Indoor Bonsai under LED lights.

Sounds like it could be a really nice quality setup! But don't take my word for it, make sure you ask RapidLED to really confirm if 2 of there Onyx Veg can effectively cover a 4x4, and if they can at what height so you know if the Gorilla tent will work.

Yeah, i use computer fans, one 120mm that you see hanging in the tent to just keep air circulating, and then a 92mm one to extract the hot air like this.

Both of them are connected to a simple 12v 500mA power adapter, but i use one witch have modes for 12v,9v,7,5v,6v,4,5v,3v,1,5v. So i can use it like a dimmer to speed the fans up and down, its really nice to be able to somewhat control the temperature and circulation in the tent, in winter i had them running as low as 4,5v, now they are running almost full power every day.
But considering you plan on using a tent twice the size you may need something more powerful to extract the hot air, or maybe if it has more then one extraction point in the roof you can just use more PC fans.

I'll probably just use regular fans, as I have no experience with wiring and all that for the PC fans...

Yeah, no need to gamble and burn down the house in the process. Did you contact Rapid and ask if 2 units where enough for your planed area?

Dreamcast wrote:Yeah, no need to gamble and burn down the house in the process. Did you contact Rapid and ask if 2 units where enough for your planed area?

I have not, thanks for the reminder!

I think I'm going to have to build my own tent out of a wood frame instead of buying one. They're all just too tall for my plant room.

Ryan, that's to bad.. IMO nothing really beats a quality tent. But i am still sure your build will be awesome and i am looking forward to see the new setup on your blog!

Are you still thinking 2 Onyx for lights?

Dreamcast wrote:Ryan, that's to bad.. IMO nothing really beats a quality tent. But i am still sure your build will be awesome and i am looking forward to see the new setup on your blog!

Are you still thinking 2 Onyx for lights?

I agree, but they're all just too tall and not big enough for my trees. I'm planning on at least 2 Onyx lights, maybe even 3 at this point depending on how many trees I end up with by the end of summer.

iteresting

Actually, Gorilla Grow Tents just came out with a new series of grow tents that are shorter than normal grow tents, so I'm definitely buying one of those.

Ryan wrote:Actually, Gorilla Grow Tents just came out with a new series of grow tents that are shorter than normal grow tents, so I'm definitely buying one of those.

Happy to hear that, a tent really makes things so much better!

Like i said before, really make sure what ever light/lights you go with will effectively cover your area at the max hanging distance the tent will allow for, the ONYX for example dose require a good hanging distance from the plants, not just to get a good light footprint, but also to make sure the trees under it will not bleach from to concentrated light.

I have not done this so i am not sure it would work, but i think one can remove the front cover and lenses from the ONYX, this should make it less intense and improve the light footprint, but i guess that will also void the warranty.. maybe not the best thing when it comes to such expensive equipment.

Good read.

I got the new parts for the DIY light a while back, and finally its build and working without a problem! kinda proud of my self, its a special feeling building ones own light and seeing it fire up for the first time.

Here it is, a LED light with 5 channels, all dimmable 0-100% either via knobs on the side or the digital controller.


Scrolling through the channels.

Warm White.

Red. 660nm (2 channels)

730nm, not very visible to human eyes since it is near IR, but from what i read a very useful spectrum for plants, will be interesting to see if there will be any significant change in growth using it for 15min sunrise and sunset. From what i understand this technique should also make it possible to cut down on light hours on per day witch results in energy savings. Will have to read up more on this and get back to it in a future update.

Royal Blue. 460nm

And finally all channels together.

The digital controller, no need for a timer when using this light, its all in this controller.

All the options of the controller.

Its very fun playing around with this light, but even if the almost infinite color combinations one can come up with may look cool, it may be a less good spectrum for plants.. but by using the White channel as a foundation, then its kinda easy to just up either blue or red for the desired kind of growth, the standard core spectrum, all channels simultaneously 1-100% (maybe not 730nm) is also a good one.

This is a very unique, useful and flexible light, and a tech-geeks dream!

It can maybe also be a very interesting light to use when taking photos of ones trees, will play around with this aswell.

Next update will be on the GN unit and the Benjamina that have been living under it for a while now.

Been using the GN unit for a while now, and it have shown to be a quite impressive little light.

I got this Benjamina from a friend, its a typical store bought ficus that's been neglected and let to mostly grow wild for many years before ending up in my hands.


After reducing the root ball alot and cutting back the branches alittle it was placed to recover in a clear plasticbag under the GN light.



After not long the tree was doing well and there was a alot of new growth coming lower down the trunk.


Pretty good nebari, when fused it should make for a good clump style tree i think.

Before and after reducing the tree quite hard, one can now start to see the structure, more trunks may or may not be removed in the future.



After seeing this Benjamina developed so fast and strong in just over a month i can definitely say that the GrowNorthern light is a good one, will have a more indepth review of this light up in a few days.

thank you for sharing. helpful tips.

kimo wrote:iteresting

Good read.

thank you for sharing. helpful tips.

Thanks, happy you like the thread.

happy you shared it.

Cause of the very sudden summer heat i have had to make some changes in the setup and quick since most of my trees where not doing very well at all in +35 degrees heat and small computer fans for extraction and air circulation.

first i was thinking of changing to a bigger fan to move heat out from the tent, but this would also mean more noise witch i am not willing to put up with since this setup is in my livingroom, i am actually getting a little tired of the constant fan noises as it is..

So i went with the M30's instead, less heat and no noise! i have almost forgotten how cool these little lights are
When i was changing the lights i thought why not fix some small things to make the setup more effective and enjoyable to work with.
First i put in a shelf so i now only use the top half of the tent, this means i don't have to get on my knees anymore to check on the trees, Very Nice!
Would have done this from the start if it was not for some of the trees being in very large pots and needed to grow big at that time.
I also took the the larger circulation fan and use this for and exhaustfan, and then 2 80mm silent fans, one in each end for air circulation, very evenly cooling of both the trees and the light setup.
This setup works great i think, about half the noise or less then the previous setup, even temps at 27 degrees, even and high intensity light distribution thanks to several lower watt units (180Watt total) being spread out and rather close to the trees.

Most trees are newly repotted and showed some stress in the previous setup, therefore all the bagged trees.

GrowNorthern Holographic Series 1 (80Watt) GB.

http://www.grownorthern.com

This new little light from Grownorthern is a step away from the "traditional" LED growlight designs.

First it uses no fan to cool the light engine, it instead uses something called a 'Nuventix Synjet', it seams to work well and rather quiet to, and the sound it makes is more buzzing then a fan sound.

Second it uses a new type of optics system for the LED's called a Holographic Lens, it makes for a very even light distribution and from what i understand there are going to be numerous type of lenses,  different light beam angles, and also a lens which will spread the light perfect to fit any rectangular area. All in the name of efficiency.

The quality of this whole unit is superb, it uses only quality components like Philips LED's and Philips Driver, the Nuventix Synjet, even all the electrical stuff is from Wago witch is very very nice, and super safe!

The performance of this light is very good, it consumes around 80Watt's and will with the 80x80 Lens (which i have) IMO effectively cover a 60x60cm area resulting in around 20watt per square foot (30x30cm). It could possibly even cover a bit larger area quite effectively.

The light is warm pinkish in color but still white, one can still make out the trees original colors, even if i very much love the 100% white spectrum type lights i still think this spectrum is very visually good.

I have tested some really great lights built from the highest quality components and material overall, and they all work very well! far better then any HID system Watt to Watt!
But this light just feels the most commercially ready to me, that and it works very well to.

I think its is the type of LED light one will eventually see in Garden Centers advertised for growing anything from your own food to flowers with the whole family.
The SANlight M30 is also this type of a light since it also has a good spectrum and that nice Plug and Play type feeling.
But the Grownothern light just has all those extra small things that makes for a product that feels hi-tech yet very easy to setup and used by anyone.

Its very solid, compact and looks really good.
Has different options for Lenses to fit all kinds of grow areas, and the lens snaps on with a strong magnet.
More then one unit can be run from one single power outlet using a link cable between lights.
Using this new type of cooling system the whole system should run smooth without much lose in light intensity for almost to long time.

!And its stupid safe to use with its Wago electrical interconnect system!

And to be honest i think the pinkish warm white light could actually appeal to many people, makes it feel even more hi-tech and cool, trendy if you will.

This is a solid choice for any normal indoor garden area really, its a compact high preforming high quality unit with several options in Lenses, and a very safe light to operate overall thanks to the Wago system, i really can't stress enough times how important safety is when it comes to stuff like grow equipment, or any electrical equipment for that matter.

So if you live in the UK and want to shop locally, or anywhere in EU, then this i think is one of your best picks.

More info about this light can be found on the company's website listed in the beginning of this post.

UPDATE.
After having experienced that the unit get very hot and seam to dim itself.. i contacted the company and it turned out to be a quite common problem, and they now have new lids on the "new version" of there light with more ventilation on it, also these new lids will be sent out for free to anyone owning the first generation HS1.

I'm trying to find a way to give my trees humidity. The tents are nice, but I don't want all that humidity around the lights. I want to do what Yvonne does...

I totally agree, Ryan!! have also been giving this some thought for a while now, its rather funny you should mention this as i am at this very moment redoing my whole setup, and in all honesty copying Yvonne.

Hi Ryan and Dreamcast

On page 11 can you find my answers
https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t4687p150-ficus-in-the-cold-north-denmark#171684

Kind regards Yvonne

After having trouble with one of my better ficus after transplanting (lost half the "crown") i bagged that tree and all others i had repoted just to be on the safeside.. having the trees in the bags and seeing how much they liked the high humidity i decided to build a new setup.

I have had Yvonne's great setup as my main inspiration and with her advice i think i have quite closely replicated that setups main functions, this is something totally new to me as i am used to having fans for air circulation and more, this setup is a more "closed grow system" type.

To learn more and see Yvonne's nice Ficus trees visit her thread.
https://ibonsaiclub.forumotion.com/t4687-ficus-in-the-cold-north-denmark

Or here for a short Article made by Fiona.
http://britishshohinbonsai.com/supporters-area/articles/ficus-in-the-cold-north/

So here is the new setup!
Its 2 larger modified Propagators from BioGreen which i have secured to big plastic trays, in these trays i have plastic grills to elevate the pots from the water. Everything is made almost completely air tight thanks something we in Sweden call "SilverTape", its waterproof, can take very high and low temps and holds ridiculously well, may be called duct tape in the US?
Over each tent are 3 M30 LED modules cooled by 2 60mm fans running at 9V (can be adjusted if needed), a near silent setup.
Steady temps of 27-30 degrees Celsius and humidity is very high inside the tents, In total this setup consumes around 170 Watts, that i can live with.

All of this is then placed in 2 modified sideboards from IKEA with rolldown shades to block the light when watching TV for example.
Everything works very well, and its quite a nice looking setup if i may say so my self (exept for the "SilverTape").







Will be interesting to see how this setup works out in the long run, but so far its working absolutely great! have been running it for a few days now and i already see aerialroots, and to bee honest trees never looked more happy.

Hi Dreamcast

Your setup look really nice...how wide x high x deep is your tents ?...and how do you warm them up ?
do you have a homepage link for the tent and heater ?

The idea to keep the trees under the table is very nice...they can be kept almost every were , also is the curtain a good idea, if the bonsai-ist only have one small room, and also sleep in it.

Kind regards Yvonne

Yvonne, Thank you.

The tents are 76cm long, 46cm high and 40cm deep, these tents originally come with a heatmat on digital controller, but i had the luck to get 2 used tents without heatmats, perfect! since the heatmats would not work with this design anyway.

You can read more about the tents here.
http://www.biogreen.de/en/grand-top-anzuchtstation.html

When kept close the LEDs give of a good amount of radiant heat to heats up the tents, i guess it also helps to have the tents inside the sideboards.
And behind the sideboards are the rooms heater so winters should stay warm for the trees to.

I'm still looking at the RapidLED Onyx light, haven't pulled the trigger yet, though.