Hey /diy/,
I'm starting an indoor garden, and want to have everything ok until winter, so I'm getting things done now.
I plan on buying a LED grow light, similar to pic related, but with 300w (or maybe more), but as I'm not sure how much light my plants would need, I wish I could control its brightness.
How would I do it? A comercial dimmer, as I read, would not work, and my electronic knowledge is almost zero.
>inb4 drugs and shit
Not everyone that likes gardening smokes weed.
buy one that has a dimmable or controllable dimmer or ballast. Duh what the fuck?
This is /diy/ not /buy/
Google how to build your own its easier and cheaper ordering parts from alibaba
>>1001657
I want to build the controller because a dimmable one is way more expensive.
Already did, but building one whole light would be way more expensive. So yeah, I just want help with the dimmer, thanks.
>>1001504
PWM, perhaps via an Arduino and maybe a solid state relay, might do the trick. An additional advantage to using a programmable microcontroller is that you should be able to schedule it without too much difficulty.
>>1001504
Stealing your thread: Does lighting direction, or the change in direction make any difference to growing plants? My thinking is that plants have evolved to grow under sunlight. Which rises in the East and sets in the West. So what happens indoors, when the source doesn't move?
And would it make sense to schedule the lighting such that one side light up in the morning, overhead at noon and the other side in the afternoon? Or is this just too much trouble for minimal effect?
>>1001691
Well, thanks! I'm searching for something in this path. May do the trick. Or I just spend a bit more on a dimmable one and ashame myself in front of /diy/.
>>1001724
Nah m8. Plants also moves in search for light. But more than that, sunlight is so strong that makes absolutely no difference from which side it comes from. Trying to emulate dawn and sunset will be completely useless. Too much trouble for absolutely NO effect.
Spend the time you would toss doing this in search for the perfect light spectrum for your plant, looking for any carotenoids or any other pigment it may have besides chlorophyll.
>>1001724
There are light rotators but they are expensive and unnecessary
Just have it straight above. Plants grow towards light.
Look at weed growinh forums. I know it'll be annoying but those fuckers can be very inventive and have it down to a science.
Honestly just cheap CfLs work fine. I've always used them for legal and illegal growing never had any issues.
Just get the highest watt CFL from home depot (usually 40-60, which is pretty bright) and have one of those for every 1'x1' - 2'x2'of your grow area, about a foot away from top of plans. Raise as plants grow.
Distance from light and the light requirements change by plant, but this is the general rule.
