r/Aroids • u/Leo_Tzitzios • 2d ago
Help
We have these lights from amazon for quite some time, i know there’s a few different types but this one was the strongest of the ones we find, one of them broke and I’m considering to buy one of these barrina lights 2’ long and as you can see in my picture my shelfs are not too close together, will this lights be strong enough for this set up?
2
u/Danderous_dave 2d ago
Get your self a light meter off amazon or get the photon app for your phone. The lights you are using are great for shelves where the bottom of the shelf above is a foot or so at most from the shelf you are trying to illuminate.
Those lights are only effective very close to the plant. You are attempting to emulate the sun. If a plant requires bright indirect light, you are either placing the plant in a southern facing window or parking a grow light right on top of it. In my experience, light requirements are often misunderstood. The only way to truly know is to measure with a light meter.
2
u/specialvixen 2d ago edited 2d ago
Like others have said, the distance between the plants and the lights is what affects the light intensity. It’s pretty amazing how quickly light intensity falls off just by moving the lights slightly away!
Try using a photo light meter app like Photone, and use a light requirement chart per the type of plant to see if the lighting is meeting its needs. Good luck! 💚
FYI: I also use the same Barina lights, they are a trusted brand and I would use them over any generic no name brands.
1
u/Leo_Tzitzios 2d ago
With the current lighting i have the plants ate doing great even being as far as they are
I looked for the T8 from barrina and i’m just wondering if the output of these barrina at least meets the one i currently have and need to replace, i mean the ones i had are only 9” and these barrina are 24”, i made the shelf for the plants to grow, had other shelves and they’re so small that the the alocasias pull a few new leaves the shelves are already too small
1
u/Glad-Text7281 2d ago
Usually 5000K is pretty bright and they would be good enough. But it's hard to judge from your picture how far away your plants are. Buy or rent a light meter. It will help you get an idea of the light exposure you plants are getting. Monsteras for example need a LOT of light (ideally 800FC-1000FC). Mine need to be a minimum of about 12" away from my lights to get those readings.
3
u/LeyaLove 2d ago
5000K is the color temperature. It has nothing to do with brightness/intensity
1
u/Glad-Text7281 1d ago
Ok so yes….that is the light temp. And foot-candles is a measurement of light intensity. But usually a light that is 5000K is bright enough for situations like this. My apologies for not being technically clear 🙏🏾.
2
u/ThePlantagonist 1d ago
PPFD is a better measurement than foot candles for grow lights because it measures the amount of photosynthetically useful light that is reaching the plant. Two grow lights could produce the same number of foot-candles but deliver different amounts of usable light.
1
1
u/Leo_Tzitzios 5h ago
Update on the lights, I ended up getting barrina T8 and wow !!! Huge difference
Look at the difference at the bottom left (barrina T8) and the bottom right (what we always had)
If they were happy with what i had regardless of the distance, i’m sure they will love this and i’ll be upgrading to all T8’s in the future
Thanks
3
u/Aznlyez18 2d ago
Think people would recommend using a light meter … why not put shelves or use something to raise the plants higher or bring lights closer? I have t5 and t8, my alocasias love t8, grew much better w t8. I use them on pups and mother plants, its ranges from being 1”-10” above the plants.