Is UV supp really needed w LEDs???

[ComfortablyNumb]

Turn your LED down a bit because these will add a lot to the plants. Be sure and watch for heat stress and meter check your lights with these.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

i would say that was likely due to ancillary environmental factors including possibly nutrition. LED demands a tiny bit more of just about everything -- temps, RH, calmag, base nutes... it takes a few runs to really dial in what the plants want with em. i think that's 90% why a lot of HID growers that make the switch bitch about yield and quality because it really is like switching mediums. It takes a run or three to really get everything dialed right.

Good post above ...

I think he's on to something there. I've added red + far red bloom buster boards and a UVB 310 fixture from California Lightworks. It's my first run with the UVB fixtures and the plants are about 2 weeks from finish. I'll be able to comment more on this once that run finishes.

But

From appearance and smell, it seems to be working.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Turn your LED down a bit because these will add a lot to the plants. Be sure and watch for heat stress and meter check your lights with these.

Im doing it this is great advice! Thanks for the info! Maybe you mentioned this before but... how many hours during the cycle should I run these? The entire time? Others on here commented about only needing to run them a smaller portion of your overall light on time. Sine they are gonna pull a lot of juice maybe there is a sweet spot for ample results yet minimal electricity pull. Any suggestions?

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Mine are 24w and the directions from California Lightworks stated to introduce the UVB slowly and build up to just a few hours a day. @ComfortablyNumb 's recommended bulb is 160w so I would start with an hour during your middle of your light cycle and gradually add more minutes as your plants build up tolerance to the UVB. I'm sure he'll chime in shortly and give more explanation ... I just bought 2 of those bulbs from Amazon for my other tent. They're cheaper than the Solar System UVB lights I bought .... and I think they might be better too.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Nice! Great info!

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Im doing it this is great advice! Thanks for the info! Maybe you mentioned this before but... how many hours during the cycle should I run these? The entire time? Others on here commented about only needing to run them a smaller portion of your overall light on time. Sine they are gonna pull a lot of juice maybe there is a sweet spot for ample results yet minimal electricity pull. Any suggestions?

We run them with the regular lights, 12/12. Like I said, turn your LED's down a bit, and turn your fan up.

That is a lot. But if you have it balanced right, you can do it. It takes time to get the balance correct, until then, like he said, work them up to it. An hour a day this week, 2 next week...

 

[Blazein1]

I have considered this as well. But my lights cover an entire 4x4 space with only slots open between the light bars. This run, I moved the LEDs much closer (after using light meter to verify that it wasn't too much). I've got great trichs now, but always looking for something to boost the yield.

The weeks to go:
Mac
View attachment 1195798

Triple chocolateView attachment 1195799

What light meter settin did you find satisfaction with?

 

[PizzaBob]

Went to buy 4, only had three single T5s. So grabbed em and 2 of 3 pure UV bulbs were duds. The glass to aluminum “welds” were all fucked up. Gonna plug a digital timer with 8 on:off into my mechanical water heater timer that way

 

[Bellbottomgenes]

Went to buy 4, only had three single T5s. So grabbed em and 2 of 3 pure UV bulbs were duds. The glass to aluminum “welds” were all fucked up. Gonna plug a digital timer with 8 on:off into my mechanical water heater timer that way

Jesus where'd u buy em?

 

[PizzaBob]

Got it figured out - dudes at store super cool. Question tho…has anyone running Agromax pure UV notice it creates ozone? It wasn’t strong like my Big Blue ozone generator but I could still smell it. First cycle of UV schedule and all looks good. I got a normal distribution with the tails at 3 minutes and peak at 10 minutes with total of 8 cycles and about 50 minutes. Gonna give it a week and increase.

 

[PizzaBob]

Jesus where'd u buy em?

HTG, Agromax is there brand. They totally made it right. And got a good deal. But honestly I’d pay more to not have to fuck around.

 

[PizzaBob]

Time will tell if they make a difference. While I don’t go in there when on but I did have to confirm timer settings and the light is very faint. With all the duds they produced hopefully that’s normal. Here’s pic of lighting.

 

[Observationist]

Ok so I have a bunch of quantum board style LEDs now with Samsung LM301Bs and a scattering of red and IR. Is it worth the money and hassle to add UV. I was leaning towards agromax pure UV based on research.

I’m all LEDs now. My HPS grows did seem to have bigger calyx and trichs but o also changed other variables. So to all the LED only growers using these full spectrum (3000K and 5000K) Samsung diodes, is it worth it???

Full spectrum LEDs are fine by them selfs, I don’t think it would hurt to add more spectrum, especially UVs, but up to you

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Full spectrum LEDs are fine by them selfs, I don’t think it would hurt to add more spectrum, especially UVs, but up to you

I added far red and IR, and the reds have seemed to ramp up flowering and speed up maturation. I'm not sold on UVA 380nm type LED that is on many current fixtures. It adds blue light but it's the UVB roughly 310nm that seems to increase resin production. There are lights out there that have this as an add on option however reptile lights will do the same thing and are cheaper to buy.

I'm using UVB for the first time this grow and judging by stickiness and smell, it seems to be working very well. I'll know in a couple of weeks

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

Can someone on here tell me the suggested amount of hours that UV reptile bulbs should be running during veg? In my 18 hour cycle Im running the bulbs for 30min at a time spread out 5 times through the cycle. So in total 2.5 hours for an 18hour cycle. Is this too much? Too little? any info would be helpful thanks.

Also is turning the lights on and off multiple times during the cycle bad for the bulbs?

 

[tobh]

Can someone on here tell me the suggested amount of hours that UV reptile bulbs should be running during veg? In my 18 hour cycle Im running the bulbs for 30min at a time spread out 5 times through the cycle. So in total 2.5 hours for an 18hour cycle. Is this too much? Too little? any info would be helpful thanks.

i would say it's wasted electricity from my understanding of the purpose.

 

[Backyard_Boogie]

i would say it's wasted electricity from my understanding of the purpose.

OK. So please give me some feedback. if 2.5 hours is a waste of electricity then what isn't a waste of electricity? 1 hour? How long should I be running these?

 

[Bellbottomgenes]

 

[Observationist]

I added far red and IR, and the reds have seemed to ramp up flowering and speed up maturation. I'm not sold on UVA 380nm type LED that is on many current fixtures. It adds blue light but it's the UVB roughly 310nm that seems to increase resin production. There are lights out there that have this as an add on option however reptile lights will do the same thing and are cheaper to buy.

I'm using UVB for the first time this grow and judging by stickiness and smell, it seems to be working very well. I'll know in a couple of weeks

Yes, I was using reptile UV bulbs, and yea I think 380 is too high, 280-320 is better to trigger the plants defense mechanism.

UVB spectrum

 

[tobh]

OK. So please give me some feedback. if 2.5 hours is a waste of electricity then what isn't a waste of electricity? 1 hour? How long should I be running these?

I would say wait till flower. Not sure what the end goal is running it in veg is all I'm saying. If the goal is to produce more terpenes and trichomes, a plant isn't primarily focused on those things in veg.