Using UVA/UVB Reptile Lamps during flower

[Randomblame]

BTW,
a +1000h old PureUV bulb still puts out more UVB like a new Arcadia D3 reptile bulb. Don't throw them away you can still use them in your veg area. And the UVA output btw has almost no degradation.

 

[Kingrow1]

Almost nothing! You need at least two or four 4ft good reptile bulbs like Arcdadia D3 desert or dragon or better you take two 4ft Agromax PuveUV bulbs. Each to cover a 2x 4' area.

UVA / B works 100%, forget the stupid nonsens from haters. They have no clue what they talking about. Argomax bulbs with reflector come at 2ft distance on 170μW/cm² and at 1ft they deliver ~440μW/cm².

Reptile bulbs delivers ~170 @1ft distance and 440 you'll get 5-6" away from the bulb.

200-250μW/cm² should be safe! Last run I have used 170μW/cm² for the last 4 weeks at 12/12h and startet to use it in veg for 3+3h. Not a single issue! Only difference was they started foxtailing earlier..

Funny thing, one of the plants was a hermie (not caused by UV) and produced a few nanners and later I found a few seeds and they were partly a bit deformed but only around 10% of them.
I used the same cuts as before(Green Poison, SweetSeeds) and the quality was so much better that many of my friends thought it was something new. I have no lab tests but trust me it has a noticeable effect. They tasted it blind means I did not tell them that it was UV treated weed. But all of them came back and asked for more, lol.

This is a UV deformed seed:
View attachment 4173274

And here you can see how intense UVB is arould the would in mid summer.

View attachment 4173275

Im not a hater it just does so very little it is probably the least used of the more excentric methods.

Deformed seeds, yer UV will do that.

I will say that Arcadia make the best flourescent bulbs

 

[jimihendrix1]

Solacure makes the most powerful Plant Specific UVA/B bulbs.

32w Solacure is 20 times more powerful vs Arcadia 54w Desert Dragon Bulb.

 

[Randomblame]

Im not a hater it just does so very little it is probably the least used of the more excentric methods.

Deformed seeds, yer UV will do that.

I will say that Arcadia make the best flourescent bulbs

I will only say, test it out, mate. There is an impressive difference. We're not talking about 1-2%, we talk from up to 30% more and that means a 20% strain can come to 28% and more!

You can make a small 24w test fixture pretty cheap.
Each T5HO bulb needs two sockets, here in EU they are called G5 sockets(e3ay, 5pcs=1$).
A 24w electronic ballast you can get for ~9$ shipped(Philips Mini EVG, a dual ballast for two 24w tubes costs around 13$).
A PureUV bulb is 22$ but the price is staggered. They get cheaper the more you buy(18,95$ when you take 10).
For a working UV reflector you could use cheap alu flashing or stucco reflector sheets. But avoid materials with glass or plastic surface and forget the premade ones for reptiles. You want a wide beam angle of ~90-120°.
All in all you can diy a 24w fixture for probably less than 50$ shipped.

Such a bulb covers a 2x 2' area pretty well(at 16-24" distance). You could do it as usual and provide only a small area for test purposes with UVB. A perfect way would be to have two identical clones in the opposite corners, one with and one without UVB but both in the same tent.
I'm pretty sure that the result will impress you just because I know the difference is clearly noticeable.
The really only mediocre GreenPoison has improved so much that you can think it would be a completely different strain. High thc varieties such as AK49 or so could not only become famos but stunning (in the truest sense, lol).
I've already a few potent strains in the fridge(SuperSilverHaze, ColumbianGold, BlueDream & Bubba'sGift) and I'm already curious how far I can push them with my new PureUV bulbs. But sadly I still have a lot to exchange because the UVB bulb is permanently installed in my 400w LED.(see sig.) I have to remove the two old 3ft bulb sockets and install four for 2x 2ft instead. I also have to change ballast and I plan to switch to a coco dtw system. Will probably take a few months as I know myself, lol! But I am really happy that I tried it. Nothing else has caused so much quality improvements.

 

[Randomblame]

Solacure makes the most powerful Plant Specific UVA/B bulbs.

32w Solacure is 20 times more powerful vs Arcadia 54w Desert Dragon Bulb.

Yea, I know but they are T12 and hella expensive as far as I know and it's not so easy to make an own fixture. They have a few benefits. You can overdrive them to 80w for example(with increased degradation) but the ponton fixture from indagro costs simply too much for my taste. And the other thing is they are not available in EU and shipping+custom fees for such a 4ft. bulbs is the next thing costs you an arm and a leg. I've read something that they planned to make a T5HO bulb too but I've no clue if it true or fake news.

 

[Quani]

Does UVB only promotes THC and resin production ? I thought it would also start flowering faster and (a little) yield too..

I have a vero29 from timber and now I'm really not sure if that's really worth it. More resin is nice but in the meantime I prefer medium level of THC lol..

I guess I will forget it for now ! Seems nice on others grows though.

Cheers

 

[Randomblame]

Does UVB only promotes THC and resin production ? I thought it would also start flowering faster and (a little) yield too..

I have a vero29 from timber and now I'm really not sure if that's really worth it. More resin is nice but in the meantime I prefer medium level of THC lol..

I guess I will forget it for now ! Seems nice on others grows though.

Cheers

It does several things but the slighty higher yield is probably only because of the additional watts you use with such a bulb. They also produce a good amount of blue/white light in the visible/PAR range(6000-10.000°k, with spikes at 400, 430 and 550nm). Arcadia's are even CRI90! So with this in mind, yeah, there is a slighlty increase in yield but it's probably just because of a bit more light.
Among other things UVA/B activates the defense system which makes the plants more resistant. It triggers crypto- and phytochromes which in turn control other processes and it promotes terpenes/fragrances and chases away many types of harmful insects.
If you anyway prefer medium potency there is no need for it. Plants will grow nicely also without extra UV..

 

[Quani]

Ok then I forget about it !

Thank you man you save me some time and maybe some money.

Take care