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LED for 11 hours a day OR 4 hours of direct sunlight a day?

I have a wide variety of VFTs, sarrs, sundews, and a few mexican pings all growing in a mini greenhouse on my patio. Now that daylight savings has occurred I have two options. Keep my plants in direct sunlight for only 4 hours a day or keep them under the same setup I have now: hidden in a corner not visible from the street under an LED light for 11 hours a day. This is the LED light I have been using:

Amazon.com : Galaxyhydro LED Grow Plant Light 300w Greenhouse Indoor Hydroponic Grow Lighting 9 Band : Patio, Lawn & Garden

I can only choose one or the other because having a bright LED light shinning on my patio in a first story apartment for all too see will draw attention and possibly people looking to steal the light or they may just get the wrong idea of what I am growing. Please let me know what I should do. Thank you for your time.

My patio seems to be getting direct light now from 3pm to 7pm
 
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how well are they doing under the panel? If you no longer wish to use it, you should be able to get away with four hours of light a day. You may also consider getting a grow tent, then you can blast the plants with as much artificial light as you need, and no one would ever know ;)
 
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I have a wide variety of VFTs, sarrs, sundews, and a few mexican pings all growing in a mini greenhouse on my patio. Now that daylight savings has occurred I have two options. Keep my plants in direct sunlight for only 4 hours a day or keep them under the same setup I have now: hidden in a corner not visible from the street under an LED light for 11 hours a day. This is the LED light I have been using:

I'm curious, did you get more light before they saved some? "Due to the need to reduce the budget everyone will receive 20% less sunlight"

I'm sure many people would appreciate 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. During winter, many of my plants don't get any as the sun is too low.
 
Direct light only shined on my patio for about an hour a day over winter but I remember that in the summer it would shine on my patio for about 4 hours. Since daylight savings time occurred I was guessing that light would return to shinning on my patio for 4 hours a day again but I still need to confirm this. I moved to my current apartment at the end of last summer so I am not sure how my plants will do with just 4 hours of sunlight a day. They have been under the LED lighting all winter on my patio and are now coming out of dormancy but it is hard to tell if they are thriving under the LED. All of the plants are about 2.5ft below the light.
 
My plants get about 7 hours a day of direct sunlight in the Summer and some of them struggle a bit. The Drosera are all fine, the VFTs do Okay, and the pings prefer less but the Sarrs would definitely like some more.
 
It does seem a waste of power to have a 300w of LEDs above dormant plants for 11 hours a day. Many people put dormant plants in an unlit garage / hut or even a fridge.
It helps to know where people are when discussing growing outside. What is your location?
 
Hi Fred,

I was originally using the light to give the plants 8 hours of light during the winter because some of my plants don't require a dormancy. I just recently switched it to 11 hours a day to accommodate for the time change. I am located in Southern California about an hour north of Los Angeles in city named Santa Clarita. The plants seem to be doing ok coming out of dormancy but I am having a huge problem with botrytis right now. It mainly attacks my venus flytraps. I seem to have to use Physan 20 almost everyday when I go out to check on them. Even when I have increased circulation with a fan I still have the problem.



It does seem a waste of power to have a 300w of LEDs above dormant plants for 11 hours a day. Many people put dormant plants in an unlit garage / hut or even a fridge.
It helps to know where people are when discussing growing outside. What is your location?
 
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I'm a bit lost here, why would daylight savings affect how much natural light your plants receive? Daylight savings doesn't move the sun, it's just one number changing on the clock.

Also just to clarify, this panel only consumes ~135W. They are advertising the combined maximum power of 100 x 3W LEDs but are correctly not driving them any higher than 50% load for optimal longevity and reliability - which honestly a first for me with LED lights from Chinese companies.
 
Oops, I was under the impression that the sun moves slightly in a different path that gives off more light in a day. At least thats what someone working at a nursery told me

I'm a bit lost here, why would daylight savings affect how much natural light your plants receive? Daylight savings doesn't move the sun, it's just one number changing on the clock.

Also just to clarify, this panel only consumes ~135W. They are advertising the combined maximum power of 100 x 3W LEDs but are correctly not driving them any higher than 50% load for optimal longevity and reliability - which honestly a first for me with LED lights from Chinese companies.
 
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The goal of daylight savings is to shift our clocks so the times when people are most active - essentially during business hours - it is daylight. It's supposed to reduce energy usage due to not needing as much artificial light, but the last study I read indicated that it actually increases energy usage. The sun's going to keep going up and down the same way no matter what we do with our clocks though.

Anyway, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting higher in the sky so you will be seeing more sunlight on your patio, but it's not related to daylight savings time in any way.
 
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Thank you for clarifying that for me. With that being said, what would you do in my situation?


The goal of daylight savings is to shift our clocks so the times when people are most active - essentially during business hours - it is daylight. It's supposed to reduce energy usage due to not needing as much artificial light, but the last study I read indicated that it actually increases energy usage. The sun's going to keep going up and down the same way no matter what we do with our clocks though.

Anyway, the days are getting longer and the sun is getting higher in the sky so you will be seeing more sunlight on your patio, but it's not related to daylight savings time in any way.
 
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Thank you for clarifying that for me. With that being said, what would you do in my situation?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I have access to very good natural light and mild winters so my temperate plants stay outdoors year-round and are very healthy. I have no experience growing plants in areas with low amounts of direct sunlight so I can't say whether they would be better off outdoors or under your LED panel. They certainly don't need that much light during dormancy, but I don't know how they'd fare during the growing season outdoors with 4 hours of sun per day.
 
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Oops, I was under the impression that the sun moves slightly in a different path that gives off more light in a day. At least thats what someone working at a nursery told me

The sun doesn't shift it's the earth's tilt that moves your location into a more favourable position as we orbit i.e. the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun in summer, away in winter.
having said that.

Do you have this grow tent closed? That could be your problem with Botrytis. Adding a fan in a closed environment will only spread the spores.

If you have dormant plants and non-dormant they should be split. Only use power where it is necessary, smaller area less light needed. It will reduce your power bills. (and better environmentally).
 
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