Seeking grow light recommendations

[JonnyT]

I wasn't sure of the best board in which to ask this, so I will gladly repost it if some more veteran member recommends that I do so. Otherwise, allow me to detail my use case:

I am building an indoor herb rack as per this design:

The expected width of foliage is about 6 ft. Now what I'd like to do is mount above the upper rack a rectangular or cylindrical grow light (maybe two smaller ones) which will sit in a narrow but wide angle reflective shield facing toward the wall. The shield(s) in turn will be clamped into a bendable gooseneck arm that would be mounted to the wall.

My reasoning here is that the room does not receive sufficient natural light to promote growth, but I don't want that light permeating the entire room (hence the shielding) and the gooseneck mount will give me the adjustability to experiment and adapt with the plants, and aim them so that both levels of the rack get sufficient, if not perfect light.

So my general questions:

1) What kind of lighting would best serve this purpose? The growing goal is leafy foliage and lots of it - not seed or flowers - so I figured metal halide, but maybe a higher frequency weighted LED would be good enough? This will be in a main room of the house, so I'd rather the light look closer to natural than be optimized for color. I’m not just looking to maximize yield, but to build a house decoration that is overall pleasing to the eye.

2) Can anyone recommend specific brands for the design purpose I laid out?

3) What am I not considering?

I'll consider all suggestions.

I am definitely less experienced with DIY than others, but I'm not afraid to spend a few dollars and get my hands dirty to do some craftsmanship with wood, plaster, drywall etc. but I'd draw the line at welding, or any kind of metalwork.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Prophet]

I wasn't sure of the best board in which to ask this, so I will gladly repost it if some more veteran member recommends that I do so. Otherwise, allow me to detail my use case:

I am building an indoor herb rack as per this design:

The expected width of foliage is about 6 ft. Now what I'd like to do is mount above the upper rack a rectangular or cylindrical grow light (maybe two smaller ones) which will sit in a narrow but wide angle reflective shield facing toward the wall. The shield(s) in turn will be clamped into a bendable gooseneck arm that would be mounted to the wall.

My reasoning here is that the room does not receive sufficient natural light to promote growth, but I don't want that light permeating the entire room (hence the shielding) and the gooseneck mount will give me the adjustability to experiment and adapt with the plants, and aim them so that both levels of the rack get sufficient, if not perfect light.

So my general questions:

1) What kind of lighting would best serve this purpose? The growing goal is leafy foliage and lots of it - not seed or flowers - so I figured metal halide, but maybe a higher frequency weighted LED would be good enough? This will be in a main room of the house, so I'd rather the light look closer to natural than be optimized for color. I’m not just looking to maximize yield, but to build a house decoration that is overall pleasing to the eye.

2) Can anyone recommend specific brands for the design purpose I laid out?

3) What am I not considering?

I'll consider all suggestions.

I am definitely less experienced with DIY than others, but I'm not afraid to spend a few dollars and get my hands dirty to do some craftsmanship with wood, plaster, drywall etc. but I'd draw the line at welding, or any kind of metalwork.

Thank you in advance!

Herbs require very little light so mostly any light that fits your budget is going to work. Now for the light itself, I personally use LED's indoors. They put off a very bright usually purplish tint to them so you saying you want more natural light look narrows it down to any other kind. From what I've read metal hyalide seems the main light most people use and this will be beneficial to your plants but they do produce more heat so will have to be spaced a little higher from your plants. Honestly for the more competitive pricing though if you can get over the tinted color I'd go LED all day long over anything else bc they produce virtually no heat. They also are cheaper on the bills, but just my personal choices

 

[Durgan]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P29K1S/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1