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Houseplant grow light suggestions?

Robbie X

Member
Joined
20 Mar 2014
Messages
407
Location
South Wales
Hello all.
I am thinking of getting a grow light for my living room. All suitable spots are already occupied by plants, including beneath my tanks to capture light spill, I have even ran out of space on my stairs (gets lots of light).
There is one spot in the rear corner of the living room, around a square meter in size that currently has a large palm and some snake plants. It gets a little light but I would like to add a grow light in this spot and get a little jungle going on in my living room.
Does anyone have any experience with this sort of light and what types and manufacturers would you recommend?
Cheers
 
Hi @Robbie X

This is something that I have often thought about. But, something known as aquatics keeps getting in the way!

I will watch this thread with interest.

JPC
 
CFL would be the best value for money power wise, but an LED would look nicer, budget wise? go for a LED yard spotlight, if you want to spend a bit more go for a fan cooled CREE cob light.
 
Hello all.
I am thinking of getting a grow light for my living room. All suitable spots are already occupied by plants, including beneath my tanks to capture light spill, I have even ran out of space on my stairs (gets lots of light).
There is one spot in the rear corner of the living room, around a square meter in size that currently has a large palm and some snake plants. It gets a little light but I would like to add a grow light in this spot and get a little jungle going on in my living room.
Does anyone have any experience with this sort of light and what types and manufacturers would you recommend?
Cheers
Amazon product ASIN B083JVXHF6Amazon product ASIN B08PD35XP2
About 100 watts.

Fancier
Seems like a half dozen similar panels.
Different type.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08X42SCQZ/ref=sspa_mw_detail_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ignore any " 1000w" or other " implied" watt nonsense.
 
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I assume you want nice aesthetics as well as power?

How about those PAR38 bulbs that are warm (if you like that).
51zsd0St-AL._AC_SL1000_.jpg


You need to figure out a lamp holder...3 would be plenty for a corner like that I reckon....

7158mdGsOCL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
Something like that would be really nice on a stand if you can't mount a spotlight to the ceiling, also there are LED ones available with flexible attachments so you can alter the direction of the 3 lamps.
 
If you go the theatre route then these are very good. You can get barn doors as well. £7.79.
DP3005007-40.jpg
only 130mm long.
A GU10 led lamp £2.70 450lm.
LP11328-40.jpg

£10.49
Plus cabling and plug.
My house plants do well with thisView attachment 177625
View attachment 177626
And the aquarium.
Many thanks.
Do you think they will have enough power to grow large plants, like large palms etc?
 
I have 2 450lm on a Spider plant but they are only 50cm above plant. Plant is doing very well.

Also I have four in the conservatory with 8W 6400k non dimmable 750lm each £2.77. You can see they are on during an overcast day.
https://cpc.farnell.com/v-tac/vt-28...-8w-smd-6400k-38/dp/LP10020?st=gu10 led bulbs

At that price you could buy 1, just to try them @ £10.56 plus a plug, some sort of junction box and mains cable. The mains lead out of the unit is very short about 20cm. You would need to extend it. If it is not what you want you could use it on a specimen plant at close range.

I used the dimmable on aquarium so I can control the amount of light.
 
I have 2 450lm on a Spider plant but they are only 50cm above plant. Plant is doing very well.

Also I have four in the conservatory with 8W 6400k non dimmable 750lm each £2.77. You can see they are on during an overcast day.
https://cpc.farnell.com/v-tac/vt-2889-1695/lamp-led-gu10-8w-smd-6400k-38/dp/LP10020?st=gu10 led bulbs

At that price you could buy 1, just to try them @ £10.56 plus a plug, some sort of junction box and mains cable. The mains lead out of the unit is very short about 20cm. You would need to extend it. If it is not what you want you could use it on a specimen plant at close range.

I used the dimmable on aquarium so I can control the amount of light.
Cheers 🙏 Most definitely worth looking into. I have recently been experimenting with sealed jars containing mosses and liverworts. One of these with a dimmer would be great to light up a bunch of them on my self unit 😻
 
If you go the theatre route then these are very good. You can get barn doors as well. £7.79.
DP3005007-40.jpg
only 130mm long.
A GU10 led lamp £2.70 450lm.
LP11328-40.jpg

£10.49
Plus cabling and plug.
My house plants do well with thisView attachment 177625
View attachment 177626
And the aquarium.
I really like these but am not very good with electrical stuff. Will I have to wire them into the mains or can they be connected by a plug?
 
Got a temporary fix for a couple of plants but I intend to try the theatre spots if they are not too difficult to set up. I have attached 2 images of the areas to be illuminated.
 

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Worth trying two on that area attached to ceiling (if poss). I would use the 8W gu10 non dimmable 750lm. that would give you lots of light.
I just put one of these on the light cable IEC C14 plug
It is screw terminal so is easy to wire. As long as you have wired a 13A plug you will find it easy

Then it is just getting something like these to get it to the nearest 13A socket 13a to 2 IEC C13 socket
or just pick up two single IEC of needed length and a 4 way block from the supermarket. I would get some 3A fuses to replace the 13A fuses in the 13A to IEC leads.

If you know someone who is good at wiring then you could get some cable some 13A plugs and these IEC socket and get them to make them up.

It is best to tape the IEC plug and socket together, once you have plugged them in to each other. Use PVC electrical tape. They have a tendency to work loose sometimes.

Make sure you get IEC C13 and C14. They are not kettle leads but computer leads. Kettle leads are IEC C15 and C16.
IEC-60320-connector-standard.jpg
PX0686-2.jpg
 
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