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Originally Posted by GpsFrontier
No,. First, like led's the light intensity (lumens/lux, ect..) drops significantly beyond 2 feet. Second strawberry plants are fruiting plants and need more light than non fruiting plants. You might be able to get by with a twin bulb T5 light fixture 6 inches above each row, but I still think for fruiting plants that may be lacking.
I think your biggest lighting issue are the lighting choice and coverage ability. If you placed the rows side by side instead of on top of each other, you can get much better coverage. For the LED, I would still think you would at least need one of those 12 watt bulbs per plant, six inches above the plant. But the close proximity should increase the light intensity at the plants, and ultimately yield better results simply by the different configuration. You could also place a reflective surface underneath to bounce residual light back up.
Again I would still expect to need a twin bulb T5 light fixture for each row, but again the close proximity will increase the light intensity at the plants for all the rows. Bottom line though, watt for watt, HID lighting will give you better coverage, and better results/light intensity for fruiting plants. But that's just my 2 cents. |
Ok thank you. I'll look at building arms that come up next to each row and hold a double lamp t5 about 6-12" above each row. Or at modifying my setup to make it flat on the top. I found a 5 pack of 6400K t5 bulbs on amazon for $25.
The reason I went with a lean-to style was I figured I could add more rows. I have 3 right now, only using 2 and could add 2-3 more. But with the lighting requirements this complex, I might as well just flatten it out and make it a 4'x4' table. Downside is the natural light from the window across the room won't reach the plants closest to the wall.