Matthewstever said:

So.
We all know the girls like more red light during flower. (Ok, some girls).
I can't afford fancy lights, so whatever did I do?
I remove a couple pieces of my mylar and replace them with red blankets.
Here's my thinking.
I can't change the spectrum of my lights.
But the red absorbs the other colors and only reflects the red... so I can change the spectrum of the reflected light.
I used a cheap color analyzer app to " measure" the difference, and it indeed showed a change in readings.
None of this is really scientific...but my last grow I saw a definite raise in yield over the previous grow in the same room.
Maybe I became a better grower, maybe it was the red...
Thoughts?

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Buzzer777 said:

Only one is needed in a 3x3 tent. With far red, it's not really about wattage, but more about the plants being able to see the spectrum.

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Matthewstever said:

I hear you. Like many others, I'm sure, I'm on social security disability and it's my only income...thus the need to be a cheapskate...my next move for next grow is to switch from the current top feed buckets to micro-sprayers in the buckets. The sprayers will allow me to run my res pump 15 minutes on/ 30 off instead of it running 24/7. Hopefully will save some electricity. I managed to get solar power installed on the house before my credit rating tanked, otherwise I couldn't even afford to run the room. Without solar, we hit $600 a month with the grow going and had to make payment arrangements..with solar/ net metering, my bill is a steady $200 total. Keep in mind, I am in the Mojave desert..total climate control is a must.
Winter time, I run the lights at night to take advantage of their heat ( gets down to the high 20's F at night here ) so the heater doesn't work so hard. Summers it can get up to 115°f...oh the things we do for love..

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