Bare minimum light for rooting clones

[supershitfuck]

At the bottom is a regular LED grow light for keeping moms, the top shelf is going to be my cloning station where i’m going to put my domes and heat mats, i just need lights for rooting clones for the top shelf!

The shelf is 3x4 … the distance between the middle shelf and top shelf is 36 inches. I was looking at t5 or t8 fluorescent… I’m on the minimalist, simple, cheapo side of things. I prefer the look of the fluorescent fixtures.

I’ve looked at a bunch of different set ups, I’d love to see what you guys use and how it’s rigged up, thanks in advance my overgrow friends!

[Foreigner]

I have 100w of POS t12s that work great for rooting. If you like fluoros go with your gut.

[Pigeonman]

I run 4x 30w led shop lights in a small tent.works well so far and the lights i use go on sale for $15/ unit

[supershitfuck]

@Foreigner

I have 100w of POS t12s that work great for rooting. If you like fluoros go with your gut.

nice, what is POS? how far is your light from your clones? how many lights for what size cloning area? do you have a picture?

@Pigeonman

I run 4x 30w led shop lights in a small tent.works well so far and the lights i use go on sale for $15/ unit

also nice, what are the lights you use? $15 for the bulb but you need the fixture too right?

[Foreigner]

@supershitfuck

what is POS

Piece Of Shit

I’d say 6-8”?

It’s from 1997

[Pigeonman]

Feit brand all built in. I get em at canadian tire in canada but should also have in us home depot.

Pos = piece of shit. Good technical term.

These leds are 3000k btw, with more lumans than i need at times.

https://cantireapp.page.link/SJiekipvRdApDsCF6

[supershitfuck]

@Foreigner

Piece Of Shit

bro i was googleing “t12 POS, t12 fluorescent POS”, fixtures POS" hahaha

@Pigeonman

These leds are 3000k btw, with more lumans than i need at times.

3000k, so if i hook up the light to the top rack is that too much light? are they dimmable? i’m also canadian eh

[Foreigner]

@Pigeonman is giving you good info. Mine is obsolete and the only reason I still use it is because it has its own stand which I find convenient.

[Pigeonman]

They are not dimmable. I turn on 2-4 depending on need.

Here is all 4 + 2x 6500k bulbs to balance:

Super bright and even spread.

[thenasty1]

(Pack of 6) Barrina LED T5 Integrated Single Fixture, 4FT, 2200lm, 4000K...

i run 3 of these about 14-16" above the cloners (and seedlings too, for that matter), puts them at 100-150 umol using 60 watts. just need to pull off the plastic tube that covers the diodes. theyre dirt cheap and have been working great

[LabRat]

I’m just about to get a couple dozen cuttings from a few strains to make fem seeds with and always keep them in low lighting until they root. I too have an old POS T12 fixture with 8 - 4’ tubes but will use just 2 tubes to light up cuttings from a good foot away until rooted.

Too much light at the start makes the cuttings try to keep growing in veg before they are rooted and they can use up their limited resources making leaf instead of roots. Off to the side of the regular grow light works too getting maybe 1/4 of the light intensity the plants are getting. A couple of 9W LED light bulbs in 5000K works fine as well.

The one time I used a heat mat a batch of 36 cuttings all got stem rot so room temp is fine for me.

[HorseBadorites]

@supershitfuck

I’m on the minimalist, simple, cheapo side of things. I prefer the look of the fluorescent fixtures.

I’ve got a 4 tube T5 (92W0 and a 2x tuber, both 2’.

If there’s just fresh cuts, I just use 1 tube, and keep the clones shaded. They don’t need much light to root. As they grow up, I use more tubes.

If I was going to do it again, I think I’d make a fixture for screw-in leds, and change the bulbs, as needed.

Something like this:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=64618&pictureid=1531702&thumb=1

[Gpaw]

Those 4 foot wire rack shelves are great.
I used 8 of the Bridgelux Gen 2’s (42" long) and a 240W dimmable driver. per shelf.

…overkill …but they run very cool.

Cheers
G

[supershitfuck]

@thenasty1

i run 3 of these about 14-16" above the cloners (and seedlings too, for that matter)

i never understood seedlings under low light, i use my flowering lights at full blast from germination to harvest, i have low ceiling, 2 inches of stem in disastrous ahah, but yeah these ARE dirt cheap, what a great deal they are on my list

@LabRat

will use just 2 tubes to light up cuttings from a good foot away until rooted.

my cloning area is 3x4, would that be enough with 2 tubes? i’m trying to get away with only buying one or 2 tubes

@LabRat

A couple of 9W LED light bulbs in 5000K works fine as well.

noted. that’s super cool, on my list! might be a little too much wiring tho

@HorseBadorites

If there’s just fresh cuts, I just use 1 tube, and keep the clones shaded. They don’t need much light to root. As they grow up, I use more tubes.

so like… do you let 'em grow in the rooting cubes with more tubes, before transplanting?

[HorseBadorites]

What are rooting cubes? LOL? I root them in a cup of water. When they’ve got a good system going, they go into yogurt cups of coco. When they get so big that they are a pain… they go to another space… with more T5’s.

If I’d known about the leds, I’d have done them instead. Save on power, and less heat.

The 4000K T5’s do a good veg job, though.

@supershitfuck

i never understood seedlings under low light,

Me neither. I keep the T5’s about an inch from tops, otherwise there’s way too much stretch for me.

[supershitfuck]

@HorseBadorites

What are rooting cubes? LOL? I root them in a cup of water.

i had mixed results with that… my tap water = no roots ever. bottled water works but it takes 2 full weeks… last time i added RO water purchased from a water machine, all the roots that were very much alive dissapeared overnight and the stems had a algee film on 'em or whatever… so i’m sticking to rooting cubes… FOR NOW but i love the idea of not using them, i hate 'em.

[iamyou_youareme]

Yeah I found the same thing, mine won’t root with just tap water left in a cup… left them there for three weeks and nothing. I don’t like buying rock wool cubes or coco cubes, but they do work reliably. I have just been throwing mine in the windowsill in a mini greenhouse with heating mat in cubes and get almost 100% success rate. The really don’t need much light, but you don’t want too little either, or they try to flower.

[HorseBadorites]

There’s so many ways that folks get clones, if you get one to work, and it sounds like you have, don’t fuck with it, lol!

@supershitfuck

all the roots that were very much alive dissapeared overnight

I would check for root sucking vampires

[Mithridate]

You can root clones in a bed of perlite…

[LabRat]

@supershitfuck

my cloning area is 3x4, would that be enough with 2 tubes? i’m trying to get away with only buying one or 2 tubes

How much actual space do the cuttings take up as you root them tho? Once they are rooted and go into pots then you’ll need more coverage but you don’t need much until then.

Can always find a vanity fixture or something at a thrift store for a few bux and make something that will do the job.

My little LED project cost me about $10 for the fixtures and another $11 for the bulbs so not a wallet buster and does a nice job. Can just use one or all of the lights at one time. Even just the uncapped bulbs in a double or triple bulb fixture is all you’d need for cuttings or sprouts.

Made this one a few years ago.