Artificial lighting - DIY
The Warp Drive
Introduction
Constructing lamps is quite a weird hobby to spend your time on, especially if you dislike soldering, metal works, and all that electronic stuff as much as I do...
But by the time I started growing carnivorous plants, there were no ready-to-buy high output solutions for small setups on the market, to get somewhere into a six-digit lux region - at least I found none at reasonable prices. On the other hand, I knew that this would be my main key to success - to bring some seldom-grown bladderworts like the antennifera-complex to germination and flower, or Utricularia arnhemica to produce that huge traps above the soil, or a Heliamphora to a dark-red colour.
Equipped with a minimum of relevant knowledge and even less DIY skills, these constructions were more a necessary evil than a true love, and so my lamps had in first place one thing in common - they looked stuporous as hell. But well, they worked, and gave me what I was after - some great growing experiences.
Nowadays, there are far better options available for artificial lighting. One of these are the newer full-spectrum COB LEDs, that inspired me to try my first nice-looking and compact high-output lamp, see my Rhodium lamp.