I wanted to throw out some thoughts that have been running around in my head... I found this http://futuregarden.com/lighting/PAR_chart.jpg . I'm using a 250w mh; seems this spectrum of light does nothing. Going by this it seems it would be best to go with a daylight mh. Thoughts? BTW light is for 2.5 sqft
Chlorophyll production... lighting?
- Thread starter bugjeter
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Okay, I'm taking a great plant class at my university. Their is two types of chlorophyll, A and B, both lowercased. Chlorophyll A absorbs RED and BLUE light, while B (the accessory pigment) absorbs any other colors in the light and sends the energy to Chlorophyll A, which then the light energy (photons) is moved on to the next stage to basically make its own food (a species who makes its own food is called a autotroph). So basically, from the graph you showed it, your best results would come from the HPS and the MH on the far left. Your MH is definitely sending out light energy in some red and maybe some blue, but its more of another color so Chlorophyll B is doing A's job, which is not good b/c sugars are not broken down properly and what not to make your plant grow to its full potential.
And by the way, I like the chart you found, Im using ALL cfl's right now, but have really been looking into using a 100wHPS for overhead lighting and Tube CFLS for side lighting, so basically id prob run at least 2 tubes for all sides of the plant not receiving side lighting. I could most likely pull a couple of O'z of 3 babies easy with this method.
And by the way, I like the chart you found, Im using ALL cfl's right now, but have really been looking into using a 100wHPS for overhead lighting and Tube CFLS for side lighting, so basically id prob run at least 2 tubes for all sides of the plant not receiving side lighting. I could most likely pull a couple of O'z of 3 babies easy with this method.
So going off the chart the plant actually uses more blue light energy? Are their certain times during the plants life that it will use one color more than the other. Why do many recommend using hps for flowering if, according to the chart, a daylight mh would be better. Is there something else that I'm missing?
The baby will use mostly blue light during its vegetation stage, and some RED, once you switch the light cycle from 18/6 or 24/0 to 12/12 you will start flowering, at this time the baby is wanting more red light, but its good to mix spectrum's during each stage. Say your in vegetation stage, you want more blue than red, and during flowering, you would want more red than blue. The chart on that site shows the hps in the red b/c it emits mostly red light, and thats why I say that its good for flowering. The daylight Mh is clearly in the blue zone and this is for vegetation. Just remember what ever lights you use ( cfls, hps, mh ), try to have a mixture, of red and blue light! And plus the chart is kind of deceiving, it makes it look like the baby will grow better in blue light, and this is true, but only in vegetation.
mattman... I've been checking these guys out.
Amazon.com: 2 Pack - 27 Watts 5500K Color corrected Day Light Fluorescent Lamp Photo Bulb: Camera & Photo
I was thinking of getting a conversion bulb so I can run 250w hps and supplement with a couple of those guys. Thoughts? It seems that 5500k is a popular color for photography. They have a very high CRI (90) which should produce many colors in the blue spectrum.