Is it wise to increase lighting half way into flower?

[Greenlizard]

Hello folks.
I grow in a 4x4 with a 315 CMH. I will be receiving a second 315 this Friday from Amazon and my intention was to add it to my current grow. I am 3 weeks into flower. When I say "into flower" I mean actual flower time and not since I switched to 12/12. Will doubling my lighting stress the plants and potentially cause hermi? My plan for the future is to purchase a 4x8 tent and run three 315 CMH fixtures. I am just buying it all piece by piece as I can afford to do so but I can't help but want to run this light instead of have it sit on a shelf until I get the larger tent.
Anyone have some insight? Thanks.

 

[BuzzedOldMan]

Greenlizard, I don't think it will do any harm.
Think of it as growing outside and it has been cloudy for 3 weeks and now the sun is out!
I changed from a 400W HPS to 6 LED Cobs running at 75W each (about 1000 PAR at 16 inches) in the 3rd week of 12/12 and things kind of took off.

That is my 2 cents worth.
Good Luck and keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[LiberalThinker]

In the words of T Rex "Get it on". Just watch the canopy temps and may be lift them a bit to start and then drop them , is what I would do.

 

[Greenlizard]

Well to my surprise my packages came early! Two hours in and were at 86 degrees. I will be adding another fan tomorrow.
I didn't even notice but this new ballast is much larger and is capable of daisy chaining multiple fixtures together. I have my old 315 running off the new one. Saved me from buying another timer.

 

[LiberalThinker]

Well to my surprise my packages came early! Two hours in and were at 86 degrees. I will be adding another fan tomorrow.
I didn't even notice but this new ballast is much larger and is capable of daisy chaining multiple fixtures together. I have my old 315 running off the new one. Saved me from buying another timer.

Shiny!

 

[LiberalThinker]

Is there glass in those hoods? It will block the UV if there is.

 

[Greenlizard]

No but the bulbs have a shield already on them.

 

[LiberalThinker]

No but the bulbs have a shield already on them.

What bulbs are they?

 

[N420]

Plants look fantastic. I added a second 315 cmh to my tent as well it was super bright. I decided to take it out because I was not happy with the plants I had in the tent and didn't want to waste the extra electricity on plants that I didn't think were worth it. Yours on the other hand will definitely benefit from the extra light

 

[Greenlizard]

What bulbs are they?

I am using Hilux bulbs.
CMH grow lights provide UV (ultra violet) radiation, which although being outside of our range of vision is beneficial (at certain ranges and intensities) to plant growth and development. They produce UV-A, UV-B and UV-C Light, but UV-C is generally very harmful to human eyes. So most high quality manufacturers use a glass filter to block the UV-C output while leaving UV-A and UV-B output intact.
Another benefit of UV is that it aids in pest control. Most bugs don't like it.

 

[KingJoe83]

Hello folks.
I grow in a 4x4 with a 315 CMH. I will be receiving a second 315 this Friday from Amazon and my intention was to add it to my current grow. I am 3 weeks into flower. When I say "into flower" I mean actual flower time and not since I switched to 12/12. Will doubling my lighting stress the plants and potentially cause hermi? My plan for the future is to purchase a 4x8 tent and run three 315 CMH fixtures. I am just buying it all piece by piece as I can afford to do so but I can't help but want to run this light instead of have it sit on a shelf until I get the larger tent.
Anyone have some insight? Thanks.

Get a lux meter

Anything over 1000 umols is a waste of hydro unless you start adding co2 supplement.

Some say you can never have enough light .

You can covert lux to ppfd as well . The sun puts out like 200 thou plus lux at its peak time of day and where it aligns with the earth.


I measured the lux one day at days end sun was going down and it read 106 thou lux . My newest best light I ran in my 4x4 hit at I think 12” away 60 ish thou lux so still need more light for me.


Hope that helps that is the way I best understand it . C student here lol

 

[Greenlizard]

Also I should mention that due to the UV I use Method7 glasses while working in the tent. I would not recommend spending much time tinkering with your plants while under these lights without good eye protection. A peek here and there from a view point above the lights is ok but when your down below for more than a minute or two you should always wear eye protection. You only get one set of eyes.