We need a trillion more indoor plants.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

The "party" lights weren't that "partish" they looked like normal led lights. They claimed the equivalent of 100W from 20W electricity use.

Are you sure you don't mean 100 lumens?
The equivalent lumens for a 100W bulb would be 1300-1700 lumens.

What I need to know is that sort of light better for plants?

Not necessarily.
The action spectra for photosynthesis, as well as the absorption spectrums for chlorophyll a and b, can be found here:
Action & Absorption Spectra

While most photosynthetic activity happens towards the red spectrum, much absorption is taking place in the blue/violet spectrum as well.

I don't really know what THE best light is for growing, but I know high-pressure sodiums are highly esteemed (they glow orange-red).
Perhaps one of those coupled with a blue party light.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

The problem is every country has different systems
We work on a fairly lethal 240Volt system
So buying from the USA (110V?) is not an option

You crack me up Michael. It is not a measure of lethality, and in the US we use the 240V but only for large loads like clothes dryers, ranges, water heaters, and interior heating. More problematic can be the frequency difference; in the US the frequency is 60 Hz.

But to the point, if the product is made for US standards it is likely made for Oz, European, etcetera standards. Get shopping local. Look in the plant section of stores as well as lighting; in the US we have a wide range of fluorescents bulbs made specifically for growing plants & often stocked in gardening. They come in tubes of various lengths, as well as screw in type, and they have a range of colors from reds to blues, and mixes. They have been around for at least 30 years. It's not rocket science.

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

The problem is every country has different systems
We work on a fairly lethal 240Volt system
So buying from the USA (110V?) is not an option

The "party" lights weren't that "partish" they looked like normal led lights. They claimed the equivalent of 100W from 20W electricity use.
What I need to know is that sort of light better for plants?

Alot of those 'party lights' are colored glass and doesnt impact the type of light your receiving.

I spent alot of time researching aquatic plants for my aquarium last year. You may want to search around in those types of sites to get some ideas on how the K rating works. There are also (much fewer) groups out there that specialize in desert type indoor plants and may have some clues about K ratings and such. Look to reptile people for ideas on that. Many of them try to set up micro environments for their pets.

Depending on what kind of plant you want to grow, the type of K output a bulb is rated at is the primary factor. Usually you need to go CF to make it cost effective. The often recommended K for aquariums is 6700K to promote growth. The 'heads' use lower K to promote flowering ... somewhere in the 2200 -2500 K range if I remember right. So they grow their plants under the high K lights then to trigger flower growth, switch to lower K lighting.

I have read about some set up with multiple K rated lights where they try to mimic the sun intensity... running low lights in the morn, fire up the whole set mid day and then begin to reduce lighting to mimic late afternoons (on timers of course).

Having a good reflector above the lighting benefits the plants and should not be overlooked for an indoor project.

Heres a place with very good reflectors and lots of CF bulbs in various outputs:

Compact Fluorescent Lighting Kits

More and more places are starting tu put the K ratings on packages and more variations on output are being offered at places like Home Depot. Smaller ones were the K I needed, but too small for my aquarium. (13 watt, 17 watt iirc).

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

The problem is every country has different systems
We work on a fairly lethal 240Volt system
So buying from the USA (110V?) is not an option

The "party" lights weren't that "partish" they looked like normal led lights. They claimed the equivalent of 100W from 20W electricity use.
What I need to know is that sort of light better for plants?

OH! and as far as the current difference. Aquatic plants are a big thing in northern Europe so you should be able to find the correct V system. If not, they sell euro - american converter plug thingys via Radio shack (and other places whos names escape me now).

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Cedars

Alot of those 'party lights' are colored glass and doesnt impact the type of light your receiving.

Can you explain this some more Cedars?
I thought that changing the color of the light (ie frequency) would change it's...errr...frequency. Perhaps you mean something else by "type of light"?

[DougF]

I found this site that has the LED grow lights.

LED Grow Lights.com Home Page

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by freeztar

Can you explain this some more Cedars?
I thought that changing the color of the light (ie frequency) would change it's...errr...frequency. Perhaps you mean something else by "type of light"?

I won't presume to speak for Cedars, however I didn't address the party light issue. Michael first said this:

Originally Posted by Michangelican

They had led "Party Lights" which were infra red!?
The package warned they could cause burning (sunburn?)
About $15 each
They were 20W equivalent to 100W
They were black.

Would these be better for plants?
Cant, imagine what they would look like.

Most 'remotes' used for TV's, receivers, you name its, use infrared LED's to transmit the codes to the receiving unit. This light they give off is invisible to the unaided eye, but turn you Nightshot video camera on them & you can see the flashing and they even illuminate quite a bit of the room. I built a small array of these to use photographing wildlife at night. I paid about $2 US whether I bought new ones at radio shack or used remotes at goodwill. I don't know their frequency, or affect on skin or plants.

But the 'party lights' sound like a bad deal. Danger Will Robinson!! Maybe they are using excess lights from a specific use requiring a certain frequency, and pawning them off as 'fun'! I see infrared LED homepathic devices these days. Are they made in China?

Grow your indoor plants in a window and add any old light you care over them and hook it to a timer. Coleus is very colorful, large leaved, tolerant of a variety of lighting, grows vigrously, and starts well from cuttings. Doesn't tolerate drying too well, but time spent watering is time spent gardening indoors. Just do it.

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by freeztar

Can you explain this some more Cedars?
I thought that changing the color of the light (ie frequency) would change it's...errr...frequency. Perhaps you mean something else by "type of light"?

Type of light = wavelength/frequency/specific portion of the spectrum.

Plants use mostly blues and reds for growth (dependent on plant type). The aquariums tend towards blue light because it moves thru the water better than the reds (if I remember right). Many of the home lights do not produce the right wavelengths to promote plant growth. The full spectrums are getting better but its a buyer beware market out there. K rating is one way to generally measure. Some lighting packages are listing K, CRI, and graphing out what wavelength/frequency their light is producing.

Colour-Temperature; blackbody radiation visualisation

[Cedars]

Originally Posted by DougF

I found this site that has the LED grow lights.

LED Grow Lights.com Home Page

WHOA! Did you look up what these guys cost?

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Cedars

Type of light = wavelength/frequency/specific portion of the spectrum.

Plants use mostly blues and reds for growth (dependent on plant type). The aquariums tend towards blue light because it moves thru the water better than the reds (if I remember right). Many of the home lights do not produce the right wavelengths to promote plant growth. The full spectrums are getting better but its a buyer beware market out there. K rating is one way to generally measure. Some lighting packages are listing K, CRI, and graphing out what wavelength/frequency their light is producing.

Colour-Temperature; blackbody radiation visualisation

I understand all this Cedars, but I still can't understand what you mean by:

Originally Posted by Cedars

Alot of those 'party lights' are colored glass and doesnt impact the type of light your receiving.

The colored glass is changing the wavelength/frequency of the light. The K scale is measuring the same thing essentially (wavelength), except it assigns the color (read wavelength) value in relation to a radiating black body (such as stars; hotter stars [more K] are blue/white and cooler stars [less K] are red/orange/yellow).

In other words, if I take a flashlight and shine it through a blue lens, I am changing the wavelength of the light, and hence I see blue on the other side. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The reason I believe 'party lights', and other household lights, are not good for plant growth is because they lack intensity (much of the energy generated is thermal, hence these bulbs get hot).
They would probably work, if you could get close enough to the plants without burning them.