InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time

[Graytail]

Re: raising the light vs adjusting intensity ...

Think in terms of canopy depth. If you're growing short plants, you can lower the light. When you lower the light, you squish the effective canopy flatter and use less electricity. When you raise the light, the effective canopy gets thicker/deeper and you use more juice.

 

[InTheShed]

Re: raising the light vs adjusting intensity ...

Think in terms of canopy depth. If you're growing short plants, you can lower the light. When you lower the light, you squish the effective canopy flatter and use less electricity. When you raise the light, the effective canopy gets thicker/deeper and you use more juice.

Thanks Graytail! That reinforces what Derby mentioned. Until I get some stretchy plants, I think I'll drop the frame down a couple of inches a day and see how they respond.

 

[Graytail]

The rule of thumb is your canopy depth is equal to your headroom. One foot of headroom = one foot of canopy ...ie, at twice the distance, you get half the PAR.

 

[HiddenGrow]

Wow there's an insane amount of knowledge here. I'm happy I stumbled upon this.
Thanks for gathering all this knowledge in one place Shed!

 

[InTheShed]

The rule of thumb is your canopy depth is equal to your headroom. One foot of headroom = one foot of canopy ...ie, at twice the distance, you get half the PAR.

Great rule of thumb! Thanks again Graytail. I don't think I have anything with more than 18" of canopy so down goes the frame and back down go the watts .

Wow there's an insane amount of knowledge here. I'm happy I stumbled upon this.
Thanks for gathering all this knowledge in one place Shed!

Nice to see you HiddenGrow! There's all sorts of stuff we cover in this thread so pull up a chair and join in the fun .

 

[NorCaliwood]

Just doing a drive by.. No pic's for afew pages...???/

Cool on the light,,, always feels good to make something work.. Me I'm too lazy,,, but, light,,, you can never have enough,,, well I have seen alot of people 'bleach out' buddage or heat fry,,, but let me rephrase,,, almost never. But then I'm using HID so alot of what's what in the next genration of lights is all greek to me... But anything that can crank out enough without too much heat couldn't hurt....
GL with it.. Keepem Green

 

[Amy Gardner]

All good things happen in the shed

 

[InTheShed]

All good things happen in the shed

Let's hope so Amy!

I lowered the light to 20" off the top of the canopy and lowered the driver to 190 watts. Tomorrow will be closer to 18" and 180 watts. Of all the plants I would say the deepest is BT2 and that's no more than 18" from soil to the top-most flower so I'll keep an eye out for bleaching.

 

[nobodyhere]

Most of the bleaching I have done with my setups has taken a week or so to appear, it's gradual, and if you see it, it's not really a big deal.

I've ran as low as 6" w/o bleaching, more like 10" prolonged. I had one plant (ak) bleach at like 16", some plants just act different.

 

[InTheShed]

Most of the bleaching I have done with my setups has taken a week or so to appear, it's gradual, and if you see it, it's not really a big deal.

I've ran as low as 6" w/o bleaching, more like 10" prolonged. I had one plant (ak) bleach at like 16", some plants just act different.

Thanks nobody, I'll keep checking as I go. Tallest parts are two colas on the BT2 and the top of the big Sour G. I can drop the BT2 about 3" if I need to as it's sitting on an upside down plant saucer.

 

[farside05]

I bought a cheap lux meter off Amazon to get a better idea on how high to run my light since there are no manufacturer specs for our custom built lights. Here's a good quick read from the folks at Royal Queen.

HOW TO USE A LUX METER TO INCREASE YOUR CANNABIS YIELDS

For healthy growth and good yields, almost nothing is more important than providing your cannabis plants with plenty of light. With an affordable lux meter, you can measure and optimise the amount of light in your grow-op to increase your yields.

If you want to max-out your yields, you need to make sure that your cannabis plants are receiving an adequate amount of light. With a lux meter, this all becomes easier than ever!

WHAT IS A LUX METER?
A lux meter is a relatively simple device with which you can measure the amount of light (lux=lumens/m²) in your grow room. What makes a lux meter attractive compared to a PAR meter or quantum light meters used by professionals is that it is much cheaper. While a good PAR meter can easily cost €1,000 or more, you can obtain a lux meter for a lot less. Simple lux meters start at €20 and upwards.

THE BENEFITS OF USING A LIGHT METER
Helps Increase Yield
A lux meter can help increase the yield of your cannabis plants—an obvious benefit to growers. With it, you can determine the optimal spots within your grow room, or you can use it to determine the proper distance from your lights to your plants. A light meter/lux meter also lets you know when the light you’re using is simply not enough for maxing out yields.
Tells You When You Need To Replace HID Grow Lights
Some types of grow lights, such as MH/HPS bulbs, have a limited lifespan. In due time, they get increasingly dimmer, and this is why they need to be replaced at certain intervals. The light meter can reliably let you know when you need to replace your MH/HPS bulbs.
Prevents Some Plant Problems
Both insufficient light and too much light can be bad for your cannabis plants. The light meter can help you ensure healthy plant growth throughout all stages. The proper amount of light, not too much and not too little, will reduce stress on your plants, preventing further issues like light burn and bleaching.

WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL AMOUNT OF LIGHT FOR CANNABIS PLANTS?
How much light your plants need will vary based on each phase of the grow cycle. Seedlings can’t take a lot of light, but once a plant is in veg, it needs just about all the light it can get. This allows plants to grow vigorously to their full potential. The same goes for flowering. Although plants in bloom thrive under a different spectrum of light than during veg, they still need a lot of light exposure to make sure the buds are as big as they can be.

HOW MUCH LIGHT DO YOUR CANNABIS PLANTS REQUIRE?

• Clones and seedlings: 5,000–7,000 lux
• Vegetative growth: 15,000–50,000 lux
• Flowering: 45,000–65,000 lux
• Maximum recommended amount of light: 75,000 lux

What about even more light? At some point, increasing the light beyond a threshold plant can manage will actually diminish returns. Said differently, once you reach about 85,000 lux, it’s simply too much. Some strains may already show signs of light stress at only 75,000 lux, with the risk of light bleaching increasing at over 80,000 lux. To keep it safe, it is best to stay at or below 75,000 lux.

HOW TO MEASURE HOW MUCH LIGHT YOUR PLANTS ARE GETTING
When you use a lux meter to measure the amount of light in your grow room, make sure you measure at the height of your plants’ canopy. This allows you to determine how much light they’re actually receiving. Even if the distribution of light across your growing area may appear even, you should take a number of measurements in different spots of the grow room. This is how you can find blind spots or optimal spots that are not always obvious to the unaided eye. When you locate these spots, you can rearrange your plants accordingly for best results.

A NOTE ABOUT LED LIGHTS
A lux meter works with all types of “white” lights, which includes HID, CFL, and white LEDs (COB LEDs). However, it doesn’t work with “purple” LED lights, which emit a purple light due to their combination of blue and red LEDs. Unfortunately, most cheaper LED lights are these purple types. So, if you use one of these for growing, you would have to rely on manufacturer information about how much light the product really emits. Alternatively, you could obtain a light meter that can be used with these types of LEDs. But be aware that these often cost a lot more.

 

[InTheShed]

I bought a cheap lux meter off Amazon to get a better idea on how high to run my light since there are no manufacturer specs for our custom built lights. Here's a good quick read from the folks at Royal Queen.

Thanks farside! That's a heaping helping of good info (sorry, it's 10 minutes to 2 am and I am still not caught up on all the journals I've missed over the last few days ).

I just got a $25 gift card to amazon from someone at work, so a lux meter may be where it's going to go. After all, if my strips are 3000K, then the lux to PPFD calc should be easy!

 

[farside05]

I've just used the lux numbers from the article with no conversion. The initial plan was to test the penetration at various power levels and note the drop off at different heights. Example. 100 percent, find the distance from the top of the tallest cola that is 70,000 lux, then measure 6 inches and 12 inches down and note the drop off. Turn it down to 75 percent, find the distance that is 70,000 lux, then measure 6 and 12 inches down from that. The power level and distance that shows the least drop off should be the most efficient. I've never really done that yet. I've just been blasting them at 100 percent and lowered the light to where the top cola of the tallest plant is getting 70,000 lux. May not be the best, but that's where I currently stand.

 

[NorCaliwood]

I've bleached my share with HIDs. So now I use wats called a spreader. a little piece super reflective metal with holes drilled thru it that clamps on the bulb base,, and is bent to offset it from the light and shaped like a paddle to block the direct light.. Kind of like a diffuser for HID. It does away with that hot spot and lowers heat so I can drop my hood 12-14 inches, kind of a big thing seeing I run 1500 watt HID lights which are 50% hotter than a 1000Watter. from top of the canopy witha 4 foot light rail. You talk about lumms jumping up there fast with every inch closer.

Well I'm off to meander down the road... GL

 

[HiddenGrow]

1500w sound beyond intense at 12"

 

[newty]

 

[Kismet]

Congrats on getting the new lights up and blazing and thanks for the pics of the build. Looking forward to seeing how the girls respond to them the next few weeks. You definitely upped your grow game .

 

[Piña Delores]

Good job on the light Shed, going to need shades in there now . Your girls are going to love them.

 

[InTheShed]

I've never really done that yet.

LOL!

"Do as I say, not as I do."
—farside05 2018

Sounds like such a great idea you should give it a shot!

1500w sound beyond intense at 12"

If it's a piece of metal with holes in it then it's blocking a specific percentage of the light so I doubt it's close to 1500w below the light. I would think metal window screen would have a similar diffusing effect with less light loss, but what do I know!

Thanks Ms newty!

Congrats on getting the new lights up and blazing and thanks for the pics of the build. Looking forward to seeing how the girls respond to them the next few weeks. You definitely upped your grow game .

Thanks Kis, they certainly look happy in there with that even blanket of light . Let the growth spurts begin!

Good job on the light Shed, going to need shades in there now . Your girls are going to love them.

Funny thing is it doesn't seem as blinding in there as the Mars 300. Maybe because they had to squeeze all those LEDs in a tiny little space. I mean, it's bright and all...I just don't walk into a tree after I've looked at them like I would do with the Mars!

 

[farside05]

LOL!
"Do as I say, not as I do."
—farside05 2018

Sounds like such a great idea you should give it a shot!

I've just been a bit on the lazy side in the tent and in life this last couple months. I started into it once and realized it was going to take longer than 5 minutes and quit. Also grew Christmas trees this grow because I didn't feel like training them. Finally put some pipe cleaners to them a couple days ago (7.5 weeks mark) to pull them apart a little. Today maybe the tides turned. Got up at 6 AM and decided to investigate the water leak in my refrigerator. I had a pressure regulator go out in the house around the first of October and it blew something in the fridge since pressure went to over 110 psi. I turned the water supply off to the fridge and have been buying bagged ice since. After a whopping 5 minutes of diagnosis, I found that it was coming from the water filter on the fridge. Disconnected the water filter, no leak, and I have ice again. New filter is on order and will be here Thursday. Probably should have spent the 5 minutes months ago. The rest of the day I've been cleaning, washing walls, finally got up the Christmas tree, etc., 11 hours worth.