High Efficiency LED for Joule Thief, etc.

[SoManyWires]

I had talked to Chet a while back about indoor gardening, of food, of course.

Here much later on I am going to try a few things.

What I have envisioned is grow modules. Modules that can stack against a wall in an apartment say where you dont have much option for growing food..

The construction material of choice for me is 1/4in pvc board. Light weight, water proof and easy to work with.

Below I have some pics of leds Im going to try.  A 5m real of blue and 5m roll of red.  Also have a role of UV to try with the blue n red. Led spacing is about 5/8in.  Average of about $12 a roll on amazon. Banggood.com even less.

Running the blue and red rolls together use 5.9A at 13.1v. 77w

The strips can be cut at intersections and solder wire to make new connections to consecutive strips. Not sure what size cabinet to make yet, or if it will need all 10 yards of blue n red, along with uv strips.

Its not always that the light has to come from only above the plants. Side lighting helps keep plants short, not having to reach for the light and keeping stem lengths short. More bushy and more nodes for fruit like strawberries, and denser thicker greens.

And if all works out well, the cabinets can be small, stackable, where one could have a full garden on one wall of an apt or room in a house, without taking up much living space.

Will make a new thread if there is some interest shown to do so.


I have some hope for these led strips. It allows easy mounting, self stick, and the ability to easily line the ceiling and walls of the cabinet. And I think its cheaper than what they have out there for the purpose.

Also looking into mylar for added reflection of light. Any light that does not 'end' up on the plant is wasted. Mylar is over 99% reflective. Shiny side of al foil is about 77%. Actually a titanium white paint is better than foil.

Mags

good idea you have there!
and yes it does make sense trying to utilize more than only one light source, and can help create a more stable even temperature.
(less node stretching your right)

is there enough usable light the plants will respond to with just the LED strip rolls that are being used?
plants do enjoy their radiation.
the more radiation they have without going overboard, the better. similar to a engine fuel for performance.
in eco mode, less fuel.

the result of not enough 'useable light' is smaller tomatoes, and more green leafy produced plant matter,
though you are probably wanting less leafy matter, and instead more tomatoes.

most plants would prefer to be under conditions that would cause people to get sunburns, and mutations.

airflow should be allowed. this can also help control the heat that results from applying enough radiation,
and also convert the plants starch towards creating strength to withstand the weight of tomatoes.

also be aware of Ph levels being not low enough such as tap water.
too low though, can make for shock, ideally somewhere around 6.0 - 6.3.
and for plants just germinating, the ph can be allowed to be a little lower to about 5.5 - 5.8.

more importantly than adjusting ph levels for already developed plants (with roots, ones without roots have very little plant food requirement and will do just fine getting by on what clorophyl they already have until later) is not expecting the plant
to live on a water diet, it also wants some kind of a plant food.

imagine you already are aware of much of that, though its helpful to knowledge that should others consider such an idea that could save time and R&D expense.

also, if saving power is important, then only 18 hours of artificial light (or any light) is all thats needed until at which point the plant is allowed to experience shorter photovoltaic periods at about 12 hour cycles instead until harvest with the help of a timer.

so, more tomatoes, or more lettuce, that is choice.

another thing to be concerned about, is how effective is the adhesive mentioned thats being relied on to withstand the climate they are being used in.

mylar is best, though ya just using white paint can be effective if not easier to clean (if semigloss or higher).

growing in a small containment will mean the temps will rise, this is when a small amount of c02 introduced into the system can be most effective if careful enough to not just exhaust the c02 away from the small containment zone before it can be of use. just try not to place the exhausted c02 into another contained environment that people could be affected by.

all the best