Decreasing Light For Increased Trichome Prodution

paulycali · Feb 14, 2012

"Ripening Stage"

I would like to here your input on decreasing light during the ripening stage for increased trichome production

I normally raise the lights but never raise the light and dim my bulb from 1000 to 600. Sounds like i should be doing both for sure

What do you all think about this method

Should i dim my bulb?

Seems right just like mother nature

Thanks :)

CrippledArcher · Feb 14, 2012

Many people recommend switching to a MH maybe the last two weeks, I flower under a two bulb 400 watt MH and 400 HPS and no issue with frost :)

paulycali · Feb 14, 2012

Thanks!

I got a 600 watt MH bulb

Should i throw it in right now?

If i throw that MH bulb in and see more frost i am going to shit my pants because my ladies are ridonculously frosty right now. I finally dialed in my Sour Amnesia's. There looking frosty as all hell and i am super stoked

paulycali · Feb 14, 2012

How many farmers switch out there HPS bulb for a MH bulb during the last two weeks?

Thanks :)

TrichromeFan · Feb 15, 2012

I have never done any of those. Same bulb, same height, same intensity. I have never seen any proof that would support more trichrome production by changing those factors.

Anybody do any testing on these factors?

-TF

dankworth · Feb 15, 2012

TrichromeFan said:
I have never done any of those. Same bulb, same height, same intensity. I have never seen any proof that would support more trichrome production by changing those factors.

Anybody do any testing on these factors?

-TF

I have had a long-standing suspicion that my ladies would like it better if I dropped the light intensity a bit at the end of flower. Perhaps simply switching to mh would provide that.

Capulator · Feb 15, 2012

I also heard the plants enjoy the more blue spectrum the last couple/few weeks.

AND... it seems to me that sometimes I get frostier buds in the lower growth that has a little shade.

Surfr · Feb 15, 2012

Yup MH kills It for the last couple weeks. I ran two trays side by side and the MH tray was noticeably frostier and more colorful.

dankworth · Feb 15, 2012

Capulator said:
I also heard the plants enjoy the more blue spectrum the last couple/few weeks.

AND... it seems to me that sometimes I get frostier buds in the lower growth that has a little shade.

I have seen that too. I know what you are talking about, with the frosty lower buds. The diffuse lighting you get with reflectix plays a part in that in my room.

When they are putting on weight in the last half of flower, they do not want the temps and ppms of co2 that they got big and grew fast under. And when they are using up the last of their food during the flush, and no enhanced co2, they want to breathe more slowly, and have a chilled out day. Lower temps, and less light, they cannot process full wattage at the end, they do not want to be driven like that. It is stressful for them. When there is too much light and they get pissed off in a sealed room, you can smell the ethylene gas. My room is pretty bright though, maybe someone running 50 watts/ft2 might not see the need to drop their light values at the end.

And yes Surfr, I have seen how mhs absolutely give more color to the buds as well. Thanks for pointing that out.

Venom818 · Feb 15, 2012

paulycali said:
Thanks!

I got a 600 watt MH bulb

Should i throw it in right now?

If i throw that MH bulb in and see more frost i am going to shit my pants because my ladies are ridonculously frosty right now. I finally dialed in my Sour Amnesia's. There looking frosty as all hell and i am super stoked

ive heard you gain frost but lose weight,also from what i have read if u turn down your digi ballast u have to use a bulb of the same wattage for ex: if u dim to 600 u need to buy a 600 watt bulb

Venom818 · Feb 15, 2012

Capulator said:
I also heard the plants enjoy the more blue spectrum the last couple/few weeks.

AND... it seems to me that sometimes I get frostier buds in the lower growth that has a little shade.

I think the lowers get frostier because there not using all there energy to get super fat.

dankworth · Feb 15, 2012

Venom818 said:
ive heard you gain frost but lose weight,also from what i have read if u turn down your digi ballast u have to use a bulb of the same wattage for ex: if u dim to 600 u need to buy a 600 watt bulb

The digilux mh is so goddamn bright that I don't think you would miss any weight at all. And I have personally used my 1k hps and mh digiluxes at every power setting that the lumatek has. So 600, 750, 1000, super lumens (1130 watts or so). As it is dimmed, it will produce less lumens per watt. But you do not have to buy a 600 watt lamp if you dim it down to the 600 watt power setting.
A 1k dimmable ballast set at 600 watts uses 600 watts.
A 600 watt lamp on a 600 watt lumatek ballast, on super lumens, uses 660 watts and will produce more light and a slightly shifted color output than a 1k ballast set at 600 watts that is powering a 600 watt lamp.

Venom818 · Feb 15, 2012

dankworth said:
The digilux mh is so goddamn bright that I don't think you would miss any weight at all. And I have personally used my 1k hps and mh digiluxes at every power setting that the lumatek has. So 600, 750, 1000, super lumens (1130 watts or so). As it is dimmed, it will produce less lumens per watt. But you do not have to buy a 600 watt lamp if you dim it down to the 600 watt power setting.
A 1k dimmable ballast set at 600 watts uses 600 watts.
A 600 watt lamp on a 600 watt lumatek ballast, on super lumens, uses 660 watts and will produce more light and a slightly shifted color output than a 1k ballast set at 600 watts that is powering a 600 watt lamp.

i was reading that when dimming down a 1k to lets say 400 or 600 it will also change the spectrum.I have dimmed the 1k down myself but will be looking into this further.

dankworth check out this thread

paulycali · Feb 15, 2012

Thanks everyone

Lots of great info for sure

Throwing in the MH bulb today

Let see what this baby can do :)

CelticEBE · Feb 15, 2012

@Venom

I use switchable Lumateks and I dial them down. Pretty sure it's safe to dial them back on wattage, but you can't dial them up. Meaning if you put a 600 watt bulb in it, you can't crank it up to 750.

I'm on my first run with Adjust A Wings and after watching the video from the guy who created the design I was planning on changing the configuration to the "Fall setting" at week 7. I think I may also throw in my Digilux MH for the last two weeks as well.

dankworth · Feb 15, 2012

Venom818 said:
i was reading that when dimming down a 1k to lets say 400 or 600 it will also change the spectrum.I have dimmed the 1k down myself but will be looking into this further.

dankworth check out this thread

Your color-enhanced hps will show less blue the more you dim it. It turns the hps more orange at lower settings.

outwest · Feb 16, 2012

I just dialed down the 600s in my room to address some yellowing issues. I think the light was to much.

fishwhistle · Feb 16, 2012

Has anyone considered just changing up the spectrum instead of moving lights away or dimming?I have a bro who uses the sunpulse 10k lamps the last two weeks of flower,he swears it gives the plants a bit of a sunburn and the plants send everything they got to the leaves and flowers to protect them from the harsh light,it seems to work too,his buds are the frostiest ive ever seen!

LEDhead · Feb 21, 2012

How about using a LED in the last couple weeks? Think this will have the same effect?

BirdDog1 · Feb 21, 2012

LEDhead said:
How about using a LED in the last couple weeks? Think this will have the same effect?

Has anyone ran a side by side, watt to watt test with LEDs vs HPS?

Decreasing Light For Increased Trichome Prodution

Decreasing Light For Increased Trichome Prodution

How many people either raise there light and dim there bulb during the ripening stage

I do

I dont

paulycali

CrippledArcher

paulycali

paulycali

TrichromeFan

dankworth

Capulator

likes to smell trees.

Surfr

Just cruisin....

dankworth

Venom818

Venom818

dankworth

Venom818

paulycali

CelticEBE

dankworth

outwest

Premium Gardener

fishwhistle

LEDhead

BirdDog1

Decreasing Light For Increased Trichome Prodution

Decreasing Light For Increased Trichome Prodution

How many people either raise there light and dim there bulb during the ripening stage

I do

I dont

paulycali

CrippledArcher

paulycali

paulycali

TrichromeFan

dankworth

Capulator

likes to smell trees.

Surfr

Just cruisin....

dankworth

Venom818

Venom818

dankworth

Venom818

paulycali

CelticEBE

dankworth

outwest

Premium Gardener

fishwhistle

LEDhead

BirdDog1

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