Adding UVB lighting to Hps/MH

ttystikk · Nov 9, 2012

dubble bubble said:
agreed! lets see some results! maybe ill do a side by side with and without in a month or two...

Yeah, now we're talkin'! I agree wtih Fatzip who said to watch out for light burning. My guess is that the UVB has to be applied very early, possibly even as early as late veg and at a relatively low intensity, especially to start with. The plant should be given a chance to harden off to it, at which point raising intensity levels -and expectations for positive results!- makes more sense.

If it's good results we want, we should ask the guy who's had some- and at the moment, the man who comes to mind is Flowamasta.

ttystikk · Nov 9, 2012

dubble bubble said:
Never knocked uvb bulbs. ... And I really cant afford much more heat in my garden. Definitely looking forward to seeing some results with these though

I hear you on the heat front, brother- if this works, it will be well worth figuring out how to keep an extra 150watts per 9 square feet cool. It's not all that much; often, a few tweaks will get you where you need to go.

FatZip818OG · Nov 9, 2012

ttystikk said:
Yeah, now we're talkin'! I agree wtih Fatzip who said to watch out for light burning. My guess is that the UVB has to be applied very early, possibly even as early as late veg and at a relatively low intensity, especially to start with. The plant should be given a chance to harden off to it, at which point raising intensity levels -and expectations for positive results!- makes more sense.

If it's good results we want, we should ask the guy who's had some- and at the moment, the man who comes to mind is Flowamasta.

i agree with you as well, training the plant early on should help, because i have taken vegging moms under t5 and tossed them outside to bud as i was done with those strains and the leaves did the same thing in the real sun, after a few dropped the new growth did not act sissy like, it was girthy and stout leaves, much nicer from the newer growth, so with that in mind i believe those moms weren't trained for such real uvb so they acted like my indoor plants did when i gave them too much too close without training them realy

urbanfog · Nov 9, 2012

I had great results with adding a 330watt CMH to my grow last season

FatZip818OG · Nov 9, 2012

never hear of a bulb like that

urbanfog · Nov 9, 2012

FatZip818OG said:
never hear of a bulb like that

Ceramic metal halide, runs off certain mag mh ballasts. The one I run is 330 watt but open air . Adds UV to the spectrum

ttystikk · Nov 10, 2012

urbanfog said:
Ceramic metal halide, runs off certain mag mh ballasts. The one I run is 330 watt but open air . Adds UV to the spectrum

Okay, here's where part of the problem lies. CMH bulbs provide intense blue, violet and near ultraviolet. This is known as 'UVA' and isn't helpful to the goal of more trichomes. There are different bands of ultraviolet light, and each does different things.

Further away from visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum is UVB. This more intense form of light is apparently what the trichomes are attuned to, as they're transparent to it. Their innate globe shape focuses this light onto the microscopic surface- the 'pad' inside where the cannabinoids are actually made by the plant. These secretions then exude out into the globe, becoming part of it, making it bigger and thus able to capture yet more UVB.

We need bulbs that emit UVB radiation specificically to achieve this effect. That's why the focus on reptile bulbs that are specifically designed to emit exactly this bandwidth to stimulate bone density in lizards. Mercury vapor lighting used to be built into sunlamps back in the 1950s. These lamps were extremely powerful and were eventully discontinued due to their links to causing skin cancer. They emit the UVB we're looking for, and I followed someone's link to a self ballasted MV screw-in bulb: https://www.petmountain.com

Dutchdaisy · Nov 24, 2012

Seem like a lot of trouble for what amounts to nothing much, if you need reptile lights for tri production you're doing things wrong before that, I'm growing under split bulbs, 600HPS/400MH, Blackwater from Cali Connection, it get encrusted with Tri's there'd be nowhere for any more,, Grow On!!

Mississip Hip · Nov 25, 2012

ttystikk said:
Okay, here's where part of the problem lies. CMH bulbs provide intense blue, violet and near ultraviolet. This is known as 'UVA' and isn't helpful to the goal of more trichomes. There are different bands of ultraviolet light, and each does different things.

Further away from visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum is UVB. This more intense form of light is apparently what the trichomes are attuned to, as they're transparent to it. Their innate globe shape focuses this light onto the microscopic surface- the 'pad' inside where the cannabinoids are actually made by the plant. These secretions then exude out into the globe, becoming part of it, making it bigger and thus able to capture yet more UVB.

We need bulbs that emit UVB radiation specificically to achieve this effect. That's why the focus on reptile bulbs that are specifically designed to emit exactly this bandwidth to stimulate bone density in lizards. Mercury vapor lighting used to be built into sunlamps back in the 1950s. These lamps were extremely powerful and were eventully discontinued due to their links to causing skin cancer. They emit the UVB we're looking for, and I followed someone's link to a self ballasted MV screw-in bulb:

linky no worky...

ttystikk · Nov 26, 2012

Mississip Hip said:
linky no worky...

petmountain.com, then look for reptile lights. I'm looking at the self ballasted mercury vapor bulbs, either 100 or 150w.

Sarlacc · Jan 3, 2013

I thought UVb increased trichome production? My mate runs a reptile lamp and the budz get much frostier than mine. He told me it's the plants way of defending itself from this spectrum

caveman4.20 · Jan 3, 2013

Does a regular t8 typical black light have enough uvb in it or is it mostly uva, and if it is Uva mostly will it still be effective i think what i have here in the box is 48 watts?

Natural · May 25, 2013

Yes..totally been thinking a lot about this subject. What is truly needed is some testing of UV-B emitting bulbs..intensity vs. distance(inverse square law) and actual nanometer measures. It seems most bulbs have UV filter built in, as is most glass shield reflectors, quartz being the only glass that doesn't filter UV.
I've been looking at mostly tanning bulbs and UV curing lights...being that these are not toys as no UV light emitter is, the other choices start to slim, most likely for safety reasons.
I did manage to locate some short arc mercury vapor bulbs that have a clear dome compared to the foggy reptile lights of the same wattage. here

A write-up under on the matter...here

and an even better explanation from a Canadian hippy..which is pretty interesting

Pancho-N-Lefty · May 26, 2013

Thanks natural... nice video and informative.

noone88 · May 28, 2013

I've been trying to do more grows with UVB (dual-arc, 10k spectrum bulbs, and 860w CDM). Unfortunately, I can't notice a difference unless I have access to reliable lab testing.

I am still unsure when to use UVB/UVA. I've read some reports that it's only good for finishing, but other notably growers have said they use it only for the first few weeks.

Adding UVB lighting to Hps/MH

Adding UVB lighting to Hps/MH

ttystikk

ttystikk

FatZip818OG

urbanfog

FatZip818OG

urbanfog

ttystikk

Dutchdaisy

Mississip Hip

ttystikk

Sarlacc

caveman4.20

Natural

Pancho-N-Lefty

noone88

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