Light measurements and ideal ranges

[Prawn Connery]

You're not going to flower under those, are you?

If you're going to flower under HPS, do yourself a favour and get rid of the reflectors.

[MadMoonMan]

I'm growing seed and veg to save on having to run my Aic Conditioner. Ok .... Yes i'm switching to HPS lights but I'm moving these lights to a veg room. Why remove the reflectors?

[MadMoonMan]

I'm trying to find out by actual expreience how far away can you keep T5 HO's in vegetation. They almost ready for topping now. Cloning possibly.

stout and bushy so excellent stem and branch growth I don't see any stretching.

[bentech]

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

[BCbudinTO]

That makes sense, I have a bunch of HPS with reflectors that I'm trying to work with, I guess just keep the same distance for heat stress on the plants but otherwise the same? is there any sort of wire cage available? because I know I'd sooner or later bump into one of the naked bulbs.

OK, so I have my setup so there are two "rows" of HPS (using an approximately 4 foot wide light footprint as an estimate with about a two foot wide alleyway for access in between, where would I put the naked bulbs? on the outside or in the middle and outside?

I may have to totally rehang my whole setup now that I'm thinking about this.

[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.

[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.

[MadMoonMan]

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.

[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?

[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?