Tldr: Plz want advice on good outdoor supplemental grow lights.
Due to space and money limitations I can not have an indoor grow tent, at most I have a place for starting seedlings indoors, that’s all.
However I want to grow photoperiods year around, so that I can preserve more genetics and faster.
I’m a broke college student and still want to make this work, I hatched up an idea to maybe create a small modular outdoor gardening bed that allows me to tarp it for black out, and/or add some greenhouse plastic. I also want it to have a grow light so I can supplement shorter days. I live in zone 10a, so the weather is pretty temperate and we hardly ever get any frost even on the coldest winter days.
Basically, what dohickeys or lightbulb types or (worst case scenario) expensive brand item do I have to ramshackle together/purchase in order to have a waterproof growlight that is resistant to the elements. how would you approach this project as a whole?
If anyone else has general advice for growing and manipulating light outdoors, or even just general tips for my climate, it would also be greatly appreciated. I grow with living soil if that is relevant.
Fluence bioscience is the only company I know of that makes fixtures that are actually waterproof. But they are meant for commercial use and very expensive. Top of the line though, the best led fixtures made by anyone.
I use those solar lights. but. you’d have to be able to charge them. its kinda like. on the back of the lights. and no elec bill.
like. depends on autos vs reg photos. cuz. you need some dark for photos.
You could also solar-charge whatever battery for the lights, and run them 12 hours. but like. at this point… there’s UV tents that are like… blacked out. works great for outside in the sun even.
I have my dwc tote in a little 3x3 clear greenhouse. some usb led lights. and solar air pump and solar fan. lights on 24 hrs cuz i want the stuff to veg right now. they’re all my clones.
Go get either a HPS/MH security light, ( they have them in LED now) the first light I ever bought, (2001) was a 150 HPS, security light, from my local Ace Hardware.
I then ripped apart, and stuck it in a small wood box, for indoor growing.
I grew with that first, then a few months later, mated a 70 MH, with it.
But all I’m getting at is security lights are made for the outdoor use…
Ive done shameful amounts of greenie work with supplemental lighting, the big question is do you need supplemental light just for keeping stuff in veg, or do you actually need to add PPFD/DLI? My favorite old trick for keeping stuff vegging and happy all year was those super cheap LED waterproof strip lights. Theres even solar options. Ive also had great luck with 4 watt LED bulbs in a simple clamp reflector all from home depot. 1 light would cover a 12x12 of veg. Spotlights can work too, but theyre a bit more of an investment.
If youre trying to supplement DLI, the best way is 600 or 1000 watt HPS lights. But theyll need to be fully covered from any rain or anything. Mammoth LED makes solid high bay LEDs, but also real expensive, and youll need to throw up some hoops. Usually the big issue flowering outdoor isnt just not enough light, but also soil temp. Gotta run floor heaters in that case as well. But if youre serious about flowering all winter outside, floor heaters and a simple t post/pvc hoop house is pretty much mandatory. Also makes pulling blackouts a breeze
Should also mention I was doing this in zone 10a, and all organic soil as well. Over winter(nov-feb) Id just let the moms chill, in a partially sealed greenie. Take an assload of clones in march, and start flowering early May. If youre trying to keep costs down, thats the real trick. You can sneak in 3 runs before it gets too cold. As long as stuff isnt too long flowering. The biggest challenge is finding strains that will kill it in your climate. Most modern hype stuff is piddly and not hearty outdoors. Avoid anything cookies, and hazes/blueberry crosses are you friend.
Thank you for the insightful reply. I’m a bit in over my head here not even knowing what PPFD/DLI means! I will try my best to look into what you recommended.
Taking me back to my youth now with all this. I know of an opencast mine that lost all of its High output MH downlighters while it was on a shutdown for the Easter holiday/Break.
Ballast was integrated into the fixture. It had to be around 40 lights, Seemed like the whole village had a grow on after that -Wink, Wink., Nudge, Nudge-
If you did a hoop house with clear plastic, you wouldn’t have to worry about waterproof lights.
Make a small hoop house with clear plastic, cover with tarp for light dep, and you could use something as simple as a string of 6500k compact floursecent bulbs on light bulb socket cords or extension cords with socket adapters.
This makes much more sense than an exposed garden bed with plants and grow lights clearly visible to the world and exposed to the elements.
I was imaging something similar to a plastic hoop house, but I wanted to make the plastic removable or at least able to zip open when the near constant good weather permits it, for more optimal airflow without having to worry about purchasing fans.
When I am using the grow light, it will likely be covered, I just want extra insurance that it will be waterproof because I wont be able to guarantee there wont be times I will want it on and exposed. I just want a more flexible and less “permanent” structure for more reasons than I can explain here.
PPFD is light intensity, and DLI is the amount of light per day. Luckily outside we can cheat and use this sweetass chart. Ive found the minimum for good buds outside is about 35-40. Of course youll have to adjust if theyre getting shade a good part of the day.https://hortamericas.com/blog/news/updated-daily-light-integral-dli-maps-now-available/
This is how I recommend to do it. Dont even need to frame it up, just smash in some t posts and use the pvc for hoops. Then the trick is you get greenhouse plastic big enough to completely cover/seal the whole hoop setup. And in the warm months you can roll up the sides and hold it all together with cheapo clamps from home depot. And you can just criss cross ropes along the t posts to hold the greenie plastic if wiggle wire is too pricey. Wiggle wire kicks ass tho.
