LED tomato growing for the winter
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Each year I have high hopes of eating good delicious tomatoes from late spring through late fall. Each year, mother nature conspires to give me rainy early summer and below normal temperatures!
With a greenhouse, you would think I could have tomatoes nearly year round, however , I just got my first tomatoes from a plant I left in the greenhouse since early spring a couple of weeks ago!
This year I’ve getting a whole lot more serious about having greens and tomatoes all winter long. To that end I have purchased a small LED light, a small 150 watt HPS, and a light mover to supplement the meager sunlight that comes in the PNW winter months.
0 thumbs up!Posted 10 months ago | Last edited 10 months ago -
Interesting! I look forward to seeing what you set up and how it works.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 10 months ago
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My messy spot that the tomatoes and other greens will occupy for the attempted winter growing. They will get a tiny amount of winter sun through the window. Keeping it all warm enough will be a challenge as well.
For the moment the HPS light is mounted on the rail. I’m working out how to hang the led off the cord end of the hps to keep it from the heat. Thinking a pair of aluminum L brackets would be stiff enough.
Alan
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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And a better photo of the led unit. Since the photo in the first one came out quite poorly from the linked picture I used.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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A trolley has been ordered to mount the led light too. It will ebb and flow with the main motor light. Decided that would probably be best long term. A length of wood bolted to the motor drive and the trolley (they have a central bolt spot) would keep them exactly spaced at all times.
Supposed to arrive today, so perhaps another photo of that rigged up this evening.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago | Last edited 9 months ago
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Well, the trolley idea was a compete bust. It prevents the main motor from contacting the stops that cause it to reverse, so that won’t work.
I rigged up this instead, which aint pretty and brings it’s own challenges like I cannot get full coverage with BOTH lights without way over traveling.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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Tonight I flipped it around and measured the temperatures of the LED and the HPS after it ran for 3 + hours. About 86 on the led and 105 on the back of the light. I think those temps will be fine. Need to do some power cord management and pack in a flat or two of potting soil to get some seeds started up, however, since I have a greenhouse. I would probably make more sense to start them in there with the misters to help get the seeds and plants going.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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Two single seeds are planted in 4" pots in the greenhouse. A Mexico Midget variety of cherry tomato and Tiny Tim. They have a mister pointed down on them and should be up in a few days as warm as it has been around the PNW of late.
In a couple of weeks will start another set of 2, etc. The reason being a professor doing test for window growing these small varieties suggested starting new plants every two weeks so you would have a continous crop as the age.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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checked on the tomato seeds this morning and nothing coming up yet in the greenhouse.
Had to reconfigure the led hanging solution this morning as well. Shortened up the distance the led was away from the HPS light, flipped the bracket from one side to the other, zip tied the cords to the trolley, adjusted the stop on the over travel amount.
THAT presented another problem as I watched a good investment start to tip up into the air, as my point of travel was now past my hang chain and equilibream of the whole track was therefore off.
Pulled it all apart completely, moved the hang point out another foot and re-assembled it all.
I have it running back and forth now with one plant packed in from the greenhouse to see how it responds.
Also installed is a temperatue sensor for both ambient air and a probe that is in the soil of this sample plant. It reports to the internet and I can download the last 30 days of temperature readings at 10 minute intervals. With the data, I can see how well my heat mats keep up as the temperature drops lower and lower in the fall.
Alan
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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The tomatoes are UP! They are out in the greenhouse thought, not under the led. One Mexico midget and one tiny tim plant in each pot.
Currently under the led without it moving about, is a wave petunia I picked up on clearance was hoping to overwinter for the year.
However, I noticed I may have some gray leaves on the backside furthest from the window light. It was too dark to pack it out into the sunlight to really get a good look at them without the effects of led, fluorescent or hps light, all of which are different colors and not what we humans should be using to gauge color.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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I packed the petunia outside and the gray is just an illusion from the led lights. The petunia seems to be extra happy, perhaps even doing better than in the greenhouse covered in the shade cloth.
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0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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The buttercrunch lettuce has been started in a couple of 4" pots. So far the little heat mat is not making much of a difference in the temperature of the pot. Supposed to raise it 10 to 20 degrees over ambient.
Name Probe Device Hum Last Seen
Greenhouse 71.2 °F 65.7 °F 69% 9/4 8:02 PM
Shop Grow 70.3 °F 68.1 °F 44% 9/4 8:07 PM -
0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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Checked on the tomato starts, the lettuce that was planted yesterday and the wave petunia tonight. The wave petunia is very happy under the led light, more blooms than I had in the greenhouse, good growth. It’s encouraging if I can keep the heat up this winter for the plants.
The tomatoes are both starting their second set, or true leaves under the led. I made some shifts in the pots and the mat to bring them more in line with the direction of the led and to find some hotter spots on the mat.
Name Probe Device Hum Last Seen
Greenhouse 69.2 °F 67.1 °F 81% 9/5 9:02 PM
Shop Grow 70.1 °F 66.7 °F 47% 9/5 9:02 PM -
0 thumbs up!Posted 9 months ago
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The change in heat pads has made a difference, especially when the sun comes out. The tomatoes seem to be growing faster than they did in the greenhouse.
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2 thumbs up!Posted 8 months ago
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