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Post by ladybird on Nov 28, 2018 15:36:12 GMT
Anyone have some advice on greenhouse lights ? I was going to buy a tubular light from two west and elliot's but I have read that these don`t work if its too cold and LED is cheaper and better now. I`m thinking both for general lighting along the center of the greenhouse and perhaps some lighting to hover over my heated propagator to get those seedling off to an early start without becoming leggy .
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Post by sweetpea on Nov 28, 2018 18:27:55 GMT
Never used g'house lights as never really needed them. I think only necessary if needing to grow something out of its natural season. Strangely enough, while typing this we had a power cut and had to go searching for candles  |
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Post by SueA on Nov 29, 2018 8:56:08 GMT
I haven't got any power in the greenhouse ladybird so wouldn't be able to use lights anyway but I've never thought about using them, I suppose they'd come in handy if you wanted to work in there on these dark winter afternoons though or if you wanted to grow salads or something all year round. I think roofgardener on here used some grow lights in his polytunnel last year with some success, I think his gave a purple glow though & you might want natural daylight style & I think LED seem to be used for everything nowadays. |
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Post by ladybird on Nov 29, 2018 11:49:01 GMT
Thanks SP and Sue. I cant understand all the jargon around GH lighting . I`v always had an Ikea light that screwed on in my GH but it tends to focus on one spot . I was about to purchase a general waterproof tublar one but a review mention that if it was too cold it doesn't work so that no good. I have a bit of a budget left to spend on my new GH so thought I`d splash out on lights before it gets spent on Christmas. I would love a long grow light for over my heated propagator table just to get a few weeks on the seedlings . I think we are in the dark longer here in the North .
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Post by roofgardener on Dec 11, 2018 12:05:46 GMT
ladybird, are you talking about grow-lights ?
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Post by ladybird on Dec 11, 2018 14:58:05 GMT
ladybird, are you talking about grow-lights ? roofgardener, initially I was looking at just good overall greenhouse lighting instead of this ikea screw on spot light I have .I am so confused , blue light - red light- full spectrum, fluorescent..... and the prices are so different . I read that the fluorescent ones dont work if its too cold ! I send an email to two wests and elliots about their lights and i`m still confused. I had collected a few items into my basket in Two wests including this www.twowests.co.uk/led-grow-lights (I opted for the larger one with a blue light ) and my daughter bought them for me  so now I have a grow light . Now I`m looking for overall lighting as I do be in the GH a lot in the dark spring nights. Any suggestions ? I have 4 plug sockets one for the heated table and now one for the grow light so two left . |
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Post by roofgardener on Dec 11, 2018 15:21:36 GMT
Well, I just use a couple of LED bulbs from Wilko's.... standard LED light bulbs with the bayonet fitting.
The light is a BIT clinical and white....but they are VERY low energy useage.
It's good light for working in, but it doesn't help the plants grow.
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Post by ladybird on Jan 5, 2019 17:23:04 GMT
I now have light in the greenhouse. a 5 foot LED tremendous light ( A 6 foot one would have fitted better but I couldn't find one on amazon ) . It was a bit fiddly to put together and hang up . I used the nuts and bolts with a ring through it to thread the wire along the edges of the GH and the black plastic ones with a hook for the roof area. My electrics have a seperate switch in the meter box so I can switch it on and off from the house. here's a pic .  |
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Post by ladybird on Jan 5, 2019 17:32:13 GMT
Now I have 2 problems.
1. My plugs are higher up now and the power cable from my heated bench is too short . That bit of the cable came wired and is complicated so I don't feel confident to rewire with longer flex.
2. I have a nice new heat light to suspend over the heated bench but I can't see what to hang it from as the table is 2 foot exactly the width of the glass panes, any ideas ?
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Post by SueA on Jan 6, 2019 9:19:51 GMT
Can you not just plug your heated bench cable into a short extension lead & then plug that in to your socket ladybird? Maybe you could make some sort of wooden framework attached to the back of your bench & then fix the light to the top of that instead of the greenhouse frame? It looks really good by the way, you'll have fun working in there! |
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Post by ladybird on Jan 6, 2019 13:46:35 GMT
Can you not just plug your heated bench cable into a short extension lead & then plug that in to your socket ladybird? Maybe you could make some sort of wooden framework attached to the back of your bench & then fix the light to the top of that instead of the greenhouse frame? It looks really good by the way, you'll have fun working in there! With the danger of water splashes Sue and the plug being rubber and sealed my neurotic self just wants it nice and neat without an extension . I am thinking of taking out the sand again and repositioning the plug to the far left. I have already redone it twice as a gent on Youtube advised that the blue bit should be outside (I had it tucked inside the sand ) it looks awful now and irritates me so I might rewire it inside again , though it's time consuming  I will be rebuilding a removable frame of narrow metal poles over the heated propagator with a plastic cover that I used before ( might sew some zips in this time ) so I can't see a way to adding anything above that Sue. The idea being that later in the season I can remove the frame , put the planks for the other table over it and grow my toms in the side table frames and still have the covered heated table as a bench. |
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Post by roofgardener on Jan 8, 2019 19:41:01 GMT
Ye gods ladybird... your greenhouse is HUGE OK.... so you don't want an extension cable, because of the water. How about..... you DO use an extension cable... but coat the plug/socket area with liquid rubber ? |
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Post by SueA on Jan 9, 2019 9:04:40 GMT
You can get splashproof socket covers like this as well ladybird if you need to use any extension leads in there:- Socket cover |
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Post by ladybird on Jan 10, 2019 18:52:58 GMT
Ye gods ladybird... your greenhouse is HUGE OK.... so you don't want an extension cable, because of the water. How about..... you DO use an extension cable... but coat the plug/socket area with liquid rubber ? The Greenhouse is 8` X 16` roofy with safety glass . It looks huge but my last one (8x12) was always stuffed to the gills with my "train track" shelves running around the greenhouse to hold standard seed trays. So As i now have a sitting area and no shelves (yet ) I might just have the same growing space as before. Here are some pics of my "train track" shelves made from the galvanized parts of my first Norfolk greenhouse.   Liquid rubber sounds expensive . Any ideas about how to hang my heat light over the propagating table ? |
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Post by ladybird on Jan 10, 2019 18:54:18 GMT
You can get splashproof socket covers like this as well ladybird if you need to use any extension leads in there:- Socket coverYes indeed that just might work Sue and as it will be placed under the table I doubt if it would get too damp. |
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so now I have a grow light .
