choader

My wife had an interesting idea. Is it possible to use a light outside to augment sunlight? I ask because the best spot to plant only gets 3-4hrs direct light a day but is near power. Could I hook up a light to supplement the sun? What type would I use? Any other considerations?

Thanks.

The Choader

Resin_king

Your best bet would be high pressure sodium. Alot of people use these and it sumulates the sun. So does metal halide but they are more expensive the bulbs are bigger, hotter and hps lasts longer.They are about 100 bucks for a 400-1,000 watter.Go to ebay.com and type in HPS.Put it outside for the light parts of the day and build a box with a big fan in it.Put the light in the top and place them inside under this during the non sunny parts of the day.You could also get the security type and place it by your plant.

__________________
When You're below me, I'm God. When you're above me, I'm Satan. When you're in front of me, I'm you--Icemane

choader

I have it in a corner of the yard, near a 6ft block wall. I could rig the light below the fence line and have it on only during the daylight hours, say 5A - 7:30P. It could be as close to the plant as necessary. I could even put it on an adjustable arm.

hmmmmmmmmmmm.

The Choader

Resin_king

Not as close as you want.Those puppies are hot! You would need for them to be 3-4 feet away and your plants will grow like mad! With the sun + a 100 watter you will have some trees!

__________________
When You're below me, I'm God. When you're above me, I'm Satan. When you're in front of me, I'm you--Icemane

swift4_20

It wouldn't be necessary for you to run the light that much.Take note of what time it gets the best light and take note of when it really stops getting light and have a light timer to turn on your HPS at that time.This will prevent you from having a costly energy bill.

__________________
To live,to learn,and to grow.-Jerry Garcia

choader

I would actually run it from 5A-11A, then again from 3P-8P (give or take). The location gets direct sun between 11A-3P. How big of a light should I use? You say it needs to be 3-4 feet away eh? hmmmm. I would have to train them to stay less that 3ft tall I guess.

Any other thoughts? Is this the proper forum for this thread or should I move to the lighting forum?

All input is welcome.

thanks.

The Choader

Resin_king

Well dont even think about runnin that at night. That will be obvious as hell. It might not have to be that close if it was a lower wattage. I was talkin about a 1000 watter

__________________
When You're below me, I'm God. When you're above me, I'm Satan. When you're in front of me, I'm you--Icemane

choader

I was hoping to run a 400W HPS during the day hrs listed in the previous post. I can mount it on the wall, so it adjusts (I hope). It would be about 1-2 ft. from the top of the wall. This is to make up for the lack of direct sunlight. When it's time to flower, cut it back or off.

How far away from the tops should I put it? Use the hand test? Seems like the heat would dissapate more outside than in a small closet. Does that mean they can be closer than in a closet? Thoughts??

Also planning to use bag seed (sativa probably). Train them to stay under 3ft. tall, and use the FIM technique on the tops. Maybe I should start them in pots, get them to declare sex, then plant the ladies. Maybe 2 plants at most for security reasons. Can't hide half a dozen!

Does this sound like a viable plan? Seems to me it's the best of both worlds. I'm very new at this and it's more like a science experiment. If I get some yield, yippee!! If not, hopefully I'll learn something. It's all gravy.

Thanks for the input.

The Choader

swift4_20

The heat will dissapate alot more outside.As long as you're not adding the light to the sunshine and instead using the light when you don't have direct sunlight.You would have more of a reason to worry IF you were using both simultaneously.Go with the hand test.It sounds like to me there will not be a problem with your grow.There is an infinite amount of other things to learn on the way.

__________________
To live,to learn,and to grow.-Jerry Garcia