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Well, do those LED lights work or not?

vbowdenvbowden Posts: 2
in Problem solving
Having read through the mail on window sill propagation and how to ventilate - do people think that those pretty pink/blue LED lights work?
I bought a light from Amazon (that well known gardening expert) and the implication was faster germination. I have had etiolated seedlings before, all leaning towards the light from the window. This year all equiped with my new light i set up and had just the same result! i want sturdy seedlings and not weak ones. That said i always chose the best to pot on!
Val

Posts

  • AstroAstro Posts: 433
    I'd be interested to know too, perhaps the light from the window is much brighter and they still lean. Some people use tin foil behind the plant to reflect light.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Do you leave the lights on 24 hours a day?

    As far as I can tell you can either pay several hundred pounds for LED grow lights that work or waste your money on cheaper ones.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I think grow lights are probably essential if you’re  growing weed,  but for ordinary, every day seeds, unnecessary.   
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    My cheap IKEA LED grow bulb stops my plants leaning.  The natural light coming in is very angled so they all tip over, and the bulb seems to stop that happening.  I only have it on during daylight, and it’s ‘reach’ is only about 20cm max so it can only do a few pots at a time which is why I have it in an anglepoise so can shift it around.  Since it’s a LED it doesn’t cost much to run and otherwise I spend my day turning pots round.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    I was recently speaking to the gardener at a posh restaurant, that grows thousands of microherbs in a heated greenhouse. She uses the pink LED growlights, and swears by them.
    I have for the first time used ordinary cheap LED lights and they have certainly made for stronger, straighter growth.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • vbowdenvbowden Posts: 2
    Thanks to all of you who responded to my enquiry about pink/blue LED lights to aid initital germination and seedling growth. I am still not completely convinced that they are helping me in my situation - dining room window sill (east facing) incubator. However I now have my seedlings ready to pot on to the next stage so thats the main thing. Regular turning of each little container seems to have worked ok.

    Am thinking of putting my sweet peas out right now - no frosts for a while... fingers crossed.
    Valerie
  • Hampshire_HogHampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089
    I have two sets of lights (cheap from AM) and they work just fine the seedlings did not go leggy looking for the light I turned the trays each day, I set them to run 12 hrs per day and used them from Jan - mid April once the seedling were and inch or so I moved them to the poly tunnel and started the next batch.

    "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
  • mohamed.nesreen220074255mohamed.nesreen220074255 Posts: 1
    I totally get your frustration with those LED lights. Last year, I got all excited about this fancy light I found online. Thought my seedlings were gonna be superheroes. But nope, same old leaning tower of seedlings.
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