Optimum distance for Vero 29 Gen 7's???

I have not grown in a couple of years, and remember ruining my first crop using Vero 29 Gen 7's at 100 watt, and having too close. Anyone know the optimum distance at 100 watts, or is it better to reduce the wattage and get closer. Anyway to figure this out without ruining an entire run?

TIA!!!

At 100 watts a cob you will need a good bit of distance. It will depend on how many cobs and watts per sq ft you intend to run. If you are running 50watts per sqft, 1 cob for every 2sq ft. I can see it being around 18-24”+ from canopy. 50w sq ft would be quite intense with efficient tech.
If intensity is too high the plants will let you know in no time.

Beam angle tells us how thinly the light is spread. Presuming no extra optics are added in front of the cob then 18" would be a reasonable starting point.

Maybe you could buy a light meter. I have found them to not fit around online expectations but the actual number displayed is unimportant if the meter is just used to ensure an even spread, or to repeatedly find the same level of illumination.

I know what my meter should say at each stage of growth through trial and error. I have a feel for it now, and can match lighting to feed levels for the growth I'm looking for. By eye I couldn't as our eyes 'shutter' and we have no idea of how much they're doing so at any time. The meter can always numerate how bright it is though.

This image is a grouping of info I got from the net that should aid you if you buy a meter. My meter indicates I can get away with lighting below the minimum seen but them figures are certainly in the hot zone for growth

My veros SE(same as gen7 but with built in mount) at 95w each work well 35-45cm from the tops. I usually keep them lower and dimmed at 70w but the plants prefer it higher and stronger.


Cheers

robotwithdreams said:

At 100 watts a cob you will need a good bit of distance. It will depend on how many cobs and watts per sq ft you intend to run. If you are running 50watts per sqft, 1 cob for every 2sq ft. I can see it being around 18-24”+ from canopy. 50w sq ft would be quite intense with efficient tech.
If intensity is too high the plants will let you know in no time.

Click to expand...

In what way?? Light bleaching and foxtailing? Would have to use a different light right after lights go out to notice bleaching with how intense the light is.

I have three Cree cxb3590s in a 50x90cm area and I can’t run the COBs much higher than 25-30 watts each when the tops are about 50-60 cm away from the COBs or the tops will fry/yellow easily, esp. if the soil gets too dry.
..imo if you run COBs at 100w each you need good bit of clearance above the tops, more than 60 cm.


COBs are different animals compared to 250w/400w HPS and thou they don’t feel very hot they still have certain radiant quality (higher energy photons?) to them and will need a good bit of clearance (atmospheric gasses=air) away from the tops or they will fry the plants in a way that a 250/400 HPS doesn’t

Loc Dog said:

In what way?? Light bleaching and foxtailing? Would have to use a different light right after lights go out to notice bleaching with how intense the light is.

Click to expand...

In veg you will notice growth thats very light and the plants look terribly underfed. Some also will droop their leaves halfway through the day. And sure, some may throw excess foxtail structure in flower.

I moved and can not find a bunch of stuff. What is the best sunglass color for 3500K Vero's. Have seen a bunch that vary color, but know I had some that everything looked perfect through them, color wise.