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Re: Sunny thoughts



In a message dated 98-10-21 03:50:22 EDT, George Booth sez:

> I know of only a few aquariums that are set up to simulate the movement of 
>  the light source. However, I visited a hydroponics store recently in search
>  of metal halide bulbs and noticed the current hot set up was (and I'm NOT 
>  making this up) to have the MH fixture on a rail that allowed the motorized
>  fixture to move back and forth above the plants. The equivalent of plant 
>  aerobics?
>  

Hi,
I just got back from a vacation (?) is south Central Texas, where I saw more
water than I ever cared to (from the vantage of a Red Cross evacuation bus).

The track light systems you are talking about are not really for simulating
movement of the sun, but to allow more even light distribution from a
relatively small number of lamps (point light sources) with not particularly
good reflectors (hot spots and "dark" spots).  As the lights move around over
the plants, the shadows move around, the overly bright spots shift around, and
also the plants on the fringe of the light get their share of illumination.

Since we are talking about 400W, 430W, or 1000W lights, it is more economical
to move the lights around than to add additional lights.  You could achieve
the same thing by putting the plants on a big turntable.

best regards,
bob