Side Lighting to increase quality/yield

[RootsRuler]

Can anyone post quantifiable data that says that sidelighting is beneficial enough to be cost effective.

I've read a few articles claiming a 15% - 20% bump in yield is possible. If this is true then it should be a no brainer but I don't see many doing it so I'm wondering if it's just broscience.

If it is correct, I'm thinking of installing four 60w light bars horizontally just above the net bars around the tent angled down at a 45* angle so it's hitting the leaf tops of the lower canopy.

 

[TomH]

No, I can’t post any quantifiable data, but I have anecdotal data that says it does, if …
I think the if is that I don’t have enough top light and the side lights I have on three sides has made a difference in bud size ( but not number of bud sites). I can’t tell any percent gain, it’s how the eye and touch perceive it to be.
I have strips going up three sides, all three sides have significantly larger buds than the un-side lit side.

 

[SchwiftyGrower]

Can anyone post quantifiable data that says that sidelighting is beneficial enough to be cost effective.

I've read a few articles claiming a 15% - 20% bump in yield is possible. If this is true then it should be a no brainer but I don't see many doing it so I'm wondering if it's just broscience.

If it is correct, I'm thinking of installing four 60w light bars horizontally just above the net bars around the tent angled down at a 45* angle so it's hitting the leaf tops of the lower canopy.

I think this would vary on grow style. If you don’t trim the lowers I could see a possible 15-20% increase on the larf/popcorn portions. If you LST and ScroG I could see a slight increase on the outter parts of the canopy that reduce in PPFD levels. Worth the power output? It’s still up in the air for me.

 

[RootsRuler]

I think this would vary on grow style. If you don’t trim the lowers I could see a possible 15-20% increase on the larf/popcorn portions. If you LST and ScroG I could see a slight increase on the outter parts of the canopy that reduce in PPFD levels. Worth the power output? It’s still up in the air for me.

So my thought is not so much to raise the PPFD on the outer edges of the canopy so much as getting more light inside the canopy and deeper so that you can grow taller plants and still get big flowers from top to bottom.

I like to ScroG so I can control the depth of my canopy. Depending on the power of your light, LED's can effectively penetrate around 9" deep. Because of this I set my screen and plants up so that I have as close to 9" of vertical plant material. Doing this allows me to take advantage of as much of the light energy being generated by my light without directing plant energy to areas that the light doesn't reach.

Adding in side lighting will increase the edge PPFD along with increasing lower canopy flower size. I have some tent bars I made to be able to stretch the net to cover the entire footprint of the tent. Most of the light bars are around 3" -4" wide. If I mount them 4" - 6" inches above the top of the bars and angle them slightly down I can light the lower half of the canopy boosting the photons that are hitting that part of the plant. This would also allow me to be able to grow the plants taller than 9" off the net although I would need to see how much actual penetration makes it to the middle of the tent through the canopy.

The only real question I have is how close can the plants be to the side lighting without burning them. Tfhe bars I have in mind are 60w each.

 

[Dub_City405]

direct light from above is how the chemical process occurs. Adding side light like he said is if you left alot of the lowers on then it will help. It's different for every strain. I don't suggest it unless it was a special built room.

 

[RootsRuler]

direct light from above is how the chemical process occurs. Adding side light like he said is if you left alot of the lowers on then it will help. It's different for every strain. I don't suggest it unless it was a special built room.

That's what I'm reading and hearing on the chemical process. That the plant is genetically predisposed to absorbing light from the leaf tops while the stomata and transpiration happen on the bottom of the leaves.

Some of the research I've done on this claims that you can increase yields by 15% - 20%.......I find that highly suspect but it came from a peer reviewed paper so.....dunno.

I just want to find a way to be able to grow the verticals in my ScroG higher than 9" so that I can yield more. I can usually pull a couple of P in my 5 x 5. If I can increase the yield as has been claimed by 15% that would be an extra 5oz.

 

[PipeCarver]

That's what I'm reading and hearing on the chemical process. That the plant is genetically predisposed to absorbing light from the leaf tops while the stomata and transpiration happen on the bottom of the leaves.

Some of the research I've done on this claims that you can increase yields by 15% - 20%.......I find that highly suspect but it came from a peer reviewed paper so.....dunno.

I just want to find a way to be able to grow the verticals in my ScroG higher than 9" so that I can yield more. I can usually pull a couple of P in my 5 x 5. If I can increase the yield as has been claimed by 15% that would be an extra 5oz.

I looked into adding side lighting for a while but after researching it a bit I gave up. I can't remember details but I think we can increase the side buds at the expense of the top buds.......Like lollypopping takes food going to bottom buds and pushes it to the tops.....We can increase yield a bit but the added electric costs don't make it worth while......as I remember .....but...........If you find out different let me know I hate trimming off healthy plant parts that can produce buds

edit.....lol...I thought I must have deleted my post something was wrong....didn't I write this once before????......its okay I'm awake now......just ignore one or the other....I missed the point anyways...lol