Amazon.com

I also bought similar ones that are 4 feet long. Look for a size that will fit. The LED light bulb doesn't point the light downard but it will work. Just make sure it is the right Kelvin or a just get grow light bulb.

MOD

 

[Deavnx]

What are the dimensions of those? Having a hard time figuring it out.

This is what the description says

‎3.3 x 3.3 x 3.51 cm; 2.31 Kilograms

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

2FT per the title. T8 diameter or 8 x 1/8" =1"

MOD

 

[Deavnx]

Thank you for your help. I will purchase these lights too. Thanks!!

 

[Deavnx]

These are going to work perfectly in my setup! As per the manufacturers recommendations to keep seedlings at 15” clearance and young plants at 10” that still gives me 15” of maneuverability that I can play with. Happy with this purchase . Btw do you got your lights mounted or are they hanging? How much clearance do you have between the light and the fixture with which it’s attached to?

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

I had mine zip tied ditrctly to bottom of the wire shelf. I adjusted the height with a box, book or whatever I had around. As they grow I lower them. Seemed easier than dealing with an annoying retractable reel. These are way to light (no pun intended) for that anyway.

MOD

 

[big rockpile]

HF has a two foot Full Spectrum LED for $23.

It plugs in and I think you can plug two together.

big rockpile