Trying to root my Christmas tree, thinking about LED lighting for plants

I welded a tree stand and put the tree up about 9 or 10 days ago,
cutting about 2cm from the bottom and a few of the lowest limbs as
well. A steel bowl was placed under the tree trunk and a small chunk
of wood was used as a standoff. The standoff was smaller than the
diameter of the trunk, thinking that I would prefer to stress the
heartwood rather than the vasculature. A single bolt was driven into
the trunk 1-2cm for support, and guy-wires (Romex) were attached ~120
degrees relative to the bolt. (My welding equipment isn't proper and I
slacked off toward the end because things were taking so long)

The first night I soaked the tree in water with about half the
recommended strength of rooting solution ("" fertilizer with IBA (an
auxin) in it).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indole-3-butyric_acid

The next day I added soil to the brim of the bowl, and filled to a
muddy consistency with more water+rooting solution. I checked the
water level 2-3 days later and topped it off, then left home for 4
days, and topped it up as soon as I got home.

Since we put the tree up its had a strand of white LED Christmas
lights on it, and I'll try to get some more tomorrow. Now I'm thinking
about the best way to do this... i.e. what wavelength or mix of
wavelengths is best for glucose production?

dealextreme has some LED string lights (100, 150, 192, 300, 600 LEDs
per string) with different colors, some list the wattage (which
reviews sometimes say are incorrect) or mcd output or wavelength or
color temp...

Christmas white $8.27 100 LED -
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/white-100-led-christmas-decoration-string-lights-10-meter-110v-ac-16201
465-475nm
$0.11/LED -
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/decorative-flexible-24w-blue-300-smd-335-led-light-strip-dc-12v-5m-112463
7000K
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/48w-7000k-600x3528-smd-led-white-light-strip-10-meter-12v-65715
3300K
- http://www.dealextreme.com/p/48w-3300k-600x3528-smd-led-warm-white-light-strip-10-meter-12v-65714

I also found this paper that says 720Hz pulsed LEDs increased growth
in potato plantlets over continuous-nonfluctuating (C-NF) mode.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/u0y/nanoreef/papers/360204hs.pdf
(also attached)

Any suggestions? Maybe get a blue and a red strand of the SMD lights
from dx and build a controller to pulse each at 720Hz??

--
Nathan McCorkle
Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Science, Biotechnology/Bioinformatics

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1 comments:

Jeckab said...

The entire point of putting items into a special display can be lost. When it comes to retail display lighting, phillips led lights strips really can be the best option. They are versatile, offer ideal lighting, and provide a budget friendly option.

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