WOW, the difference the LED lighting has made, in less than 12 hours.

That’s Batch 1, after several hours of LED exposure. I turned the trays when I realized how unevenly they were growing in response to the light. You can see which side was facing the light first — the difference is pretty stark. That was after about 8 hours, I believe. The less dense side is greening up fast to catch up, with 3-4 hours of direct exposure.

To me, it’s actually harder to see the difference in growth from the side. It might be visibly a bit taller. I think, primarily, it’s a thicker, fuller growth. But the “weaker” side is catching up pretty readily.

Batch 2 is also greening up well (and has been turned). Glancing at the photos of Batch 1 at the same day, Batch 2 is definitely a bit taller and further along in development than Batch 1.

Batch 3 also had to be turned, because it’s just now pushing up shoots, and they were all curved almost flat towards the light. So now it’s a bit taller, a little straighter, and trying to curve back the other way. 🙂 But trying to compare the photos of Batch 2 vs Batch 3 at this stage, I think Batch 3 is a bit greener and possibly taller. Which is reasonable, as the light is an energy input.

So, LED seems to be a major improvement.

Downside: I may be having a migraine from the lighting. Grumble. Could also be having spent several hours in the cold earlier, working on the hutch frame, and all the pressure changes. But it’s still annoying.

As a rabbit update: Idiot rabbits have chewed through the aluminum tape AND some of the rubber on the heating cables. And, I think but didn’t look closely, through some of the actual wire. Which is why I didn’t want to wrap heating cables around the outside, because I suspected that would happen. And the water pump has died, probably due to the heavy crud in the water. I’ve ordered a replacement, which I’ll fashion a filter-cage for, and hope that helps.