cdgmoney250
Well-Known Member
Hey Growers and light enthusiasts, I just wanted to share a little DIY project I’m currently working on for a small veg/mother space. I’ve always been curious if plants would respond differently to changing spectrums and intensity throughout the day, and I’ve built a fixture to try to find out.
The fixture is made up of:
5 Bridgelux Vesta TL Thrive 2750K 98CRI 560mm strips
(Each strip is half 2700K and half 5000k in alternating order)
4 Bridgelux Gen 2 EB 3000K 80CRI 560mm strips
2 Meanwell ELG-75-C500B drivers
1 Meanwell HLG-80-C700B driver
The Vesta Thrive 2700K & EB 3000K are driven at 500ma and the Vesta Thrive 5000K is driven at 700ma. I have potentiometers ordered so each channel be adjustable. Full output is is around 160W of light. I don’t have a watt meter but it’s likely around 180W at the wall when at full power.
I currently have each driver on its own timer, which is the super primitive part. I have the 2700K Thrive set to come on at “sunrise”, then the 3000K 80CRI at “mid morning”, then the 5000K Thrive set to come on for “midday” light. It’s actually a really nice color when all 3 lights are on full blast, but the plants will decide when they get in there.
My goal eventually is to get a handheld spectrometer and set the drivers up on a smart controller like an Arduino or something, so each driver can slowly ramp up and down independently throughout the day. I may eventually also add some 660nm, 670nm, and 730nm diodes on their own channel and play around a bit. When it comes to smart controllers, programming, writing code, hardware, my knowledge is fairly limited, so if any of you more technical savvy people out there had any ideas, I’d love for you to chime in.
Now for the photos…
You’ll have to forgive the wiring mess and improvised driver & fixture mounting. All temporary until I can clean it up a bit.
Just the 2700K Thrive
2700k 98CRI & 3000K 80CRI both at 500ma
All 3 Channels
I’m super excited to see how plants respond!
Thanks for checking it out!
The fixture is made up of:
5 Bridgelux Vesta TL Thrive 2750K 98CRI 560mm strips
(Each strip is half 2700K and half 5000k in alternating order)
4 Bridgelux Gen 2 EB 3000K 80CRI 560mm strips
2 Meanwell ELG-75-C500B drivers
1 Meanwell HLG-80-C700B driver
The Vesta Thrive 2700K & EB 3000K are driven at 500ma and the Vesta Thrive 5000K is driven at 700ma. I have potentiometers ordered so each channel be adjustable. Full output is is around 160W of light. I don’t have a watt meter but it’s likely around 180W at the wall when at full power.
I currently have each driver on its own timer, which is the super primitive part. I have the 2700K Thrive set to come on at “sunrise”, then the 3000K 80CRI at “mid morning”, then the 5000K Thrive set to come on for “midday” light. It’s actually a really nice color when all 3 lights are on full blast, but the plants will decide when they get in there.
My goal eventually is to get a handheld spectrometer and set the drivers up on a smart controller like an Arduino or something, so each driver can slowly ramp up and down independently throughout the day. I may eventually also add some 660nm, 670nm, and 730nm diodes on their own channel and play around a bit. When it comes to smart controllers, programming, writing code, hardware, my knowledge is fairly limited, so if any of you more technical savvy people out there had any ideas, I’d love for you to chime in.
Now for the photos…
You’ll have to forgive the wiring mess and improvised driver & fixture mounting. All temporary until I can clean it up a bit.
Just the 2700K Thrive
2700k 98CRI & 3000K 80CRI both at 500ma
All 3 Channels
I’m super excited to see how plants respond!
Thanks for checking it out!
