Luximeter for indoor bonsai grow

Hello all,

I want to grow bonsai inside my house with artificial Leds. First I need to buy a good light meter to better analyse the light inside my home and specially to meter de led lights.
Which should I look for?

Thanks.

Hello capo,
well, I will solve similar issue. I have been reading some articles about light intensity and as I can see, you definitely do not need any kind of lihgt meter.
Full sun in summer has intensity up to 100 000 lx, which is 100 000 lm per 1 square meter. So if you would like to simulate sunny day on 1 square meter on the floor inside, you would need for example one hundred of 12W LED bulbs with light flux 1050 lm and 30° beam angle of the light cone placed in height about 2m above this area.

So if my calculation is right (and I think so ), then you practically do not need any light meter. Just spend money for more bulbs
It is positive, that even my model situation is technically feasible. However it would be crazy solution. The closer you put the bulbs to the plants, the higher light intensity you get.
So less bulbs with wider beam angle would be suitable as well. You just need to make calculations for exact size of your area where you want to grow your plants.

I hope it will help you.
Thank you for your question
Now I have batter idea of what I will need.

Check Indoor Bonsai by P.Leisnewizc - he has Lux ratings for trees.
I believe the max is 2000 lux.

Additionally remember the sun rises and sets, so try not to build a system based on
just overhead illumination.

Lastly Google the work of Jack Wickle, and fluorescent bulbs.
He had bonsai under lights for years.
Laters,
Khaimraj

capo_regime wrote:Hello all,

I want to grow bonsai inside my house with artificial Leds. First I need to buy a good light meter to better analyse the light inside my home and specially to meter de led lights.
Which should I look for?

Thanks.

I bought mine from Ebay. Make sure it measures values over 100 000 lux, or 100 Klux. Sun is 100Klux, no sense going over that, but you need the values between 50-100 klux. That I would consider to be the optimum.

Lesniewicz gives you minimum values for trees survival over winter. If that is all you need, those are fine. After you get the meter, go outside, and see for yourself, what does 2 Klux look like. It is very, very deep shade. No one would grow outdoor bonsai in that light. I don't think Paul never meant those values as recommendations for adequate light, just the absolute minimum values for survival.

Note that lux meter measures human perception on light intensity, not radiation intensity. If you plan to use red-blue lights, lux meter is not good. Red-blue is not necessary, white light is very ok and looks much better.

All the best!
Jan