UV Lights Necessary? We Need Your Vote! Mars Hydro

[Mars Hydro]

Hey everyone, Mars Hydro Smokesara here!

So I need everyone to do me a favor! Right now as many growers knows, we have two lines of new lights: Mars TS and Mars SP lines, and I just confirmed our Mars SP 250 actually has the UV lights in it. So we are collecting data and might do some improvements on our other lights. Do you think it will be necessary to add the uv lights in our TS series as well? Please feel free to vote, thank you a lot!

MARS HYDRO SP 250 IR UV.png

• Mars Hydro
• Dec 2, 2019

best regards,

Sara

 

[Mars Hydro]

@Old Salt @HugePeckerhead @GHempster @Ganjagrandaddy @Pennywise @Jack420 @NaturalSpirit @SugaSlide @stoneotter

 

[Hrenklin]

It isnt 100% necessary, the lights do a great job on their own. But thebuv light still adds to bud density I flowering and therefore it is a joyous luxury everyone would like

 

[Jack420]

Big yess

 

[Mars Hydro]

It isnt 100% necessary, the lights do a great job on their own. But thebuv light still adds to bud density I flowering and therefore it is a joyous luxury everyone would like

Thank you Hrenklin!

 

[Mars Hydro]

Big yess

Hey thank you Jack, but please also do vote on the top.

 

[Jack420]

Vote casted

 

[SugaSlide]

I voted yes cause I don't think it can hurt having it. I'm just not sure about the difference between having it and not. Would be interesting to see the difference. Could you guys maybe produce a sp250 without those as a test light? Then grow side by side? It might just turn out that it's not needed at all and the extra few diodes could go into something else

 

[labexperiment]

Spread out your boards to create a larger and more even PPFD. Loose the thin aluminum reflector and use thicker aluminum boards to dissipate heat. Offer 3000K and 3500K options.

 

[Allen42]

I’ve heard that UV supposedly increases thc production in growing plants... I have no way to back that claim, it’s just what I heard.

 

[Allen42]

Spread out your boards to create a larger and more even PPFD. Loose the thin aluminum reflector and use thicker aluminum boards to dissipate heat. Offer 3000K and 3500K options.

I agree my light gets very hot due to the aluminum, and is extremely hard to dim for some reason.. like the philips head screw is stripped out inside the driver or something :/

 

[Old Salt]

I harvested 440gm from a 2' X 4' (60cm x 120cm) tent, flowered under 315W of 3000°K Citizen CLU048 COBs. That works out to be 592gm / m2, or 1.4gm / watt. There are eight 3000°K Citizen CLU048 COBs in the array on 30cm (one foot) centers.

Candida - Breeder: 400gm/m2 Harvest: 93gm/3sq ft or 334gm/m2
Cream & Cheese - Breeder: 600 gm/m2 Harvest: 347gm/5sq ft or 747gm/m2
The harvest was 83.5% of the breeder's estimate for the Candida, and 124.5% of the Cream & Cheese's breeder estimate. Overall, the harvest was 9.125% over the breeder estimates.

This is presented as results without a UV or IR component. Unfortunately, I don't have similar figures for the Mars Hydro TSL-2000. The spectrum from the TSL-2000 seems to have more of the blue in it than the COBs I used, so I don't know if this is comparable. Also, the tent was sized differently, and the plants were trained to produce seed, not the maximum flower possible.

From a grower's perspective, I don't know if the addition of UV would increase the harvest, or shorten the flowering time. Mars Hydro would need to test this. As a grower, I'd need to ask "What's in it for me?" Is the loss of some of the current LEDs worth it, if Mars Hydro replaces them UV? If Mars Hydro chooses to redesign the circuit board for the LEDs to add UV, will the increased cost be worth it?

From a marketing perspective, I think it's worth adding to the lights. Mars Hydro would be able to advertise a spectrum enhanced with UV and IR. This could be important if other light manufacturers start pushing it.

The future I see in grow lighting is modules that can be linked together mechanically and electrically to form a single light. This would reduce shipping costs, and let the grower build a light tailored to their growing area. As common dimensions for tents are in 2', 4', and 5' increments, I suggest modules for 1', 2', and 3' squares.

 

[Allen42]

I have no idea what the science behind it is but I’m seeing ALOT of companies starting to incorporate UV in their fixtures.. hell HLG just released new “fixture” it’s a bar that mounts onto their other lights and is only about 40 watts? ( I could be wrong) of UV as a supplemental lighting source. It looks cool, but I’m not investing in it.

 

[StoneOtter]

Hi Sarah, thanks for tagging me. I can't say I have an informed opinion so all I'll say is, if the sun includes it, and you can give it to us as "The Peoples Light"(inexpensive yet durable and effective) then yes.

 

[Virgin Ground]

There are studies on uv-b light as well as uv-c.
It can inhibit spores by disrupting DNA. Which is what uv light can do to most living things as well as degrade anything plastic.
It can result in fewer insects. It can also make cannabis plants produce larger more potent trichs as the plant makes chemicals to block out the uv.
It isn't good for humans either. Should be used with caution.
I think that I also read that you don't want more than 10% of your light to be uv.

 

[Sctanley007]

For what it’s worth, I have a few cheap ufo’s that have IR. I’ve used them to fill corners or boost and wherever I put them the plants turn to it.

I’ve been looking for more info on any growing benefits aside from increased thc. As if that isn’t enough.

 

[GIjose]

The truth is LED lights are actually uv lights anyway. This is true because LED produce light that are within the uv spectrum, spacificly UV-A. So if we believe more light equals more bud, this new light is going to do awsome! Cant wait to see how they do. @MarsHydro @SmokeSara

 

[Old Salt]

A Quick Primer on Ultra Violet Light and LEDs...

UVA has wavelengths of 320-400 nm, and UVB from 290-320 nm. PAR measures wavelengths from 400-700nm.

LEDs produce a very narrow range of wavelengths, in the order of a few nanometers. That wavelength is determined by the doping material, or a pollutant if you wish. A white LED, is actually several LEDs of different wavelengths packaged together so that the light appears white to our eyes. A very good example of this is your computer screen. There are no white LEDs there. White is displayed by illuminating several diodes beside each other at the proper intensities. You can play with the amount of red, blue, and green in most drawing programs to see this for yourself. If you use a magnifying glass, you'll be able to see the individual diodes that light up for a single pixel. For an LED to produce UV it must be doped with the proper material. This is seldom done with materials that produce light of any other color.

Ultra violet light is absorbed by our atmosphere, UVB more so than UVA. The further it must travel through our atmosphere, the less remains. The highest UV levels occur when the sun is closest to being directly overhead, the least during daylight hours is at dawn and sunset. Growmau5 tried UV supplemental lighting in one of his experiments. It might be worth going to YouTube to review his findings...

 

[GIjose]

I absolutely can say I love being taken to school by experienced Growers! PISHHH! My high school teachers told me I'll never learn anything from smoking weed... LMFAO

 

[Allen42]

I absolutely can say I love being taken to school by experienced Growers! PISHHH! My high school teachers told me I'll never learn anything from smoking weed... LMFAO

My highschool teachers told me I wouldn’t learn if I wasn’t high. Apparently I was much more willing and enthusiastic when I came to class full on pie eyed. Lmao except for one teacher... she said I couldn’t learn no matter what..