That greenhouse tour in Portland made me rethink grow lights entirely.

Last spring I went to this big greenhouse complex out by the zoo in Portland. They had a room full of tropical plants and I noticed they weren't using fancy expensive grow lights. Instead they had these simple full spectrum T5 fixtures mounted close to the plants, like maybe 4 inches above the top leaves. I always thought you needed those high dollar LED panels to get good results. After talking to the head grower for a few minutes he told me cheap fixtures work fine if you adjust the distance and cycle timing. I went home and moved my lights way closer to my seedlings and added an extra hour of light time. Now my basil and peppers are way stockier and darker green compared to before. Has anyone else seen results from just tweaking light distance instead of buying new equipment?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley_grant3317d ago

Wait, did he mention anything about how often they cycled the lights on and off for the tropical room specifically?

christopher38516d ago

What did he say, that you can just jam the lights right into the plants' faces and they love it? I feel like I've been babying my setup for years and my peppers still look pale compared to what you're describing. All that money I wasted on that fancy LED array when I could have just hung a shop light three inches above them like a cave man.