She's ready to take the net!
A Push For Something More
- Thread starter Tokin Roll
- Start date
Wow does she ever look healthy! Damn man. Talk about being perfectly set up to crush a scrog. Excellent, professional work. I’m guessing you fill that screen and then some.Time for another update.
The White Widow is finishing up her first week of flower. She is consistently averaging three quarts of water daily, and this normally comes with 80 to 100 ppms drop. PPM's drop approx. 400 ppm's in three to four days. This will help in the next week when she starts her stretch.
Did you take your seats @Prescription Blend and @MedicGrow
I knew this was going to be a long grow, so changing bucket sizes help me save enough nutrients to get thru this grow.
The nutrients are working out great and she is sucking them up daily.
I will be putting my Fold-8 Led on 80 %, and that is with my current light height of 16 inches. This will need to be adjusted regularly.
Next week is an important time when scrogging; tucking her back under the net two or three times a day. Directing the branches to make her grow in 360 degrees circle. The side branches will fill the rest of the net. This is when you really make or break a full net. The object is to direct four of the healthiest branches to grow toward the corner, one for each corner.
Still with me, sorry if it's boring; the dab bar will re-open shortly.
I told the band to play the bar tenders song.
Where was I, Oh Yaa.
If she takes off, like I expect her too, within the next two weeks, she will have a large transformation (hopefully).
If I don't get the reach I need for the full net, I may use light manipulation to get additional stretch. Time will tell, but I may need to change her solution change schedule from seven day to five if she continues on her current pace of consumption.
Enough for now.
Some images of the last week and first week of flower.
That's all folks.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #103
Thanks for stopping by @StoneOtter and @Jon
I think I may try to do something different with this canopy, just haven't figure out what yet.
How's a white blanket sound?
I think I may try to do something different with this canopy, just haven't figure out what yet.
How's a white blanket sound?
looking fab my friend and yeah some great infoTime for another update.
The White Widow is finishing up her first week of flower. She is consistently averaging three quarts of water daily, and this normally comes with 80 to 100 ppms drop. PPM's drop approx. 400 ppm's in three to four days. This will help in the next week when she starts her stretch.
Did you take your seats @Prescription Blend and @MedicGrow
I knew this was going to be a long grow, so changing bucket sizes help me save enough nutrients to get thru this grow.
The nutrients are working out great and she is sucking them up daily.
I will be putting my Fold-8 Led on 80 %, and that is with my current light height of 16 inches. This will need to be adjusted regularly.
Next week is an important time when scrogging; tucking her back under the net two or three times a day. Directing the branches to make her grow in 360 degrees circle. The side branches will fill the rest of the net. This is when you really make or break a full net. The object is to direct four of the healthiest branches to grow toward the corner, one for each corner.
Still with me, sorry if it's boring; the dab bar will re-open shortly.
I told the band to play the bar tenders song.
Where was I, Oh Yaa.
If she takes off, like I expect her too, within the next two weeks, she will have a large transformation (hopefully).
If I don't get the reach I need for the full net, I may use light manipulation to get additional stretch. Time will tell, but I may need to change her solution change schedule from seven day to five if she continues on her current pace of consumption.
Enough for now.
Some images of the last week and first week of flower.
That's all folks.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #106
She still is averaging 3 quarts a day, but she been eating like a pig a very hungry farm animal. 
When I checked her yesterday her ppm's where down to 600 from the 980 ppm's at solution change on Monday. Low but not to low; I added 15ml of cal-mag, this raised my ppm's up to 950 at 70 degrees with a ph of 5.9,
Today she drank roughly a little more than 3 quarts, but the ppm's dropped to 720 over night. That is a 230-point drop in ppm's in a span of about 18 hours. Readings 750 ppm's at 69 degrees (water temp) with a ph of 5.9.
I just gave her RO water today with a touch of Hydro-Guard. I normally change my solution on Mondays, but if the ppm's continue to drop at this rate; I may need to do it sooner.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
When I checked her yesterday her ppm's where down to 600 from the 980 ppm's at solution change on Monday. Low but not to low; I added 15ml of cal-mag, this raised my ppm's up to 950 at 70 degrees with a ph of 5.9,
Today she drank roughly a little more than 3 quarts, but the ppm's dropped to 720 over night. That is a 230-point drop in ppm's in a span of about 18 hours. Readings 750 ppm's at 69 degrees (water temp) with a ph of 5.9.
I just gave her RO water today with a touch of Hydro-Guard. I normally change my solution on Mondays, but if the ppm's continue to drop at this rate; I may need to do it sooner.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #107
Pass time for an update.
After almost three weeks of stretch she is not looking like she is going to reach the wall. I will start getting ready for two or three weeks of light manipulation. The schedule I will be using is 21.36 hours of light manipulation and 12 hours of darkness.
One of the main keys to manipulation is controlling how much light the plant will receive between dark periods; and the dark period cannot be disturbed. This is the second time I will be doing this experiment. I will be giving more information and details of the experiment soon.
Feel free to ask question and if I don't know it, I will find it.
I have a busy day with the holidays arriving, so I will post images and more details a little later today.
Stay safe and grow well my friends,
Tok..
After almost three weeks of stretch she is not looking like she is going to reach the wall. I will start getting ready for two or three weeks of light manipulation. The schedule I will be using is 21.36 hours of light manipulation and 12 hours of darkness.
One of the main keys to manipulation is controlling how much light the plant will receive between dark periods; and the dark period cannot be disturbed. This is the second time I will be doing this experiment. I will be giving more information and details of the experiment soon.
Feel free to ask question and if I don't know it, I will find it.
I have a busy day with the holidays arriving, so I will post images and more details a little later today.
Stay safe and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #108
Let me start by explaining why I am doing this, and then how I am doing it.
Questions are encouraged.
The image below of White Widow are not the standards I have when I scrog a plant. I will be using light manipulation to make the plant grow like it's in vegetative stage, but still in flower. To do this I will place the plant under 21.36 hours of light and just 12 hours of darkness. This time will only be for two weeks of manipulation and then back to the normal 12 on, 12 off for flower.
Using light manipulation will trick the plant into reacting like it is veg. and will cause the plant to continue to shecht and produce additional growth while flowering.
This is how the light schedule will break down in a one week period of lights on. I will continue this schedule for two maybe three weeks.
Day 1 – Sunday, 6:00am till Monday, 3:36am
Day 2 – Monday, 3:36pm till Tuesday, 1:12pm
Day 3 – Wednesday, 1:12am till Wednesday, 10:48pm
Day 4 – Thursday, 10:48am till Friday 8:24am
Day 5 – Friday, 8:24pm till Saturday 6:00pm
You ask; how did I come up with this schedule, good question.
Light manipulation works on the plant reaction to light and the effects it has on the plant. Different light schedules have been tried by others, between manipulating light and darkness. One thing that must remain the same is 12 hours of darkness.
By having a schedule that exposés the plant to 21 hours and 36 minutes of light, I will be almost doubling the amount of time for photosensitizing which in return will make the plant grow larger and produce a stronger plant.
So far the only down side I have is setting up the light schedule on a power strip (real pain) and the extending the harvest time. Since, 12 of darkness is vital to the plants development in flower at this time we will stay on that until the near the end of the flowering cycle. At that time I will make another light manipulation change for two week to change her development again.
More an that in about a month give or take a week.
By manipulating the light this way, it will cause about an addition week of flowering time that was skipped. When I increased the light exposure time, in a sense, we reduced the needed dark period needed for the plan to fully develop during flower. Right now, I figure it will add an additional week of 12 and 12.
Much more to come, and feel free to ask questions.
I will start this after the holiday period.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
@StoneOtter I will tag you when I do updates.
Questions are encouraged.
The image below of White Widow are not the standards I have when I scrog a plant. I will be using light manipulation to make the plant grow like it's in vegetative stage, but still in flower. To do this I will place the plant under 21.36 hours of light and just 12 hours of darkness. This time will only be for two weeks of manipulation and then back to the normal 12 on, 12 off for flower.
Using light manipulation will trick the plant into reacting like it is veg. and will cause the plant to continue to shecht and produce additional growth while flowering.
This is how the light schedule will break down in a one week period of lights on. I will continue this schedule for two maybe three weeks.
Day 1 – Sunday, 6:00am till Monday, 3:36am
Day 2 – Monday, 3:36pm till Tuesday, 1:12pm
Day 3 – Wednesday, 1:12am till Wednesday, 10:48pm
Day 4 – Thursday, 10:48am till Friday 8:24am
Day 5 – Friday, 8:24pm till Saturday 6:00pm
You ask; how did I come up with this schedule, good question.
Light manipulation works on the plant reaction to light and the effects it has on the plant. Different light schedules have been tried by others, between manipulating light and darkness. One thing that must remain the same is 12 hours of darkness.
By having a schedule that exposés the plant to 21 hours and 36 minutes of light, I will be almost doubling the amount of time for photosensitizing which in return will make the plant grow larger and produce a stronger plant.
So far the only down side I have is setting up the light schedule on a power strip (real pain) and the extending the harvest time. Since, 12 of darkness is vital to the plants development in flower at this time we will stay on that until the near the end of the flowering cycle. At that time I will make another light manipulation change for two week to change her development again.
More an that in about a month give or take a week.
By manipulating the light this way, it will cause about an addition week of flowering time that was skipped. When I increased the light exposure time, in a sense, we reduced the needed dark period needed for the plan to fully develop during flower. Right now, I figure it will add an additional week of 12 and 12.
Much more to come, and feel free to ask questions.
I will start this after the holiday period.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
@StoneOtter I will tag you when I do updates.
- Thread starter
- #109
To make it easier to understand what I am doing check out this link.
There are a lot of useful links in this journal.
Green Crack Under Light Manipulation
Good Day All, Today I am starting a grow journal with light manipulation. You ask what is light manipulation is, I will explain it better as we progress thought this grow. The Green Crack I am using for this experiment is a feminize seed I made a few years ago. I plan on showing you how to get...
www.420magazine.com
There are a lot of useful links in this journal.
so the goal is increased stretch ? i don't think you get any more bud sites once flower starts.
it would take me two wks to program the timer properly lol
it would take me two wks to program the timer properly lol
- Thread starter
- #111
I don't think I mentioned it but, only photoperiod plant can be manipulated.
I will be including some of the information I am reading if I think is relative to the topic. Once I start this I plan on giving the follow readings:
Temps. - Solution and tent
Nutrient and ph levels
DLI readings during lights on period.
If I remember I will give VPD readings and time.
I will included any others when the manipulation starts.
The @MedicGrow Fold-8 will remain at 80 % until harvest
Take images to show effects and progress.
During some of my internet research and thought I might be useful to explain a little about what I am doing.
Farmers weekly:
The most important concept to understand when growing plants is the rule of limiting factors, which determines plant quality.
Hydroponics cannot compensate for poor growing conditions, such as improper temperature, insufficient irrigation, nutrient deficiencies, pest and disease problems, or poor light.
Light is the most important variable influencing plant growth.
If plants do not receive enough light, they will not grow at their maximum rate or reach their maximum potential, regardless of how much of any other variable – water, growth medium or fertilizer – they receive.
Increasing light increases yield
Light is the driving force for photosynthesis, a plant process that changes sunlight into chemical energy.
During photosynthesis, water is split in a chemical reaction in which it is separated into oxygen and hydrogen, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is converted into sugar.
A general rule of thumb is that 1% more light will give you a similar percentage increase in plant growth, resulting in a 1% higher yield.
All plants require light and CO2 for photosynthesis. Adequate spacing between plants will ensure that each plant receives sufficient light in the greenhouse.
Much work has been done on supplemental lighting to optimize plant growth, especially in countries with low light intensity and daylight hour limitations.
Ensuring enough light for plants
Daily light integral (DLI)
The DLI represents the total amount of light that your plants receive per day.
DLI also depends on the intensity of light radiation, as well as the duration (number of sunlight hours). This provides a direct indication of how much photosynthetic light your plants receive.
DLI adjustment could help to reduce the rooting time of cuttings and seedlings, and increase crop quality at reduced levels of energy.
Another factor that comes into play is the lower inclination of the sun’s radiation. As a result of a shorter day, morning mist and cloudy skies, light intensity is lower in winter, causing a further reduction in the DLI and a corresponding decrease in plant growth.
Photomorphogenesis
In addition to photosynthesis, there is another light aspect that determines the development of plants from seed to flowering.
This is known as photomorphogenesis. This relies on various photo pigments to sense and respond to light colors, which range from ultraviolet to near-infrared and include all the colors of the rainbow that we see as reflected light.
Photomorphogenesis influences the following aspects of plant growth, among others:
Human eyes are most sensitive to colors in the yellowish-green zone of the color spectrum, which is close to the region where plants show the worst reaction to green light.
Humans see reflected light, and the fact that most plants are green is an indication that plants reflect more of the green light radiation than the other colors in the light spectrum.
The photosynthetic reaction of plants is concentrated in the blue and red portions of the color spectrum, including a proportion of ultraviolet
Plants’ reactions to various colors of the light spectrum can be used to manipulate plants to satisfy different needs, including the following:
Ultraviolet radiation can be used to shorten the internodes.
Blue light can be used to stimulate vegetative growth and prevent shorter-day plants from flowering during their propagation stages.
Red light can be used to induce flowering and lengthen the internodes to produce plants with longer stems and bigger flowers. Roses are an example.
Far-red radiation can be used to control the photoperiodism of plants.
Photoperiodism
Some plant species flower only when exposed to short periods of light, whereas others flower only after exposure to prolonged periods of light. This phenomenon is called photoperiodism.
The former is known as short-day plants and include chrysanthemums and strawberries.
The latter, known as long-day plants, include spinach and radishes. Day-neutral plants, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, are not affected by photoperiodism.
If you expose short-day plants to a brief period of light in the night, you can prevent flowering and bolting.
Conversely, with long-day plants, the same exposure will promote flowering.
Floriculturists can therefore use supplemental artificial lighting to delay or advance the flowering of plants to meet your needs.
Traditional photoperiodic control methods include:
Increasing day length by using supplemental lighting;
Shortening day length by covering the plants with dark material just before night time;
Night interruption with lighting;
Cyclic (intermittent) lighting,
My techniques are based largely on trial and error, using different strains and indoors operating conditions.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
I will be including some of the information I am reading if I think is relative to the topic. Once I start this I plan on giving the follow readings:
Temps. - Solution and tent
Nutrient and ph levels
DLI readings during lights on period.
If I remember I will give VPD readings and time.
I will included any others when the manipulation starts.
The @MedicGrow Fold-8 will remain at 80 % until harvest
Take images to show effects and progress.
During some of my internet research and thought I might be useful to explain a little about what I am doing.
Farmers weekly:
The most important concept to understand when growing plants is the rule of limiting factors, which determines plant quality.
Hydroponics cannot compensate for poor growing conditions, such as improper temperature, insufficient irrigation, nutrient deficiencies, pest and disease problems, or poor light.
Light is the most important variable influencing plant growth.
If plants do not receive enough light, they will not grow at their maximum rate or reach their maximum potential, regardless of how much of any other variable – water, growth medium or fertilizer – they receive.
Increasing light increases yield
Light is the driving force for photosynthesis, a plant process that changes sunlight into chemical energy.
During photosynthesis, water is split in a chemical reaction in which it is separated into oxygen and hydrogen, and carbon dioxide (CO2) is converted into sugar.
A general rule of thumb is that 1% more light will give you a similar percentage increase in plant growth, resulting in a 1% higher yield.
All plants require light and CO2 for photosynthesis. Adequate spacing between plants will ensure that each plant receives sufficient light in the greenhouse.
Much work has been done on supplemental lighting to optimize plant growth, especially in countries with low light intensity and daylight hour limitations.
Ensuring enough light for plants
Daily light integral (DLI)
The DLI represents the total amount of light that your plants receive per day.
DLI also depends on the intensity of light radiation, as well as the duration (number of sunlight hours). This provides a direct indication of how much photosynthetic light your plants receive.
DLI adjustment could help to reduce the rooting time of cuttings and seedlings, and increase crop quality at reduced levels of energy.
Another factor that comes into play is the lower inclination of the sun’s radiation. As a result of a shorter day, morning mist and cloudy skies, light intensity is lower in winter, causing a further reduction in the DLI and a corresponding decrease in plant growth.
Photomorphogenesis
In addition to photosynthesis, there is another light aspect that determines the development of plants from seed to flowering.
This is known as photomorphogenesis. This relies on various photo pigments to sense and respond to light colors, which range from ultraviolet to near-infrared and include all the colors of the rainbow that we see as reflected light.
Photomorphogenesis influences the following aspects of plant growth, among others:
- Synthesis of chlorophyll (photosynthesis);
- Stem and leaf growth towards visible light (etiolation and phototropism);
- Flowering time based on the length of day and night (photoperiodism);
- Reaction to various light colors.
Human eyes are most sensitive to colors in the yellowish-green zone of the color spectrum, which is close to the region where plants show the worst reaction to green light.
Humans see reflected light, and the fact that most plants are green is an indication that plants reflect more of the green light radiation than the other colors in the light spectrum.
The photosynthetic reaction of plants is concentrated in the blue and red portions of the color spectrum, including a proportion of ultraviolet
Plants’ reactions to various colors of the light spectrum can be used to manipulate plants to satisfy different needs, including the following:
Ultraviolet radiation can be used to shorten the internodes.
Blue light can be used to stimulate vegetative growth and prevent shorter-day plants from flowering during their propagation stages.
Red light can be used to induce flowering and lengthen the internodes to produce plants with longer stems and bigger flowers. Roses are an example.
Far-red radiation can be used to control the photoperiodism of plants.
Photoperiodism
Some plant species flower only when exposed to short periods of light, whereas others flower only after exposure to prolonged periods of light. This phenomenon is called photoperiodism.
The former is known as short-day plants and include chrysanthemums and strawberries.
The latter, known as long-day plants, include spinach and radishes. Day-neutral plants, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, are not affected by photoperiodism.
If you expose short-day plants to a brief period of light in the night, you can prevent flowering and bolting.
Conversely, with long-day plants, the same exposure will promote flowering.
Floriculturists can therefore use supplemental artificial lighting to delay or advance the flowering of plants to meet your needs.
Traditional photoperiodic control methods include:
Increasing day length by using supplemental lighting;
Shortening day length by covering the plants with dark material just before night time;
Night interruption with lighting;
Cyclic (intermittent) lighting,
My techniques are based largely on trial and error, using different strains and indoors operating conditions.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
Hit plus Quote.
Thanks for taking the time.
Hope everything is going well my friend.
Take care.
#VIVOSUN #Love What You Grow
Bill284
- Thread starter
- #113
Thanks for stopping by @Bill284
Still working out the small details and figuring out my New Years eve schedule.
@StoneOtter I have been sticking to the @Prescription Blend nutrient schedule only adding a little extra cal-mag and hydro-guard.
Still working out the small details and figuring out my New Years eve schedule.
@StoneOtter I have been sticking to the @Prescription Blend nutrient schedule only adding a little extra cal-mag and hydro-guard.
Maritimer
Well-Known Member
edit
Permission to come aboard.
Requesting
We will have some deep discussions soon my brother. Very deep. I have some ideas for a great adventure. Awesome
This is exciting!
- Thread starter
- #116
Thanks for stopping by @StoneOtter , Right now I am planning on starting the schedule tonight and will try to bring everyone up to speed on what I am doing.
The reason I post these info sheet is to try to make it easy to understand how light affects growth.
This is from a website study: The Importance of Light Controllability for Plant Growth - Bios
Bios Website:
One of the most critical challenges—whether for greenhouse managers or for horticulture aficionados—is to provide plants with enough photoperiodic sunlight for effective photosynthesis, so that they can grow optimally regardless of the geographical location and climate. Winter months even in supposedly warm-weather California can have a Daily Light Integral (DLI) of 10 to 20, which is insufficient for optimal plant growth. As a result, supplemental electric lighting is required in most cases to accelerate flower development, create hardier stems, increase chlorophyll content, and also increase leaf count.
Light acts as a key environmental signal and a critical source of energy for plant growth, with plants using light for both photosynthesis and development. Lighting parameters influence germination, seasonal and diurnal time sensing, plant stature, growth habits, and transition to flowering and fruit ripening. It is therefore important to control the quality, quantity, intensity, direction, duration, and wavelength of the light reaching the plants, in order to ensure effective growth, sustained development, and maximized crop productivity.
Main Reasons Why Controlling Light Is Vital for Plant Growth
Light Uniformity
Light uniformity refers to how evenly the light is distributed across a given growing area, and should be an important consideration—just as light intensity and quantity is—for all types of plant lighting installations. Light uniformity can regulate crop growth, plant development, flowering schedules, and water distribution. If the illumination system for a growing area is not designed to distribute the light in a uniform manner, the crops will dry out or develop at different rates depending on whether they are getting access to more or less light across the same area. If some plants receive more light than others, and exhibit uneven growth patterns, that in turn can lead to uneven shading.
Light uniformity is affected by a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the light source used, the reflector design, the type of fixtures, the light distribution, beam angle, fixture quantity, fixture spacing (how close together they are), and the distance of the fixtures from the plants themselves.
A uniform blanket of light can be achieved by equipping the light fixtures with light bars, which can be easily arranged according to desired spacing to achieve effective intra-canopy light penetration. The luminaires with their source type (ideally LED) and light bars should be mounted at an optimum height and spacing—either via calculations or by following manufacturer recommendations—to deliver a uniform layer of light (without creating hazardous light intensity levels or hot spots) over the full plant canopy, even as the canopy grows and changes over time. These techniques will then translate into increased profits per harvest, and will maximize dry growth yields on a continuing basis.
Light uniformity also affects the efficiency of any prescribed nutrients, since plants receiving lower light annually (compared to the targeted average) will consume more nutrients or dry faster due to uneven water use, and that will reduce profits.
The electric lighting—used to either supplement the daylighting on the plants or act as their primary source of photosynthesis and development—can be a significant portion of the total energy use, and will impact your bottom line accordingly. In addition to the investment in the lighting system itself for optimal crop growing needs, it is important to choose a light source for not just its high output, but also for its maximized energy efficiency. The efficiency of the lighting system is also negatively impacted by the amount of heat it produces.
The ability of LEDs to produce a lot of light at low cost makes them the ideal lighting source for all kinds of horticulture and crop growth systems. The efficacy (lumens per watt) of LEDs has increased dramatically in the last decade, whereas the cost per lumen has decreased significantly at the same time. In addition, the small form factor of LEDs allows a wide variety of optics, reflectors and housings to be designed around them, enabling much more precise light generation with greater efficiency and at a lower cost.
The plants’ leaf surface temperature (LST) is very important to measure accurately, and is typically warmer than the ambient air temperature. A 75ºF ambient air temperature under HID (MH or HPS) systems generally leads to an LST of about 85º-88ºF. The higher energy efficiency of LEDs ensures that they are much cooler (irradiating much less heat) than their HID equivalents—resulting in the ambient air temperature becoming about 10º cooler than comparable HID lighting systems.
Cooling costs are therefore typically lower when using LED fixtures, especially when integrated with automated controls and ventilation strategies. When the fixtures run cooler, less air conditioning is required for the space, less water gets evaporated due to excess heat, the plants will retain moisture better, and they will be protected from “light burns”. At the same time, the LST should measure the same regardless of whether the plant is being lighted by HID or LED systems.
In order to enable optimized metabolic rates with the cooler-running LED systems, the temperature set point at the grow facilities should be raised by about 9°F to achieve the same optimal LST (about 82-85º for cannabis plants). LED systems can therefore further reduce cooling-associated costs by requiring warmer ambient growing conditions.
Since LEDs produce much less waste heat compared to HID lamps, they can be placed much closer to crop surfaces without the risk of overheating and related stress for the plants, while still ensuring uniform light distribution. This means that LED systems can be designed with a lot more flexibility—such as horizontal, vertical, multi-layer, intra-canopy, or inter-crop lighting layouts.
The unique energy-efficient features of LED enable innovative strategies that were hitherto not easy to achieve with traditional sources, and provide better uniformity, higher quality, and increased fruit yield for the growers.
Fine-Tuned Color Distribution
Over the last century, scientists have observed how wavelengths, intensities, and photoperiods together shape plant output. Plant photoreceptor actions and their signaling components can influence growth at different developmental stages, and are therefore excellent targets for altering productivity and yield. Traditional lighting systems typically offer only binary on-off control; in other words, when they’re turned on, they emit the same spectral output for every plant, even if you’ve got different varieties in the same space and even if each variety receives a different cocktail of nutrients.
LED technology is however well suited for plant lighting applications, due to its full light spectrum capabilities. One of the biggest advantages of LED lighting is that it has highly customizable wavelength capabilities, without the cumbersome (and expensive) need to regularly change fixtures.
LED grow lights can affect a plant’s physiology and morphology via the application of specific light wavelengths during specific times which are most appropriate for optimizing desired crop traits. For example, growers can now purchase horticultural LED fixtures that provide a narrow-band red and/or blue light to control certain plant traits (for example, supplemental far-red light used for cucumber vines to promote better stretching, or a mix of red and blue spectra for more compact lettuce plants), or a custom-designed broad-band white-light spectrum that maximizes photosynthesis and growth for most plants.
Product Quality
With the networking and control capabilities built into LED grow lights, horticulturalists and growers can craft proprietary light programs to optimize brightness and color distribution, and enhance individual characteristics of the plants that will make them most marketable.
LED technology enables light quality to be manipulated on a commercial scale, and creates opportunities to enhance crop quality through precise manipulation of the lighting regime—by influencing each crop variety’s size, yield, color, spread, and even taste.
Color Effects on Plant Growth
Grow light spectrum refers to the electromagnetic wavelengths of light produced by a light source to promote plant growth. Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) is the range of electromagnetic radiation that plants use for photosynthesis (a wavelength range of 400 nm to 700 nm). The amount of PAR falling on an individual plant at any given second is defined as photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), measured as micromoles per square meter per second (μmol/m2/s). Note that a PPFD measurement taken below a light source will vary based on its distance from the plant, and is also based on the area of the space under consideration.
Plants perceive different wavelengths of light using distinct photoreceptors. Plants contain pigments that show an affinity to photons of particular wavelengths, and those photons in turn have different energy levels depending on the wavelength. Therefore, the spectral absorptance of the plant plays a critical role as to whether the measured PPFD value is effective in photosynthesis.
Plants have three primary photoreceptors that respond to different parts of the spectrum; the phytochrome pigment responds to the red and far-red part of the spectrum, cryptochrome responds to green and blue light, and phytotropin responds to blue light—all controlling plant growth, gene expression, and the transition to flowering development in various ways.
The existence of distinct photoreceptor families provides opportunities to selectively activate individual pathways, thereby precisely controlling overall development.
Unlike humans—who can only detect visible light spectrum wavelengths (380-740nm)—plants on the other hand can detect wavelengths which include visible light as well as beyond, such as UV and Far Red spectra. Light spectra will affect plant growth in different ways depending on environmental conditions, plant species, etc. Typically, chlorophyll, the molecule in plants responsible for converting light energy into chemical energy, absorbs most light in the blue and red spectra—both of which are found in the peaks of the 400-700 nm PAR range—for photosynthesis. Other spectra of light, like greens/yellows/oranges, are less useful for photosynthesis due to the amount of chlorophyll-b, absorbed largely from blue light, and chlorophyll-a, absorbed largely from red and blue light.
Red light spectrum (600-700nm) is considered the most efficient at driving photosynthesis—especially in the flowering stage for biomass growth, which is particularly important to cannabis growers—as it’s highly absorbed by chlorophyll pigments. Red light wavelengths (particularly around deep red 660nm, since that’s where a plant senses bright sunlight exposure and its chlorophyll absorption peaks) encourage stem, leaf, and general vegetative growth—and especially the elongation of leaves and onset of flowers.
Far-red light spectrum (700-850 nm) can also affect plant growth; one way is by initiating a shade-avoidance response. From 730nm and beyond, there is a higher ratio of far-red to red light, and so if a plant detects “shade” from another plant or leaves higher up the canopy, then elongation of its own stems and leaves occurs.
Far-red can also promote flowering, and in certain plants, has been shown to increase fruit yield. In short-day plants like cannabis, which rely on longer periods of darkness, 730nm can be used at the end of a light cycle to promote flowering. Many growers are experimenting with interrupting the dark cycle with bursts of red light to boost growth and flowering.
Blue Light
Blue light spectrum (400-500 nm) is widely responsible for increasing plant quality, especially in leafy crops. It promotes the stomatal opening, which regulates a plant’s retention of water and allows more CO2 to enter the leaves. This can affect leaf movement, leading to flatter and expanded leaves, which results in a more efficient surface for light absorption.
Blue light also drives peak chlorophyll pigment absorption (peaking at 439 nm and 469 nm), required for photosynthesis. The 400-500 nm blue light spectrum is essential for seedlings and young plants during vegetative stages as they establish a healthy root and stem structure—and especially important for reducing stem stretching when necessary.
In addition, blue wavelengths affect phototropism (the orientation of the plant in response to light, either towards or away from the light source).
Broad Spectrum (White) Light
The ideal grow light spectrum for plants depends on several factors. In some crops, blue light can benefit nutritional levels and coloring, while a higher red to far-red ratio can help with leaf size and flowering. While red is generally the most responsive light spectrum for plants, it’s important to note that its efficacy really steps in when in combination with other PAR wavelengths. A balanced pairing with blue light is necessary to counteract any overstretching, like disfigured stem elongation. Certain plants (such as cannabis) use not only the 400-700 nm PAR-spectrum light for photosynthesis, but also the wavelengths outside of this range.
Individual light combinations should therefore be adjustable throughout the life of a plant to optimize desired traits. Broad spectrum white lighting—often referred to as full spectrum lighting—means the complete spectrum of light given by sunlight. This means that the wavelengths of broad-spectrum lighting include not just the visible 380-740nm wavelength range (which we perceive as color), but also invisible wavelengths such as infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV). Effective broad-spectrum light can help accelerate flowering, increase nutrition, and speed up the rate of growth.
One big advantage of commercial broad spectrum LED grow lights is that they can be wirelessly programmed to generate certain wavelengths and intensities in specified periods during the day or night, or at certain intervals in a 24-hour cycle. This makes it ideal for growers, since they can isolate specific spectrum colors depending on the types of crops and growing conditions. Commercial LED grow light settings often work in conjunction with a grower’s HVAC systems too.
By using full spectrum LEDs to select the exact quantities of red and blue light, chlorophyll pigments can absorb more of the light that they need. This means that when used strategically, bigger leaves and better flowering periods can occur without unnecessary stress.
How BIOS Lights Maximize Photosynthesis and Growth
BIOS is constantly developing its knowledge and research of how various light spectra work best on specific crops and strains—and at which points during a plant’s life cycle.
PAR photon efficacy in an industrial grade fixture—for higher optimization of the yield, quality, and variability of their plants.
I will be doing an update tomorrow if I can't tonight.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
The reason I post these info sheet is to try to make it easy to understand how light affects growth.
This is from a website study: The Importance of Light Controllability for Plant Growth - Bios
Bios Website:
One of the most critical challenges—whether for greenhouse managers or for horticulture aficionados—is to provide plants with enough photoperiodic sunlight for effective photosynthesis, so that they can grow optimally regardless of the geographical location and climate. Winter months even in supposedly warm-weather California can have a Daily Light Integral (DLI) of 10 to 20, which is insufficient for optimal plant growth. As a result, supplemental electric lighting is required in most cases to accelerate flower development, create hardier stems, increase chlorophyll content, and also increase leaf count.
Light acts as a key environmental signal and a critical source of energy for plant growth, with plants using light for both photosynthesis and development. Lighting parameters influence germination, seasonal and diurnal time sensing, plant stature, growth habits, and transition to flowering and fruit ripening. It is therefore important to control the quality, quantity, intensity, direction, duration, and wavelength of the light reaching the plants, in order to ensure effective growth, sustained development, and maximized crop productivity.
Main Reasons Why Controlling Light Is Vital for Plant Growth
Light Uniformity
Light uniformity refers to how evenly the light is distributed across a given growing area, and should be an important consideration—just as light intensity and quantity is—for all types of plant lighting installations. Light uniformity can regulate crop growth, plant development, flowering schedules, and water distribution. If the illumination system for a growing area is not designed to distribute the light in a uniform manner, the crops will dry out or develop at different rates depending on whether they are getting access to more or less light across the same area. If some plants receive more light than others, and exhibit uneven growth patterns, that in turn can lead to uneven shading.
Light uniformity is affected by a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the light source used, the reflector design, the type of fixtures, the light distribution, beam angle, fixture quantity, fixture spacing (how close together they are), and the distance of the fixtures from the plants themselves.
A uniform blanket of light can be achieved by equipping the light fixtures with light bars, which can be easily arranged according to desired spacing to achieve effective intra-canopy light penetration. The luminaires with their source type (ideally LED) and light bars should be mounted at an optimum height and spacing—either via calculations or by following manufacturer recommendations—to deliver a uniform layer of light (without creating hazardous light intensity levels or hot spots) over the full plant canopy, even as the canopy grows and changes over time. These techniques will then translate into increased profits per harvest, and will maximize dry growth yields on a continuing basis.
Light uniformity also affects the efficiency of any prescribed nutrients, since plants receiving lower light annually (compared to the targeted average) will consume more nutrients or dry faster due to uneven water use, and that will reduce profits.
The electric lighting—used to either supplement the daylighting on the plants or act as their primary source of photosynthesis and development—can be a significant portion of the total energy use, and will impact your bottom line accordingly. In addition to the investment in the lighting system itself for optimal crop growing needs, it is important to choose a light source for not just its high output, but also for its maximized energy efficiency. The efficiency of the lighting system is also negatively impacted by the amount of heat it produces.
The ability of LEDs to produce a lot of light at low cost makes them the ideal lighting source for all kinds of horticulture and crop growth systems. The efficacy (lumens per watt) of LEDs has increased dramatically in the last decade, whereas the cost per lumen has decreased significantly at the same time. In addition, the small form factor of LEDs allows a wide variety of optics, reflectors and housings to be designed around them, enabling much more precise light generation with greater efficiency and at a lower cost.
The plants’ leaf surface temperature (LST) is very important to measure accurately, and is typically warmer than the ambient air temperature. A 75ºF ambient air temperature under HID (MH or HPS) systems generally leads to an LST of about 85º-88ºF. The higher energy efficiency of LEDs ensures that they are much cooler (irradiating much less heat) than their HID equivalents—resulting in the ambient air temperature becoming about 10º cooler than comparable HID lighting systems.
Cooling costs are therefore typically lower when using LED fixtures, especially when integrated with automated controls and ventilation strategies. When the fixtures run cooler, less air conditioning is required for the space, less water gets evaporated due to excess heat, the plants will retain moisture better, and they will be protected from “light burns”. At the same time, the LST should measure the same regardless of whether the plant is being lighted by HID or LED systems.
In order to enable optimized metabolic rates with the cooler-running LED systems, the temperature set point at the grow facilities should be raised by about 9°F to achieve the same optimal LST (about 82-85º for cannabis plants). LED systems can therefore further reduce cooling-associated costs by requiring warmer ambient growing conditions.
Since LEDs produce much less waste heat compared to HID lamps, they can be placed much closer to crop surfaces without the risk of overheating and related stress for the plants, while still ensuring uniform light distribution. This means that LED systems can be designed with a lot more flexibility—such as horizontal, vertical, multi-layer, intra-canopy, or inter-crop lighting layouts.
The unique energy-efficient features of LED enable innovative strategies that were hitherto not easy to achieve with traditional sources, and provide better uniformity, higher quality, and increased fruit yield for the growers.
Fine-Tuned Color Distribution
Over the last century, scientists have observed how wavelengths, intensities, and photoperiods together shape plant output. Plant photoreceptor actions and their signaling components can influence growth at different developmental stages, and are therefore excellent targets for altering productivity and yield. Traditional lighting systems typically offer only binary on-off control; in other words, when they’re turned on, they emit the same spectral output for every plant, even if you’ve got different varieties in the same space and even if each variety receives a different cocktail of nutrients.
LED technology is however well suited for plant lighting applications, due to its full light spectrum capabilities. One of the biggest advantages of LED lighting is that it has highly customizable wavelength capabilities, without the cumbersome (and expensive) need to regularly change fixtures.
LED grow lights can affect a plant’s physiology and morphology via the application of specific light wavelengths during specific times which are most appropriate for optimizing desired crop traits. For example, growers can now purchase horticultural LED fixtures that provide a narrow-band red and/or blue light to control certain plant traits (for example, supplemental far-red light used for cucumber vines to promote better stretching, or a mix of red and blue spectra for more compact lettuce plants), or a custom-designed broad-band white-light spectrum that maximizes photosynthesis and growth for most plants.
Product Quality
With the networking and control capabilities built into LED grow lights, horticulturalists and growers can craft proprietary light programs to optimize brightness and color distribution, and enhance individual characteristics of the plants that will make them most marketable.
LED technology enables light quality to be manipulated on a commercial scale, and creates opportunities to enhance crop quality through precise manipulation of the lighting regime—by influencing each crop variety’s size, yield, color, spread, and even taste.
Color Effects on Plant Growth
Grow light spectrum refers to the electromagnetic wavelengths of light produced by a light source to promote plant growth. Photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) is the range of electromagnetic radiation that plants use for photosynthesis (a wavelength range of 400 nm to 700 nm). The amount of PAR falling on an individual plant at any given second is defined as photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), measured as micromoles per square meter per second (μmol/m2/s). Note that a PPFD measurement taken below a light source will vary based on its distance from the plant, and is also based on the area of the space under consideration.
Plants perceive different wavelengths of light using distinct photoreceptors. Plants contain pigments that show an affinity to photons of particular wavelengths, and those photons in turn have different energy levels depending on the wavelength. Therefore, the spectral absorptance of the plant plays a critical role as to whether the measured PPFD value is effective in photosynthesis.
Plants have three primary photoreceptors that respond to different parts of the spectrum; the phytochrome pigment responds to the red and far-red part of the spectrum, cryptochrome responds to green and blue light, and phytotropin responds to blue light—all controlling plant growth, gene expression, and the transition to flowering development in various ways.
The existence of distinct photoreceptor families provides opportunities to selectively activate individual pathways, thereby precisely controlling overall development.
Unlike humans—who can only detect visible light spectrum wavelengths (380-740nm)—plants on the other hand can detect wavelengths which include visible light as well as beyond, such as UV and Far Red spectra. Light spectra will affect plant growth in different ways depending on environmental conditions, plant species, etc. Typically, chlorophyll, the molecule in plants responsible for converting light energy into chemical energy, absorbs most light in the blue and red spectra—both of which are found in the peaks of the 400-700 nm PAR range—for photosynthesis. Other spectra of light, like greens/yellows/oranges, are less useful for photosynthesis due to the amount of chlorophyll-b, absorbed largely from blue light, and chlorophyll-a, absorbed largely from red and blue light.
Red light spectrum (600-700nm) is considered the most efficient at driving photosynthesis—especially in the flowering stage for biomass growth, which is particularly important to cannabis growers—as it’s highly absorbed by chlorophyll pigments. Red light wavelengths (particularly around deep red 660nm, since that’s where a plant senses bright sunlight exposure and its chlorophyll absorption peaks) encourage stem, leaf, and general vegetative growth—and especially the elongation of leaves and onset of flowers.
Far-red light spectrum (700-850 nm) can also affect plant growth; one way is by initiating a shade-avoidance response. From 730nm and beyond, there is a higher ratio of far-red to red light, and so if a plant detects “shade” from another plant or leaves higher up the canopy, then elongation of its own stems and leaves occurs.
Far-red can also promote flowering, and in certain plants, has been shown to increase fruit yield. In short-day plants like cannabis, which rely on longer periods of darkness, 730nm can be used at the end of a light cycle to promote flowering. Many growers are experimenting with interrupting the dark cycle with bursts of red light to boost growth and flowering.
Blue Light
Blue light spectrum (400-500 nm) is widely responsible for increasing plant quality, especially in leafy crops. It promotes the stomatal opening, which regulates a plant’s retention of water and allows more CO2 to enter the leaves. This can affect leaf movement, leading to flatter and expanded leaves, which results in a more efficient surface for light absorption.
Blue light also drives peak chlorophyll pigment absorption (peaking at 439 nm and 469 nm), required for photosynthesis. The 400-500 nm blue light spectrum is essential for seedlings and young plants during vegetative stages as they establish a healthy root and stem structure—and especially important for reducing stem stretching when necessary.
In addition, blue wavelengths affect phototropism (the orientation of the plant in response to light, either towards or away from the light source).
Broad Spectrum (White) Light
The ideal grow light spectrum for plants depends on several factors. In some crops, blue light can benefit nutritional levels and coloring, while a higher red to far-red ratio can help with leaf size and flowering. While red is generally the most responsive light spectrum for plants, it’s important to note that its efficacy really steps in when in combination with other PAR wavelengths. A balanced pairing with blue light is necessary to counteract any overstretching, like disfigured stem elongation. Certain plants (such as cannabis) use not only the 400-700 nm PAR-spectrum light for photosynthesis, but also the wavelengths outside of this range.
Individual light combinations should therefore be adjustable throughout the life of a plant to optimize desired traits. Broad spectrum white lighting—often referred to as full spectrum lighting—means the complete spectrum of light given by sunlight. This means that the wavelengths of broad-spectrum lighting include not just the visible 380-740nm wavelength range (which we perceive as color), but also invisible wavelengths such as infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV). Effective broad-spectrum light can help accelerate flowering, increase nutrition, and speed up the rate of growth.
One big advantage of commercial broad spectrum LED grow lights is that they can be wirelessly programmed to generate certain wavelengths and intensities in specified periods during the day or night, or at certain intervals in a 24-hour cycle. This makes it ideal for growers, since they can isolate specific spectrum colors depending on the types of crops and growing conditions. Commercial LED grow light settings often work in conjunction with a grower’s HVAC systems too.
By using full spectrum LEDs to select the exact quantities of red and blue light, chlorophyll pigments can absorb more of the light that they need. This means that when used strategically, bigger leaves and better flowering periods can occur without unnecessary stress.
How BIOS Lights Maximize Photosynthesis and Growth
BIOS is constantly developing its knowledge and research of how various light spectra work best on specific crops and strains—and at which points during a plant’s life cycle.
PAR photon efficacy in an industrial grade fixture—for higher optimization of the yield, quality, and variability of their plants.
I will be doing an update tomorrow if I can't tonight.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #117
Let the fun begin.
I placed my current grow of White Widow under light manipulations last night here are my current readings.
Meters used for light results
Dr. Meter Model LX133B
Protone Phone app.
Temp.
Above Canopy 77 degrees
Below Canopy 75 degrees
Humidity
Above Canopy 44.6 %
Below Canopy 41%
Solution Temp. 70 degrees regulated by chilling probe.
PPM's 1050
PH 5.8
Light Height - 24 inches
Light setting at 80% and total output wattage - I will test the total draw tomorrow.
DLI for 22 hours setting is around 41.8. Still learning the in's and out's of DLI.
Some images from week 4 flower.
Stay safe and grow well my friends,
Tok..
I placed my current grow of White Widow under light manipulations last night here are my current readings.
Meters used for light results
Dr. Meter Model LX133B
Protone Phone app.
Temp.
Above Canopy 77 degrees
Below Canopy 75 degrees
Humidity
Above Canopy 44.6 %
Below Canopy 41%
Solution Temp. 70 degrees regulated by chilling probe.
PPM's 1050
PH 5.8
Light Height - 24 inches
Light setting at 80% and total output wattage - I will test the total draw tomorrow.
DLI for 22 hours setting is around 41.8. Still learning the in's and out's of DLI.
Some images from week 4 flower.
Stay safe and grow well my friends,
Tok..
- Thread starter
- #118
I will add more later, but light manipulations is off the table for now. I have experienced two nights where my lights turned off for a couple hours during the light on period. So right now I am getting her back to healthy.
I will explain more later.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
I will explain more later.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
I don’t even know where to start with questions. This is so damn radical and cool.Let me start by explaining why I am doing this, and then how I am doing it.
Questions are encouraged.
The image below of White Widow are not the standards I have when I scrog a plant. I will be using light manipulation to make the plant grow like it's in vegetative stage, but still in flower. To do this I will place the plant under 21.36 hours of light and just 12 hours of darkness. This time will only be for two weeks of manipulation and then back to the normal 12 on, 12 off for flower.
Using light manipulation will trick the plant into reacting like it is veg. and will cause the plant to continue to shecht and produce additional growth while flowering.
This is how the light schedule will break down in a one week period of lights on. I will continue this schedule for two maybe three weeks.
Day 1 – Sunday, 6:00am till Monday, 3:36am
Day 2 – Monday, 3:36pm till Tuesday, 1:12pm
Day 3 – Wednesday, 1:12am till Wednesday, 10:48pm
Day 4 – Thursday, 10:48am till Friday 8:24am
Day 5 – Friday, 8:24pm till Saturday 6:00pm
You ask; how did I come up with this schedule, good question.
Light manipulation works on the plant reaction to light and the effects it has on the plant. Different light schedules have been tried by others, between manipulating light and darkness. One thing that must remain the same is 12 hours of darkness.
By having a schedule that exposés the plant to 21 hours and 36 minutes of light, I will be almost doubling the amount of time for photosensitizing which in return will make the plant grow larger and produce a stronger plant.
So far the only down side I have is setting up the light schedule on a power strip (real pain) and the extending the harvest time. Since, 12 of darkness is vital to the plants development in flower at this time we will stay on that until the near the end of the flowering cycle. At that time I will make another light manipulation change for two week to change her development again.
More an that in about a month give or take a week.
By manipulating the light this way, it will cause about an addition week of flowering time that was skipped. When I increased the light exposure time, in a sense, we reduced the needed dark period needed for the plan to fully develop during flower. Right now, I figure it will add an additional week of 12 and 12.
Much more to come, and feel free to ask questions.
I will start this after the holiday period.
Stay safe, and grow well my friends,
Tok..
@StoneOtter I will tag you when I do updates.
Shoot! There goes the way of horticulture! Waiting for the next grow now! Nice try!