RE: [CH] Grow light questions (was CHD V5 #83)
Szwaya, Mike (MikeS@BES.CI.PORTLAND.OR.US)
Thu, 22 Oct 1998 09:38:42 -0700
Doug Wrote:
>>What counts as "a lot of light"? Out in my garden I have an
unobstructed
view of the sun from 1 hr. after dawn to about 2 hr. before sunset.
Unfortunately my house is set in the trees and none of my windows get
more
than 3 hrs. of direct sun even in summertime. So how much light is
enough to keep these puppies happy (no leaf drop, occasional flowering)
over the winter. I have a "red habanero" a "thai dragon", a "bolivian
purple" that only just set fruit and assorted basil plants I am trying
to
save.
>>I looked at the "Worm's Way" catalog for grow lights (one I had
received
recently no particular affiliation) and nearly dropped my teeth!!! $200
+
for some of the specialized/optimized grow lamps!!! Are these prices
typical?? and more to the point is this sort of light supplementation
necessary? I love fresh peppers but .....
...but fresh peppers in the dead of winter are GOOD when most contend
with frozen or dried chiles.
This is my first time posting but I've been reading for a few months
now. Many of the topics, advice & recipes brought up have been really
helpful but bringing plants indoor for the winter has been on my mind
for a while. A wet, cold May left me with an abbreviated season and I
feel a bit cheated. So I'm glad the topic came up.
I've got a 400w Metal Halide lamp downstairs (ask me no questions, I'll
tell you no lies) that I plan on setting a hab and a pequin plant under
for the winter. It is real, real bright and gives good coverage over
the while spectrum. Unfortunately this light is not cheap, about $200
and on top of that costs about $5 a month to run on a 12 hour schedule.
The $40 bulb will typically need to be replaced once a year/18 months at
this usage rate. A bit extreme for a handful of peppers and basil over
the winter I'll admit. I plan on taking the Pepsi Challenge by leaving
a couple other plants upstairs in the limited light that seeps through
the cloud cover over the winter months. I'm pretty sure there will be a
difference in growth/yield between the two but am curious to see how
much and if its worth running the lamp.
For those of you who bring plants in, what's your goal? Are you trying
to just maintain the plants until the next spring/summer or is anyone
aggressively going for fruit yield? I've got little bit of a green
thumb and I'm just playing around here but if anyone's interested in
hearing how things turn out, feel free to drop me a line.
Mike