RickyBourne
Well-Known Member
I was reading other forums about best lumen to plant for high yields and came across a few people saying its nothing to do with lumens its just spectrum and the quality of it.. is this true.. thanks??
It takes both, the right spectrum and the more lumens the better. A perfect spectrum night light will not grow crap.I was reading other forums about best lumen to plant for high yields and came across a few people saying its nothing to do with lumens its just spectrum and the quality of it.. is this true.. thanks??
I was reading other forums about best lumen to plant for high yields and came across a few people saying its nothing to do with lumens its just spectrum and the quality of it.. is this true.. thanks??
This is cute, but not very useful advice. Worse, it's misleading; lumens are for humans and don't have much to do with how well the lamp will grow plants.you get a good spectrum with good lumens, they are Peanut butter and chocolate, they just grow together.
You gotta post enough first.lol how do i like a post?
thanks man..You gotta post enough first.
....Aaaaaaaand I'm trying to prove you right, right now;lumens mean nothing, lumens are a measure of light that the human eye can see. A 40,000 lumen light with the correct spectrum will destroy a 80,000 lumen light with a shit spectrum
Every grower I know that has made the switch to ceramics have not looked back.SPECTRUM. Spectrum first, last and in between.
HPS as a plant light source sucks, because 80% or more of all its light output is in wavelengths the plant cannot use.
MH gives up too much in the effort to regain some violet.
CDM, or ceramic metal halide, is the newer HID (high intensity discharge) lighting tech that improves on the spectrum efficiency of MH.
I'm switching from 1kW HPS lamps in mogul sockets on magnetic ballasts to Philips 860W CDM BT37 PROTECTED VERTICAL ONLY lamps- (all caps so peeps know what is part of the lamp designation and what isn't).
More info on this lamp here;
http://advancedtechlighting.com/cdmea860.htm
The whole idea of LED lighting is to only pay for wavelengths plants want. They are expensive and as yet unproven for larger grows because of a history of problems getting weight in bloom. CAVEAT; I'm not the LED expert, it is very likely better than it was a few years ago, and possibly less expensive. That does not make them cheap; the only growers I know of who buy them specifically to save power are Hawaiian, because it costs over 40 cents a kWh on the islands!
I have several friends growing some amazing connoisseur grade buds under special t5 lighting, they can get very specific with spectrum once again, boosting efficiency. Of course these growers have to contend with somewhat dim lamps that are four feet long.
In your shoes, especially if I thought I was going to blow it up at some point in the near future, I'd actually recommend you buy thousand watt magnetic ballasts that switch between MH and HPS, and are convertible between 120V and 240V. They are not expensive; Hydrofarm sells one for $140.
These are bulletproof, easy to repair, do not create nasty high frequency radio interference which can Fuck with electronics and worse, and they'll run a variety of bulbs- including my shit-hot sexy new 860W CDM. In fact, these bulbs will NOT run for long on a digital ballast; the high frequencies literally vibrate the pit until it explodes. They only warranty the lamps if they're operating in the correct position (they sell both vertical and horizontal versions, not interchangeable!) and if they're on magnetic low frequency ballasts.
So there ya go.
SPECTRUM. IT'S NOT JUST A DEAD HORSE ANYMORE.
Some opinions, some facts, some utter nonsense. Photons, not lumens affect plant growth.so... basically you all have different opinions..
google what a lumen is and theres your answer, anyone who told you differently is just wrong. simpleso... basically you all have different opinions.. if it really is just human eye then... it really means jack shit to the plant
I've heard it both ways, the gripe was that yield suffered. No one complained about doubling up on the frost tho!Every grower I know that has made the switch to ceramics have not looked back.
My shop refuses to bring in anything besides the GE 400w ceramics, because they are cunts that import their own shitty Chinese bulbs.SPECTRUM. Spectrum first, last and in between.
HPS as a plant light source sucks, because 80% or more of all its light output is in wavelengths the plant cannot use.
MH gives up too much in the effort to regain some violet.
CDM, or ceramic metal halide, is the newer HID (high intensity discharge) lighting tech that improves on the spectrum efficiency of MH.
I'm switching from 1kW HPS lamps in mogul sockets on magnetic ballasts to Philips 860W CDM BT37 PROTECTED VERTICAL ONLY lamps- (all caps so peeps know what is part of the lamp designation and what isn't).
More info on this lamp here;
http://advancedtechlighting.com/cdmea860.htm
The whole idea of LED lighting is to only pay for wavelengths plants want. They are expensive and as yet unproven for larger grows because of a history of problems getting weight in bloom. CAVEAT; I'm not the LED expert, it is very likely better than it was a few years ago, and possibly less expensive. That does not make them cheap; the only growers I know of who buy them specifically to save power are Hawaiian, because it costs over 40 cents a kWh on the islands!
I have several friends growing some amazing connoisseur grade buds under special t5 lighting, they can get very specific with spectrum once again, boosting efficiency. Of course these growers have to contend with somewhat dim lamps that are four feet long.
In your shoes, especially if I thought I was going to blow it up at some point in the near future, I'd actually recommend you buy thousand watt magnetic ballasts that switch between MH and HPS, and are convertible between 120V and 240V. They are not expensive; Hydrofarm sells one for $140.
These are bulletproof, easy to repair, do not create nasty high frequency radio interference which can Fuck with electronics and worse, and they'll run a variety of bulbs- including my shit-hot sexy new 860W CDM. In fact, these bulbs will NOT run for long on a digital ballast; the high frequencies literally vibrate the pit until it explodes. They only warranty the lamps if they're operating in the correct position (they sell both vertical and horizontal versions, not interchangeable!) and if they're on magnetic low frequency ballasts.
So there ya go.
we both know what one will win. Those 860s are amazing and mag 1000s are cheap and built like tanks....Aaaaaaaand I'm trying to prove you right, right now;
I'm running 860W CDM lamps head to head vs HPS thouies, same everything. Also head to head in separate rooms, coming up.
Initial lumens on the Plantmax thousand watt HPS; 140,000
Initial lumens on Philips CDM 860W lamps; 82,000
I'll get back to you guys in about 3 months with some answers, lol