T*ny Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Has anyone had any experience of using grow lights on stage to keep foliage happy? We have arranged to borrow a number of plants from a local garden centre for our next (amdram and tight budet) production and I want to ensure that they remain healthy for the run and avoid having to pay for any we inadvertantly manage to kill off. I originally looked at buying the relevant sodium lamp and a lampholder then realised that I would need a ballast in order to fire it up - taking the cost from £20-30 to nearer £200. Any inexpensive options out there or does anyone hire them at all? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffa Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 One suggestion.. Water & plant food.Cheaper than a Light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPete Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Having had to enhance the growth of various types of grass and flowers for a touring show (not for anything else :(), we used a couple of grow lights on timers rather successfully when the foliage we had was still very young. Sadly though, these were borrowed from our science department not bought in. A couple of things off the top of my head are: - How long is the run? If it's not more than a week or two you'll probably be just okay with water & plant food as The Gaffa suggested. - If the run is longer than that, would the garden centre have any grow lamps you could borrow? Also, one thing to bear in mind is we tried to keep the foliage outdoors as much as possible, only being in the flight case/on stage when necessary. Depending on the venue, you might even be able to make an outdoor feature of it all during the run! Hth, Peter :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boswell Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Use a 'Grolux' flourescent tube in a standard fitting, I know you can get them in 5ft as I use them in my greenhouse for seedlings. Here is the first I found with google http://www.firstlightdirect.com/mcp/Grolux...cent_Tubes.html HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T*ny Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 Thanks for replies so far. The show runs for 2 weeks including the tech period.The production is amdram so there is nobody around during the day to leave the dock door open and . . . . . . The stage is on the first floor so taking plants outside each day is not really an option. I'll look further into the fluorescent version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2 Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sodium light or special growlux flourescent lamps are generaly used.High pressure sodium fittings sometimes appear cheaply in pawn shops/cash converters etc, usually from someone who has been caught growing certain herbs, and therefore must dispose of the equipment. Secondhand high pressure sodium fittings can sometimes be obtained very cheaply from builders/demolition contractors, if they have knocked down or refurbished premises containing them. Metal halide lamps in suitable fittings are also used for plant growth and should be considered if you can obtain them cheaply. Growlux floursecent tubes can be obtained from any good wholesaler, though you will need quite a lot for all but the smallest display. They work in standard flourescent fittings, can you justify buying some fittings, for use elswhere after the production? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Ive had a bit of experiance with grow lights in the past, if your in flower warm white florry tubes should be fine (cool/blue for vegative stage ),you can also get 125w enviro lamps that will fit into the old patt 6o floods, The advice on a time clock is a good un,12 hours on 12 off so your sort of replicating nature,also try and avoid watering during lights on,the small water droplets can act like a magnifing glass causing parts of the plant to burn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 Might find some useful information here: http://www.sog.co.nz - you can even email them questions, though probably best not do it from a .co.uk address Interesting that we in NZ have an entire chain of shops dedicated to the needs of folk growing weed :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 I was going to say this would be an interesting topic to see which herbalists post their 'tips' for keeping plants alive on 'stage'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 ...Metal halide lamps in suitable fittings are also used for plant growth and should be considered if you can obtain them cheaply...Maybe you could just hire a 1200W mover, rig it over the plants and spot the zoom down... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I was involved in an amateur production recently that had a 2 metre live palm on stage. They put it next to the window in the foyer each night so it got sun during the day and put it back on stage each night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Don't forget that some plants need more light, while others are shade lovers. Asking the garden centre to supply the latter might help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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