How many house plants does Hypgraphy grow?

[modest]

372 + 7 =

379

~modest

[Michaelangelica]

My house is dark; I have one glassed in area with some light. In there, I have about 20 plants including a mushroom the other day.
I have been researching "grow lights" for plants and feel the best solution is probably the International Space Station's 1' x1' LED array. (Growing Australian natives at the moment!?) I have been trying to get info on its design. I went to a local electronics store and there are hundreds of different LED bulbs all with a various out-put/style/wavelength of light.
Anyone got any contacts with NASA? (Three degrees of separation?)

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

My hose is dark; I have one glassed in area with some light. In there, I have about 20 plants including a mushroom the other day.
I have been researching "grow lights" for plants and feel the best solution is probably the Space Stations 1' x1' LED array. (Growing Australian natives at the moment!?) I have been trying to get info on its design. I went to a local electronics store and there are hundeds of different LED bulbs all with a various out-put/style/wavelength of light.
Anyone got any contacts with NASA? (Three degrees of separation?)

Very interesting idea!

I'm in mind to do a little hydroponics on a very small scale, mainly a herb stand in the kitchen planted in a neutral medium with a water-based food source pumped through it with an aquarium pump. And the only thing stopping me was the light source. This LED thing didn't even cross my mind.

A contact with NASA as to wavelengths and what bulbs to use might present itself in the form of PYROTEX...

All we have to do is to meditate on His presence and repeat His name twenty times whilst walking backwards, and PYROTEX might show Himself in This Here Thread...

[freeztar]

Well, this has been covered pretty thoroughly in the following thread:

<Damn, can't find it>

M, you participated. Do you remember the thread? I think Ganoderma was trying to figure out the best light frequencies for plant growth, which evolved from a discussion about LED grow lights. I checked the Hydroponics thread and the thread on "we need 1 million more houseplants" (or something similar), with no luck. I do remember some of the discussion was a bit off-topic, so maybe it's buried in an unrelated thread.

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by freeztar

Well, this has been covered pretty thoroughly in the following thread:

<Damn, can't find it>

Crummy hypography search engine?

There was an article in a science mag. about a DIY, LED project for plants but it was more pretty than practical.

[Mercedes Benzene]

Originally Posted by modest

372 + 7 =

379

~modest

+ 2 more epiphyllum =

381

[Pyrotex]

Did someone call my name? Twenty times while walking backward in a circle (widdershins, of course)?
That was really wierd. One minute, I was fantasizing about Angelina Jolie (I was giving her an erotic tattoo) and POOF! the next minute I'm here typing a post in a thread I care nothing about.

Hmmm. Indoor plant lights. The place to begin is to find out what spectrum frequencies plants NEED. I know that the major variant of chlorophyll is most sensitive in the red part of the spectrum, and to some extent in the blue as well. That is why most plants are GREEN. Their surfaces reflect the light they do not need.

However, not all reds are equal. The chlorophyll molecule is a "tuned oscillator" requiring photons of a very narrow bandwidth. There are variants that require photons a teensy bit redder, or a teensy bit yellower. Ideally, an LED array with 1/3 blue LEDs and 2/3 red LEDs would be close to maximum efficiency. Assuming the frequencies were 'spot on'.

[EDIT 1] From Wickipedia, we have:

Measurement of the absorption of light is complicated by the solvent used to extract it from plant material, which affects the values obtained,
In diethyl ether, chlorophyll a has approximate absorbance maxima of 430 nm and 662 nm, while chlorophyll b has approximate maxima of 453 nm and 642 nm.

Reading the graph, it seems the bandwidth is around 30 nm wide, around the very narrow peaks.

So, it looks like we need
red LEDs outputting from 420-450 nm, &
blue LEDs outputting from 640-675 nm.

[EDIT 2] Also check out this Wickipedia article on LED grow lights.

[Ganoderma]

So, it looks like we need
red LEDs outputting from 420-450 nm, &
blue LEDs outputting from 640-675 nm.

yep that seems right from what i have read as well. different plants are different of course not jsut in their chlorophylls but other photosynthesizing pigments. i also notice a lot of light research are done on things like algae , which i would presume would be far different from cacti. i got a really cool study on a species of cactus that had some light experiments done, but they did not give exact wavelengths only "blue, green, red and far red"....


Michael, all the LED materials is pretty easy to find, at least online, so long as you know how to wire it all up.

i can't find that thread either....


i lost a bunch of plants in a recent typhoon, so declared some of the outside cacti and now indoor cacti.

381+12

393

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks for the info on LEDs.
That should be fun, never done anything like that before
Lights are available from "Dick Smith" here in all sorts of wavelengths, fairly cheap too, but maybe not when you have to buy enough for a 1' square?

I keep getting these messages, but when i get to the site I can't find the "cool" post.

Dear Michaelangelica,

jnet has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - How many house plants does Hypgraphy grow? - in the Environmental Studies forum of Science Forums.

This thread is located at:
http://hypography.com/forums/environ...-new-post.html

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
cool
***************

[Mercedes Benzene]

393 + 3 = 396
I just got 3 more Epiphyllum, and more are on the way!