Light intensity paradox need an OG help!

Newnugz

Newnugz

New Member
Hey all, so I have a 1000 w hps system and I'm using a parabolic reflector. I got a few apps that measure Lux and according to Internet resources the absolute max I want is 85,000 Lux or risk light burn bleaching etc. Now I had my plants about 3 feet under bulb (tip of bulb mind you because parabolic) and the Lux meters were registering like 125k. The app I used was compared against a Milwaukee light meter and they were within like 5 percent of each other so my thinking is The apps are reasonably accurate.

This is a paradox to me as I keep reading the plants should be 1.5 to 2 feet away from light and yet at that distance it seems the light intensity would be around 175-200 k Lux. These two concerns about light intensity are at odds with each other.
Also the bulb I'm using is old so when I put new one in for flowering I can only imagine there would be even more Lux.

What do I do? Hold my plants further away and ignore the advice of two feet? Or move my plants closer an ignore the Advice about too much light?

P.s. I'm purchasing a cool hood and they say you can go even closer like within 6 inches of cool tubes ...... Once again this is at odds with the 85,000 Lux max
 
A 1000 watter ought to be fine 2 ft away Newnugz.

Not for seedlings mind you but for vegging plants it shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you have an oscillating fan blowing all the time. I ran my 1000 at 18" and didn't have any bleaching. The cool hood will help.

I don't know squat about using Lux to measure the light intensity but more is better up to a point. 1000 watts will do up to 25 square feet nicely or a whole 8x4 tent with a light mover and yield a shit load of pot. :)

:peace:
 
OMU speaks truth. I used to grow with 1000W hps and I kept mine about two feet with no issues and an air poles hood. The real benefit is that if your canopy is getting more than it can use, your lower growth is getting fantastic light. So your bottom buds will be full and nice if you spread the canopy open a bit so the light can get down there.
 
Watch the video below and you will learn a lot. These guys have tons of very good videos.

2 things to note: When air cooling the bulbs (especially a DE bulb) the output goes down. In basic terms they are less efficient but that means lower illumination. Secondly an air cooled lamp is typically behind a glass shield. That will drop another 10% minimum if it is very clean. So again some efficiency loss. Both of those will allow you to get closer as the actual light is lower. That doesn't mean better just closer.

I find it best to have venting that allows for the temps to be correct so I can have an open light adjusted as close as my plants tell me is a good idea. And that is also not a fixed thing. I had a sick one in the corner that was showing signs of heat stress partly due to a poor root system. But all the healthy plants right under the lamp in much a more intense and hotter spot were all just fine. The optimal environment depends on the health of the plant. Just like when you are sick you stay in bed not go hiking in the mountains in snow. So 2 feet or whatever really is a rating for optimal healthy conditions and should be adjusted when the plants are telling you too. Especially in bloom you need to keep moving it up or you can easily get hemies from heat and sunburn stress.

I know this is a long video but there is something new to learn like every 2 minutes. There is a chart in the middle showing at what distance various lights will have various illumination as a percent of the best equatorial light at noon that is great to see. So specifically plants on earth really were not meant to get more light than a plant on the equator at noon in summer (if that matters at the equator). So at a certain distance you are providing more than that and that aint good.



:goodluck:
 
Awesome post man thanks will watch as soon as I charge my phone lol about to die


Sent from my iPhone using 420
 
I would add..I am not opposed to an Air cooled hood. Like anything you want to use the right tool for the right job. Air cooled is great when you have a small micro-garden where you have heat issues. BUT the big thing people miss is they do not use insulated hose. then your hose get warm and radiates the heat right back into the room and you don't actually cool the room just the bulb. So now you have all the heat in there and a bulb pumping out less light.

Done correctly Air cooled can make the right garden great. I would bet most people are using them wrong and in the wrong type of garden and just wasting power. You want to keep the hose less than 6 feet and insulted otherwise most of the heat is going right back into the room.

:peace:
 
I actually didn't think of insulated ducting
I just grabbed the plain tin foil kind. I have a Frankenstein set up right now and I had to do some major remodelling to get it to work. I know it's not ideal but it is what I have available. It's a 3x3x7 tent I'm gonna SCROG out. The reflectors I have are parabolic so I had to trim around all the edges to make it fit in tent. This for sure changed the reflectors light print. Finally to bring temps into usable range I had to cut 6 inch hole in top of parabolic and I ran my duct right into that. This also will cut a piece out of reflection surface. Setting it up like this the cool air flows directly past my open bulb and out the top and Believe me it was not my first attempt. My first configuration saw the tent rise to 37 so I consider it a great success I was able to get her down to 28 haha


Sent from my iPhone using 420
 
This for sure is a wacky inefficient set up but it's what I had available I will be buying a cool hood just after Christmas. I'll post pics when I get home.


Sent from my iPhone using 420
 
Hmmmm I pasted link for photos but It isn't showing up??? Trying to do from my iPhone that could be problem
exhaust.1053705
 
Do not paste links. Upload them to the web site then the website will scrub the meta data off so the DEA can't figure out what phone they came off. Then you simply link from your gallery by using the camera icon 5 over from the emoticon.

To upload photos go to the top of the page and find the gallery link and select upload.
 
Well they are in my member gallery at least


"Life is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead"
 
Newnugs that is the case with my iPhone as well. I can only pic post from my PC.
 

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