The Other Green Other Herb/ Salad Station Thread

[unkle_psycho]

So I received 4 5000k bridgelux gen2's and 2 Thomas Research Products LED40-022-C1820-D drivers.

Very exited about building a permanent salad/ herb station for the house, even though summer is coming and it won't be needed for a few months.

Almost as exited about this thread, and everything I'll learn about lighting and growing salads inside from your builds and ideas.

[Hydrofood]

I crave discussion with similar minded people growing greens! And non cannibas crops in general.
I’m interested in how 5k preforms for you.

[Capt. Saicin]

Hey fellow non-cannabis growers!

My first Chili-station (passive claypebbles/coco-mix above a res with wicks going into it. Gonna have to redo it at some point...)is workin okay-ish, getting regularly hot hot peppers though. Battling with Aphids cause i was fostering a chili from my parent's garden...not a good idea. Chrysopidae larvae have been deployed and they are already pretty munchie.
They are under 3x 3kK COB. (which also functions as the main lightsource for my room, so nono to high Kelvins )

Now doing an active DWC setup for Chilis and Salads and Strawberries. Chilis with a flattened canopy on top, Strawberries and Sorrel (picking young leaves only, so it's gonna stay compact, i hope)underneath. It's in a rack and gonna have two levels for different spectra, shared res.
Using Q-Series Strips, 3kK and 5kK, gonna add some far red and UV to both.

Wanna do some testing with it, so i'm currently fiddling with an arduino+sensors (temp/hum/light level(only lux)/UVAB/pH) for logging (working great!) and controlling (parts missing..).

Definately WIP

[unkle_psycho]

So much of the scientific data on veggie light recipes was done with RBG discrete diodes, I think it will be very interesting to test different color temperature while leds to see what they bring out.

I'm hoping to be able to do a side by side with 80cri 3000k 90cri 2700k 80cri 5000k and 90cri 5000k... Just trying to figure out how I would like to set it up, since the 90cri strips are at 24v and the 80cri strips 19.5v. My chinese killawatt blew, so i probably need to buy a new one and set power levels by dimming.

I'm also itching to test carrots at different light intensities and temperatures. I saw some studies with discrete RGB diodes where they were able to modulate levels of different sugars 10 fold just with light frequency. Carrots are also known as plants that grow well in low lighting. I need to know how much it costs me to grow a kg of the worlds sweetest baby carrots.

[unkle_psycho]

Hi captain!

Insects inside are a pain in the butt. I brought in chillies and tomatoes last autumn and had similar problems. Pretty proud to have managed to keep the invaders in check. Also hoping to start learning of beneficial insects this year.

Strawberries are something that interests me. Grew by first batch of alpine strawberries from seed last summer. I was pretty shocked to realize we didn't have a single strawberry variety in the local market that got over 2/5 for taste. They are all chosen for looks and shelf life. Growing strawberries at home is an opportunity to pick varieties that have exquisite taste but no shelf life.

In Finland they sell a local soda from strawberries at about 6$ for a small can, the strawberries used are leftovers from whats sold... I imagine that a study into tasty varieties could generate a great raw material to flavor value added products. Alpine strawberries are grown widely in france and italy for this very reason. I used to work in Asia doing development for a group that had some pretty high level restaurants... most of their ingredients got flown in from where ever they were finest. I do believe there is potential in being able to consistently produce something extraordinary.

I'm also studying chilies, but not aiming to grow them inside. Testing different combinations of dried powders for the ultimate mix, and testing different techniques and recipes for fermenting. Since nothing gets eaten fresh, production can be centered to time and place. If I hit the jackpot and find the right product I would make it to scale in SEA to get the price to a level your average asian could afford.

What chillies are you growing? I have quite a variety on the way for this summer.

[The_Mouse_Police]

Mine is a little ways off, but I'm looking at a mixed 3000K, 4000K (for more green and yellow), and 5700K EB2 build, for leafy greens, small radishes, and microgreens. I haven't bought driver parts for that, yet (all these other lonely parts...), but I'm gunning for the little DC-DC boxes by Meanwell, right now, since they will take 3.3V PWM, and their low voltage and cost will make it easier to handle voltage/current/power matching for relatively weak output. The CCT mix should add CRI for me, a bit of far red for the plants, and allow for limited blue:red adjustment, should anything grow super compact (already seen this with pak choi, under QB132＠3500K vs. PFD Fusion boards).

As soon as I get my outdoor garden going like I want (one project at a time, and I'm running behind on that), I'll be turning an old TV cabinet into a greens and herb grow box. The top shelf will be PFD Fusion boards, which I already have, and have been using for overwintering and growing basil (basil and thyme love these boards). Then I'll add lower pull-out shelves to hold shorter plants, with the strips used for those.

[unkle_psycho]

What are these meanwell drivers? I'm certainly interested in any small options available... Was thinking of ordering small drivers designed for interior design that would allow tiny builds for even smaller salad stations and cloning boxes etc...

[ATPinMotion]

https://www.rapidled.com/mean-well-ldd- ... le-driver/

[The_Mouse_Police]

Yes, those. In case you're skimming specs and miss it, their output is limited to input-3V, making some 48V scenarios borderline with 48V nominal input. I plan to control mine with a uC, so the 3.3V PWM compatibility means no 12V rail, level shifters, or PWM to voltage converters, as would be needed for the HLG-C/ELG-C. I'll need a couple more of those drivers, and lose a few more Watts before the LEDs, as a trade off.

I haven't used them, but both Meanwell and Thomas Research Products make lower voltage lower current drivers, too, suitable for AC operation of a few strips, or one QB or COB.

[unkle_psycho]

Yeah I looked through all the TRP drivers, theres lots of choice, but their prices bumped up 200-400% so I'm only looking at the models with old prices. It's no big deal, if I knew I wanted a certain setup its not like 10-20$ would make me change my mind... But looking at different small setups and comparing them side by side I feel silly if my 20w setup costs the same as my 40w setup

The strips and drivers for a 40w setup cost me 21e, 75w costs me 40e with 4 gen2's, 43 with 3 vestas and 46e with 3 vestas and switches.

I have a free month and thought I would build some lights and sell them through 3 local forums... First I want to benchmark the cheapest possible way I can set things up, then it's easy to explain to customers what extras you can offer, for what price and its up to them to say what they want.