I'll do that- will copy n paste right here. Not before I find and share the link to that paper on trichomes and UVB again, however;
https://www.greenpassion.org/index.php?/topic/26244-methods-for-increasing-potency/
The above is a link to another gardening website- not only is the research paper a fascinating read, but the comments on the thread are very illuminating, pardon the pun.
It seems they had some trouble with UVB lighting burning their plants. I have seen no evidence that you suffered from the same issue?
So, the PM that we agreed to share with others;
Thought I'd bring our UVB discussion here
...so as not to keep cluttering up your grow diary thread.
In the course of my own reading, I've seen that several recommend using some 10% of the total lighting wattage as a guide for how much supplemental UVB wattage to add. This strikes me as better than nothing, but still horribly imprecise. For one, since UVB sources vary in their output just like normal lights do, which type is that rule of thumb good for?
I've found those same reptile bulbs for $20 each, and as far as I know, they run fine on any house outlet, corect? No need then to spend a pile on fixtures if I already have them?
My own plan is to buy a set of 4 of these bulbs and place one at each corner of my oversized light hood. That hood runs a 1000w HPS bulb, and is meant to be 60-90cm above the conopy. What was the distance you set your light at to gain the results you did?
Also, what exactly is the timing you use on your UVB souce? Does it run on the same timer as the main light?
Did you use it in veg, or only in flower? When did you start using it with this plant?
Sorry for the zillion questions but if I'm going to try this, it pays to learn as much as I can first- even if only to avoid the noob mistakes.
Flowamasta's reply:
no worries man!
thanx for the consideration, I think aslong as you can find a cheap bulb and fitting you should be fine, as long as you use the max rated 10.0 UVB to achieve max results. The reason i only have 1 is i only want a small section of my plant to be exposed, mainly 3 large colas are getting max exposure, and they are withing 8-10 inches from the globe itself. no burn whatsoever. I run it on the same timer as my HPS, and started it as soon as flowering begun. no need for in veg, as the idea is to change the molecular structure of the trichomes, not the plant itself.
It has a drastic different effect from standard non UVB exposed buds, and should be tested first to see if you actually like the stronger narcotic effect. I find it to be night time smoke. with a nice fresh cold drink with ice.
I didn't notice much of a massive effect untill the buds have had a proper cure, and i noticed that alot of the UVB exposed trichs were still glistening and swollen with stickiness, the haven't degraded like the other non UVB.
I run my 600 in a air fan cooled hood and i have it a little too close to 3 of my colas, and they are foxtailing slightly at the tips, and are bleached from the high light intensity. within 8 inches of closest colas. no further than 18 --22 inches away for the rest of the canopy.
I am still basically trying my own techniques, it's personal guesswork, you will get a feel for how close you can have it, too close and you can feel the UV intensity on your hand. not good, it can burn you quite easily and i imagine not good for your skin, but plants are different, especially cannabis, i clearly have observed how the resin acts as a shield to high uv exposure, in the most intense areas, the resin is like a glass bumpy layer over the entire tips of the buds. you actually can't see the bud itself. beautiful sight. that sold them for me.
If you can find them and fit them to a normal socket, go for it, i would go ceramic, only because they can handle the heat, and i trust them alot more than household plastic., plus it has a switch so i can easily switch on/off so not to disturb my HPS on the timer. Yes they are an awesome colour in the grow tent, electric blue with a intense energetic halo around them, but they will do damage so best caution around them.
My response;
Others may be using more powerful UVB sources, as other threads have discussed running them according to a complex schedule of hardening off, and never adding more than a few hours total per day of UVB. I prefer to go with less intensity and run them on the same schedule as my grow lighting. They did mention leaf curling, especialy in the first few days or a week after beginning use.
Will you run UVB on your whole plant next time? I want more potency, it allows me to smoke less to get the effects I want.
The whole point of the trichome globe, according to the research I read, is to shield the plant from potentially damaging UVB rays- and to focus them all through the sphere onto the tiny disc inside, where ALL the active cannabinoids are manufactured. This would seem to strongly argue in favor of using UVB extensively.
Based on the research, I've read that several growers tried to replicate the amount of UVB falling on cannabis at sea level. It helped, but as we know merely replicating mother nature is not a guaranteee of optimal results. Was was the process you used to determine the best distance from your canopy? Have you played with it enough to know what is too close and what's too far away?
Due to lower voltage standards here, nearly all light sockets are ceramic- lower voltage wiring being more prone to overheating. I am a regular customer at my local thrift and second-hand building supplies stores, and I can get banks of 5 sockets (on a bathroom fixture!) for $5. To see what else I've done with these;
It's Time For McGuyver! CFL Light Arrays
To be clear, I am NOT planning to fill an array like this up with UVB lights! I would add maybe one or two to supplement in veg- mainly to harden off the plant to it so it won't burn when it gets into flower.
Based on the sizing of things, I may go with 50w UVB cfl, or t5. I'll need a fair amount of UVB to replicate the UVB intensity you've created on the one corner of your plant.
