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Its time to build a Cephalotus grow space, would love input!

  • #81
The Phil Mann opened up and looks even better, the interesting part is that I have a Hummer's Giant with almost the exact same coloring a little bit away. With 3-4 other Cephs around them that are all red/purple. Ceph coloration still baffles me.


Phil Mann by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Phil Mann by randallsimpson, on Flickr
 
  • #82
Could it be the acidity of the medium RSS? <textarea id="adlesse_unifier_magic_element_id" style="display: none;"></textarea>
 
  • #83
Sounds as good of a guess and anything else, most of these were potted around the same time so the mix would be similar. But I'm a fan of recycling mediums so its very possible I added old orchid pot medium into some of the Ceph mix that other pots did not get.
 
  • #84
Guess it was just slow on coloring up, here it is from a few days ago.


DSC_0154 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

A German Giant under the daylight moonlight kit shelf.

DSC_0155 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

From the Red/Blue moonlight kit side. Due to the color combo I did not notice the bad white stuff growing in there it has been taken care of. One of the downsides to growing under Red/Blue, you can not just walk by and glance at them to know there is a problem.

DSC_0157 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

DSC_0158 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

This guy should be going up in the NASC auction today, figured I'd post a photo here since he took such a nice photo.

DSC_0167 by randallsimpson, on Flickr
 
  • #85
Nice tans!
 
  • #86
Wow, I have been following this from start to finish. I really want to add LEDs to my growshelf. Just one question though: How much did it cost you for the LEDs and heat sink?
 
  • #87
If I was to build another identical rack I would use 3 moonlight LED kits with white LEDs (a mix of them) using 6 LEDs per 24" heatsink. The full powered kits are overkill for that I'm after, but they are already in.

There are other DIY LED companies out there so you might want to research a little and see if there is one that better fits what your after, I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with this company. Rememeber not all LEDs are created equally, most of the ones off E-bay or in those cheap aquarium lights are not the same LEDs. The ones I'm using are not the newest and the best out right now, when I started looking in to this stuff last year CREE XP-G were the older model and there was a better version available.

The 24" high light shelves - About $175-200 + shipping

This kit http://www.rapidled.com/12-led-plug-n-play-retrofit-kit-dimmable/ + 2 extra LEDs $100 +$9
This dimmer, can control 2 kits http://www.rapidled.com/diy-2-color-dimming-kit/ $30 (soldering is required for this one, the non soldering version is about $50 and I've never tried it)
2 heatsinks http://www.rapidled.com/1-4-x-24-aluminum-heatsink/ $17X2
Add in $10-25 in extra wire, thermal pads, zip ties and the like, this kit comes with thermal adhesive.


The 24" Moonlight kit shelves - About $85-100 for 2 kits, $115-130 for 3 kits + shipping

two or three of these http://www.rapidled.com/4-led-solderless-moonlight-kit/ $23X2 or 23 X3 (make sure and add in the comments section that LED colors you want as the default shipped with blues.
2 heatsinks http://www.rapidled.com/1-4-x-24-aluminum-heatsink/ $17X2
Add in $10-25 in Lenses, extra wire, thermal adhesive, zip ties and the like, this kit comes with thermal pads

Its early in the morning so it is likely I've forgotten an item or two.
 
  • #88
So what kit did you buy for your initial setup or did you buy each piece individually? Did you specify which driver you wanted also? Which one did you get? You make it sound like you can order a kit and tell them to send you any led combo even if those LEDs are more expensive than the ones its listed with, for the same price. Is that the case?

I really like your setup especially since you are getting such great results and I think you mentioned you are only running it at 30 percent capacity, right?

My previous setup for my terrerium was using four 30w cfl and one 30w. My plants did meerly "OK" I thought. I bought a grow light hood on amazon that uses a single 125w cfl hoping it would work as well and reduce the power a bit but its been about three months and they are doing worse. So for your plants to be doing so great on just around 30 watts (I'm just guessing) seems so amazing its almost like a miracle LOL do you have any new pictures of the plants growing under the lights? Its been about six months since your last post in this thread
 
  • #89
So what kit did you buy for your initial setup or did you buy each piece individually? Did you specify which driver you wanted also? Which one did you get? You make it sound like you can order a kit and tell them to send you any led combo even if those LEDs are more expensive than the ones its listed with, for the same price. Is that the case?

I really like your setup especially since you are getting such great results and I think you mentioned you are only running it at 30 percent capacity, right?

My previous setup for my terrerium was using four 30w cfl and one 30w. My plants did meerly "OK" I thought. I bought a grow light hood on amazon that uses a single 125w cfl hoping it would work as well and reduce the power a bit but its been about three months and they are doing worse. So for your plants to be doing so great on just around 30 watts (I'm just guessing) seems so amazing its almost like a miracle LOL do you have any new pictures of the plants growing under the lights? Its been about six months since your last post in this thread

The top 2 shelves are http://www.rapidled.com/24-led-plug-n-play-retrofit-kit-dimmable/, the bottom shelf is using 2 http://www.rapidled.com/4-led-moonlight-kit/. It looks like they are offering newer drivers now so I have no clue which is the best option, I have the D version of the Mean Well drivers. Yes, you can tell them to send any combo of LEDs reguardless of the LED costs. This was a year or so ago so I'm only assuming they still allow it. I have them set around 40% some at 50%, anymore than that and I'd need larger heatsinks or cooling fans for the heatsinks. The moonlight kits are non-dimmable and the drivers for these kits are always at full power although the LEDs can handle more.

The vast majority of the Cephs on this rack are 6 months or younger leaf pulls so I only have a few Cephs with larger pitchers.

Wattage is simply the power usage and has little to do with actual light output. If/when I rebuild another setup I will be using the moonlight kits provided they are still available, starting near the end of the 2nd page on the link below there is some info on the last LED setup I put together. The few Pings I have in there are growing like crazy and flowering well, but lack the red color. The Nep seedlings are starting to color up but the solo Ceph in there is all green. If your after darker colors more LEDs would be needed. I'm using this setup mainly for seedlings so lower light levels are perfect. http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php/135880-Terrarium-tank-stand-build-log/page2

I'm loving the flood/drain setup listed above so much I'll try and build it into anything else I put together. I'd love to have another one just like it to replace some other tanks I have around. The ease of maintance and watering is just too good to pass up, not to mention I can reuse the water for about a month.

Few photos I took for another thread this morning from this rack.
DSC_0737 by randallsimpson, on FlickrDSC_0736 by randallsimpson, on Flickr
DSC_0738 by randallsimpson, on Flickr
 
  • #90
awesome. I just ordered this http://www.rapidled.com/12-led-plug-n-play-retrofit-kit-dimmable/ and this http://www.rapidled.com/6-x-12-premium-heat-sink-and-enclosure/ It was less than 200 including shipping

there is a field where you enter the colors you want and it does say they will substitute for no extra charge so im having them send me 6 warm white xml2 4 neutral white and 2 cool white

I have a question though. Ive looked on the website at their instructions on how to set the current on the driver but i dont see anywhere that explains where to connect the actual potentiometer that comes with the kit. where does it go?
 
  • #91
I did not need to set the current on the D version by default it is set at 1.3A more than enough for me. Might want to check and see what the default setting is before trying to set it, I wasted about an hour setting one before I read it was already set where I wanted it. Setting the drivers is more for the non dimmable drivers so you can get the output your after with a dimmer you can just turn the dial. The spec link for the driver you ordered should list the default setting in there somewhere.

From my understanding the D and P versions require a dimmer that is not included but the new kits LDD ones look like they include one. If you ordered the LDD version I can only guess as I've never seen one in person. They sent me very easy instructions along with the kit thou, I really don't like giving out wiring instructions considering what can happen if you mix up the wires :-)). If they don't send a diagram just send an e-mail and ask, they have always been nice and replied quickly to my questions.

Good luck getting it all setup, let me know how it works out. For me the hardest part was always mounting those lenses to the LEDs.
 
  • #92
I figured it was too good to be true.. They charged me extra to upgrade to the xm-l2 LEDs so that brought the price up to 198 dollars.

I got my whole fixture put together last week and its great. Its not nearly as bright as I THOUGHT it would be but it is bright enough and the spectrum looks amazing, like ACTUAL sunlight. I'll make my own thread about it in a week or so when I have something legitmate to say about it other than just the build process. I have a feeling it won't be nearly as entertaining as this thread though
 
  • #93
We had a full day of light rain so I took all the Cephs in this rack outside for a good rinsing and cleaning of the trays. Good time to take some photos too!

For reference reasons I tried to keep all the plants in the photos to the ones with a pitcher size as near 1" as possible. Six different clones, under very similiar conditions. I made every effort to keep the camera set to the same exposure setting to keep from altering the color, they are very close to the real coloration.

The Emu Point clone I have (Emu Point is a location data plant and as such there may be more than one clone with the same name running around) is easily the darkest, followed by the Big Boy (almost identical to Emu Point, it might even be the same clone someone just decided to name), then Vigorous, then the 'Hummer's Giant'. I just don't have enough of the Czech Giant to offer a reasonable comparision, its not a very strong grower for me. The Phil Mann clone I have (Any plant labeled Phil Mann just means it was a plant he collected and there very well may be hundreds of Phil Mann clones out there.) seems variable in its coloration, I'm still trying to figure out what its doing. I'm getting some nice pinkish pitchers on one leaf pull, then the leaf pull right next to it is nice and dark. Its odd.

I do have a compot of Eden Black X self seedlings the largest pitcher is about 1/2" and none of them are doing anything special at all. Both the Emu Point and Big Boy leaf pulls of similar size are SOOOOOOO much darker.


Ceph. Emu Point
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. Vigorous
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. Czech Giant
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. 'Hummer's Giant'
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. Phil Mann
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. Phil Mann
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


Ceph. Big Boy
by randallsimpson, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
  • #94
Hey rss,
How's the ceph doing in the blue, red side vs the white LEDs. Any major difference in growth?

I figured the Cephs needed some mood lighting so I wired up two new bars to run some longer term testing on the Moonlight kits. I only have 2 little ones ready shto go in right now but more will be added as they come out of the nursery. Overall I've been really impressed with the results from the moonlight kits considering the power usage. I should have an actual wattage meter in the next week or two so I can confirm they are using the power they state they are.

One note, while making these two bars the Philips lenses were a joy to work with compaired to the others. Too bad they won't fit on the white LEDs.

The two bars are as follows:

CW WW RB DR

WW CW DR RB

Cool White - 5,000-8,300K Color Temperature
Warm White - 2,600-3,700K Color Temperature
Royal Blue - 440-460nm dominant/peak wavelength
Deep Red - 650-670nm dominant/peak wavelength

The CW/WW should have the highest output in the 660nm/430nm ranges with some filler while the RB/DR have more output in those ranges and nothing else really. The middle area should offer some mixing from both, it should be enough to give me a general direction where to go in the future.

This bar is only running at 350mA/13V so its a lot less power than the other 2 bars, with my result here http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...le-Short-Term-LED-Experiment-with-a-few-Cephs I wanted to set something up for atleast a year and see how things go. I have some concern that the main 2 bars may be too much light for my goals.

DSC_1079 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

Reference photos of the two draftees, bad photos but they will do the job.

DSC_1080 by randallsimpson, on Flickr

DSC_1081 by randallsimpson, on Flickr


I've also started a 6 Ceph manual flood system test to see if a flood watering system is practical. Really basic I flood them once a week and syphon out all the water after about an hour. I'm planning on storing the flood water for reuse and will aerate and test the TDS before each flood cycle.

DSC_1075 by randallsimpson, on Flickr
 
  • #95
Hey rss,
How's the ceph doing in the blue, red side vs the white LEDs. Any major difference in growth?

It is really hard to say with Ceph coloration being what it is but the ones under the B/R may have better coloration than the white LEDs under the same power levels. At this point I see no negatives with using the B/R over the whites besides the simple fact that I can not see what is going on when I walk by. I need a flashlight or something to check the plants :)
 
  • #96
I had the top rack out this morning and here is the current state. I still need to increase the air flow over the Cephs, someday I will get to it.


DSC_0941
by randallsimpson, on Flickr


DSC_0940
by randallsimpson, on Flickr

These two are from the 2 blue 2 red LED shelf, much lower light but the coloration is very good. Even with the positive results I've been getting from the Blue/Red LEDs I would still buy whites over them simply because I can not just walk past the rack and see what condition the R/Bs are in, I either need an external light or I have to move the plant. Just a hassle.

I "believe" the left one is growing in that miracle garden soil, but I'd have to disturb 4-6 Cephs to find out. The mosses have grown and connected the pots together so I can not find the label under that moss mess.

DSC_0945
by randallsimpson, on Flickr

I have alot of work to do this Spring, hopefully I will be able to get to it.
 
  • #97
Very nice. I like how the moss connects all the pots together, over time.
 
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