Quote Originally Posted by Methyl3
Basically, the more light you can provide the better yield will be had.
For most practical purposes you're right - more lumens mean bigger buds. That's because in most gardens, light output is the bottle neck. However, plants suffer radiation damage from the sun just like humans. Get enough light and they suffer from it, get even more and they die.

But more importantly there is a point of dimishing returns at a certain point, and I want to know what those are for different plants, if anyone knows.

Quote Originally Posted by Methyl3
Remember you are trying to replicate the sun and if I recall correctly the avg tropical sun emits like 10,000 lumens per square foot.
So obviously getting a plant from temperate regions where the plant has to adapt and funtion best at much lower rates of light would be a bad thing then? Now we're getting somewhere.

Quote Originally Posted by Methyl3
I'm sure there is a point where growth rate is maximized and diminished returns is apparent, but this is not a point that most growers reach or are even aware of, if at all.
Ok, so we disagree on this one point. I think the point of diminishing returns ( ie. not buds getting smaller, but getting less effect per watt used ) will start at 50.000-80.000 lumens. This is from reading at OG and countless other sources. That's why I want a plant that can take big amounts of light...

s12fever: Thanks, but I like to grow just one kind of plant, and also I want a strain I can read about first. It's cool of you though, so thanks again.