Tricomedome
Well-Known Member
Do you think this setup with side light worth it or waste? The top light is a 8000, Thanks
Pictures of side light
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Delps8
Well-Known Member
The only light that's wasted is light that hits the floor. 
I see a great opportunity; two steps — adjust the 800 and use the Vipar as a fill light.
Cant the 800 so that the surface of the light is parallel to the top of the canopy. You'll need to spend $25 on Unit-T light meter to adjust things well but it's money very well spent. You've got a good amount of money tied up in that light and a nice sized tent so you'll more than get your money's worth. You'll need the meter to fine tune the "attitude" of the light to match the canopy.
I'm assuming that you're on board with tweaking things for get the most out of your grow. Feel free to disregard if you just "grow with the flow".
The rest of the story…
The reason to get a meter is that light levels drop off incredibly quickly - the human eye cannot gauge the intensity of a grow light. Looking at the plant on the right, if the top cola is at X µmols, the colas on the left side of the plant are X-300µmols. That's a WAG having used an Apogee for the past 2 years. Snag a light meter and sample different spots on the canopy - it's an eye opener.
Here's how I canted my Growcraft to provide an even light cast to a grow last year.
You can use the Vipar + canting the Mars to even out the light cast. It looks strange to have a light that's not level but it does the trick.
I have of four grow lights. In veg, I use my veg light but will add my Vipar XS 1500, as well. In flower, for one grow I used my Growcraft + the Vipar + a Mars SP 3000 to light the 2' x 4' tent. That grow that yielded 26 ounces, 21 from the big plant that had the Growcraft and the Mars. The XS 1500 was on the little plant that ended up at 5 oz. If you've got the lights, use 'em.
The goal is to get your grow to the "light saturation point" which is 800-1000µmols though some strains in a good grow environment will thrive with more than 1k. The reason for all of this is that cannabis loves light and crop yield and crop quality increase until you hit the LSP. You'll need to make sure everything else is dress right dress but, if they are, you will end up with a lot of weed.
I see a great opportunity; two steps — adjust the 800 and use the Vipar as a fill light.
Cant the 800 so that the surface of the light is parallel to the top of the canopy. You'll need to spend $25 on Unit-T light meter to adjust things well but it's money very well spent. You've got a good amount of money tied up in that light and a nice sized tent so you'll more than get your money's worth. You'll need the meter to fine tune the "attitude" of the light to match the canopy.
I'm assuming that you're on board with tweaking things for get the most out of your grow. Feel free to disregard if you just "grow with the flow".
The rest of the story…
The reason to get a meter is that light levels drop off incredibly quickly - the human eye cannot gauge the intensity of a grow light. Looking at the plant on the right, if the top cola is at X µmols, the colas on the left side of the plant are X-300µmols. That's a WAG having used an Apogee for the past 2 years. Snag a light meter and sample different spots on the canopy - it's an eye opener.
Here's how I canted my Growcraft to provide an even light cast to a grow last year.
You can use the Vipar + canting the Mars to even out the light cast. It looks strange to have a light that's not level but it does the trick.
I have of four grow lights. In veg, I use my veg light but will add my Vipar XS 1500, as well. In flower, for one grow I used my Growcraft + the Vipar + a Mars SP 3000 to light the 2' x 4' tent. That grow that yielded 26 ounces, 21 from the big plant that had the Growcraft and the Mars. The XS 1500 was on the little plant that ended up at 5 oz. If you've got the lights, use 'em.
The goal is to get your grow to the "light saturation point" which is 800-1000µmols though some strains in a good grow environment will thrive with more than 1k. The reason for all of this is that cannabis loves light and crop yield and crop quality increase until you hit the LSP. You'll need to make sure everything else is dress right dress but, if they are, you will end up with a lot of weed.
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Tricomedome
Well-Known Member
I'm always up for tweaking my grow. THANKS
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Tricomedome
Well-Known Member
Hello again, when I use the lux meter it pretty much reads about 40-50 lux across the board so does that sound about right or am I reading something wrong. Thanks
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Had to check my light meter to make sure I had my units straight.
40k to 50k lux (my habit is to use "k" instead of "000") is roughly equal 620 to 775µmols.
Light meters are sensitive to the green part of the spectrum and not very sensitive to blue or red light. And that's a pisser because plants are more sensitive to red and blue (that's the region labeled "PAR" for "photosynthetically active radiation"). So the best that we can do is come up with an approximate value. And that's all we really need to get a good harvest.
Your light is a "full spectrum" light which has a good balance of blue, green, and red so I'd calculate the PPPFD using a conversion factor of 0.0155.
This table shows the approximate values for different lights. If you go with 0.015 or 0.0155, you'll be in the ballpark. And ballpark is close enough.
How does that Work?
If the spectrum had mostly blue in it, a conversion factor of 0.014 range would be more accurate. For a light that puts out mostly red, I would go with 0.016. The reason for the difference conversion factors is to compensate for the fact that a lux meter is designed to mimic what the human eye can see. If we want to convert that to what a plant can use, we need to convert the lux reading.
How big a difference is that - not a lot.
A dedicated veg light, which is heavy in the blue part of the spectrum, would be 0.014 x 40k ≈ 560µmols; a balanced light like you have would be 0.0155 x 40k ≈ 620µmols, and a dedicated flower light would be 0.016 x 40k ≈ 640µmols. The difference between the extremes is < 100µmols ("micromols").
The big issue, as I see it, is to get you plants to the light saturation point ("LSP"), which is 800-1000µmols, and see how the plants react. Once you've got your light levels in that range, check your plants. If they turn away from the light or start to "taco" or "canoe", drop your light levels (10% or 100µmols), wait a few days, and then try increasing the light levels.
You should be able to get your grow to the LSP my mid-veg (check any of my grow journals for details). If not, there's a very good chance that something's amiss in your grow. Check screenshot below (from a Bugbee video).
Light readings vary significantly from one location to another and even from one part of a cola to another. The bud in this photo is getting 63770 * 0.0162 ≈ 1033 µmols. If I move the light meter down just 1", that would drop quite a bit.
The exact number is not that important - it's just a way to get you in the ballpark so you can "adjust fire" from there. Feed your plants lotsa light and they will reward you well.
(*The 0.016 conversion factor is used because it's a Growcraft Full Cycle light (flower) and the manufacturer provides third party test results that provide both the lux and PPFD values.)
Do you think this setup with side light worth it or waste? The top light is a 8000, Thanks
this side light would be much more effective if you could angle 20 -35 degrees down ward like a 4 pm sun..
some wires at bottom side of fixture pulled to and anchored on the wall, give u angles to play with .. hole right on side of fixture in pic to use..
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Tricomedome
Well-Known Member
Nice, Thanks for some great info!!!!Had to check my light meter to make sure I had my units straight.
40k to 50k lux (my habit is to use "k" instead of "000") is roughly equal 620 to 775µmols.
Light meters are sensitive to the green part of the spectrum and not very sensitive to blue or red light. And that's a pisser because plants are more sensitive to red and blue (that's the region labeled "PAR" for "photosynthetically active radiation"). So the best that we can do is come up with an approximate value. And that's all we really need to get a good harvest.
Your light is a "full spectrum" light which has a good balance of blue, green, and red so I'd calculate the PPPFD using a conversion factor of 0.0155.
This table shows the approximate values for different lights. If you go with 0.015 or 0.0155, you'll be in the ballpark. And ballpark is close enough.
How does that Work?
If the spectrum had mostly blue in it, a conversion factor of 0.014 range would be more accurate. For a light that puts out mostly red, I would go with 0.016. The reason for the difference conversion factors is to compensate for the fact that a lux meter is designed to mimic what the human eye can see. If we want to convert that to what a plant can use, we need to convert the lux reading.
How big a difference is that - not a lot.
A dedicated veg light, which is heavy in the blue part of the spectrum, would be 0.014 x 40k ≈ 560µmols; a balanced light like you have would be 0.0155 x 40k ≈ 620µmols, and a dedicated flower light would be 0.016 x 40k ≈ 640µmols. The difference between the extremes is < 100µmols ("micromols").
The big issue, as I see it, is to get you plants to the light saturation point ("LSP"), which is 800-1000µmols, and see how the plants react. Once you've got your light levels in that range, check your plants. If they turn away from the light or start to "taco" or "canoe", drop your light levels (10% or 100µmols), wait a few days, and then try increasing the light levels.
You should be able to get your grow to the LSP my mid-veg (check any of my grow journals for details). If not, there's a very good chance that something's amiss in your grow. Check screenshot below (from a Bugbee video).
Light readings vary significantly from one location to another and even from one part of a cola to another. The bud in this photo is getting 63770 * 0.0162 ≈ 1033 µmols. If I move the light meter down just 1", that would drop quite a bit.
The exact number is not that important - it's just a way to get you in the ballpark so you can "adjust fire" from there. Feed your plants lotsa light and they will reward you well.
(*The 0.016 conversion factor is used because it's a Growcraft Full Cycle light (flower) and the manufacturer provides third party test results that provide both the lux and PPFD values.)
judithwdailey
420 Member
good info.Had to check my light meter to make sure I had my units straight.
40k to 50k lux (my habit is to use "k" instead of "000") is roughly equal 620 to 775µmols.
Light meters are sensitive to the green part of the spectrum and not very sensitive to blue or red light. And that's a pisser because plants are more sensitive to red and blue (that's the region labeled "PAR" for "photosynthetically active radiation"). So the best that we can do is come up with an approximate value. And that's all we really need to get a good harvest.
Your light is a "full spectrum" light which has a good balance of blue, green, and red so I'd calculate the PPPFD using a conversion factor of 0.0155.
This table shows the approximate values for different lights. If you go with 0.015 or 0.0155, you'll be in the ballpark. And ballpark is close enough.
How does that Work?
If the spectrum had mostly blue in it, a conversion factor of 0.014 range would be more accurate. For a light that puts out mostly red, I would go with 0.016. The reason for the difference conversion factors is to compensate for the fact that a lux meter is designed to mimic what the human eye can see. If we want to convert that to what a plant can use, we need to convert the lux reading.
How big a difference is that - not a lot.
A dedicated veg light, which is heavy in the blue part of the spectrum, would be 0.014 x 40k ≈ 560µmols; a balanced light like you have would be 0.0155 x 40k ≈ 620µmols, and a dedicated flower light would be 0.016 x 40k ≈ 640µmols. The difference between the extremes is < 100µmols ("micromols").
The big issue, as I see it, is to get you plants to the light saturation point ("LSP"), which is 800-1000µmols, and see how the plants react. Once you've got your light levels in that range, check your plants. If they turn away from the light or start to "taco" or "canoe", drop your light levels (10% or 100µmols), wait a few days, and then try increasing the light levels.
You should be able to get your grow to the LSP my mid-veg (check any of my grow journals for details). If not, there's a very good chance that something's amiss in your grow. Check screenshot below (from a Bugbee video).
Light readings vary significantly from one location to another and even from one part of a cola to another. The bud in this photo is getting 63770 * 0.0162 ≈ 1033 µmols. If I move the light meter down just 1", that would drop quite a bit.
The exact number is not that important - it's just a way to get you in the ballpark so you can "adjust fire" from there. Feed your plants lotsa light and they will reward you well.
(*The 0.016 conversion factor is used because it's a Growcraft Full Cycle light (flower) and the manufacturer provides third party test results that provide both the lux and PPFD values.)
Mayne
Well-Known Member
Thats the meter i use also. But i "changed"some things that give me a pretty dam good PAR assumption. I calibrated it using the Apogee EPAR meter,Had to check my light meter to make sure I had my units straight.
40k to 50k lux (my habit is to use "k" instead of "000") is roughly equal 620 to 775µmols.
Light meters are sensitive to the green part of the spectrum and not very sensitive to blue or red light. And that's a pisser because plants are more sensitive to red and blue (that's the region labeled "PAR" for "photosynthetically active radiation"). So the best that we can do is come up with an approximate value. And that's all we really need to get a good harvest.
Your light is a "full spectrum" light which has a good balance of blue, green, and red so I'd calculate the PPPFD using a conversion factor of 0.0155.
This table shows the approximate values for different lights. If you go with 0.015 or 0.0155, you'll be in the ballpark. And ballpark is close enough.
How does that Work?
If the spectrum had mostly blue in it, a conversion factor of 0.014 range would be more accurate. For a light that puts out mostly red, I would go with 0.016. The reason for the difference conversion factors is to compensate for the fact that a lux meter is designed to mimic what the human eye can see. If we want to convert that to what a plant can use, we need to convert the lux reading.
How big a difference is that - not a lot.
A dedicated veg light, which is heavy in the blue part of the spectrum, would be 0.014 x 40k ≈ 560µmols; a balanced light like you have would be 0.0155 x 40k ≈ 620µmols, and a dedicated flower light would be 0.016 x 40k ≈ 640µmols. The difference between the extremes is < 100µmols ("micromols").
The big issue, as I see it, is to get you plants to the light saturation point ("LSP"), which is 800-1000µmols, and see how the plants react. Once you've got your light levels in that range, check your plants. If they turn away from the light or start to "taco" or "canoe", drop your light levels (10% or 100µmols), wait a few days, and then try increasing the light levels.
You should be able to get your grow to the LSP my mid-veg (check any of my grow journals for details). If not, there's a very good chance that something's amiss in your grow. Check screenshot below (from a Bugbee video).
Light readings vary significantly from one location to another and even from one part of a cola to another. The bud in this photo is getting 63770 * 0.0162 ≈ 1033 µmols. If I move the light meter down just 1", that would drop quite a bit.
The exact number is not that important - it's just a way to get you in the ballpark so you can "adjust fire" from there. Feed your plants lotsa light and they will reward you well.
(*The 0.016 conversion factor is used because it's a Growcraft Full Cycle light (flower) and the manufacturer provides third party test results that provide both the lux and PPFD values.)
Ive actaully did 3 meters, The Uni_t, a hydroFarm, and a Dr. Lux meter, all are maybe 3-4 par off of eachother. But like you said, gives a good measurement of "Attitude" and thats the perfect way of putting it. /
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Smart move to calibrate. What light and conversion factor are you using?
The HydroFarm meter has some issues with accuracy. Snag a copy of this document "Accurate PAR Measurement: Comparison of Eight Quantum Sensor Models" (Google for the link that will take you to the Apogee site). The folks at Apogee told me that they also found that the HydroFarm meter lost accuracy pretty quickly. They knew I owned an Apogee when I called so that makes me think that they were less likely to be blowing smoke.
If you're using iOS, you can download an app to check the accuracy of your PAR meter. Check out the app called "Clear Sky". You can also hit the web page "Clear Sky for Quantum Sensors" but the app makes it a little easier.
