Lowest light intensity with good results?

[Castelvetro]

the two main factors in growing are air and water, both above and below the soil, next comes light, but never underestimate what the art of watering to perfection can do in a oxygen rich room as previously stated both above n below.
and as anybody notices , plants grow in the dark as much if not more then the light.. once everything is in order more light is always a sure sign of more buds cant disagree either-

 

[foomar]

Remember replaceing six 150 watt mercury lamps with a single 400 watt halide over 20 years ago , lit up a huge area by modern standards at around 10 - 15 watts/foot.

Plants were much more sativa and thin leaved then and did fine , thick leaved indicas have caused the need to increase levels i think and a focus on yield.

Use one 600 mostly , move mylared partitions according to plant numbers and have 40 ish in there now covering 24 square feet average 25 watts/foot in 2 litre pots , has reached over sixty but thats pushing it.

The small pots keep most plants to around a metre , zamal crosses tend to ignore this and do their own thing regardless.

Way too little illumination in theory , but by moveing and turning them everyday so they get a fair time in the sweet spot and always keeping them close as possible to the light , they finish fine but a week late , still better lighting than an English summer in the greenhouse.

It does need a half hour every day fiddling about and hand watering but i find it a pleasure rather than a chore , usually spot problems early which is a bonus.

Individual yield is down but the numbers make up for it , seeded plants can certainly finish on the dim edge of a grow down to 10 watts and be viable and some pure hazes seem to prefer it from mid flower on.

 

[Pompey_Monkey]

600W hps in a 4' by 4' space does me good.
Also take into account reflactive walls and the higher efficiency of the 600W compare to 250 or 400Watters.

Wattage isn't the best metric. Intensity of PAR illumination is.

 

[Red Fang]

what's PAR?

 

[Pompey_Monkey]

PAR is Photosynthetic Active Radiation.

It's the portion of the spectrum that the plant actually uses to photosynthesise. It's the reason why HPS/MH and fluoros are better for growing than, say, a halogen lamp - more energy is emitted in the useful part of the spectrum as a proportion of the energy used to power the lamps, so they're more efficient. I.e. more "bang for your buck"

 

[jiggasouza]

i like this thread, right on boiz

 

[Red Fang]

thanks

 

[etinarcadiaego]

600W hps in a 4' by 4' space does me good.
Also take into account reflactive walls and the higher efficiency of the 600W compare to 250 or 400Watters.

Wattage isn't the best metric. Intensity of PAR illumination is.

Hmm, I'm surprised to hear your results with only 37.5 watts per square foot. I agree that wattage and lumens are completely useless. May I ask what distance you keep the light from the canopy? What type of reflector?

 

[jiggasouza]

i also would like to know what is the distance you all keep your light from the herbs. N what reflector you guys use. It would help paint a better picture for everyone.

 

[Red Fang]

yes I agree that would be nice. Me, I have a parabolic on the MH and a white hood on the horizontal hps, an old school diamond reflector (they still make those anymore?)

 

[trichburner]

Anyone want to share success stories with T12's ? I know there's some stories out there , though for some reason nobody seems to want to admit it . The most I've used them for is to start outdoor plants .

 

[Makk]

Just a thought.....has anyone ever tried using mirrors in their grow cabinet?? Just might increase the light intensity if your using a low wattage bulb. Could be a dumb suggestion, but my mind is constantly going.

 

[!!!]

Mirrors don't reflect light as well as mylar.

 

[staff11]

Anyone want to share success stories with T12's ? I know there's some stories out there , though for some reason nobody seems to want to admit it . The most I've used them for is to start outdoor plants .

First closet grow and indoor I ever attempted was with 6 T-12 floros of mixed spectrum. (2x6500k 4x4100k) I ended up yielding about 50 grams from 3 decent bag seed plants that I had on hand. I didn't top, train, fim or prune anything. This was with promix ultimate organic and some generic fertilizers. Had no clue what I was doing and 2 out of the three plants had some fluffy buds, but one tasted great and had some pretty dense colas for t-12's. They will work but you won't set any records. This was in about a 2 foot wide by 3 foot long area, with nothing but white paint and, gulp, tin foil.

 

[Red Fang]

tin foil

 

[verticalgrower]

depends on strain sometimes . ive found a few deep chunks who will put solid buds in super low light 1k hps in a magnum xxxl hood covering a 7x7 space getting quality buds all all the way to the outer edges . had a few pure sativas who have sat in the corner of my grows pretty far from any lights and pulled some decent weight too.

 

[Red Fang]

yes I heard the deep chunk does well in low light situations

 

[Red Fang]

oh I hope this thread is not dead yet, I hoped it was just getting started!

 

[jiggasouza]

im wit you brah

 

[Red Fang]

I keep searching for what I want and just keep finding old threads of mine!
Like I asked elsewhere, I saw a diagram/illustration/chart that showed how HID intensity diminished with distance from the lamp. I am looking for that and to find also how much it is supposed to diminish with time. I just got a new light meter but it only seems to go up to 50,000 lumens and I need to know how far to hold it from the lamp so I don't wreck the thing. also, how much lumens are supposed to be there at that distance? thanks