Barrelponic School System

[urbanfarmer]

Keep up the good work! We need more folks like you!

Projects for next week involve FINALLY putting up a framework to hang some growlights. (Though after following the lighting thread, I think I am simply going to re-purpose a few of the 4' fluorescent ballasts that I have in my garage - just need to go to Home Depot and get some daylight bulbs.)

Don't waste money on the grow lights. The regular ones for $1 a bulb work just fine. Basically, whatever the highest wattage your ballast can take should be your guide. Get the cheapest and most powerful bulb that you can find for that price. For 40 Watts at my local store, that's about $1 a bulb. If you want to SEE for yourself, buy 1 type of each bulb you are considering. You can then purchase a SIMPLE device that allows you to SEE the strength and color of the spectrum the light produces. Read up on chlorophyll if you aren't already familiar and then make your own judgment. You will most likely conclude that there just isn't much of a difference between the $1 bulb and the $100 bulb...

Fun and nifty device (might also be good for the kids to see)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T7JH2/

Just some food for thought, but you will see those new fancy LED grow lights adding UV, infrared (IR), and other strange color LED lights because supposedly the plants need a tiny bit of this to grow properly. Well, get a regular incandescent and use the device above. You will see it has the entire spectrum; no weird gaps like the fluorescent bulbs. That is why I like to throw one into my indoor lighting mix. The problem of course is the electric cost, but right now I am using one for the old lady's indoor herb garden. Strangely, it seems to have made the plants grow faster, but this is not objective and could be coincidence or something else.

[GreenPhoenix]

Urban - I already have two 150watt Hydro grow-lights that were donated. I was going to use those, but I think the fluorescent will actually illuminate a greater area. So I will probably use them instead... That way, the really nice Hydro lights can find their way into the riverbed system that I am designing for my garage!

Thankfully this system is located in my school, so electric costs are of a lesser concern right now. When I set up my home system - that will be a different situation.

JCO -- thanks for the kudos, my friend. I am simply doing what I can to teach what I can to my students. Hopefully they will get something out of it...

Green Phoenix