How Much Light Is Too Much Light for African Violets? Barrina Grow Light Testing Continued...

Showing results of 1-month use of Barrina Full Spectrum LED Grow Light and its effect on various African Violet hybrids.

[@bobscharle1233]

Very imformative as always. I moved my AVs directly under my LEDs and i am seeing the center bunch up to protect the plant. I will move the back to the side of the lights. I have commented before how impressive your collect is and i am still impressed. I want to get a better understanding on how to grow them under LEDs in a PA basement before investing in purchasing leaf cuttings. Thank you.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Appreciate your feedback! Happy growing!

[@clari1125]

Thank you for this video. It goes straight to the point of a problem I am having. I wanted to tell you about my experience with tight crowns and barrina. I began to collect violets about 6 months ago. I purchased a Milsbo and Barrina lights specifically for this purpose. My set up was nowhere near as lit as yours. I installed 2 lights at the top of the shelf and I let that installation service the entire cabinet. I couldn’t afford more lights at each shelf. I ran the lights for 10 minutes about every 3 hours (in total no more than 1 hour of barrina each day) I had a programmed switch. The rest of the time it was room light or light from a window. I filled my cabinet with AVs. I thought they’d do great. I purchased 27! I will tell you that more than 75% of my collection is showing symptoms of too much light with tight crowns and leaves standing up. And not just the ones on the top shelf. I kept rearranging them to see if they would relax and open up and they did not. Finally last month I removed them from the cabinet all together. I hate to think what would become of them if I had placed lights at every level. I placed them in a different location without any light fixtures. They only receive the light from the room overhead or whatever natural light filters in from a window about 8 feet away. It’s been about a month and I do not see an improvement. Can you advise me on what I should do? They aren’t burned, because they’re still green, they’re not yellowing either. But they’re very tight. What can I do to improve that? And how quickly can I expect to see signs of improvement, that my method is working? I thank you very much for your video and more so if you can offer any advice! Have a great day.

[@revenge0lobster]

Given that you’ve relocated them and many crowns are still tight, I wonder if ambient temperature and humidity are part of the issue. AVs are incredible plants, but of course they only have so many ways to communicate distress. Pardon me if I’m sharing info you already know: Temperatures too low (under 70F) lead to tight crowns, as well as too little humidity. When I had an issue of about half of my AVs having tight crowns and not seeming to grow, I repotted them in terracotta pots (which I know folks don’t like to do, but my plants are wick-watered) and put them back in a glass cabinet. It resolved the tight crowns, save for one (Mesmerizing Pink, a standard with dark green leaves). For your plants, it may be as simple as lowering the shade in that room and considering adding a humidifier to the room. If you haven’t yet, check out the Dr Optimara website for quick yet comprehensive “diagnosing” with lots of useful info. Good luck! Edit: A treatment technique I’ve heard many people do is to put each violet in a plastic ziploc type bag for about a month, so that the increased local humidity loosens the crown and spreads/relaxes the leaves.

[@clari1125]

@@revenge0lobster thanks for your feedback. I guess it might be humidity? Although with the cabinets closed and as many plants as I had there it was running around 50-60 humidity. As far as temperature, I am in Miami so warm temperatures but think internal AC about 76 degrees pretty consistently. I’ll check out that website for more info.

[@revenge0lobster]

@@clari1125 Sounds like it really is all the light exposure, then! Good news is that they can recover from that. Best of luck.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Thanks so much for sharing! Mine grow in 69-72 F, 40-60% humidity, I might try removing one light fixture from each shelf, to reduce the light intensity, and see how it goes. In your case, I'd recommend repotting them into fresh potting mix, and perhaps placing them in domed propagation trays/ziploc bags for extra humidity boost. Hope they recover soon!

[@barbarabachner4078]

Your videos are the BEST!! I'm confused about AV leaves growing upward. In this video, you mention that some of your AVs have leaves growing upward "to protect the central leaves from too much light". I had come to the opposite conclusion with a particular one of my AVs. In October 2021 I took a picture of it because it had just begun to bloom, and at that time the leaves were growing outward with the bottom leaves curving slightly toward the pot. (Sorry I don't know the variety; I got it years ago before I cared about varieties.) Because it was blooming, I moved it to a table in the center of our family room so we could see it all day long. The only light it has gotten for the past 6 weeks is VERY little from an east-facing window and a north-facing window, each 10 feet away from the plant. Despite this decrease in light, its leaves are reaching up at a 45-degree angle now, so I concluded they were reaching for MORE light. Perhaps they reach for more light AND reach to protect central leaves from too much light. Can that be correct? Thanks very much for your time.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Thank you for sharing your story! From what I gather, with too much light, some of them tend to raise the leaves growing closer to the center, protecting the center growth, while lowering the external leaves, curving under the pot, trying to "hide" from excessive light. That was the case with the 2nd Rob's Slap Happy growing in the baby tray. With insufficient light, they tend to raise all of their leaves up, reaching for more light. Never a dull moment with AVs, lol! Happy growing!

[@barbarabachner4078]

@@grayturtleviolets Thank you so much for your help. I think you're correct since all leaves on my AV in question are either horizontal or reaching up, none hugging the pot. So, I think it does need more light, which seems appropriate since I moved it to the middle of a darker room. I have had AVs whose leaves hugged the pot, and I wondered what the cause was. Now I think it must be, as you say, hiding from too much light. Thanks again!

[@grayturtleviolets]

@@barbarabachner4078 You are very welcome! Happy growing!

[@high_fructose_corn_syrup]

How many weeks/months does it take a plant to start showing if theres too much light? I saw your plants, the centers are very tight. How long did it take for them to grow like that? I just added a light to my streptocarpus plants and i dont know what setting to use.

[@grayturtleviolets]

It took about a couple of months for the symptoms to appear, and then it was gradually getting worse. Here is the 8-month update video where I talk about the adjustments I made: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Cte6KLqr-bhZosi=VZp6KmwbEJtpDxvW

[@laraynekayfes5329]

Thank you so much! I have only one violet, but it has quit blooming, and your video is exactly the advice needed. I will turn off the light more hours now 😅

[@grayturtleviolets]

Glad it was helpful! Happy growing!

[@high_fructose_corn_syrup]

Do i see a cape primrose with your AV? If so, how do you water it? Can you water with a wick like you can with AV? Ive read many times the roots of the streptocarpus (cape primrose) like to dry out between watering. Just wondering if you use the wicking watering method, how its doing? Im afraid of root rot. Ty

[@grayturtleviolets]

I wick water my streptocarpus plants the same way like my AVs. They do drink a lot, especially as it gets warmer!

[@85sheena]

I had the same experience with those Barrina grow lights. The crowns on all of my plants were tight with the similar setup you have. I switched to Monios grow lights from Amazon. The light is a warm white color without the pink hue that the barrina lights have. It's been about a month now and my violets are slowly starting to open up again. Plants that do very well under the barina grow light are a Hoya plants and other thick leaf plants I have found ... Happy Growing 💗

[@grayturtleviolets]

This is super helpful, thank you so much for sharing! Will make sure to check out the Monios lights. In the meantime, I moved mine higher up and left only one light fixture per shelf, hoping this helps, fingers crossed...

[@85sheena]

@@grayturtleviolets You're welcome! I hope you adjusting the light level works out for you as well. No need to spend more money if you don't need to. ☺️

[@cherylphilstrom4864]

@@85sheena Hi, Sheena. What model Monios light are you using? I would like to use them instead of Barrina lights which I just ordered.

[@jvsnyder1]

I just ordered the Barrina lights from Amazon but am reading about the problems. Which Monios model light did you order?

[@karenspencer763]

Thank you for this excellent video. I had even worse luck with my minis using Barrina grow lights. In fact, I had lots of sunburned leaves. I replaced Barrinas with LEDs that are dimmable. I will never again purchase nondimmable LED lights. Optimara must grow under natural light only, because their recommendation for Lux value is certainly too high for growing under LEDs. A dimmer switch is a must!

[@grayturtleviolets]

Glad it was helpful! I got lots of burned leaves on my AVs from this light, too. I had to increase the distance between the light and the plants, to make it work. So true, my Optimaras, and vintage AVs, do best in natural light!

[@motled]

😻 Happy Holidays. 🌸

[@grayturtleviolets]

Thank you! Happy Holidays!!!

[@user-uy7if3rc1p]

Золушкин сон прям без акцента.

[@user-uy7if3rc1p]

На моих фиалках похожая история, только листья ещё сильнее сжаты, деформированы, не растут и на них краевой некроз. Нижние листья в порядке. Клеща нет, проверено. Что это может быть? Может недостаток бора или бактериоз?

[@sheilabroad8192]

Great info.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Glad it was helpful! Appreciate your feedback!

[@carolekohler9511]

Great video. I learned a lot. I have the same type of set up as you have but with only one light per shelf. I still have too much light considering your video. I have a lot of tight stiff centers on mature plants, but none on the young plants. The pink coloration on my cabbage Patch adults and those sunburn spots. I use your potting soil recipe which works well except lately I have noticed some holes in several leaves. I add the insecticide to the soil mix as you do, so I am a bit surprised by that, but most of my plants are healthy. I have a question about deformed leaves and stems (might have started a few years ago after a nightmare with Mites) Do I need to discard all the plants who have produced misshapen leaves, or can I get a healthy plant from a Non deformed leaf from that plant? I have come across a lot of baby plants that look okay but once planted in a 3 ounce cup, are the same size two months later. I have begun to wonder if these babies came from plants that had deformities and now are not healthy genetically.

[@grayturtleviolets]

I am still experimenting with the full spectrum and monochromatic LED lights - some of my plants have accustomed to growing under LEDs, while others still struggle, no matter the adjustments in light placement and duration, some only do well in natural light. I've been observing that especially with vintage and Optimara varieties. As far as leaf deformities, some may be caused by insect damage, while others may be result of mutation, such as zippering, for example. If the leaf was treated against insects, and was healthy otherwise, it can produce healthy offspring, while genetically deformed, or affected by INSV, leaf may not succeed at propagation, or produce unhealthy offspring - leaves taken from zippered plants, for example, will most likely produce offspring with the same crown deformity. Same with tight crowns - I've learned it can be a symptom of several things, including too much light, mites damage, growing temperature that is below 60F, etc. Never a dull moment with African Violets, lol!

[@lenkaburyskova4609]

What you will do with those with tight crowns? Repot them or just cut leaves and start again? I have similar problem with some of my plants…

[@grayturtleviolets]

I will repot them into fresh potting mix and move them onto 100% natural light, near the window. We have mostly cloudy weather here in Oregon this time of year, so they won't be exposed to bright sun - hope this will help them recover.

[@Cody-hx1uq]

Hey thankyou very much. This was the exact information I was looking for. Did you manage to get the light higher or just try cutting back the hours to 8?

[@grayturtleviolets]

Happy to share! I removed one light from each shelf, leaving only one light, centered above, zip-tied it to the shelf, so now the distance between the light and the top of the crowns is about 14 inches, and I also have some minis in the communal wicking tray about 12 inches away from the light. I keep the light on for 10 hours, in the south facing room which gets a fair amount of sunlight during the day. So far so good...

[@Cody-hx1uq]

@@grayturtleviolets wow. That's exciting, sounds like you doubled you're growing area.

[@SS11660]

I had similar problem but my leaves were turning too yellow as if bleached out. I took away 1 bulb and cut back hours and much better.

[@grayturtleviolets]

I noticed some of my plants having similar symptoms - now I know why, thank you for sharing!

[@cherylphilstrom4864]

I just purchased Barrina lights to use on a stand for my violets but a friend said I might need to reduce my shelves to just 2 (I really don't want to lose a shelf), to allow sufficient space between the plants and lights. One viewer mentioned using Monios lights - I am wondering what model she uses, and what other brand LED lights would be good for growing violets. I have a lot of LED shop lights I tested with a PAR meter but most might be too bright for violets. One more question - do streptocarpus have the same light needs as violets?

[@grayturtleviolets]

I have reduced my Barrina lights down to one light per shelf and lifted them all the way up to the shelf above, to increase the distance between the light and the crown of the plants about 14 inches - this setup has been working well with variegated minis and semis, so far. Mixed luck with regular LED shop lights - some violets do well, and others have tight crowns from too much light. I have a few Streptocarpus varieties, they grow together with my African Violets, in the same light conditions. Appreciate your feedback!

[@HealingPlaceEnergySchool]

How do you correct a tight Crown? Will the crown loosen with less light? I’m planning to buy a light meter to gauge lux and candlelight. Thank you

[@grayturtleviolets]

If the tight crown is a result of too much light, check out this video, in which I talk about the adjustments I made to the original full spectrum light setup, and show the resulting plants’ improvement: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Cte6KLqr-bhZo

[@kristinadavila7724]

I have been watching many of your videos, and thanks to you began collecting violets again after my cat destroyed most of them. Now I keep them on a shelf far from her reach haha. I’m having a similar problem with some lights I bought on Amazon, they have been working great, but lately some of them have browning edges on the new leaves at the crown. Do you recommend I lower the intensity of the lights (they have dimmer options) or less time (I keep them on for around 12 hours)?

[@grayturtleviolets]

I have my lights on for 10 hours, and it still seems to be too much light for some of the Av varieties, so I suspect in this case the cause might be the intensity of a particular light, rather than its duration - I'd recommend experimenting with the dimming options. Mine doesn't have the dimmers, so after this video, I removed one light from each shelf, keeping only one light per shelf, vs the original two. I also lifted the lights up higher, so now they are about 14 inches away from the plants, vs original 12 inches. Happy growing!

[@HealingPlaceEnergySchool]

Would you use a lamp grow light bulb? I want to place plants on my table.

[@grayturtleviolets]

This episode shows the full spectrum grow light fixture, used on one of my plant stands. It didn’t work well for me at first, and after I made the adjustments shown in this video, kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Cte6KLqr-bhZo, it’s been working much better. I haven’t used a table lamp with a single grow light bulb, but I imagine the principle behind it is the same - finding the correct distance between the light bulb and the top of the plant, by observing the plant’s growth pattern, and the daily duration of light, should make it work.

[@bettychingchingchu3935]

How can I get a watermelon ice AV thanks

[@grayturtleviolets]

I got my Watermelon Snow on eBay. It’s a beautiful hybrid, highly recommend, especially if you like mosaic variegation.

[@bettychingchingchu3935]

@@grayturtleviolets thankyou so much I will look into it have a good day

[@r.scottpage2840]

Looking for a follow up video.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Just posted it: African Violets - Barrina Full Spectrum Grow Light - 8 Months Later, check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5Cte6KLqr-bhZo

[@britl.1822]

Great video ! 🤗 When leaves have "turned upwards" because of too much light, will those existing leaves "lower themselves" and turn outwards if moved to "a less light situation" ?

[@grayturtleviolets]

Thanks! I didn't wait long enough to observe that, I removed the upward growing leaves, repotted, and rearranged the lights, to keep only one fixture per shelf, 14 inches away from the top of the plants - so far, so good.

[@britl.1822]

Thank you very much for your answer ! ❤️

[@probhatidibragede5238]

I have propagate mby cutting leaves but was not successful

[@grayturtleviolets]

Sorry about that! Here is how I propagate mine: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3S2eqFuqLWnedU

[@MrWelfarehater]

The one video you did on artificial lights for African Violets, you had a set up with 2 lights of different Kelvins. One 6500 a cool light for growing, and the other a 3000 warm light for blooming. I am no expert and definitely not as knowledgeable as you. Just an observation.

[@grayturtleviolets]

Good point! I was super lucky to have inherited a plant stand that had customizable light fixtures, shown in that video - using light bulbs with two different color temperatures, 6500 and 3000 K, still seems to be the best light solution for my plants. Both of the light bulbs have the same light intensity parameter, 1800 LM (lumen) each bulb, totaling in 3600 lumen per light fixture. The non-customizable lights that I have on other stands, regular LED shop lights, have 5000K color temperature, and a bit stronger light intensity, the one shown in this video - 4100 LM, and another one, with 4800 LM - they have been working well for some plants, but I also had a few plants that developed tight crown centers because the light was too bright for them, especially vintage varieties. The third setup, with Barrina LED Grow Light shown in this video, rather than having a set light color temperature, is said to be full spectrum, so my guess is that each bulb incorporates segments with different light color temperatures. The light intensity parameter, measured in lumens, was not provided on the Barrina label, so I measured the lux output using the free light meter app, and while it seems to be close to the AV light intensity expert recommendations, some of my plants seem to have trouble adjusting. Will make the adjustments and keep everyone posted!