Lights for plants.

[m0lsx]

I have a couple of enclosures with live plants in them, but they are not doing well. I do have a small LED light bar that I acquired with a T & it's enclosure. But despite it only being about a foot long & very low wattage, it gives off massive amounts of light. It is far brighter than the rooms lights & as most of the T's are far more active in lower light, I am not keen on using it & making life harder for the T's, just to look after a few plants.

Does anyone know of a reasonable light I can use, which will give the plants the help they need, but without it feeling like stage lighting?

 

[Josh]

The answer here is going to depend heavily on which plant you're lighting. You're gonna need to find something that has low light requirements but keep in mind all plants need some light. You also probably want to invest in a plant light that is designed to give off the light spectrum plants need. Not just a plain white LED

 

[Oursapoil]

Hi Molsx,
This is what I use for mine.
The light is not too bright and doesn't seem to bother the Ts at all while my plants are growing and staying healthy. You can find them on Amazon.
Hoping this helps.

 

[octanejunkie]

I've always used Finnez for my planted tanks.
You need full spectrum lights for plants, and depending on the plant, some need high intensity lighting.

 

[menavodi]

I use energy saving bulbs. Some LED. 90-100W. I also have Finnex LEDs like @octanejunkie. I do not see a better or worse growth in any. More light is always better than less. If your plants are not doing too well, it might be too much or not enough water. If you soil is always moist or more on the wet side, try watering only once a week.

 

[octanejunkie]

If your plants are not doing too well, it might be too much or not enough water. If you soil is always moist or more on the wet side, try watering only once a week.

Over watering and under watering are easy to diagnose with plants. Malnutrition is another thing entirely.

 

[m0lsx]

If your plants are not doing too well, it might be too much or not enough water. If you soil is always moist or more on the wet side, try watering only once a week.

It is only the plants in my T enclosure that are failing. I removed a couple of plants & placed those on a north facing windowsill, so low light. And they are thriving. The ones in with the T's are dying back. If the enclosure was smaller, I would move it onto a windowsill, but it's just over 12 inches deep.

 

[menavodi]

It is only the plants in my T enclosure that are failing. I removed a couple of plants & placed those on a north facing windowsill, so low light. And they are thriving. The ones in with the T's are dying back. If the enclosure was smaller, I would move it onto a windowsill, but it's just over 12 inches deep.

Sounds like you need a light over your terrarium.

 

[Mundo exotico]

I use this ones for indoor plants. Realy nice

Lampada per Piante, PDGROW 40 LED 40W Lampade da Coltivazione Spettro completo Lampada Piante per Piante da interni Frutta Verdure con Timer Automatico 3/9/12H, 9 Livelli Dimmerabili : Amazon.it: Giardino e giardinaggio

Lampada per Piante, PDGROW 40 LED 40W Lampade da Coltivazione Spettro completo Lampada Piante per Piante da interni Frutta Verdure con Timer Automatico 3/9/12H, 9 Livelli Dimmerabili : Amazon.it: Giardino e giardinaggio

www.amazon.it

 

[m0lsx]

I have now ordered some lights. They are the red & blue LED lights.

 

[Mundo exotico]

I have now ordered some lights. They are the red & blue LED lights.

That is the best for plants. And with red light you can see your Ts at night.
They dont see it.

 

[octanejunkie]

And with red light you can see your Ts at night.
They dont see it.

Not entirely true... They certainly don't react to red light like they do other colors, specifically white light, but you can verify as a test yourself by sweeping a red light beam on and off the tarantula a few times and you will see it react.

Might OBTs will slowly slink away into their burrows if I sweep them with a red flashlight, my avics will do something similar; but certainly nothing like shining a bright flashlight on them

 

[m0lsx]

Hi Molsx,
This is what I use for mine.
The light is not too bright and doesn't seem to bother the Ts at all while my plants are growing and staying healthy. You can find them on Amazon.
Hoping this helps.

Thank you.
I ordered the item I already had saved & they have just been delivered it. One light bar is already in place & looking good. Thanks.

 

[Konstantin]

Hi
Plants have a thing called Light compensation point.That means the minimum amount of light that is needed for photosynthesis to occur. Different plants have different light compensation points.In order to keep your plants alive you need to meet this minimum amount of light.Thats is one of the reasons why some plants shed shaded leaves or shaded branches die.
There is also PAR.That is Photosynthesis active radiation .Different lights have different PAR values.A lot of lights on the market have very low PAR values even if they are described as plant growing lights.
I am firm believer that there is no such thing as plant growing lights.Thats just a marketing strategy for companies to sell their products.Plants will utilise whatever light is available and if the light is bright enough to meet the plants light compensation point photosynthesis will occur and the plant will live and grow.I have successfully grown many plants in and out of water using white light £1.50 bulbs(T8,T5,PLL, led spotlights ,flood light leds )from lamp specs and other big stores and under full customisable Led systems for £250 equally.
The stronger the light output the faster and stronger the growth tho.
Regards Konstantin

 

[m0lsx]

I have just noticed that my wifes P irminia, which is next to the light, is out. So clearly, the light is not bothering her.

 

[octanejunkie]

I have just noticed that my wifes P irminia, which is next to the light, is out. So clearly, the light is not bothering her. View attachment 55216

My T rack is next to a window with louvers that allow natural light and photo cycle. Most Ts I own are not "affected" by natural light but don't appreciate being under a spotlight.

I use red light to illuminate the rack for my convenience and as a courtesy to my Ts because I'm nice like that.

 

[liquidfluidity]

Not sure if you're looking for a cheap route or not but when I started using plants, I didn't hold back on my lighting. I use the Fluval Plant lights for aquariums. You can fine tune them with a phone app and it's just been a great experience. PM me if you'd like more details and some pics of what I have going so far - this is a work in progress and am waiting for a few more to complete my 2 racks.

 

[liquidfluidity]

Not entirely true... They certainly don't react to red light like they do other colors, specifically white light, but you can verify as a test yourself by sweeping a red light beam on and off the tarantula a few times and you will see it react.

Might OBTs will slowly slink away into their burrows if I sweep them with a red flashlight, my avics will do something similar; but certainly nothing like shining a bright flashlight on them

I did see this discussed elsewhere. It's just a color they aren't used to "seeing". Blue is more natural and can be made similar to moon light.
I have went extreme and have set up sunrise, sunset, and a moon phase, then to off.

 

[m0lsx]

It's just a color they aren't used to "seeing". Blue is more natural and can be made similar to moon light.

Colour indicates frequency. Blue is a higher frequency & thus shorter wavelength than red.

If you look at light & sound as a number, then they are only different due to frequency. Which is megahertz, or wavelength in meters. Sound is in the hertz & sub 30 kilohertz spectrum & has a very very long wavelength Then there are radio waves. And up in the Terrahertz there is light. The higher the frequency the shorter the wavelength.

Schumann resonance, the frequency of the earth, is 7.83 hertz & it's wavelength is the circumference of the earth at the Equator. And normally human hearing starts at 20 hertz. To give you an idea of sounds wavelengths. And light has a wavelength measured in nanometres, which are 1000th of a millimeter. Red is around 0.0007 of a millimetre & blue around 0.00048 of a millimetre in wavelegth.

All travel at 300,000 meters per second in free space. But are attenuated depending upon frequency & the medium they are travelling through in different ways. For example water offers sound less attenuation, than air. Thus sound travels faster in water than in air.

A rain drop, even water particles within mist can attenuate higher frequencies due to their very short wavelengths.

We see only some of the spectrum of light & only hear some of the sound spectrum. The eyes & ears of animal & insects will react to light & sound different to us.

 

[Oursapoil]

Some of my Ts would bolt to their hiding spots the second I turn the lights on or pass by their enclosures. With the red lights on they do not seem to react, as if I wasn’t there. It is not a scientific explanation but it works for me

P.S: sorry for the mess