Do I have too much light?

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whoisami

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Hi all. I am trying to become a more informed grower and understand how to maximize my yields. I am currently 3 weeks into the flowering stage of my first grow. I am growing in a 4ftx4ft tent with 3x 240w LM301h quantum boards with . I purchased a lux meter because I read about measuing lux to prevent providing too little or too much light for my girls. With my lights on full power I get about 75k lux at the top of the canopy in the middle and about 50k at the edges. I used an online lux to ppfd convertor (https://www.waveformlighting.com/horticulture/convert-lux-to-ppfd-online-calculator) and based on the calculator that is 1331.9 umols/s/ms2.

Here is where I get confused. I have read up to 85k lux can be okay for you plants. But, above 1000 umols/s/ms2 can be too much light and can burn the plants. So I am under the "maximum" lux but above "maximum" ppfd.

Can anyone help break this down and help me understand?

Thanks in advanced
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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whoisami said:
Hi all. I am trying to become a more informed grower and understand how to maximize my yields. I am currently 3 weeks into the flowering stage of my first grow. I am growing in a 4ftx4ft tent with 3x 240w LM301h quantum boards with . I purchased a lux meter because I read about measuing lux to prevent providing too little or too much light for my girls. With my lights on full power I get about 75k lux at the top of the canopy in the middle and about 50k at the edges. I used an online lux to ppfd convertor (https://www.waveformlighting.com/horticulture/convert-lux-to-ppfd-online-calculator) and based on the calculator that is 1331.9 umols/s/ms2.

Here is where I get confused. I have read up to 85k lux can be okay for you plants. But, above 1000 umols/s/ms2 can be too much light and can burn the plants. So I am under the "maximum" lux but above "maximum" ppfd.

Can anyone help break this down and help me understand?

Thanks in advanced
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Imo without CO2 your not going to be able to run more than 65k and 45-65k would be ideal. I would say yes you are over lighting
 
revfunk

revfunk

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Hmmmm

My buddy grows in a 4x4 with 4 240W lm301b boards and has great results! Lights as close as 6 inches sometimes later on in flower. Unless you are physically seeing light burn, there's no reason to place more distance between your light and the plants

Can check my thread too.....my 240W lm301b 3000k and 660nm quantum board is about 7 inches from a few of the tops 😎
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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bubblefunk said:
Hmmmm

My buddy grows in a 4x4 with 4 240W lm301b boards and has great results! Lights as close as 6 inches sometimes later on in flower. Unless you are physically seeing light burn, there's no reason to place more distance between your light and the plants

Can check my thread too.....my 240W lm301b 3000k and 660nm quantum board is about 7 inches from a few of the tops 😎
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And what's the lux at? And light cycle? Height of your buddies light.

I will say there is no way the are run at full intensity at even 18".

I run CO2 and can't run my hlg600 in a 4x4 at max granted I was pretty height limited
 
weedtech

weedtech

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I would say YMMV and being stoned (alot) really widens the possible range. Folks have to dial in their own, based on their circumstances. To be fair - lamp types ( and age ) matter as well as spectrum. Lamps that are heavy in IR will bake yer babies.
 
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whoisami

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Aqua Man said:
Imo without CO2 your not going to be able to run more than 65k and 45-65k would be ideal. I would say yes you are over lighting
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That is what I was thinking. I may back off a bit and shoot for around 55k lux as I dont use co2. I also read something about with the board dimmed a bit they run more efficiently. So maybe this is a good thing.

If you cannot run an hlg600 at max in the same size tent I would imagine I certainly should not be running x3 boards at max.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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whoisami said:
That is what I was thinking. I may back off a bit and shoot for around 55k lux as I dont use co2. I also read something about with the board dimmed a bit they run more efficiently. So maybe this is a good thing.

If you cannot run an hlg600 at max in the same size tent I would imagine I certainly should not be running x3 boards at max.
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I can get the most 70-75k maybe a touch over. Anymore I see issues and I have done it more than a few times. Of course height plays a role if you have a higher room maybe max.. it's better to go by lux or par. Height for spread and intensity for just that
 
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whoisami

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Aqua Man said:
I can get the most 70-75k maybe a touch over. Anymore I see issues and I have done it more than a few times. Of course height plays a role if you have a higher room maybe max.. it's better to go by lux or par. Height for spread and intensity for just that
Click to expand...
Great. Thanks. I will run around 55k-60k and see how I do. I appreciate all of the help everyone.
 
weedtech

weedtech

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My sense about this is that there aren't many farmers that get to spend lots of quality time making observations about the various impactful items. It often seems so simple when you start with outdoor farming. Indoors, its all on you.

So we see many folks that pound their seedlings with photons. And the beatings will continue until ....

In a good environment - you can see daily progress. If something is askew - its gonna take longer. This downside ( photorespiration ) is actually a big deal when you start using optimized photon guns ( LED ). The moral of this is that most life forms have a limit on "good things" they can use. Even humans (bags of mostly water) will die if they have too much water.
 
revfunk

revfunk

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Aqua Man said:
And what's the lux at? And light cycle? Height of your buddies light.

I will say there is no way the are run at full intensity at even 18".

I run CO2 and can't run my hlg600 in a 4x4 at max granted I was pretty height limited
Click to expand...

75% intensity until final 2 weeks of flowering. Comes in around 70k at 75%.

Hell, one of my colas is 6 inches from one of those exact boards.....perfectly fine sitting at 90k lux. Obviously that's more than needed, I'm just saying it's more than possible my friend 😎
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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bubblefunk said:
75% intensity until final 2 weeks of flowering. Comes in around 70k at 75%.

Hell, one of my colas is 6 inches from one of those exact boards.....perfectly fine sitting at 90k lux. Obviously that's more than needed, I'm just saying it's more than possible my friend 😎
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If they are good then they are good 👍 my experience is different.
 
sambapati

sambapati

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bubblefunk said:
75% intensity until final 2 weeks of flowering. Comes in around 70k at 75%.

Hell, one of my colas is 6 inches from one of those exact boards.....perfectly fine sitting at 90k lux. Obviously that's more than needed, I'm just saying it's more than possible my friend 😎
Click to expand...
The impossible just costs more $$$
 
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