Lighting question (Extra lighting from below).

I have 2 Silver Haze & 2 Trainwreck growing pretty well under a 400WHPS. I am in week 4 of flowering and the plants are pretty bushy. The majority of bud sites are at the top of the canopy but there are quite a few buds developing low down in the shade of upper fan leaves. Will putting my 250W CFL on the floor (reflector raised above rims of pots) help buds to develop lower down or will it just confuse my plants???

rather than do that try and get it closer to the base of the stem

ìts rasied about 10 inches off the floor, so the edges of the reflector is above the rim of the potsI can't get it any higher as it hits off the lower foliage. do you think this will make any difference to my yield of am I just wasting electricity??!

thats fine do it if you can...CFL guys put lights all over the place and so does the SUN

i was having the same issue, but instead of adding more lights i was just gonna harvest in sections. take the top canopy and give the bottom 1/2 another 2 weeks......gl and happy growing.

Thanks for that, at least I know adding my 250W CFL to the base of my plants isn't going to cause any problems! harvesting in sections is of great interest to me, never heard of it. this is only my second grow so i'm still learning. I presume you mean just cut off the mature buds and leave behind smaller, under developed ones. I am using Biobizz ferts so I only need to flush for 1 week. what I might try is leaving the smaller buds behind and re introducing ferts once i've harvested the canopy. is there anything else I need to do? do you have any more info on this (hints/tips/etc)??

i have only dont it my self once, and results were mixed. but i have heard good things. i have my second harvest coming up in 20 days so you can check back in then and see exactly what happened. should give you just enough time to decide.... but i was just take the bud that are for sure mature from the top half, and leave the rest being sure not to take to much off on the first go...

Yeah, i'll give it a shot! can't hurt. thanks again.

anyone else had any experience with adding more light from below?

dont do it ,ur buds will taste like shit the only way in my opinion,is if up root it,or cut it very low near the soil .
once the plant has matured of course!,then hang it upside down for like 2 weeks
it will give the tree enuff time for the thc to soak into the ends of the branches
it will be a better smoke..fullstop!

it looks to be a pretty high color spectrum like 5000k to 6500k and they like those better during veg and they like lower soft white bulbs like 2700k or so so the bright light wont hurt your plant but the 2700k would probably help it more than that one. just a slight suggestion tho. Great setup man and however you decide to harvest i hope its dank

Thanks guys, need all the help I can get! greenweed, thanks for the piece of mind, ideally I think I need to upgrade my 400W HID to a 600W version. I started this grow in a smaller tent (.8x.8x1.6M) but my silver haze just go too big. billyblunt, not sure how adding that light will make my weed taste like shit, maybe you could explain why so I can understand whats going on a bit better?

thanks greenweed! think i might just leave it there! next time i think i'll get a 600W HID. i started this gro in a .8x.8x1.6m tent but the sativas got too big so I had to change up. think 400w is too small for 1x1x2m space.
billyblunt, why would my weed taste like shit if I leave that 250CFL there? would love to hear why so I can understand what you mean. also, i was planning to cut, trim & hang for 1 week prior to curing, are advise that I should hang and dry the entire plant, again I ask why. apologies for all the questions but I'm trying to suck up all the advice I can get!

Adding the CFL will do nothing but good for the plant, more light equals better buds after all. The bottom section still might need to be harvested later however for optimum quality. I had a bud my last grow that received very little light from the HPS so I stuck a CFL next to it and at the end of the grow that bud (tho a cfl fluffly cfl bud) that bud ended up growing to be the biggest bud besides the main cola.

budire said:

thanks greenweed! think i might just leave it there! next time i think i'll get a 600W HID. i started this gro in a .8x.8x1.6m tent but the sativas got too big so I had to change up. think 400w is too small for 1x1x2m space.
billyblunt, why would my weed taste like shit if I leave that 250CFL there? would love to hear why so I can understand what you mean. also, i was planning to cut, trim & hang for 1 week prior to curing, are advise that I should hang and dry the entire plant, again I ask why. apologies for all the questions but I'm trying to suck up all the advice I can get!

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dude i didnt mean if u left ur light there that it would make ur buds taste like shit, i mean harvestiing in sections, of the plant. i said in my opionion it would make for a better smoke if u where to uproot and hang the whole plant,rather than little branches...

basically theres thc in the stem if u cut the branch of the stem u will only get the risidual thc in the branch ,rather than the hole stem ,think how wide it is at the base of the stem,u get my drift???

i should of quoted tryintogrow
420 TIME
Stoner

thanks for that billyblunt, now I understand (duh). i'll definately leave the CFL in place!

when i harvest in sections, i dont just cut the little branches off ill but off half the plant at the stalk and hang and then let the rest mature. i dont understand how it will make them taste like shit? maybe you can explain? most people dont hang the whole plant as one entity anyways, they cut it so the branches make a y and hang it. .... it drys easier and less chances of bud rot.

here here! lol, please explain why it would effect taste, i NEED to know. think i;ll justs leave it there and follow your advice to harvest in sections as you have suggested. if i do this should i resume with some water to keep them alive to further mature?? by the way, some of my lower leaves are heading south towards the cfl but im not too concerned about that, should I be? buds are not effected so far.....

Update! I have removed the CFL as its confusing my lower leaves. they are twsiting and facing down towards the nearer CFL and the extra light has made little or no difference to the lower buds.

ok ok i might have given such a black and white answer but, im billyblunt
so sorry ,all im saying is ur buds will taste better if u hang the whole plant ,they will be smother and have a full body,u shouldnt need to wory about bud rot if its in the right conditions, i mean for fuc sake uve created the ideal growing conditions for the plant ,curing it is the easy part

tryintogrow i tottaly understand now on ur method for drying as long as ur cutting the stem and not the branches,thats all i was gettin at..

the buds will have more flavor if hung from the stem,hey its all trial and error and im only talking from my experiances.