My adenium collection grew this summer and its time to cycle the plants into dormancy.
Every year I get nervous about the process as the plants vary on when they decide to cycle and I inevitably kill one due to over or under watering.
This year I've decided to use a grow light set up to power my younger adeniums ( 3 year olds & younger) right through the winter.
I've selected a 5' x 5' Mars Hydro grow tent lit up by their TSW 2000 LED light. I'm only growing for vegetation so the lights are speced for 4' x 4' coverage. This leaves 6" around the edge of the tent enclosure with inadequate light. I set the lights 22" above the average plant and placed my favorite babies in the middle and my other plants around the edge of the tent. I'll let you know if the edge plants get enough reflective light to stay in growth mode or not. I'm running the light on a 16 hour on 8 hour dark cycle. My plant are grown in full sun outside.
I'm using three 5' x 18" metal shelves set on cinder blocks & 2x4s to raise the plants off of the floor to make it easier for me to reach the plants. The tent has access from the front & both sides enabling me to reach all of my adeniums easily (other tents don't offer this access).
The tent is located in an enclosed patio heated by a smaller space heater to around 60 degrees in the winter. Currently it gets to 60 at night outside and the mid 80s during the day. The tent, heated only by the light is running 75 to 97 degrees with the top & lower vents open. The black tent catches sunlight in the late afternoon generating the maximum temperature. I put a small fan in the enclosure to keep air moving.
If anyone has some experience that they would like to share regarding growing high light plants in a grow tent I would value your advice. I'm one week into this and learning. Thx!
