Should I use a Light Mover?

[madmedmary]

Have u heard of straw bale gardening? It sounds like the way to go. you condition your bale first then it is your medium for growing. FRUITSANDVEGGIESMOREMATTERS.org to see it. Or buy the book. It boasts: no spraying for bugs, no need for nutes, no bending to the ground to tend it.or harvest. I don't know if you put ur seed right on the conditioned straw or put a good soil on top then sow ur seeds. Or put ur clones right on the straw? Haven't bought the book yet. When I do, I will try to make an informed mssg on how its done. Give me a month or so. Or buy yourself the book. 9.99 for a downloaded PDF version. I want the book its self. I'll try tomatoes first, strawberries would be great. A blueberry bush too. And a watermelon. I wonder how well this straw method works on the squash? Ya know those huge squash beatle larve. I cannot stand them. Pyrethurm works. In fact, I HATE to fight the critters for the veggies. I'm sensitive to a lot of the crap. Malathion especially. I'm going w/ azamax this yr. or pyrethrum. I was given baby plants so i will grow them. nut chatter. bye WAKE&BAKE

 

[Flying Dragon]

I've decided on a 5x5 with one 1kw HID for my first grow, so I won't be using a light mover. If I eventually switch to a 5x10 could I use just the one 1kw HID on a light mover and maintain intensity?

 

[Dr.Blue]

I feel a light mover and growing vertically is the way to optimize a single bulb grow. If you do it right you can easily up your GPW.

 

[Flying Dragon]

I'm hoping to utilize the gear I already have, such as the air-cooled light. If I could double my space end-to-end and use a light mover and just one light, it would save energy. But would I be - would my plants be - happy with the light intensity?

 

[Bigbudbill]

Old thread, I know... That said, isn't the "50 watt/sq. ft" rule of thumb for stationary lighting? Moving lights are typically placed much closer. Thereby creating a much more intense, albeit intermittent "light application" if you will. Obviously if your in a 4x4 tent, a light mover wouldn't be as beneficial as it might in a longer, more narrow (stealth) say 30"x96" area.

I can also see how a bare bulb hung vertically between two rows of plants could get very close for brief periods, but would likely be a nightmare to maintain. Possibly two scrogs one on either side of a moving pair of 600hps? Like a pair of 6' long bud hedge rows. Sounds like too much work.

Besides, I hit my head on the light too often while its stationary. If the bastard moved I'd probably need stitches. I came up stairs the other night and the mrs asked why my head was bleeding. I told her I "hit it on something" downstairs. She said, "twice"? I had to admit, no I hit the damn thing 4 or 5 times before I moved it, only hit it hard enough to bleed twice

 

[Skybound]

I have two 4' movers that I picked up cheap, also have two 600w cool tubes that I will build a flower room around and my current feeling is that it will be about 4'd x 10'w x 8'h. I was told by my mentor (@TheCapn) that 2' is roughly the max spread before the moving light loses its efficiency in generating the kinds of yields that he shoots for and is the reason he stopped using his. I am undecided whether to grow out one pound plus monsters, or do a mini SOG per 4' square of floor space, but I do want to harvest nearly perpetually (once every 3 weeks) and take multi pound harvests if possible. my current feel is that if I can shorten each of the 4' movers to 2' and mount the tubes in a fixed 2' distance from one another, the stretch would total 6' of 1200 watts of HPS and expand the reach to total 8' of run which only leaves 1' on the edges which would be more than adequate. If I hit a favorable harvest weight, I'd like to space the hoods out farther apart say another 3"-6" and observe, but this is about 4-5 months from now so we'll see. If anyone has any experience in something like this, please comment as I'd like to pick your brain a bit more to better dial in before I have a gang of ladies waiting to be flowered.

 

[MacEFL]

I can think of no scenario where you could harvest multiple pounds every 3 weeks with only 1200 watts, sorry. I had 8 plants under 2 600 watters and was happy to get a pound and a half. That equaled .565 grams per watt. This was in a 4x8 tent with no mover. I cannot help with the mover questions, sorry.

 

[Skybound]

The one pound plant is no longer a thing of myth as many people are doing it under a single 600watt HID, however, another individual named s1ingblade grows this way, only he loads a few plants per 4x4 area and harvests roughly 24-25 ounces per chop. If one were to spend the needed extra time in veg, going into the flower room already measuring 3' high and 3' in diameter will likely harvest a 1 pounder. If one were to send in such a plant, or even a couple of such plants every 3 weeks into flower, then the outcome will be about 1.5 LBs or at least that's how I figure it.

Edit - I know I won't see these numbers right away b/c I will be sending matured seedlings into flower as soon as they recover from the cuttings I will be taking, but over time, I will be able to work in an 8 week veg period per plant and hopefully 3 plants for every 4'x3' of floor space. 3 plants might be able to hit 2 LBs at harvest if conditions are dialed into ideal.

 

[Ofis]

I have used myself as a light mover for years....I rotate all pots on a daily basis so all plants get a share of LED/CFL/HID/and SUNLIGHT depending on whats available...it could be as simple as rotating your pots 180 degrees and moving them around

I don't have any practical experience yet but am close to starting a grow. Gonna try a 4 to 6 plant vertical grow in amended soil with teas, trained to some mesh/trellis on the walls, with a bare bulb full spectrum 1000w MH on a light mover with a 2' movement and maybe some supplemental CFL's hangin around in a 6.5' X 4.5' X 7' flower room. Been reading and studying about growing for years, just haven't had the chance till recently. Been secretly getting the grow area ready for some months now and acquiring necessities. Plan to follow Rule #1 and tell nobody.

Now to the point of my post. It's not actually about light movers but the topic of rotating plants has always stuck with me. Don't remember where but think it was at the old Cannabisworld, there was a discussion about rotating plants to supply light to the "light deprived" areas. There were those who swore by it and those who didn't rotate plants while relying on reflective lighting instead. Others were into light movers for the reasons stated in this thread and reflective lighting so they didn't rotate their plants because the light angle changed from the mover. They all agreed on reflective lighting being a plus though.

The thread finally fizzled out after a few pages when one of the more respected members chimed in and said he doesn't rotate his plants because indoor plants actually use some energy to stretch/reach for the light, and continually rotating the plant will lead to the plant using more of it's energy constantly reaching for the light in another direction instead of using it's energy to create new growth and the other processes of it's life cycles. Don't remember the timeline of rotation, whether it was daily or weekly, just that the plant will use it's energy to keep growing in a different direction going after the ever-changing light source. The light's in front of me, now it's behind me, back in front, behind me again. Which way do I go, which way do I go? lol. Don't think a light mover does that since the light moves so fast and is generally in the same orientation to the plants.

So if you rotate your plants and are happy with the results, take that advise with a grain of salt. But it made a lot of sense to me and made up my mind on the rotation subject. No plant rotation for me, even without a mover. Hopefully, defoliation and training is how I'll deal with light distribution/deprivation.

 

[DutchGrower]

i am working with a light mover about a year now and i can tell you that it can be very effective for keeping motherplants...

I used the light mover in a tent about 3.0meter long, 1.5meter wide and 2 meter high. The lightrail was mounted in the middle of the tent on a rail of 2meters with 2 lights (one 600watt and one 400w bulbs in a double cooltube hanging vertical on the light mover. (and some additional t-neons spread around the tent).

The idea was to try vertical gardening.I reinvorced the inside of the tent with a wooden skeleton. I used libra's (i do not know how you call it in english, but you can see them on this pic.

i attached the libra`s on the wooden skeleton in 5 layers on top of each other.

The tent is 3m long, so i could place 2 libra's (1.33m each, which can contain 7 plants) next to each other. And i made 5 layers of libra's on top of eachother. In total i was able to put 70 plants on the right side on the wooden skeleton of the tent and 70 on the left. And in the back there was just enough room to hang 5 1.0meter libra's (enough room for another 25 plants).
With this system i was able to hang 70+70+25=165 bonsai mothersplants in this tent with in the middle of the tent the lightrail moving up and down.

With this system i was able to take a lot more cuttings from the motherplants compared to the traditional way using the same amount of light (up to 4 times as much).

Right now i stopped with the motherplants, and i am testing how efficient this system is for flowering with bonsai plants. (150 ladies in total)
And i must say untill now i am very optimistic in about 4/5 weeks it is time to harvest and im really curious how much yield it will be....
I am hoping atleast 1.5gram for each watt....

Srry for my crappy english, im from the netherlands

 

[Big Perm]

Another thing to consider about movers is not that it just moves the light around, but that you can place the lights closer to the plants. With a fixed light, the radiated heat would burn the plant, and this is why the lights have to be raised. On a mover the heat source moves around, so they can in fact be placed closer, thereby raising the lumens available to your plants. This will naturally give you more bang for your buck from the light, as well as more light penetration to the lower leaves.

 

[Blueballavngr]

I'm gonna have to say I think they r junk and a waiste of money and electricity. 3 growers I know all ended up chucking them after 1-2 harvest including myself. U can't keep ur lights as close to the plants as needed as they r fixed to the ceiling unless ur stacking ur plants on books and crates, and who wants to do that everyday. People that use these would presumably have more then a couple plants so y not just get another light. So the 125-140% more coverage is lost in lumens when ur light is 2.5-3ft away at the beginning of flower..I'm sure there r exceptions like the track could be fixed to wood suspended from the ceiling of if u had a 1000 w. But those things move so slow idk how u think it still wouldn't burn ur plant. I have lady bugs that melt on contact with my bulbs (and I always think in having an electrical fire cause they smell awful). I see this is an older thread any of u still use these? And how were ur results.

 

[Big Perm]

U can't keep ur lights as close to the plants as needed as they r fixed to the ceiling unless ur stacking ur plants on books and crates, and who wants to do that everyday. People that use these would presumably have more then a couple plants so y not just get another light. So the 125-140% more coverage is lost in lumens when ur light is 2.5-3ft away at the beginning of flower..I'm sure there r exceptions like the track could be fixed to wood suspended from the ceiling of if u had a 1000 w. But those things move so slow idk how u think it still wouldn't burn ur plant. I have lady bugs that melt on contact with my bulbs (and I always think in having an electrical fire cause they smell awful).

You hang the lights...
You cool the lights...
If you have anything other than air coming into contact with your bulbs, you should be worrying about having a fire.

 

[Blueballavngr]

I'm good but thanks.

 

[c526]

hahahaha this is funny,and im not talking shit to either lmao BUT

The guy with a mover doesnt need one,and the guy who the movers were designed for isnt using one.

mine have sat in the parts closet for a long time now,I used them for awhile,and they looked "cool" but i dint notice anything better crop to crop


good looking setups,both of you

 

[Big Perm]

The guy with a mover doesnt need one,and the guy who the movers were designed for isn't using one.

The pic I posted I pulled off the net just to show that you don't mount the lights on the ceiling, and to ventilate them.
I had the same two thoughts though, lol. Maybe in the mover pic he has another 4 feet to the right that we can't see? IDK. I does look like they only move about a foot though.

 

[c526]

cool,that's how mine were set up,same as the picture you posted,100% adjustment in the fixtures

to bad that's not your space, or mine for that matter,its a great looking setup

 

[Big Perm]

I think he must have just been using one light, and then upgraded to 2 lights, but kept the mover.

 

[c526]

I would think that would be way to big of a spread for 1 light,too bad the grower isnt around,I'd like to see more of that space.

my girls just told me one night,quit just giving the tip.stop those lights.raise them 2 inches,hit the fan,close the door and get the hell out
blast us,don't give us any shadows

 

[ryan2clw]

Thanx Hog,
So by using that formula, & the same 600w light without the light mover im getting 16.6w PSF (per square foot)
600w /36 = 16.666666wpsf
now with a mover
600w X 125%=750 /36 = 20.8333
so I'd really only gain about 4wpsf.

Does that look correct anyway?

Okay, you guys might have been puffing the reefer when this was explained in math class, so I'll break down why the formula is incorrect:

If a light mover increases the lumens by 125%, that's more than double (100%=doubled).
You multiply the original amount by 125% and then add that number to the original amount

Ex: 600 (W) x 125% = 750 (W) of additional power, then 600+750 = 1350 (W) of equivalent power

The way you did the math corresponds to 25% to 40% increase