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DIY germinating/sprouting bottles
How to make cheap and easy DIY seed starting system from plastic water bottles. Each bottle becomes a self-enclosed wicking/sprouting chamber. You can use this method to start several seeds, then separate them out later for growing in larger systems.
Materials needed:
2 plastic water bottles
wicking material, such as a strip of microfiber cloth
Although Mr. Hua reimbursed me for this light to review, my review is honest and unbiased.
Also, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support my site and YouTube channel.
mrhua 150watt grow light
I recently purchased a mrhua 150 watt (65 actual watt) ufo LED grow light. It has a nice mix spectrum within the PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) range. And includes a central Cree 10 watt 3000K COB light.
I purchased the light on Amazon. Product specs below.
41 LEDs which generate a full light spectrum by combining these special optical wavelength LEDs: 17 Deep Red (630nm), 11 Royal Red (660nm), 2 Orange (610nm), 7 Industrial Blue (460nm), 1 Green (520nm), 1 Infrared (730nm), 1 UV(400nm), and 1 Warm White (3000 Kelvin)
Frequency: 50-60Hz
Input Voltage: AC120 V
Actual power draw: 65 Watts
Actual output lumens: 4050lm
Dimensions: 6.9’’ diameter x 2.4’’
Lifespan: 50000 hours of operation
Max Coverage Area: 2.2x 2.2ft at 24″ Height
The light seems to be of good quality. I like the mix of red, blue, IR, UV and the COB in the center.
I recently purchased a Kingbo 50W UFO LED grow light and am using it over some herbs in small wicking containers. So far the light is performing very well.
I purchased the light on Amazon. Here are the product specs listed there.
Specifications:
· Dimensions: 11.8”x0.59 inches
· Item Weight: 1.5 lbs
·Core Coverage at 24″ Height 1.5×1.5ft
·Max Coverage at 24″ Height 2x2ft
·Replaces a 100 watt HPS/MH
·Avg. Power Draw: 26 watt
·LED Quantities: 177pcs 0.3Watt Bridgelux/Epileds
·LED reflector: 60°degree
·Input Voltage: 110V AC
·Frequency: 50-60Hz
·Lifespan: 50,000 hours
Package includes:
·1 x KB-GLR50 LED Grow Light
·1 x Hanging Kit
·1 x Product manual
·1 x 5ft Power Cord
Output Spectrum
Output spectrum
Unboxing and setup video:
The specs say it draws 26 watts, my killawatt tester read 29.1 watts at .25 amps.
Although HIGROW reimbursed my purchase of this light to review, my review is honest and unbiased.
Also, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support my site and YouTube channel.
HIGROW 50W LED grow light
Unboxing and initial review
I just purchased a HIGROW 50W full spectrum LED plant light from Amazon. I’m planning to use to for rehabilitating a sick pepper plant.
Specs
Information and specs copy / pasted from the Amazon product page:
Spectrum test HIGROW 50W
Product Feature:
•New upgrade aluminum alloy frame design, better heat dissipation, more safe and strong.
•Irradiation angle is 180 degree adjustable, it’s easy to set up according to your plant position.
•Diversified installation, it can be fixed on the wall or hang on the shelf according to your needs.
Package includes:
•1 x GLF50 LED Grow Light
•1 x Product manual
•1 x Installation Tools
Attention please:
•Indoor use only, input voltage 110v, IP65 water-proof.
•Don’t touch the light with wet hand, when the light is working.
I have used the light for a few months and am very pleased with how well it works. I’ve posted a few videos showing the progress, below. Currently I have two plants under it, the rehab MOA Scotch Bonnet and and a Lightning Mustard Hab cross.
KINBO 300W LED grow lightCloseupVeg and bloom lights on
Introduction
I’m currently testing the KINGBO 300W LED grow light. It’s full spectrum, draws around 120 watts. The veg and bloom lights can be turned on or off independently. Here are the product specs listed on Amazon.
Package includes:
•1 x KB-M300 LED Grow Light
•1 x Hanging Kits
•1 x User Manual
•1 x 5ft Power Cord (US Standard 110V grounded 3 prong plug)
Attention please:
•Indoor use only, not water-proof.
•The UV and IR diodes looks dim, this is normal, don`t worry.
•Extremely bright, do not look directly at the LED bulbs when the light is working.
•No extra ballast is needed.
•Can be controlled by Timer.
Conclusion
I currently have this in my 24″ x 24″ x 48″ grow tent over some various herbs such as witch oregano, Lemon Balm and Pineapple Sage. The plants are doing well so far. I’ll post a video update on them after it has run a while.
Video
Here’s a video I did showing the unboxing and setup.
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Hornworm under UV light
Introduction
Horn worms are very difficult to find during the day, as they camouflage very well against the leaves and stems of the plant they are eating. They glow somewhat under UV/Blacklight so with an flashlight, you can locate them at night.
What is needed
I use the TaoTronics UV Flashlight Blacklight. It emits a 395 nm wavelength throught 12 LEDs. There are many other brands of different sizes available, but this one seems to work well and is very inexpensive.
Process
Wait until it is completely dark. Then walk around your plants, shining the UV blacklight on the leaves. The leaves will appear dark, and any hornworms present will glow.
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SYGAVLED Grow light
I just bought the S300 model of LED grow light by SYGAV. I purchased it through Amazon. It has 50 5 watt LEDs. Actual usage is reported to be around 132 watts.
With we have delivered the most powerful and reliable, truly full-spectrum plant LED grow lights! The S300 uses the highest-quality, top-bin LEDs to deliver SYGAVLED’s proprietary full spectrum. A team of engineers and plant scientists spent years of design, testing, and refinement to create this S-Series.
Model Number: S300
HPS/MH Replacement: 250W
LED Quantity: 60 X 5W High Output LEDs
Avg. Watts: 132W±3%
Maximum Flowering Footprint: 2’ x 2’
Maximum Veg Footprint: 3′ x 3′
Panel Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.3 x 2.4”
Item Weight: 5.0Lbs
Acceptable Voltage Range: 100 – 250 Volts AC
AC Frequency Range: 50 – 60 Hz
Operational Temperature Range: -4 to 104 °F (-20 to 40 °C)
Spectrum: Full Spectrum
Certifications: CE, RoHS
Lifespan: > 100,000 Hours
Power Factor: > 0.98
Fans: 70,000 Hour Expected Life
Package Included:
– 300W LED Grow Light x 1 unit
– Power Cord x 1 unit
– Light Hanger x 1 unit
Using Suggestions:
For Seed: 14 hours on / 10 hours off at 24” – 28” above plants
For Veg: 18 hours on / 6 hours off at 16” – 20” above plants
For Bloom : 20 hours on / 4 hours off at 12” -18” above plants
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AeroGarden Sprout Timelapse
This is a time lapse from 2016 of my CFL AeroGarden Sprout, growing the three pod herb kit that came with it; Basil, Dill, and Parsley.
The AeroGarden Sprout has been a nice system. I use it mostly now for seed starting. The seed starter deck can start up to 9 plants at a time. You could really more than that if you plant more than one seed per pod and separate the seedlings early on.
The time-lapse was taken in my office, set up and post time lapse compilation was done by my co-worker Phillip.
We started it on 5/16/16 and ended on 6/5/16. The time lapse was started when the first sprout emerged. The plants grew a lot bigger and fuller after the time lapse period.
Video
Video Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:02,620
Hi this is Peter Stanley, welcome to my channel.
2
00:00:02,840 –> 00:00:06,920
This is a quick 37 second video I’ve been sitting on for a while
3
00:00:06,920 –> 00:00:09,180
It’s a time lapse of my AeroGarden Sprout
4
00:00:09,460 –> 00:00:10,660
the one on the left
5
00:00:10,920 –> 00:00:12,360
eventually sprouted
6
00:00:12,500 –> 00:00:13,620
that was Parsley
7
00:00:13,620 –> 00:00:14,660
The one in the middle is Dill
8
00:00:14,660 –> 00:00:16,120
on the right is Italian Basil
9
00:00:16,120 –> 00:00:19,520
and they got much much bigger than this, but this was only
10
00:00:20,220 –> 00:00:22,940
what we captured in a about I think a 21 day
11
00:00:23,300 –> 00:00:24,020
time frame
12
00:00:24,020 –> 00:00:26,600
my friend Phillip did the setup for the camera
13
00:00:27,380 –> 00:00:29,300
recording and editing of the
14
00:00:29,940 –> 00:00:30,580
the video
15
00:00:30,700 –> 00:00:32,620
I just want to give him credit
16
00:00:32,840 –> 00:00:33,700
Just wanted to share that
17
00:00:33,700 –> 00:00:34,260
Hope you liked that
18
00:00:34,460 –> 00:00:35,980
thank you for watching
19
00:00:35,980 –> 00:00:37,732
and please like, comment and subscribe
I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support my site and YouTube channel.
Old Version (v1)
Last year I built a low-pressure aeroponics system with a discarded icing container, and some PVC pipe. It had a submersible pump that sprayed nutrient solution through nozzles inserted in the PVC spray manifold. It worked very well, but there were a few issues I noted. One was it had a very small reservoir, and as a result nutrient solution was depleted rapidly. Secondly, it was hard to change out solution with out disturbing the roots. Lastly I think I the number of spray nozzles was a little overkill. There is a video showing how I made it here.
Design Changes (v2)
The new version has a smaller spray bar, and fewer nozzles. I also used a 11/64″ brad point drill bit size that made it unnecessary to tap the hole. I used two 5-gallon buckets. The internal bucket contained all of the functioning parts. The submersible pump was mounted underneath, and connected to the spray bar through the bottom of the bucket. The bottom and lower third of that bucket had holes drilled in it. The nutrient solution is placed in the second (external) bucket. When the internal bucket is placed, the solution flows through the holes. This does two things. It allows easy access to the pump for cleaning or replacement, without having to touch the roots. This also makes it very easy to replace nutrients, by simply removing the internal bucket and placing in another bucket that contains fresh nutrient solution. A third benefit is the internal bucket is offset to a greater height because of the under-mounted submersible pump. This allows for more solution to be added at a time.
Materials needed
PVC parts
sched 40 1/2″ PVC pipe –
3 x 1″ long pieces
1 x 7/8″ long piece
2 x 3″ long pieces
2 x 1/2″ couplers
2 x 1/2″ caps
2 x 1/2″ slip 45 degree elbows
1 x 90 deg tee
1 x 1/2″ adapter threaded/slip (screws into the pump) – get at a Lowes or Home Depot
Submersible pump
1 x EcoPlus 728310 Eco 396 Submersible Pump, 396GPH http://goo.gl/n4cmuL (I mentioned in the video that I had seen one by Apollo Horticulture for 10.00, but don’t see that available at the time of this posting.)
Drill bits for internal bucket – These don’t have to be exact, the 11/16″ is what I used. It needs to be either exactly the diameter of the 1/2″ PVC pipe or just under.
1/4″
11/16″
2 x 5 gallon buckets – https://goo.gl/qUS06c (You can get these cheaper at big box stores)
1 x 5 gallon bucket lid Approx. 2.00 in box stores
1 x 3″ net pot https://goo.gl/NUZKIu
1 x 3″ hole saw – https://goo.gl/TPehGL
OR
*You might want to modify this design using a 6 inch bucket lid net pot. That would offer a little more stability and save some work and money. (6 inch net pot – https://goo.gl/8nlTAS) If you use this you won’t need the regular bucket lid, 3 inch net pot or 3 inch hole saw.
Power cord management
1 x 1 7/8″ hole saw – https://goo.gl/dRz3GN
1 x 2″ neoprene cloning collar – https://goo.gl/sb3bMe (This also has the spray nozzles needed, listed above, but doesn’t included the 11/64″ bit)
See videos below for steps to produce
Conclusion
Overall this system works very well. Doing over I would have made a couple changes. One, I would use a 6 inch net pot bucket lid instead of attaching a 3 inch net pot to regular bucket lid. Second, I would incorporate supports either coming out of the (larger) net pot or along the sides of the bucket. I will go back and add supports to mine, probably using 1/2″ or 3/4″ PVC gorilla taped around the sides.
flashlight, you can locate them at night.
