UV Suppliment Lighting

[Randomblame]

You probably won't see PM either.

Yepp, less insects like spidermites, thrips or so too.

 

[Airwalker16]

These ones should be available in the U.S..


These is the dimmable version but you should get them as "normal" ballasts too. Or_Gro has ordered them a few month back to make the pureUV's dimmable but that was before we knew that these bulbs have a wrong UVB to A ratio.

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Philips, Osram, Tridonic are other quality brands but I can not say which are available and which not.
I would at first search e3ay and am4zon. Often you can find them much cheaper.
My Philips HF regulator is listet with 45 bucks and I've found it on am4zon for 15 bucks new.

Literally all these ballasts are the same. Most T5 are anyway multi bulb ballast. If you find a 24w one its probably also siutable with 39w bulbs and it can probable also be used for different kinds of T5's. Ring bulbs for instance.

I found those ballasts but they're like $60.

 

[Airwalker16]

Mind if I join the club? Lol finally almost done, waiting on 2 more HLG strips for a total of 12. 4ft UV bulbs between every 4 strips.

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Had no idea Vivosun made such a bad Ass Oscillating fan!! I'm picking one up!

 

[Airwalker16]

So you're saying that the SolaCure is by far the best option?

Is that "like" a yes?

 

[Randomblame]

In terms of efficiency the Solacure are clear the best! Not as easy to handle like a reptile bulb but they have a good spectrum to work with and they last for years. So, yes...it's a big yes.

 

[Moflow]

In terms of efficiency the Solacure are clear the best! Not as easy to handle like a reptile bulb but they have a good spectrum to work with and they last for years. So, yes...it's a big yes.

My friend is running 2 of the 4ft solarcures in a 4 x 8.
He's running them for 2 hrs in total. On for 1 hr a few hrs after main lights are on then off.
A few hrs later and back on for an hr.
2 weeks into flower.
Can he give the plants more uv as they get used to it?

 

[SupaStona]

I ran some UVB bulbs in my operation for a while. I didn’t see any significant changes in THC. If anything the plants seemed to grow a little slower, plus it’s not good for our eyes. I wound up removing them and putting them over my lizards where they belong.

 

[Airwalker16]

I ran some UVB bulbs in my operation for a while. I didn’t see any significant changes in THC. If anything the plants seemed to grow a little slower, plus it’s not good for our eyes. I wound up removing them and putting them over my lizards where they belong.

Interesting....

 

[SupaStona]

Yeah, my bearded dragons really like the UVB. It may have increased my THC a little but I didn’t do a lab test. smoke-wise it didn’t seem to be any different. Maybe I had too much UVB as well, who knows. I know it’s supposed to increase THC but it’s also known that too much can stunt development.

Does anyone here have any lab tests where they ran a clone from the same mom under lights with and without UVB supplementation? Or know how much UV is perfect vs how much is going to cause issues? I can’t seem to find much conclusive research on this.

 

[pulpoinspace]

Yeah, my bearded dragons really like the UVB. It may have increased my THC a little but I didn’t do a lab test. smoke-wise it didn’t seem to be any different. Maybe I had too much UVB as well, who knows. I know it’s supposed to increase THC but it’s also known that too much can stunt development.

Does anyone here have any lab tests where they ran a clone from the same mom under lights with and without UVB supplementation? Or know how much UV is perfect vs how much is going to cause issues? I can’t seem to find much conclusive research on this.

conclusive research would be hard to find. its been talked about in this thread and others but essentially its strain dependent. it depends where that strain evolved. uv varies by location/elevation. also some UV bulbs are just way too strong. and you don't use them during the full light cycle. just like some reptiles need desert bulbs and others need forest bulbs. if you're looking for specific numbers you can check with a UV light meter randomblame has posted them somewhere in this thread already.

i just added UV so i don't have any results yet personally.

 

[.RootDown]

I ran some UVB bulbs in my operation for a while. I didn’t see any significant changes in THC. If anything the plants seemed to grow a little slower, plus it’s not good for our eyes. I wound up removing them and putting them over my lizards where they belong.

How long was your daily photoperiod? I don't plan on running mine the entire light cycle, just two hours or so at the middle to simulate when the sun is directly overhead.
UV is damaging, the idea is to stimulate the plant to protect itself. Those effects may not be just higher THC levels, but also more pungent odor and additional flavor.

 

[Chunky Stool]

Yeah, my bearded dragons really like the UVB. It may have increased my THC a little but I didn’t do a lab test. smoke-wise it didn’t seem to be any different. Maybe I had too much UVB as well, who knows. I know it’s supposed to increase THC but it’s also known that too much can stunt development.

Does anyone here have any lab tests where they ran a clone from the same mom under lights with and without UVB supplementation? Or know how much UV is perfect vs how much is going to cause issues? I can’t seem to find much conclusive research on this.

I'm running another experiment with spectrum changes and too much blue does seem to stunt growth.
If you run too much UV early, it makes buds harden and you'll miss the swell in the last 2 weeks. They get frosty AF but yield suffers.

 

[Chunky Stool]

How long was your daily photoperiod? I don't plan on running mine the entire light cycle, just two hours or so at the middle to simulate when the sun is directly overhead.
UV is damaging, the idea is to stimulate the plant to protect itself. Those effects may not be just higher THC levels, but also more pungent odor and additional flavor.

Excessive UV makes trichomes cloudy, even if the buds aren't close to being done.

 

[pan2707]

I'm running another experiment with spectrum changes and too much blue does seem to stunt growth.
If you run too much UV early, it makes buds harden and you'll miss the swell in the last 2 weeks. They get frosty AF but yield suffers.

yes just had my first run with a solacure and yield has suffered but wow buds are frostiest i've ever seen.
was only running it for 15 minutes every hour for a total of 1.5 hours, that was from week 2 on 1 plant and week 3 on another.
think i'll wait to week 4 before adding next run or try build up much slower as the plant that was in second week suffered terribly and looks done at 6 week

 

[pulpoinspace]

yes just had my first run with a solacure and yield has suffered but wow buds are frostiest i've ever seen.
was only running it for 15 minutes every hour for a total of 1.5 hours, that was from week 2 on 1 plant and week 3 on another.
think i'll wait to week 4 before adding next run or try build up much slower as the plant that was in second week suffered terribly and looks done at 6 week

slightly confused... 15 minutes per hour, total of 1.5 hours, so your lights only run 6 hours?

 

[pan2707]

slightly confused... 15 minutes per hour, total of 1.5 hours, so your lights only run 6 hours?

no lights on 12 hours just ran the solacure mid part

 

[pulpoinspace]

no lights on 12 hours just ran the solacure mid part

gotchya. and when you say week 4 you mean after flip right?

im running mine for 2 hours in the middle of the day. started around day 35 of flower. doing a strain i just ran w.o UV so i'll be able to see how it affects my yield. using 12% arcadia tho not solacure so not sure how it compares

 

[pan2707]

yes think it was around week 2 and 3 this run on 2 different strains so it could be strain dependent more than anything, still gonna go a bit easier this time.
i've ran the 14%arcadia for the full 12 hours not a problem the solacure seem a different animal

 

[Airwalker16]

yes think it was around week 2 and 3 this run on 2 different strains so it could be strain dependent more than anything, still gonna go a bit easier this time.
i've ran the 14%arcadia for the full 12 hours not a problem the solacure seem a different animal

Ya, I wonder if maybe the solacures are too powerful and one would be better with a 10-12% reptisun for around the middle 8 of a 12HR light cycle.

 

[Randomblame]

My friend is running 2 of the 4ft solarcures in a 4 x 8.
He's running them for 2 hrs in total. On for 1 hr a few hrs after main lights are on then off.
A few hrs later and back on for an hr.
2 weeks into flower.
Can he give the plants more uv as they get used to it?

Yes, he can! But he should be careful and inspect the upper fan leaves every day. Too much UVB looks like heat stress(UV photons carry a lot more energy like visible photons) and curled up leaves and leaf tips are the 1st signs of UV stress.
You also see some kind of sunburn when you not turn it back which means the green looks more olive green. If you see these color changing its already too late and the damage is already happend.
So increase slowly, especially with the strong Solacure bulbs. Maybe 10-15mins the day! And as soon as you see heat stress reduce it again to the point where you have seen no stress(15-30mins) and leave it right there.

Problem is, each strain has a different tolerance against UVB and you need to figure out the maximum dose again and again with every new strain in your garden. If you have multiple strains in your garden the weakest strain will dictate the maximum dose.