mighty_nugs

ok gurus, heres another one for ya

how big of a difference does spectral distribution make? eventually when i construct my next cabinet (quite a long way off) i want to upgrade my lighting from the 150 watt hps.. and im considering either a 250w hps with a mh conversion bulb OR about 300w bank of floro pet lights .. various spectral distributions.. at least a couple UV-B lights in there

i am pretty sure the answer here will be to try the flors for experimentation sake.. and if i dont like the results to supplement with the hps.. but id prefer to lose the hps if this turns out better

anyway i think i found some optimal lights to use here.. pic A is a zoomed flora sun aquatic lamp(flower)... pic B is a zoomed coral sun lamp(veg).. zoomed has a 10% UV-B bulb that sparks my interest.. but no good info on it.. so pic C is for an exo terra 8% UV-B

i prefer to LST and keep the plants short with many colas... so i was thinking like a 5 wall cage of 24'' 20w various bulbs(4 walls and adjustable overhead).. or maybe taller on the sides and short ones for overhead

anyway what kind of configuration would some of ya'll put these into? how many of each type of the 3 lamps??

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DickCheese

I have had very good results with this cab. with 2 45W coolwhite CFL's a 65W blue spectrum CFL, and a 70W HPS, thay veg just fine, under a bank of 6-45W CFL's also.

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mighty_nugs

yes i know ... mine veg just fine under a 150w hps now
but i want them to do better
notice that those lights peak right around the 450nm (blue) and 660nm (red) ranges... unless im mistaken thats *just right*.. im tryin to figure out what ratio of the 2 i should use with minor UV-B in the background... or whether or not im lookin for a different spectrum altogether :P

mighty_nugs

i was thinking probably mostly flora sun since they are specifically for plant life and have peaks in the 660 range for flower and also peaks in the blue area.. w/ a couple of coral suns to hit that 450 blue range sweet spot
like a 3:2:1 flora:coral:UV ratio

DickCheese

that sounds like a good idea, your in for a ride, getting the most from your grow is what i strive for also, but a real brain wrecker. LOL, it will keep ya on your toes and open to new things, and ideas, knowing what will help and hert your grow is a must to know, and im prity sure you know the diff. any help I can give I will, anything i learn from you I thank you...

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"The true measure of your worth includes all benefits others have gave for your success"
"Belief gets in the way of knowing,, experience and belief will soon follow"

mighty_nugs

perhaps 3 footers made horizantal and the plant trained heavily... as you can see its still a project under design
i forgot to mention that all these lights come in many sizes / wattages

DickCheese

I like that idea and have used 2' lights like that with good results. I also did alot of tie down of branches. with that grow.

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"The true measure of your worth includes all benefits others have gave for your success"
"Belief gets in the way of knowing,, experience and belief will soon follow"

Slo Rated Friend

Im currently designin' something very similar to what you are proposing. Ive done some research on aquatic life and aquarium pet lighting and my conclusion is that they dont have nearly the lumens per watt ratios as some other interior Fluoro lighting (Ive found up to 95/watt). They have great looking spec graphs but how much of that great light do they really put out? Also, why are you so interested in the UV-b? The plants will stay short without it. . .

That red spectrum bulb looks very interesting . . . would you mind PMing me the url for the company/product? Danke!

BaadPuTthyKat

The UVb light is for trich development overdrive i suspect... Good idea too!

Beener's bank of actinics is worth copying, & represents one of the ways you could use a bank of flouros...2 banks, without a HID 'assisting', would probably be best done vertically, creating a flouro-corridor. With say an 18" gap for plants between them, the light penetration would be great.

Using lamps that only produce 'photosynthetically useful radiation' is the ideal we are looking for..if these are a little less efficient in lumens/watt terms, that is what they should be! The plants aren't eating lumens.. The UVb is on my shopping list, along with an actinic for me. 4-5ft'ers, and one of each, just to supplement the HIDs light spectrum.

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Beener

There are much more powerful versions available of a lot of these aquatic and repitle lights. It's dependent on the fixture.

Standard versions are of typical wattage ( 48"=40W etc.). But there are HO (high output) & VHO (very high output) fixtures that can produce much stronger light from a tube fluoro.

These fixtures "cost" a good chunk of cheddar. As much as a HID system in many cases. The bulbs are usually the same price as standard versions.

The Actinic bulbs are self reflected also.... There's a coating on the inner glass tube, that allows you to position the bulb directionally.

I chose the standard bulbs because I'm using them as supplemental lighting. But if someone wanted too, they could run the VHO set-up as a sole lighting source.

If it hasn't been done yet...take a look at the link in my signature called "spectral distribution of various bulbs". There's some very good info there that would be good to look at if your considering customizing your lighting set-up.

I don't recall the actual numbers of the top of my head, but when I set up my Actinic tube fluoro's I used a light intensity meter. I know I had fairly good numbers.

I agree with Kat. Lumens means nothing if they're not in the right place.

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Beener