Archive for January, 2009
Testimonials
What our clients are saying….
“At the moment I see no need for improvement. The staff is very prompt and very helpful. The product itself meets all expectations which is more than can be said for other products out on the marketplace today.” – Carlos Diaz
Houston, Texas
“My lights are working better than I had imagined. I have rotated my crop, so the lights have only seedlings under them at 28″. The young plants that were finished under the lights have extraordinary growth characteristics- very tight stem and branch inter nodal lengths. About 1 inch between growths- very impressive. I added about 25% vermiculite to my new seed soil medium and decreased the feeding as indicated. All very impressive results.” – Lonnie Sykos
Kapaa, Hawaii
“I’m happy with the light bar which I’ve supplemented with a 20 W fluorescent and they seem to really do well with it. I also added mylar around the area to reflect any light back. Some of the orchids spiked with flowers since they have been growing under it and they are also making new leaves and roots….so I know they have been happy.” -Sean
New York, New York
I have grown salad greens for years in my garden during the growing season. A couple of years ago I decided to grow indoors under grow lights, in order to have a year round supply of greens. Searching for an economical grow light that would do the job, I became interested in LED’s and bought one to check out the performance. To my great satisfaction the LED grow light worked just fine and the economies of scale were so impressive I now own five LGM – LED grow bars. I chose the LGM (an LED Grow Master brand) for several reasons. Safety and environmental impact seem to be of particular concern to LED Grow Master and I personally share these values. You don’t have to know a great deal about the physics of light or photosynthetically active radiation to appreciate the impressive design of the LED Grow Master product line. The LGM1 and LGM3 grow bars work quite well in my indoor garden and I am sure they will work just as well for you. Please feel free to contact me via email at markjmeade@yahoo.com Grateful Customer, -Mark Meade
Miami, Florida
The light is installed and all works well. I see you have 3 blue LEDs vs the clone system with only 2. I expect to get a more balanced light with the extra blue LED and wish I had known about your product before buying the clone system… Your bar seems to have a wider dispersion of the light than the “other” bar. I have it installed on a shelf over the sink for my wife’s violets and herbs. The spill over light
that makes it to the sink level takes some getting used to as it makes the white plates look like they aren’t clean! Think spaghetti sauce grease spots that don’t sponge off. Nice product and a definite recommend for anyone with limited space, heat concerns and a shortage of $$$ to give to the power company.
Thank you. Charles Kassel
Bohemia, New York
Your LEDs work like magic!!!! Put my runts under them and in 4 days they were the prize winners. Will buy more when I can afford them. Jim Angell
London, Ontario
“Truly breath taking pictures, very impressive and educational! The live video cam is an outstanding feature that I
have heard little about. This is exactly what ‘Joe the hydroponics; supplmental lighting guy’ is looking for!! I don’t know if you have room on your testimonial page, but I can honestly say that I have had one unit outside in the weather for over 2 years now without any problems, and with outstanding, undeniable results. (Yes, I know this probably voids any warranties j/k). I have a 3 stage gravity tier NFT that i use for propagation and cuttings, my father can’t believe the
results either and he’s been farming /gardening for over 60 years and is pretty hard to impress, let me tell ya! Thank
you for your input, time, and pictures, you guys have an awesome support crew, keep up the great work!” The
Nellesen Family, Buschkoetter Hydroponics
San Diego, California
Greenhouse LED Light Stick
An experimental greenhouse hydroponic system at Alfred State College, using LED Grow Bars featuring SolarOasis technology, provides fresh lettuce for campus dining services year-round.
Hydroponics System at Alfred State College: New Ideas Sprouting Up Everywhere
ALFRED, NY, April 2008–There may be snow on the ground and a nip in the air, but the cropping season is well underway at Alfred State College. Thanks to new greenhouse and lighting technologies, the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Technology, located in the central Southern Tier, is growing vegetables year-round.
Conventional greenhouse technologies are already widely used in Western New York; thus, Alfred State is focused on how greenhouse systems can be made more sustainable, using new growing technologies.
There are many methods of hydroponic production, including growing the plants in solid media such as peat moss, perlite, or even sand. These media, which are lighter and less buffered than soil, allow growers to quickly and directly deliver nutrients to their crops.
In the college’s greenhouse, hydroponics is being used for dynamic root growth. The plants are grown in polypropylene tubes which have thin streams of nutrients running through them — a technique known as Nutrient Film Technology. The results are remarkable: for example, full lettuce heads are ready for harvest one month after planting.
The hydroponic vegetable production is overseen by Dr. Matthew Harbur, ASC assistant professor, Agriculture and Horticulture Department. This project is just one of many exciting initiatives underway at the college’s new Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture (COSA).
Harbur and Alfred State students are currently growing lettuce in the greenhouse, which includes red and green Summer Crisp, Oak Leaf, red and green Romaine, and Lollo lettuce. Other crops include herbs, edible flowers, other salad greens, and tomatoes. Volume will further increase as additional greenhouse models are constructed later this year. The greenhouse hydroponics system promotes a more sustainable food culture and local food production. The varieties of lettuce being grown now are provided by Johnny’s Select Seeds from Maine.
The development of an LED (light-emitting diode) light system for the greenhouse sparked Harbur’s interest in a hydroponics system. The lights use far less energy than pressure sodium lights and there are no hazardous issues of florescent lights. The LED lights are used to supplement the winter sunshine, which alone is too weak to support rapid vegetable growth. The first lettuce crop from the greenhouse was sold to ACES (Auxiliary Campus Enterprises and Services—the campus dining and vending operation) to be used in the Central Dining Hall to feed ASC students. Soon ASC students will harvest 30 heads a day, which is roughly 20-30 pounds of lettuce per week.
“Many people think growing with hydroponics isn’t as sustainable as growing plants in soil, but it reduces the greenhouse space that must be heated and lit, and increases the competitiveness of local vegetables with imported foods,” says Harbur, who also serves as director of COSA. He added, “There are a lot of advantages with hydroponics: less footage required per pound of food produced and, in our system, the ability to grow additional plants below our hydroponic system.”
Kathleen M. Bayus
Office of Communications
TA Parish Hall
Alfred State College
Alfred, NY 14802
P: (607) 587-4228
F: (607) 587-3290
