Building New Panels - Sharing the Process

[bbspills]

Think of far red like having a cup of coffee in the morning and taking a sleeping pill at night. You really don't want to do that all day now do you? Plus incandescents put off an insane amount of heat, so running all day in a small cab would be a no no.


My next grow I will push the limits of my lights on to around 13.5 hours, so perhaps I'll start up another journal.

 

[rrog]

So your technique allows you to deviate from 12/12, that's the purpose for you? Less night-time because the deep red after lights out triggers the Phytochrome.

I'm looking to supplement the LED whites with missing 750+nm to see if that ripens the trichomes better than some here report. More replicating sunlight. Same with my UV-a query.

These wavelengths are part of normal daytime sunlight

Re-reading Rive's earlier post it strikes me that part of the problem is science doesn't have a complete picture of what a plant really needs. We all "know" a plant doesn't need green wavelengths, yet I perused a thread recently where it was mentioned that lo and behold, green may actually have a use for plants.

I can also imagine in 5 years when we look at a similar thread, we'll be acknowledging more useful wavelengths and phytochromes, cryptochromes, weed-O-chromes, etc.

All I'm talking about is using the successful white LEDs and supplementing minimally but reasonably.

 

[bbspills]

My purpose isn't really to deviate from 12/12, however that does allow you to do so, since your dark period is shortened.

My purpose is to speed up flowering and ripening.

Essentially this method is the same theory of cutting back the lights late in flowering to 10 or 8 hours to ripen the plant because when you use the far red, it cuts the two hours it takes to start flowering to a couple minutes, so essentially my plant is in it's dark period longer than if I didn't use the far red, so essentially it's almost the same as doing 10/14, however my plants are still getting 12+ hours of light so you get the added benefit of faster flowering without cutting back the lights

 

[bbspills]

Also, where does some of the strongest weed grow naturally? If you said Afghanistan you would be correct and do you know what the UV Index of Afghanistan is, well it's high and sometimes 11+ and usually during the afternoon hours. So that's why I like to supplement UV with the 10.0 UV reptile lights for 4 hours during lights on.

Trichomes soak that stuff up and it makes for some potent ganja.

 

[Weezard]

Try this

Try this

Party kine, incandescent bulbs are Ideal.
They actually put out very little UVa but look at the curve for Far red.


For the price, it don't get much better.


Weeze

 

[rrog]

One thing, no one's suggesting to NOT supplement with 730+nm. That's an encouraging sign.

UV-a and Far red are clearly two lamps. I was simply pointing out that the near Infrared seemed intriguing, as does UV-a.

I like the standard incandescent's huge red past 800nm. Unless that curve falls off sharply after 750nm. Not sure if there's value past 800 other than heat, but I'm also not sure anyone's 100% sure.

 

[rrog]

Incandescent

Halogen.

Clearly Halogen has an advantage due to less wasted IR

 

[Weezard]

A twopenny tip.

A twopenny tip.

Halogens, or any source of far red, should only be used at "dawn" and "dusk".

If it is left on during the growing period, it will cause stretching.

That is because Cannabis uses 730nm. during the day to sense the presence of siblings and competition.
At mid day, they "read" the reflected FR, and it affects their morphology accordingly.

Been doing some heavy reading.

Aloha,
Wee

 

[rrog]

Ah... stretching. OK. So there IS a downside to all day. Cool. bbspills recommended not using it all day also.

Dawn and dusk it is, then. bbspills had a nice little protocol for this:

I extend my lights on for 13 hours (15 min incandescent + 12.5 hours led panel + 15 min incandescent after lights off)around week 3 of flowering and then I cut it back to 12.5 the last week or so to (15min prior + 12hour main + 15min after).

That's wild about using 730 during the day to check on competition!!!

 

[rrog]

update. Not sure how far into flower, but canopy is looking good. That's a great soil recipe he's using.

 

[hempfield]

This plants look very healthy, that's for sure !

 

[bbspills]

Halogens, or any source of far red, should only be used at "dawn" and "dusk".

If it is left on during the growing period, it will cause stretching.

That is because Cannabis uses 730nm. during the day to sense the presence of siblings and competition.
At mid day, they "read" the reflected FR, and it affects their morphology accordingly.

Been doing some heavy reading.

Aloha,
Wee

Correct, definitely use a halogen type. These are the types I use. They are the GE Reveal Halogen Incandescent bulbs. Look just like an old school light bulb and they are clear coat (I would stay away from the coated bulbs because who knows what that filters), but the filament inside is of halogen type.

http://www.bulbamerica.com/ge-60w-1...ferralID=0e54e6ef-e570-11e2-a969-001b2166c2c0

Of course, you can pick the wattage that suits your needs. I was told to pick something about 25% of your wattage, so if you have a 400W system, grab a 100W bulb.

 

[rrog]

Very sweet!!! Thank you!

 

[rrog]

bbspills wins the contest.

60W Halogen

 

[rrog]

Quick update after 18 days of flower:

 

[luvdemshrooms]

Nice. Your light is a winner!

 

[rrog]

I'm very curious how they finish. The halogen is going in this weekend for added red. Just 30 min in AM and again in PM

 

[PetFlora]

I think 15 min is recommended. Just enough to fke them out

 

[xmobotx]

that must be a great soil recipe!

just imagine how good it could be if the wavelengths of light weren't cancelling each other out ~lol

 

[habeeb]

Halogens, or any source of far red, should only be used at "dawn" and "dusk".

If it is left on during the growing period, it will cause stretching.

That is because Cannabis uses 730nm. during the day to sense the presence of siblings and competition.
At mid day, they "read" the reflected FR, and it affects their morphology accordingly.

Been doing some heavy reading.

Aloha,
Wee

wee,

is this fully correct?

as I understand it, it's not the FR causing stretching, it's the FR to R causing stretching

as I understand it, FR penetrates all the way to the bottom, while R get's "absorbed" easily, so much doesn't make it to the bottom. the plant stretches to get the "good light" ( R )

from what I'm recalling, look up shade avoidance syndrome. what are you looking into?



I just can't agree with what your saying, as I have HGL panels with FR and there very short plants, not by any means a stretchy plant.