Author Topic: Has anyone ever used a Metal Halide Lamp to grow their plants? (Read 2877 times)

sooks · « **on:** August 13, 2009, 09:46:38 AM »

I just moved to a new apartment and there is no room to put any of my pond plants and I was thinking of growing them in a tank and using a metal halide lamp. Has anyone ever used these types of lamps?

Bullfrog · « **Reply #1 on:** August 13, 2009, 09:57:23 AM »

Yes, years ago and they worked very well as long as you keep the temperature regulated.

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2009, 10:13:24 AM »

Sean has. He had a tub in his dining room full of tropical waterlilies. I think he has a tutorial on the subject in the Tutorial section of the forum.

I've been wanting a high pressure sodium lamp to supplement natural light in my greenhouse during winter but have been unable to afford it.

sooks · « **Reply #3 on:** August 13, 2009, 10:46:23 AM »

thanks for the replies everyone! i'm so excited about this.

Joyce · « **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2009, 12:21:59 PM »

I bought a huge Halogen on eBay, used it for years, when we moved, I yardsaled it away.
Worked like a charm and very 'true' light.

maryvonne · « **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2009, 12:41:38 PM »

I have two metal hylide lamps in the basement sunroom that I use to overwinter tropicals with and they work very well. They do give off a lot of heat though.

Maryvonne

Bullfrog · « **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2009, 04:26:01 PM »

Grew weed like a charm.

PondmaninAL · « **Reply #7 on:** August 13, 2009, 06:12:18 PM »

Quote from: Bullfrog on August 13, 2009, 04:26:01 PM

Grew weed like a charm.

I wondered what happened to you.

sooks · « **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2009, 07:17:41 PM »

Were they blooming when anyone used the halide lamps?

Bullfrog · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2009, 07:49:32 PM »

Blooming like crazy.

maryvonne · « **Reply #10 on:** August 13, 2009, 08:00:18 PM »

Mine bloom well too under the lights. I grew Victorias with those lights as well and they started blooming under the lights before they were moved to the outdoor pond.

Maryvonne

sooks · « **Reply #11 on:** August 14, 2009, 09:45:23 AM »

what kind fixtures and bulbs did everyone use and where did everyone buy theirs?

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #12 on:** August 14, 2009, 09:48:08 AM »

Sean had blooming tropical waterlilies when I visited him and saw his.

Joyce · « **Reply #13 on:** August 14, 2009, 11:12:16 AM »

This was like mine...
http://cgi.ebay.com/1000W-TWIN-HALOGEN-WORK-SHOP-LIGHT-UL-W-STAND-PRO_W0QQitemZ350237368042QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518bc61eea&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

sooks · « **Reply #14 on:** August 14, 2009, 11:17:33 AM »

wow Joyce.. that's HUGE

how many plants did you grow with that? Lol

Joyce · « **Reply #15 on:** August 14, 2009, 11:21:02 AM »

I just put it over my 2 half barrel planters in my unheated basement.
Each barrel was crammed with tropicals that I wanted to overwinter for clients.
I didn't mind the extra heat cuz the basement needed it.
Kept it on a 12 hour timer.
After 12 hours, the basement would be about 75-80*.
In the mornings, it would be down to about 55-60*.
So it worked as a light source and heat source.

Lots of people told me it was the wrong spectrum, but my lilies grew just fine, a little too well!

maryvonne · « **Reply #16 on:** August 14, 2009, 11:56:22 AM »

Hi Sooks,

I have an awesome system that my husband put together for me. I am busy right now putting a large batch of granola together but when I am done with that I will get photos etc for you to see. Like Joyce my lights were on during the day in an unheated sunroom in the basement so the heat from the lights was a good thing.

Maryvonne

maryvonne · « **Reply #17 on:** August 14, 2009, 02:38:09 PM »

Here's the set up I have in our sunroom. The lamps are attached to a track in the ceiling so they can be moved back and forth over the tanks and the aquarium. They can be moved out of the way if I'm working in the tubs as well. They are also hung with chains that can be shortened to the right height. My husband also made the reflector/ shield for the the original lamp. The second lamp was bought second hand. We will eventually make a new shield for it too. The tubs are on platforms that roll so I can move them on my own. The room is a mess right now. I need to clean it up before I move the plants back in.

The track my husband used is a garage door track with rollers.

Bullfrog · « **Reply #18 on:** August 14, 2009, 02:43:56 PM »

Growing plants indoors raises a whole new set of circumstances. It's amazing what nature provides on it's own. One day my plants were all sagging and limp. I had thumbtacks in the ceiling and strings tied to them to support them but they were in dire straits. I looked through the book and found out that they actually get strength from the wind, they form resistance. I put a fan in there on low and they perked right up.

Freddie Peepers · « **Reply #19 on:** August 14, 2009, 02:50:06 PM »

Using a fan makes a huge difference when starting seedlings
the stems get stronger from "fighting" the wind created by the fan

enzo · « **Reply #20 on:** August 14, 2009, 09:27:38 PM »

I believe that metal halide uses a lot of power and heat. T5 fluorescent lighting is currently the most energy efficient. It is often used in planted aquariums as well as saltwaters tanks.

Sean · « **Reply #21 on:** August 15, 2009, 07:12:24 AM »

I have a link that will assist you...

Luminary Prospects - Water Gardening Under Artificial Light

Cheers,
Sean

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #22 on:** August 15, 2009, 07:50:05 AM »

I was pretty sure you had written a tutorial.

Garden Web has a gardening under lights forum where many use florescent shop lights. They discuss modifying them and which ones work the best etc.

KatFish · « **Reply #23 on:** August 15, 2009, 08:12:55 AM »

I like this thread. I'm still trying to decide the best route of overwintering this year. It will be my first try at it, and I'd really like to keep them alive! Thanks for the info.

sooks · « **Reply #24 on:** August 15, 2009, 09:25:04 AM »

Thanks everyone for the info. It helped out a lot. I'm considering buying a metal halide system but it seems like they are pricey.

and might use a lot more electricity. I'm wondering if a 150 watt would be okay? I don't think I would be keeping that many plants. The other problem is.. it's really hot in my apartment and if I had a metal halide running, I'm afraid it would make it even hotter!

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #25 on:** August 16, 2009, 05:55:22 PM »

They are very hot and expensive and they do use a lot of electricity.

The Garden Web people use shop lights from Wal*Mart which are really cheap but they are starting seeds, there may be some though that are using different bulbs in them for flowering.

mushrooms · « **Reply #26 on:** August 16, 2009, 06:21:10 PM »

Quote from: Joyce on August 14, 2009, 11:12:16 AM

This was like mine...
http://cgi.ebay.com/1000W-TWIN-HALOGEN-WORK-SHOP-LIGHT-UL-W-STAND-PRO_W0QQitemZ350237368042QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518bc61eea&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Oh neat! I will see if these are available at Home Depot or Lowes.

I want to try growing in the garage too.