Side/additional lighting.

[Buddahbear]

Does it work? I was thinking about adding some 6500K CFLs to my vegetation cycle (I have an 1,000w HPS). Eventually I'm going to have a seperate room with a nice 6500k fluorescent only going but for now I'm trying to get some plants popping off. What would be the best way to add compact fluorescents to light my plants (in addition to my 1,000w HPS)?

[kindprincess]

GE daylight tube flourecents... they are the most awesome for veg i have ever seen...

as for side lighting with cfl's, all it does is help. the more the merrier (running a low budget flower box, 4 48" tubes, 16 cfl's)

love, kp

[Flower Child]

http://www.growell.co.uk/p/1587/Envirolites__Compact_Fluorescent_Grow_Lamps.html

I tried 6 of these "or similar" for side lighting...they were the biggest on the market at the time
My experience was... it ain't no HID... I think flouros are good for propagation only...thats about it
FC

[harris7]

crazy i was just about to start a thread on this. I've read on this forum that people using side lights in flowering dont notice a visual difference but it shows up on the scale. and it was significant, and worth while.

to the post above. what do you mean by propagation only? propagation is used to mean grow. and it literally means to reproduce. so what do you mean?

I hope you dont mind that i pop in some more specific questions.

What is the best way to side light?
Do you want to shine it anywhere on the plant because it dosn't matter what part makes the sugars they still go to the buds?
or, do you want to shine it on the buds that done see much light?
does it matter?

thanks, i just put two 25watt cfls over my flowering plants yesterday

[Flower Child]

Propagation is cloneing... cause flouros put out less heat...
MJ loves light from anywhere but mostly on the buds... buds form where there is the most light... side or other...
I was running 6000w over the canopy in a Green House...
Later I hung them vertically on a mover through ailse deep in the canopy
This did give me more small buds=more clipping but side lighting with flouros was a waste in my situation.. My advise if you can handle the heat is use HID.
FC

[harris7]

ya i got both HPS and MH.
and 6 25W cfls around in the flowering chamber

[Flower Child]

Look Harris it's all PAR...we are in advanced so read this:
http://www.sunmastergrowlamps.com/SunmLightandPlants.html
http://www.brillianz.co.uk/data/documents/Lumen.pdf
You have a 1000 right? 140,000 lumens tops... likely with glass (-)110,000
6x 25w 150 w? (Not PAR WATTS) just watts energy I don't have time to look it up... but maybe 6x (1000?)= or 6000 if its close to the bud...
So let me see... 1100,000 + 6000 worth the effort... couldn't hert but
I rather put up 3x250 or another maybe 80,000 and reap..
Yea gotta cook dem buds boy!!!
FC

[harris7]

i gots a 400w HPS which is 50 000lm
the cfls are acctual odor ones wich all put our 1600 lumens each,

whats the loss if they all add a gram each, kick ass.

but if i get like .25 g/w extra with em thats like an oz.

is is correct to assume this^ that i will at least that much?

hope so it isn't a big area, 2ftX 4.5ft

[Flower Child]

Ok dude what-ever
FC

[dusto2k3]

See, i was thinking the same thing. Im in a 4'x4' hydro hut running a 1k HPS. I wanted to drop some supplemental CFLs into the cnapoy? What do you thinK?

[harris7]

is that hydro hut have plants only in one dimension? as in like a normal grow. or is it like the coliseum?

the only harm is like 1$ in energy bills

[Flower Child]

It's a waste of time... drop in 150's or 250's if you want yeild
FC

[harris7]

150,250W and wer talking about acctual watts right?

well those bulbs get kind costly. we've seen some nice results using only 6 small cfs's like "children bordom of" 's tupper grow.

[bejay]

it really isnt no different than regular plant lighting dont expect to gain much by using flouros but if you are growing larger plants it can be worth it to add side hid lighting for better developed lower buds.
either that or switch to a growing style that your one light is more adequete to cover efficiently which would be sog or scrog.

[harris7]

i can see what your saying. i dont want to do a sea of green because i'ts so many plants. and the laws in canada are on a per plant basis. so i could have 50 plants in sog and produce as much as 10 or less nice LSTed plants

thats my plan. i'm going to stick with the side lighting. mainly because it isn't goin to do any harm

-a question
do lower buds only grow if they get their own light? so the plant wouldn't redirect energy from the fan leafs to the lower buds... only te buds that get light?

[bejay]

ya it has to do with how much light they get the fan leaves have nothing to do with it, lst and scrog is an attempt to even the canopy out so its more flat and more bud sites will get an equal amount of light.

[harris7]

ya i'm trying to get a flat canopy by LSTin. it work pretty well.

\i would post a pic, but i cannot these days

[good ol daze]

You've got a bigger key light than I do, but I'm getting bigger popcorn buds using two 1600 lm odor-killing CFL bulbs down low beneath a 400whps. They don't crank out nearly the light, but I've clicked them on and off to see the difference, and it's noticible to the naked eye. Even tho they're "warm" CFLs in the 2700k range, they're are bluer than the HPS...

In my opinion, the 6500k range is what you want primarily for vegetation, and HPS secondarily. I had great vegetation results with just two florex 65w flood lights. The two together didn't get nearly as hot as 1 400w HPS. The plants grew as fast as using a 400wMH, and they really bushed out.

here are the lights. They don't hang easily, but with a little ingenuity, probably rig something flexible.


http://www.lightsofamerica.com/floods.htm

[SDK SLAYER]

I recently seen a grow where the dude got busted, he had about 6 1000w HPS above the plants and a 1000w MH on the floor underneath the plants pointing up !!! needless to say, they were huge plants....so I guess the moral of this story is....more light = more buds :greenthumb:

[CaliJay]

G.O. Daze it would stand to reason that 130 watts would not get as hot as a 400 watt bulb but the 400 watt bulb puts out close to 40,000 lumens and your two floods only output 9,000. I know you say the plants grew as fast as 400 watt but that is just not true. There is science behind the photosynthesis process and given equal circumstances the floods do not promote the same amount of vegetative growth as a 400 watt HID...It just can't happen.
Sounds like you were satisfied so that is good.

Peace -Jay

[harris7]

but they didn't not nessisaraly share the same conditions, it is possible that the temp. was much better for the floods thus causing equal growth as his HID did. only because the plants were stunted from the temps.

as well they had a different spectrum. than the HPS he used. and it was in veg right?

see were i'm coming from.

[CaliJay]

Yep you are right there are other interconnected factors that make thing tricky to diagnose. I just wouldn't want growers reading this and thinking you can get more growth from less energy. It would be nice if you could...

[kindprincess]

hid makes alllll the difference...

before, and after hps... yeah, there are other factors, but this is well over an ounce of difference...

[kindprincess]

s'cuse me... that's after, and before... my bad...

i know the first isn't a great pic, but i think it's better when magnified...

love, kp:p

[secretgarden]

i have a small grow area/box if you will. I have 4 three foot floros two on top and two that i keep on either side. Since i've started doing this my plants have been a bit more bushy, ok alot more bushy rather then lanky.

[harris7]

I just nessle some CFl's in the bush created by all the plants. MAke sure the bulbs dont touch plants even CFL's will burn.

oh and learn from my mistake, dont use lamps with loose joints, sometimes the joint might give way and slam a light into your plant. burning a nice bud.

damit