Grow lights, heaters etc, on a budget

@clueless1 I have one of those reptile heat mats I use in the greenhouse with a propagator I made myself. I just cover it with spare panes of glass.
It fits 5 full sized seed trays in
I'm going to make a poly tunnel this weekend if I have the time to fit over the wooden frame.
Got some spare plastic pipe and polythene so that I can grow taller plants but keep them covered and warm

 

I can't comment on the 45watt one, but I'd say it's too powerful for what I'm using mine for.
Maybe the extra watts maybe good for penetrating the canopies of larger plants.
The good thing about these panels is, that if needed you could mount them on there sides.

 

I have a light meter so if I get one I'll report back with the Lumens

 

All interesting stuff...i'm going to attempt to make some kind of light box to house a couple of earlt tomato plants....wish me luck

 

That has to be bull. There would be no market for them. Someone tried one last year (Clueless1 ??) and reported good results.

My view has changed (but not used one as yet). I thought the light output, in lumens, was way too low to be "enough". However, as the only light output is pure-red and pure-blue, and assuming this is what plants want, then 100%-ish is useful, whereas in white light XX% is useless ... so fewer lumens, of the right sort, seems to make sense to me.

Cheap enough to buy one, so that's my nest step (only delay my end has been deciding if I want 10x units, rather than just the one ...)

 

I also have a light meter. It doesn't register anything at all under my LED panel, yet I know there's enough light coming off it because the seedlings tell me so.

With LED lights, we must remember that they are so efficient partly because they don't waste energy on heat like most lamp types, but also because they operate at a very specific bandwidth, only that needed for photosynthesis. I can only assume my light meter must filter off most of that specific bandwidth, probably unintentionally, just through the use of low cost materials, but my point is, a light meter with an LED array may not give a very relevant reading.

 

It's the first year i've used lights @fat controller and the one i rigged up for my onions which is actually not a proper grow light has made a difference...they're growing steadily instead of getting leggy and searching for the light...i've got a 'proper' light for my early tomatoes that i'm going to attempt to make a light box thingy to help them on the way

 

@fat controller , before I got too carried away and started too many seeds off in one go, running out of space and having to ration lightbox time, I had seedlings that were growing very strong with no light at all other than from the LED array. Mine is in a purpose modified cupboard, with cupboard doors shut, in a room that hardly gets used so the light is rarely on in there.

 

@fat controller my lights are hanging from my camera tripod and the heated propagator is in a cardboard box with the flaps folded up.
It's clearly having a good effect because the coleus have germinated in 4 days (I'm rubbish with these never any success) the brugs are looking really healthy too.