the grow lights

I found an LED system that looks promising as a cubicle grow light. LEDs use very little power. The unit I bought, the GlowPanel, takes 14 watts. So they're eco-friendly and won't be a huge burden on my employer when I leave them on 24/7. The unit is about a foot square and, according to the manufacturer, will illuminate 1.5 sq. ft., more than enough for my skinny cubicle setup.

An interesting note about the grow light: it only uses red and blue LEDs. Plants are green because they're reflecting and not absorbing that part of the spectrum. So no need to waste energy on wavelengths your plants can't use. It'll give off a funny purple light, though, which could be annoying.

(Another virtue listed by the manufacturer: "DISCREET - No thermal footprint - undetectable." I assume that selling point is aimed at the indoor marijuana growers.)

Except for the electricity, I'll be keeping a running tally of the costs and benefits of cubicle farming. We'll see how long it takes to break even, if ever. The lights weren't terribly cheap: $54.99 each. I bought two. Plus $12.37 for shipping, that comes to $122.35. (Actually, I bought three -- one for home. But I'm not counting that as part of the bill here because at home I'm going to use leftover pots and dirt and stuff, which would make the accounting weird. I'll write about the extracurricular stuff, too, but it won't be part of the running bill.)

By the way, I'm paying full price for everything in this project. No reporter discounts or anything. And nobody's paying me to write about it.