looking for definitive lighting answer- 1000's

[smokey_waters]

looking for definitive lighting answer, running co2

Using magnum XXXL 8" diameter air cooled reflectors (huge!), I'm in the middle of week 3 of flower and I've got 'em 18" from the 1000W HPS eye hortilux light at 80-82 degrees at the top of the leaves. Should I keep this way the whole time or let 'em grow up to 12" from the light?? I'm running co2. Hot hot can they get?

I'm more interested in quality of bud than quantity, but I don't want to sacrifice quantity if I don't have to either.


Thx,

 

[Bubba kush]

Using magnum XXXL 8" diameter air cooled reflectors (huge!), I'm in the middle of week 3 of flower and I've got 'em 18" from the 1000W HPS eye hortilux light at 80-82 degrees at the top of the leaves. Should I keep this way the whole time or let 'em grow up to 12" from the light?? I'm running co2. Hot hot can they get?

I'm more interested in quality of bud than quantity, but I don't want to sacrifice quantity if I don't have to either.


Thx,

I believe that you should just watch your plants for heat stress. On two of my plants I'm about 15" away and they are fine. But let's see what the more experienced farmers say. Peace

 

[Cgally]

I personally would not move them any closer. 82 is getting up there in acceptable temps. Any higher temp may cause more stress than benefit.

 

[Tex]

Agree, watch your plants, but 12 might be a bit too close for a 1k, I'd say 15-18 is just about right, ime. However, it all depends on heat from light to top cola. If ya see heat stress or bleaching, raise light, easy as pie. :)

 

[Moon Dog]

Definitely strain specific on how close you can go before stressing them out. Some girls take much more than others. Completely agree 18" is the safe zone in general. Stick to that and try to back off on your temps a bit if you can. IMHO

 

[Effendi]

Besides all of what everyone else said above, it also depends on air flow through your hoods and just how cool it keeps them.

For example, If I run two XXXL's in series with a 300 cfm vortex pulling air through them, that will be enough to cool the hoods, but not enough to drop them closer to your canopy. With dedicated CFM through each hood, I can keep the glass cool to the touch and have flowers within a foot most often.

Like was said, some strains will react different than others, but if I can leave my hand between the hood and the flower top and not feel the heat, It's good in my book.

I see alot of folks with their lamps way up and they din't seem to understand the lumen loss with each inch and a half.

If you hjave enough air flow, drop them closer and watch closely, if you start to observe heat stress, back them off. There is no set rule. What works for you the best will be a little trial and error.

I don't know about you, but when I make such changes, I'm on that for the next few hours to see and feel if I made a mistake. It's not a set it and forget it thing.

Happy growing.

 

[Wingman420]

Definitely strain specific on how close you can go before stressing them out. Some girls take much more than others. Completely agree 18" is the safe zone in general. Stick to that and try to back off on your temps a bit if you can. IMHO

I have banged 26k flower rooms with no pronlem lights were everywhere

 

[Legallyflying]

I would not be so concerned with the height of the light as I would be about the temperature. 18" is fine. In my experience, when you really slam the lights down on the plants your quality will suffer. Even if the plants don't bleach, too much light has negative reproductions. People seem to think the sun is the most powerful thing in the world and you could never get that much power in your grow room. I can tell you that 12" away from my 600's I'm measuring 114k lux...which is waaaay brighter than the sun.

Back to my point though, I used to run 82-85 with co2 and I can tell you that I have way more essential oil and aroma when I dropped temps down to 75 in the last 3-4 weeks

Hope this helped

 

[hiboy]

I've seen plants 6" from the glass and they were fine, depends on your room . I've always had em at least a foot away, youll notice they are too close when your buds start to turn a fluorescent white green, or if ur in veg ur leaves will turn up and become a little crunchy.
h

 

[Moon Dog]

From a simple standpoint height matters as a general rule. Totally agree that it really doesn't matter how many lights you have IF you have sufficient cooling for your light runs. Effendi and Legally Flying have it right- adjust your temps with proper ventilation, cooling of your lights and pay attention to how close the girls get and you will reach the proper balance. Grow room nirvana if you will!

 

[treehugger]

I'm more interested in quality of bud than quantity, but I don't want to sacrifice quantity if I don't have to either.


Thx,

In that case, keep your best buds (cola/apical tips) out of the DANGER ZONE, that being the area closer than 18 inches. The danger zone is not just the area of higher temps or excessive lux - it is the zone of infrared penetration that boils off your terpenes, oils, and thc. There goes your flavor, "entourage effect", and fresh high.

 

[Wingman420]

I have to agree with Effendi, Moon Dog, and Tree Hugger, having a 1000 wt light closer than 16-18" inches does make plants suffer from heat. When I wrote the earlier post I did not fully understand the question. My experiences and setups are different each grow but as to using 1000's I wouldn't use anything else in Flower. The Optimum temp for Flowering Marijuana is approximately 75 Degrees and below. Try to drop temps or raise the light an inch or two. Hope this helps keep us posted.