About to place my order, 3500k or 3000k in 90 CRI?
- Thread starter newguy123
- Start date
canadian1969
Well-Known Member
I have heard from others that the 3500 and 4000 are near identical (spectrum), but the 4000 has a bigger blue peak and maybe better for single colour temp grows. I am thinking 30% 4000-5000K dimmable to 10%, 70% 2700-3000K dimmable to 10% and off switches for both. That way you can veg under 30% total power, kick in the 2700-3000K at flip and ramp up to full power then dim the 4000-5000K, and as you get close to finish dim the 2700-3000K.
This is theory for me at this point , but seems to be the direction people are going. I have seen several builds lately that bifurcate the colour temps to two separate controls.
This is theory for me at this point , but seems to be the direction people are going. I have seen several builds lately that bifurcate the colour temps to two separate controls.
Mullumbimby
Well-Known Member
No one has really got to the bottom of this, although there is evidence that the lower temps flower 'better' than higher temps, the problem is efficiency. Above all, what makes flowering plants happy is more usable light and the lower colour temps make less light per watt used. The higher CRIs are even less efficient.
I guess what I'm saying is, you wont get a definitive answer but there are plenty of people who have experimented with mixed colour and cri - including me. I used half at 5000k and 80 cri for top-shelf efficiency and the other half split between 3000k 80cri and 3000l 90cri, because i liked the look of the 2 spectra in the Cree datasheet.
Looking at the rig and knowing which light is which, it's pretty clear that the 3000k 90cri produces much less light intensity than the others.
I guess what I'm saying is, you wont get a definitive answer but there are plenty of people who have experimented with mixed colour and cri - including me. I used half at 5000k and 80 cri for top-shelf efficiency and the other half split between 3000k 80cri and 3000l 90cri, because i liked the look of the 2 spectra in the Cree datasheet.
Looking at the rig and knowing which light is which, it's pretty clear that the 3000k 90cri produces much less light intensity than the others.
upsetter.
Active Member
What was your experience running these different temps? I've seen a few side by sides where the warmer color seems to come out ahead in yield... I don't have any first hand experience.
The argument for the warmer temp seems to be that plants use the warmer light more efficiently versus the argument for more cooler temps being that they make more photons in the par spectrum overall. It's worth mentioning that either of the choices listed should work just fine. It's easy to lose sight of the fact that cobs from 2700-4000 seem to produce good results, the debate is just about optimizing spectrum for the perfect setup.