imclueless17

Ok so I was just wondering which of these is the best source for usable banana growing light. I currently have a MH set up which I believe gives off light mostly from the blue spectrum. But I want to know if HPS Lights, Led's or fluorescent's are possibly better or more cost effective.( Oh and I know that a hps setup is better for flowering because it gives off light in the red spectrum).

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blownz281

MH will suck up to much power,plus to much heat. Left over from a saltwater reef tank? . Fluorescent is better with cost and bulbs are cheap,but for energy and out put LED would be best. Only thing is one tiny bulb is only 1watt. They aren't cheap either,atleast not for the craze of the saltwater hobby world. They barely use any electric,and have a longer spectrum life. Not much info out there on how good they are for reef tanks or plants.

Good Luck.

imclueless17

So If I were to switch to a led system for growing naners what Wattage would I want and I would want blue led's right?

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blownz281

Sorry man I can't help you on the wattage for growing nanners. But any grow lights I have ever seen give off Kelvin ratings and not blue which is atinic for saltwater reefs. If I may ask why not keep them outside and just bring them in during winter and just let them go dormant? Didn't look at where your from so not sure of your zone. 6500K rating bulbs would be a good start I think. Might be easier to get some hardware and Fluoresent bulbs and go that way. Since you can get all the stuff at a box store. Where the LED you would have to get from the internet and google creed or some name like that. They are one company who is selling LED systems for reef tanks and they might be able to hook you up with what you need. I use T5 HO lighting on my reef tank which are small fluoresent bulbs and they put out killer light and keep there spectrum the best right behind LED.

imclueless17

Well actually I keep my naner's inside most of the year due to short summers (or a short time during summer when the bananas will grow). So I wondered if I could save some money by switching from Mh to some other type.

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timmko

Last winter I used a 400watt MH 10,000k bulb (left over from my reef tank, I also switched over to T-5's) and to supplement the blue I added a 6500k Compact flourrescent about 250watts I think. The banana's grew great but then they were only small (less than 2ft)and kept within3ft of the bulbs. This winter I will look at getting some t-5 lighting to add as the plants are now over 8ft. I went to home depot and they have double strip t-5 lighting for shops at around $35.00 and then of course I would have to get full spectrum bulbs. Still looking around if anyone has any great ideas lets hear them.

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imclueless17

Just bought a 2' 4 bulb t-5 fluorescent light fixture and 4 HO 6500k t-5 bulbs so it looks like ill be switching to a fluorescent system =).

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Richard

Forget LED's for crops, although they are great for indoor tropical plants that enjoy low light in their natural habitat.

In the long run, the T5 High-Output Plant light systems are more cost effective, plus they give out a better quality light for crops and full-sun plants in general.

That's an urban myth. Try telling that to a commercial grower with significant floor space and they will be rolling on the ground laughing. It is not borne out by any valid field trials.

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tastyratz

is a 6500k bulb a 6500k bulb period? Some bulbs are sold specifically as grow lights, but I wonder if a bulb labeled grow light is any better than one which just happens to be the right spectrum in the normal range of lights. Are they worth getting or marked up for nothing?

imclueless17

I was just wondering that....

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The Hollyberry Lady

Richard

I would be very interested in reading the report of a study with good experimental design which shows any benefit to using orange-red bias vs. a full spectrum plant light for flowering. All such studies I've seen to date are negative.

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imclueless17

Actually I can agree on this statement because I have always been told red induces flowering in plants while blue tends to stimulate more growth. But it was told to me as fact not opinion so I never researched or questioned it but I find it very interesting that it may just be a bucket of hogwash...(pssst...look at pic. Its funny).

Attached Images

hog_wash.jpg (36.3 KB, 4 views)

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Kevin

imclueless17 - your original question was what was the best light set-up. I can't answer what's the best, but I use a 1000W HPS for my grow-room (all sorts of plants), and I had my banana plant down there last winter. It did fine. I would say the more light the better, no matter what spectrum. There are also two basement windows in that room, so it does get a bit more light than just the bulb. How much room do you have that you could get a banana plant to flower inside under fluorescents? They do create a lot of heat, but you can just put the ballast outside the room if you find it too much, if you even have the plants in a separate room. Heat is not an issue then. The bulb does heat up, but without the ballast, I think the heat would be significantly lower.

If you don't want to give your location, could you give us your zone? Sounds like you are in a cold zone - nice to hear from others growing bananas in the frozen north!

imclueless17

Sorry if I made it sound that cold Its not that bad i'm between zone 5b and 6a which isn't freezing but we have some really nasty winds here(60-90+ mph) which cool things down a bit. But I only have a short time in which its not to hot nor to cold here to grow naners. in the heat of summer its normally 103+ like today for us. but in late spring and early fall the naners don't get burnt of frozen ( we have winters in the -10's which isn't totally harsh but its not good for the nana's).(and yes I do use parenthesis alot.) =)

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wordwiz

I have tried MH and HPS, both 400 watt bulbs and yes, HPS does encourage blooming and longer internodes.

LED, at least the ones with the 8:2 (Red:Blue) or 7:2:1 (Red:Blue:Orange) also produce longer nodes than MH or fluros.

Last winter, I did a Basil comparison grow using the HPS, CFL and three LED panels: all red, all blue and red/blue. By far the leggiest plant was the all-red LED - the plants fell over. The HPS was next, followed by the red/blue. The CFL plant was considerably shorter with the all-blue plants the stockiest.

Allowances were made to equalize the lux among the plants.

As far as scientifically determining what the most (cost) efficient light is, it is easy. Figure out the cost per lumen of PAR light (the part of the spectrum plants use in photosynthesis).

YMMV!

Mike

Richard

HPS plant-light bulbs are manufactured to be a supplement to daylight in translucent outdoor greenhouses in northern latitudes -- not a stand-alone source for indoors. For example: http://www.search.philips.com/search...oad/p-5828.pdf

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wordwiz

And you extrapolated this from the link you provided?

Sorry, wrong interpretation. They can be used, and highly are, as supplemental light in a GH, but lots of growers, especially those that are into "herbal growing" don't have translucent outdoor greenhouses in northern latitudes.

Mike

Richard

The vast majority of HPS bulbs sold by manufacturers are used as lighting supplements. My clients -- who buy lights by the truckload, prefer the T5 HO full spectrum.

It is also true that many distributors are making a nice sum of cash selling HPS bulbs to indoor growers. Its a small dent in the big picture.

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wordwiz

Richard,

The reality is the same. The most bang for the buck is MH lights. Not that I sell them, I don't sell anything except maybe some tomatoes and peppers when they ripen and I have more than I need. But I have done some in-depth analysis of grow lights, how much PAR they deliver, their initial cost and the cost to operate them.

I don't expect you to jump on my bandwagon, given that you are pedaling other lights but please, don't try to presume the info I have posted is not proven.

Mike