The Importance Of Mixed Lighting

Very informative ! Thanks for the great info! Definitley gonna try this on my grow! Afterall, quality is what really matters!



Cheers

seasmoke said:

Great info.

I've been using 6500k mixed with land and aquarium, and kitchen and bath(believe it or not) bulbs and they've been vegging great.

would a 400wt MH work with a 1000w HPS?

+ rep for the thread.

Click to expand...

A 400w MH would be a fantastic addition. You will see some killer weed with that setup.
Thanks for the rep. I'm glad your plants are doing well.

someone else mentioned it but I didnt see where you touched on it so I'll just ask again. would there be any benefits using any of the other 3000k to 5500k bulbs to give a better spectrum? or a mix of 2700's and 6500's is enough?
great thread though man. learned a lot

notoriousb said:

someone else mentioned it but I didnt see where you touched on it so I'll just ask again. would there be any benefits using any of the other 3000k to 5500k bulbs to give a better spectrum? or a mix of 2700's and 6500's is enough?
great thread though man. learned a lot

Click to expand...

I'm not as knowledgable as Chase, but I'll try to answer this.

The sun is putting out differnet kinds of rays all the time, a combination of rays, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
Pot grows in two cycles, VEG and FLOWER, also called GROW and BLOOM.
Each cycle requires certain rays or spectrums, mixed spectrums, combined spectrums, IF you want to duplicate what occurs in nature.

I use mostly 2700 and 6500 k bulbs, but I also have some 5100k bulbsw too, to mix in, to get a mix. .

Roseman said:

I'm not as knowledgable as Chase, but I'll try to answer this.

The sun is putting out differnet kinds of rays all the time, a combination of rays, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.
Pot grows in two cycles, VEG and FLOWER, also called GROW and BLOOM.
Each cycle requires certain rays or spectrums, mixed spectrums, combined spectrums, IF you want to duplicate what occurs in nature.

I use mostly 2700 and 6500 k bulbs, but I also have some 5100k bulbsw too, to mix in, to get a mix. .

Click to expand...

well I'm an outdoor grower as well, so I'm all about getting it as close to the properties of the natural world. so with that, you would recommend hitting on every level of the spectrum? I'll probably do about 6-8 bulbs in my grow space so definitely more 65k's in veg and 27k's in flower, but wondering how I should go about the other bulbs and when I should use them throughout the different phases.
appreciate the response though and I know it's a crazy and new realm for us CFL'ers. just wanting to get the best buds I can from this one

notoriousb said:

well I'm an outdoor grower as well, so I'm all about getting it as close to the properties of the natural world. so with that, you would recommend hitting on every level of the spectrum? I'll probably do about 6-8 bulbs in my grow space so definitely more 65k's in veg and 27k's in flower, but wondering how I should go about the other bulbs and when I should use them throughout the different phases.
appreciate the response though and I know it's a crazy and new realm for us CFL'ers. just wanting to get the best buds I can from this one

Click to expand...

This is a very controversial matter. It really depends on your style of grow. If you break it down in to the core scientific elements that have been discovered to be beneficial to a plant: Only blue and red spectrum significantly promote plant growth and flowering. I have a chart around here somewhere, but my computer is very cluttered. But, as many properties of plant growth still remain undiscovered, the true benefit of mid spectrum lighting remains unknown. The sun emits such wavelengths, and I can see you are one to mimic nature, the use of mid spectrum lighting would be essential in replicating the natural environment. But! I would have to recommend you do some research on the wavelengths of light the sun emits throughout your desired season for the plant. And then, plan to change your bulbs accordingly, making sure that you never achieve an equal balance of each type of light. Why? Because that would create white light. Not quite as useful for your plant.
On that topic. Red and blue light make magenta. An interesting thing to think about. A color commonly found in LED grow systems.

"Effects of the Mixture of Lights of Different Wavelengths.—When lights of all wavelengths are intermingled in due proportion, the result is grey or white. If in the mixture there is a relative predominance of some one light, such as green or blue, the result is a whitish green or a whitish blue."
[http://chestofbooks.com/health/psychology/G-F-Stout/A-Manual-Of-Psychology/Light-Sensation-Effects-of-the-Mixture-of-Lights-of-Differe.html]

And thank you Roseman, it is an honor to be regarded so highly by such a prestigious member of RIU.


By the way, I just lost my main cola on my largest plant to mold yesterday. I'll have to drop by Roseman's thread on humidity control to try and avoid this next time. A very overlooked necessity during the flowering stage.
It did give me a chance to test my hard work. Fantastic quality I have heard. Very stoney, but no couchlock, and no munchies. Seems to be a good social and creative herb. 2 toke high. The best I could have ever expected from bag seed. It's too bad I don't smoke.

Chase1126 said:

This is a very controversial matter. It really depends on your style of grow. If you break it down in to the core scientific elements that have been discovered to be beneficial to a plant: Only blue and red spectrum significantly promote plant growth and flowering. I have a chart around here somewhere, but my computer is very cluttered. But, as many properties of plant growth still remain undiscovered, the true benefit of mid spectrum lighting remains unknown. The sun emits such wavelengths, and I can see you are one to mimic nature, the use of mid spectrum lighting would be essential in replicating the natural environment. But! I would have to recommend you do some research on the wavelengths of light the sun emits throughout your desired season for the plant. And then, plan to change your bulbs accordingly, making sure that you never achieve an equal balance of each type of light. Why? Because that would create white light. Not quite as useful for your plant.
On that topic. Red and blue light make magenta. An interesting thing to think about. A color commonly found in LED grow systems.

"Effects of the Mixture of Lights of Different Wavelengths.—When lights of all wavelengths are intermingled in due proportion, the result is grey or white. If in the mixture there is a relative predominance of some one light, such as green or blue, the result is a whitish green or a whitish blue."
[http://chestofbooks.com/health/psychology/G-F-Stout/A-Manual-Of-Psychology/Light-Sensation-Effects-of-the-Mixture-of-Lights-of-Differe.html]

And thank you Roseman, it is an honor to be regarded so highly by such a prestigious member of RIU.

Click to expand...

thanks Chase. I definitely get what you're putting down, but seems like we're going down an unexplored road when applying it to growing. it's interesting how you mentioned the mixing of the actual colors blue and red to get magenta. I'm going to talk to my old art teacher who was really into naturalism and the outdoors so maybe he can shed some light on this subject. he was pretty hipped out in his past life and I am almost positive he smoked and possibly even grew so maybe he has some useful info.
thanks again tho man. stoked to see people having such good results with cfl's. all the "OG" growers that I talk to say that growing all the way through with cfl's will produce airy buds and blahh blah blah.. but then I realize that they've never tried a cfl grow especially a cfl grow all the way through with the different spectrums. awesome thread too. should definitely be stickied. thanks again. +rep for sure

lol I just saw your edit. still blows me away when people dont endulge in their work. my cousin does it too because he has a state job, but damn, I don't think I could ever stop smoking or growing for that matter. maybe that's why you explain everything so well haha

notoriousb said:

lol I just saw your edit. still blows me away when people dont endulge in their work. my cousin does it too because he has a state job, but damn, I don't think I could ever stop smoking or growing for that matter. maybe that's why you explain everything so well haha

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reputation and the kind words. I grow many herbs, marijuana is just my favorite to cultivate. It is such an elusive plant. So easy to grow, but so difficult to grow well. Unlike my chamomile, which sits on my balcony and soaks up the sun. There is nothing more rewarding than a successful grow. Good luck with your crop, I'm sure you will find the balance you are looking for.

"The trick is to use the drugs once to get there, and maybe spend the next ten years trying to get back there without the drug.”"

A 400w MH would be a fantastic addition. You will see some killer weed with that setup.

Click to expand...

Awesome! And thanks. I'm using 1000w hps for flowering right now and if I can improve on it I will.
I just ordered 2 400w mh, one I will sister beside the hps, i've been using 6 4ft shop floro's to veg with that mix and have been quite surprised how well its working. Even though, i'm still going to put the other mh with them.

Thanks again, Thanks URI and thanks to all the ganja geniuses that are willing to share info.

Could you give us a ratio. I have 60% flower and 40% vege all the way through with 865watts (actual) would you sugest moving it more for flower when the time comes

I am reposting this, I have written this down in another thread, but I guess it is helpful and relevant so here it goes:

First I started with whole daylight (5700k) and then started changing one by one to (2700)
It means I bought more lights I can put in but it is less stressful and a smooth transition for the plant, or so I think

First week: 8 daylights (seedling stage) (24/24)
2 to 3 weeks: 7 daylights 1 warm whites (veg state) (22/2)
4 to 6 weeks: 6 daylights 2 warm whites (veg state) (20/4)
6 to 8 weeks: 5 daylights 3 warm whites (veg state) (18/6 and 16/8 )
8 to 9 weeks: 4 daylights 4 warm whites (preflowering) (13/11)
9 to 11 weeks: 3 daylights 5 warm whites (flowering) (12/12)
11 to 14 weeks: 2 daylights 6 warm whites (flowering) (12/12)
14 to 16 or 17 weeks: 1 daylight 7 warm whites) (flowering) (12/12)

This is just my way of doing it, you can try yours

kodomo said:

I am reposting this, I have written this down in another thread, but I guess it is helpful and relevant so here it goes:

First I started with whole daylight (5700k) and then started changing one by one to (2700)
It means I bought more lights I can put in but it is less stressful and a smooth transition for the plant, or so I think

First week: 8 daylights (seedling stage) (24/24)
2 to 3 weeks: 7 daylights 1 warm whites (veg state) (22/2)
4 to 6 weeks: 6 daylights 2 warm whites (veg state) (20/4)
6 to 8 weeks: 5 daylights 3 warm whites (veg state) (18/6 and 16/8 )
8 to 9 weeks: 4 daylights 4 warm whites (preflowering) (13/11)
9 to 11 weeks: 3 daylights 5 warm whites (flowering) (12/12)
11 to 14 weeks: 2 daylights 6 warm whites (flowering) (12/12)
14 to 16 or 17 weeks: 1 daylight 7 warm whites) (flowering) (12/12)

This is just my way of doing it, you can try yours

Click to expand...

I am not going this far, but I have 6 daylight and 2 warm in my veg, and then 120 watts daylight and 165 watts warm in flowering. I am adding about another 100 watts warm in the flowering as well.

I am also going to be changing the lights like the above poster, just on a faster scale. Good luck all!

Interesting. I mix lights like this:

I start with a 5' fluorescent fixture with 2 40 watt tubes cool for veg.

I add individual warm cfls to the cool fluorescent fixture for flower.

It's a simple solution that does not involve me messing with stuff too much.

I'm trying out the mixed spectrum thing myself. I currently have one 4ft T5 6500k and each plant has a 26W 2700k CFL and a 26W 6500k CFL bulb on it as well (these are 6 inch tall babies). Once I switch them into flowering I was planning on putting 2700k CFL bulbs to replace the 6500k ones but leaving the 6500k T5 as is.

So far, so good. I haven't noticed any substantial changes in growth since putting in the 2700k bulbs, but this is my first time so I'm not sure I'd recognize the difference even if it bit me in the face.

doobnVA said:

So far, so good. I haven't noticed any substantial changes in growth since putting in the 2700k bulbs, but this is my first time so I'm not sure I'd recognize the difference even if it bit me in the face.

Click to expand...

Well, 2700K is best for flowering, so you will see the best growth in your buds, not the size of the plant. Just wait! The more 2700K you can get in there, the better.

Topher89 said:

Well, 2700K is best for flowering, so you will see the best growth in your buds, not the size of the plant. Just wait! The more 2700K you can get in there, the better.

Click to expand...

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks =)

doobnVA said:

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks =)

Click to expand...

Now go and grow some dank shit! one love!

Good to see so many people utilizing mixed lighting.