Noob to hydro, first attempt at NFT system

[brandonbelew]

Hello everyone,

I'm fairly new to gardening, and very new to hydro. The wife and I are engaged in a friendly competition. She will be growing strawberries outside, I am growing them inside with hydro.

Here is my NFT system, this picture was taken day 2 after planting my bare root plants sourced on amazon.

I'm running 3 led lights currently, two 5w and one 12w and i'm getting between 94 and 100 lux at each plant.

I'm using 24-12-32 strawberry fertilizer, mixed in a 17 gallon reservoir.

I started doing daily logs on my setup here: http://brandonbelew.webfactional.com/ if anyone is interested.

[GpsFrontier]

Hello brandonbelew,
Your lighting is severely lacking. You might be OK if you used one of those 12 watt bulbs over each plant, and didn't place it more than 6 inches above the plant. But at this point, my money is on your wife's plants simply because her natural light (sunlight) is much better than what you currently have.

[brandonbelew]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

Hello brandonbelew,
Your lighting is severely lacking. You might be OK if you used one of those 12 watt bulbs over each plant, and didn't place it more than 6 inches above the plant. But at this point, my money is on your wife's plants simply because her natural light (sunlight) is much better than what you currently have.

If I added 2 - 4' t5 fluorescent grow lights hanging a few feet above and use the led's as fill, do you think that would be sufficient light?

Also that picture was taken at night, 6' in front of the nft setup is a window facing east. So during the day it's also getting some natural light mixed with the led's. I run the lights from 6am to 10pm.

Thanks!

[GpsFrontier]

If I added 2 - 4' t5 fluorescent grow lights hanging a few feet above and use the LED's as fill, do you think that would be sufficient light?

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.

[brandonbelew]

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.

[GpsFrontier]

I might as well just flatten it out and make it a 4'x4' table

That's kind of my point. 3 twin bulb T5 light fixtures (one for each row of plants) using 6 T5 bulbs (52 watts ea) is 150 watts of electricity. One 150 watt HID bulb will cover a 4x4 area and with better coverage and light intensity. In other words for the same electricity, you get better coverage and intensity.