My reef led experiment

[tje25]

I've had these leds laying around from my old reef tank, and I was curious how well if at all they would grow plants.
Each unit has 2 channels, a mostly white channel and a blue channel that are adjustable from 0-100%.
I have one set to 20% white
and the other 20% blue ( I know, will most likely not work but I'm curious of the outcome)
I put the leds right next to each other so that the plants on the left get mostly white, the plants in the middle get a mixture of blue and white, and the plants on the right get mostly blue.
I chose radishes for my testing plant since they grow so fast and I have tons of seed. I planted 48 seeds across the shelf.

If they do work I want to try and dial them in to optimal plant growth by adjusting the brightness and color ratio and seeing how the radishes react.

A few pics;

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/15641994793" title="Reef led experiment 1-11-15 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7511/15641994793_87ca7e0d6b_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="Reef led experiment 1-11-15"></a>

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/16074362758" title="Reef led experiment 1-11-15 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7571/16074362758_b602724f09_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="Reef led experiment 1-11-15"></a>

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/15639475104" title="Reef led experiment 1-11-15 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8561/15639475104_e1da4182be_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="Reef led experiment 1-11-15"></a>

Thanks for looking!
I am excited to see how this plays out.

 

[SubRosa]

Those are Everbrite fixtures, correct?

 

[dionae]

How much power do they put out?

 

[tje25]

I'm not sure who makes them...a lot of companys carry them and label them as their own.
They are the same as the reef breeder photon leds.
I believe they are 115w each at 100% output.

 

[tje25]

Its been almost a week and a lot of the seeds have sprouted. After a couple days of showing no signs of too much light, I bumped them up to 30% and are still fine. I think I'm going to keep bumping them up 10% every couple days and see what happens. Suprisingly I see little difference between sides.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/16127714890" title="DSC00509 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8629/16127714890_49f2556f88_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="DSC00509"></a>

Blue side

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/16129236337" title="DSC00512 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7491/16129236337_724e0023cb_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="DSC00512"></a>

White side

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/16315091835" title="DSC00513 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7574/16315091835_ab56991ca9_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="DSC00513"></a>

Close up of a plant on the blue side with white lights on for comparison

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/15692672364" title="DSC00514 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7486/15692672364_a851414484_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="DSC00514"></a>

Blue side with white lights on for comparison

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129296903@N08/16128911899" title="DSC00515 by Travis Edwards, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8600/16128911899_97988ba5c5_b.jpg" width="1024" height="683" alt="DSC00515"></a>

 

[Sashoke]

Interesting!

 

[tje25]

Very...at the least I expected the plants under blue to have a slightly different color then those under white.