Artificial Light for Dwarf Jade

[DWHorv722]

Hi there,

Just bought a new artificial light for my dwarf jade plant, only gets a couple of hours of sunlight tops from the window so I bought this to pick up the slack. Just want to make sure the setup looks okay and to ask if the blue light or green light setting would be best for my tree. I’ll include as much information about the light as I can but the big picture is that it is 48 watts with no lumens rating. I have it set for about a 12 hour run time. Please let me know what you all think!

 

[Port Farmer]

Do you know the PPFD of the light? The lower the PPFD the longer the lights need to be run to get to a decent DLI (Daily Light Integral). Dwarf Jades can handle a lot of light. I use the Photone app to measure my light and shoot for 20-30 DLI. You can use a piece of paper as the light diffuser forthe app. The Lux feature might be free (sorry cant remember what free features it has).

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Be careful that you don't burn the apex of your tree. Light diminishes based on the square of the distance from the source - which is a fancy way of saying the top of your tree may be getting 9x the light intensity as the intensity at soil level. I might raise the light until you are certain your tree has adjusted to it.

 

[Port Farmer]

If the par map below is similar to your light you should be good on ppfd (and the map is for 2'x2' and not 2"x2" like it shows.).

 

[DWHorv722]

tried running that app but the only free features or for FL, CMH, and INC. I tried running with a piece of paper up against the camera and got a range from around 20-35 DLI but don’t know if I used the paper/app correctly, also I was wondering about the placement so I will move the light further away until I know the tree has adjusted!

 

[DWHorv722]

If the par map below is similar to your light you should be good on ppfd (and the map is for 2'x2' and not 2"x2" like it shows.).

That actually looks just like the listing I bought this light from lol, if those numbers look good to you all I think I’ll be good! Thank you all so much for the help it’s greatly appreciated

 

[Port Farmer]

Yeah, just follow BonsaiNut's advice and be cautious with the height until you and the tree are comfortable.

 

[DWHorv722]

Yeah, just follow BonsaiNut's advice and be cautious with the height until you and the tree are comfortable.

Sounds good, I had it under a weaker light for a couple of days until this stronger light arrived so tomorrow will be the first full day with this new light, just moved the light about 2 feet above the tree to dilute the light a little bit, does that sound like a good distance for the first while until it fully adjusts?

 

[Attmos]

Sounds good, I had it under a weaker light for a couple of days until this stronger light arrived so tomorrow will be the first full day with this new light, just moved the light about 2 feet above the tree to dilute the light a little bit, does that sound like a good distance for the first while until it fully adjusts?

I think you might just have to experiment a bit to find the right distance. I'm no expert but I think being on site may be the only way to tell for sure, so you'll have to keep an eye on it, change the distance as needed or as the plant allows. If you keep a watchful eye on it, you should see any UV burns before they become a serious problem.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Sounds good, I had it under a weaker light for a couple of days until this stronger light arrived so tomorrow will be the first full day with this new light, just moved the light about 2 feet above the tree to dilute the light a little bit, does that sound like a good distance for the first while until it fully adjusts?

It all depends on the strength of the light source... but it is a rare plant light that is so strong it will burn foliage at 3'. We are so far from the sun that the difference in solar intensity between the top of a tree and its lowest branches is negligible. But with artificial lighting it can be a real thing.

I started a thread that I was going to add to over time, but I got side-tracked. Still some good basic information in there:

Thread 'Plant lighting for beginners'

Nov 17, 2015

I am going to start this thread with this post, add to it as I have time, and eventually compile it into an article.

There have been a lot of requests for information on artificial lighting for bonsai (particularly at this time of year). I wanted to write a reference piece that was both scientifically correct, but accessible to people who don't want to learn phytobiology

Let's start with a few basic terms. Many people think of lighting in terms of "watts" or "wattage". This is an incorrect artifact from the days when all lighting was incandescent, was more or less the same...

• Bonsai Nut
• Replies: 139
• Forum: Tools & equipment (incl lighting)

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