Indoor Lighting: How much is enough?
I've been wanting to do more intense growing, and get away from plants that only need indirect lighting. If I want to get a set up that can grow plants that require more light, I'll need to know a few things.
👉Space for gardening
👉Lighting fixtures
👉Precise humidity control
Space to develop a garden
First of all, I live in an apartment. I have a stepson and wife as well, so I can not use an entire room. Currently I have a table in front of my sliding glass door. This table holds my plants. The table is a little full, but with some organization I can clear some space.
Second, I have a 15 gallon fish tank that I have been holding onto. I can clear enough space off the table to hold the tank. So I will use the tank to hold my plants, and it will make sense later why I chose to use an aquarium.
Lighting fixtures
How much lighting would I need to light up this tank? That all depends on the type of plants I will be growing.
High Light Plants: around 40 watts of light per square foot.
Low Light Plants: around 25 to 30 watts of light per square foot.
Great! So how much square feet do I have? Use this formula:
Width (in feet) x Depth (in feet) = Square feet
I have 2 x 1 = 2 square feet of growing space.
For high level plants I will need 80 watts total, and 50-60 watts for low light plants.
Humidity Control
In an aquarium this is rather easy. There are lids to fish tanks, that can hold humidity around 90 to 100% pretty easily. I'll be using an Aqueon Versa Top. They fit very well into a tank. If you do an aquarium garden, and need to control the humidity well, I would pick up a Versa Top.
The other reason why I want a fairly tight sealing lid, specifically the one mentioned previously, is that it keeps all the moisture away from the lights. So I do not have to worry about a fire or anything while I go out during the day.
And that is it. The math is pretty easy to figure out how much light you will need. I hope that I helped you answer any questions. If you are looking to start up an indoor garden, let me know. I would love to see or hear about your set up, and what plants you are going to grow.
Thanks for reading,
Garrett.
I've been wanting to do more intense growing, and get away from plants that only need indirect lighting. If I want to get a set up that can grow plants that require more light, I'll need to know a few things.
👉Space for gardening
👉Lighting fixtures
👉Precise humidity control
Space to develop a garden
First of all, I live in an apartment. I have a stepson and wife as well, so I can not use an entire room. Currently I have a table in front of my sliding glass door. This table holds my plants. The table is a little full, but with some organization I can clear some space.
Lighting fixtures
How much lighting would I need to light up this tank? That all depends on the type of plants I will be growing.
High Light Plants: around 40 watts of light per square foot.
Low Light Plants: around 25 to 30 watts of light per square foot.
Great! So how much square feet do I have? Use this formula:
Width (in feet) x Depth (in feet) = Square feet
I have 2 x 1 = 2 square feet of growing space.
For high level plants I will need 80 watts total, and 50-60 watts for low light plants.
Humidity Control
In an aquarium this is rather easy. There are lids to fish tanks, that can hold humidity around 90 to 100% pretty easily. I'll be using an Aqueon Versa Top. They fit very well into a tank. If you do an aquarium garden, and need to control the humidity well, I would pick up a Versa Top.
The other reason why I want a fairly tight sealing lid, specifically the one mentioned previously, is that it keeps all the moisture away from the lights. So I do not have to worry about a fire or anything while I go out during the day.
And that is it. The math is pretty easy to figure out how much light you will need. I hope that I helped you answer any questions. If you are looking to start up an indoor garden, let me know. I would love to see or hear about your set up, and what plants you are going to grow.
Thanks for reading,
Garrett.
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