Fruit Tree Grow Light

This is a grow light that I recently built to put my potted fruit trees under after moving them inside for the winter months. I have modeled it similar to the lighting over my aquaponics system that I will show in a later video. Last year the lemon tree didn't do too well with just window lighting so this year I decided to put it and the new orange tree under some artificial lighting.
The trees had already started to flower just before bringing them in so it will be interesting if we get some fruit on them this winter.
I am already planning on switching out the light bulbs as these CFLs are pulling 23 watts apiece and I am estimating that will be $20 USD per month added to the electrical bill. After making this video I swapped out 4 of the 6500K CFLs for 2700K LEDs that should help promote more flowering and cut some watts. I have also ordered some 6500K LEDs that I will swap in that should cut the energy usage by over half.
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Philips T2 Spiral CFL Light Bulb: 6500K, 100-Watt, Daylight - amzn.to/3bxo2MH
(These bulbs are similar to the ones I am using, outputting 6500K at 100 Watt equivalent)

[@wesleywinchester1890]

You always have the coolest projects going on

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Thanks!

[@wesleywinchester1890]

@@CTRLALTMAKE it's Jennifer Winchester hello. My phone broke so I'm watching your videos via my son's phone. He attends Incarnate Word College and my daughter attends UTSA and my little is in high school

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

@@wesleywinchester1890 i was a bit worried about you when I noticed you hadn’t commented in awhile. I hope you can get a new phone soon. Thanks for supporting my channel!

[@wesleywinchester1890]

@@CTRLALTMAKE ya life happens. You are still doing really cool projects

[@SHANONisRegenerate]

any update?

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Shanon Hudson It worked out well. The trees just moved outside for the summer. The orange tree had 3 oranges on it when it moved. Though the lights worked out well for the lemon tree too, I did over water it and it lost a lot of leaves. It should recover and is already getting new leaves. The only problem will be that when they move in this fall they will most likely be too big to fit under the lights at the current height. Thanks for the interest!

[@SHANONisRegenerate]

CTRLALTMAKE cool! what light cycle did you use? did you have any natural light? also what watering routine did you decide was best? I'm about to do a similar thing myself under some LEDs so I've really enjoyed watching this video

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Shanon Hudson both this and my indoor garden use a 16hr on light schedule and don’t have any exposure to natural light. They only required to be watered during the winter about every two to three weeks and I ended up using a moisture sensor to check if they needed watering. The Meyer lemon especially likes a lot of water and then to dry out a bit. This setup would have greatly benefit from wrap around reflective material like I use on my indoor garden. With this particular setup I was definitely wasting some light energy off the side. I would probably not recommend it for a year round setup unless it was augmenting a natural light source.

[@SHANONisRegenerate]

CTRLALTMAKE thanks for the tips I'll do a video of my setup once I'm sorted. your indoor garden sounds great! Are you going to do a video on it?

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Shanon Hudson it’s definitely in the pipeline line. Feel free to subscribe and click the bell if you want to get updates when I get it posted.

[@Air-vf6cn]

just go buy a 4 bulb t5 4ft man

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Air that’s definitely an option too

[@CTRLALTMAKE]

Definitely worth considering and probably a lot less wiring.