Light measurements and ideal ranges

Grow room design, HID, fluoro, reflectors, ventilation, ballasts and wiring.
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Prawn Connery
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by Prawn Connery »

You can make a loop/cage out of a bit of light garden fencing, trellis or chicken wire, which most hardware stores should have. It depends on the structure of the plants, how strong their branches are and how inclined they are to bend (or break) under the weight of their buds. Some plants you can just put them in a circle around the naked bulb and they will grow up and around it without bending into the light. Others you can tie together (a bit like a bunch of flowers), though mold can be a factor in humid environments.

Reflectors trap heat and waste light, as reflected light (which is more than half the light emitted by the bulb if you hang them over the plant) is not as strong, as it must travel further and gets diffused as it bounces off the reflector. There is also no such thing as a 100% reflective surface.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by Prawn Connery »

Get yourself a basic 12" floor fan and put it under the bulb pointing up - you will be surprised how close you can get your plants to the bulb before the leaves start to burn. Even then, you will be burning leaves and not buds (the bane of the overhead lamp), as they will protrude most. I often break fan leaves off along the side of the plant to prevent burn and to let more light through to the buds. I favour 600w HPS lamps - one stacked on top of the other for a combined 1200w - but single 1000w lamps, or single/double 400w lamps also work well, depending on what you grow and how.

The floor fan does two things: wicks heat away from the bulb, and doubles to circulate air and prevent mold. Beware if you grow heavy indicas that can still get mold on the "dark side" of the plant if there is not enough air circulation - remedied by placing an oscillating fan on the outside of the plants.

There are a few other tricks to vertical growing, but they're the basics.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

bentech wrote:better to hang a naked bulb amidst your plants vertically than bother with the reflector if you dont need to forced air cool your bulb
Heat retention.

got it.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

Ive been looking at those verticle hung hid or hps light grows. Fascinates me. Your wasteing 1/2 of 360 degrees.

Concerned about disadvantages.

Doesn't work for HPS right?
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

Not sure my HPS bulbs are meant to be vertical. guess I could test an old 350w i have just sitting around as a mouse shelter.

Can you use all HPS and HID bulbs vertically?
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

Started cloning tonight .... took some pics for updates. Lush growth... added 1 more 4 foot light.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by Prawn Connery »

Some Metal Halide bulbs can be orientation sensitive (if the manufacturer specifies), but almost any HPS bulb can be hung in any direction.

The only disadvantage there is to growing vertically that I can think of is when you have a small growing footprint and do not have enough floor space to hang the bulb between your plants without burning them.

You do not need to turn your plants - maximum plant growth will naturally be in the area of highest concentration of light (inner circle), with some light filtering through to the "dark side". When you think about it, in nature, plants almost never have direct light overhead - the sun rises and sets in an arc across the horizon, and plants are always sidelit. Even on the Equator, the sun is only directly overhead for a moment of each day.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

Just gave a hair cut to half... all that needed it now. And took clones.

Got pics.

I'm considering doing vertical hps then. now w ould be a good time to test it out.

Be a few more weeks before I start flowering. Depends on temps . end of sept is 5 weeks veg.

I'm fighting 80 now with just the T5's .

Plants seem to be doing great. Lush and green.
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

We are on their schedule not ours. Reason many can not do the job. You work when the plants require it.

"Oops sorry, can't today I have to clean the algae out of my pool for winter."

or my favorite excuse of all time. "My g/f got mad at me and nailed my bag into the floor. Anyone can get a claw hammer to me? Real fast like? I'll be on the first bus to work."
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Light measurements and ideal ranges

Post by MadMoonMan »

Topping and cloning time window.
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