The Positive Effect of Diffused versus Direct Light on Plant Health, Vigor and Yields

Illumination

New Member
I was interested in the Super Spreaders for this reason as well, but when I opened one up in the hydro store, it seemed like such a cheap POS, I couldn't imagine paying $35 bucks for it, let alone 4 of them total for the rest of my lights. Do they really work well? Anyone tried or seen a side by side? I just can't imagine that for all the talk of glass coated aluminum reflection blah blah, if you look at the actual device, it looks like a cheap CNC cut thin strip of aluminum, for $35. I was going to buy it, until I saw it, at which point the guy at the hydro store was also like, "yeah......" when I commented on how cheapo it appeared. Any thoughts?
I am considering using one in a vertical cooltube in the growroom now finally under construction. It will be serving the purpose of lower portion of the plants lighting so diffuse I feel is very important. So would a screen with smaller holes at 12" from the light source all the way around serve the dual purposes of diffusion of the light as well as preventing the bleaching or burning of the plants?

Namaste':leaf:
 

endogarden

New Member
I am considering using one in a vertical cooltube in the growroom now finally under construction. It will be serving the purpose of lower portion of the plants lighting so diffuse I feel is very important. So would a screen with smaller holes at 12" from the light source all the way around serve the dual purposes of diffusion of the light as well as preventing the bleaching or burning of the plants?

Namaste':leaf:
Lumi, I'm betting if you could make or find a screen with a similar hole size and spacing as this:

then it would be virtually the same, or better. Though I'm not sure if the angle is a major part of it of not, seems you might get a similar effect with just using similar hole size and spacing in a screen.

Not sure about the bleaching, mine bleach when they are like 2-3" from the glass on my air-cooled radiant 8s with 600s. Supercropping branches, or tucking them under the trellis netting is how I try to prevent bleaching when my plants inevitably overgrow their low ceiling.
 

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
I was interested in the Super Spreaders for this reason as well, but when I opened one up in the hydro store, it seemed like such a cheap POS, I couldn't imagine paying $35 bucks for it, let alone 4 of them total for the rest of my lights. Do they really work well? Anyone tried or seen a side by side? I just can't imagine that for all the talk of glass coated aluminum reflection blah blah, if you look at the actual device, it looks like a cheap CNC cut thin strip of aluminum, for $35. I was going to buy it, until I saw it, at which point the guy at the hydro store was also like, "yeah......" when I commented on how cheapo it appeared. Any thoughts?
Yeah, the price is the downside for sure. Since I started using it my total yield has increased by roughly 20% though, so for me it's $35 well spent. No more hot spots or bleaching leaves directly under the bulb. I like it.
 

Illumination

New Member
Yeah, the price is the downside for sure. Since I started using it my total yield has increased by roughly 20% though, so for me it's $35 well spent. No more hot spots or bleaching leaves directly under the bulb. I like it.
thank you that is exactly what I have been waiting to see...the opinion of someone who ACTUALLY USES it and the difference it made....definitely getting them for the vertical now...thanx wolv...big help for reals...and glad to see you at my new "home" as well

Namaste'
 
Been using one as well for the last few months. They definitely eliminate the hot spot and the girls have responded well. I would say it is worth the $35. I think the aluminum has some coating on it to help with the diffusion. It feels gritty.
 

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
thank you that is exactly what I have been waiting to see...the opinion of someone who ACTUALLY USES it and the difference it made....definitely getting them for the vertical now...thanx wolv...big help for reals...and glad to see you at my new "home" as well

Namaste'
Combined with the proper reflector (I use the CAP XXX6), they work beautifully. I'm currently pulling between 1000-1350g from a 1kw with that setup. My light meter reads much closer to even throughout the canopy now, though not completely even. I'm probably going to try out an Adjust-a-Wing reflector with the spreader and compare the two, I'm just not sure when. Good luck with it lumi, and I'm happy to be there...
 

endogarden

New Member
Combined with the proper reflector (I use the CAP XXX6), they work beautifully. I'm currently pulling between 1000-1350g from a 1kw with that setup. My light meter reads much closer to even throughout the canopy now, though not completely even. I'm probably going to try out an Adjust-a-Wing reflector with the spreader and compare the two, I'm just not sure when. Good luck with it lumi, and I'm happy to be there...
Got damn! You pulled almost 3 elbows with 1 1k watt bulb??? I just harvested a little over 3.5 pounds under 4 600s (My electrical setup prevents using 4 1000s, plus I have 5 600w ballasts and 0 1kw ballasts),....so like .9 pounds a light, which I considered decent for the situation. How in the hell are you getting such fat yields? Good job too, btw, that's awesome.

P.S. This Sour Diesel I just smoked is amazing...
 

endogarden

New Member
Well, I got a diffuser, we'll see how it works. I got the Equalizer also by sunlight supply, the 1000/600MH version, cuz that's what was in stock (should work the same in my estimation, this one is just tuned slightly different for 600 metal halide dome sized bulbs instead of penal shaped 600 hps bulbs).
 

Wolverine97

Well-Known Member
Got damn! You pulled almost 3 elbows with 1 1k watt bulb??? I just harvested a little over 3.5 pounds under 4 600s (My electrical setup prevents using 4 1000s, plus I have 5 600w ballasts and 0 1kw ballasts),....so like .9 pounds a light, which I considered decent for the situation. How in the hell are you getting such fat yields? Good job too, btw, that's awesome.

P.S. This Sour Diesel I just smoked is amazing...
Fine tuning man, fine tuning. I've been running the same strains for a bit over a year now, combined with SCROG and a really good soil food web is the answer. And that's with a light input of only around 40wpf. My last harvest was on the low end of that scale, I pulled around 1100 grams total dry manicured weight.
 

SOCALRP

Member
I had a really long, well thought out and witty post to make here that I just spent about 30 minutes writing, and my f-ing computer froze-- I literally looked to the heavens, pointed my finger and said: this is bullshit and you f-ing know it!!! :evil: OK, I decompress and digress. This version is going to be way slimmed down.

First, huge respect and love for Uncle Ben and what he brings to the table (+ rep for sure):clap:.

Second, big ups to everyone else keeping this thread going with different ideas:weed:.

I came to this community for the technical threads. I have plenty of experience growing, but I need to produce the best quality herb possible as a family member was recently diagnosed at an early age with an aggressive form of colon cancer.

Most everyone here is talking about diffusion of light emmitted from HID's. I would like to propose a different method of "diffusion" that is basically a direct hybrid. My idea comes not only from the knowledge that I have gleened here, but also from this thread:

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html

In a rcdw/scrog setup I am thinking about putting a ring of lights at site level ( I am even thinking about running a couple broad spectrum T5's throughout the sites underneath the canopy), in an effort to encourage thick flowering below canopy level. Given how cool these lights run I think it's feasible, and would act to marry the benefits of both direct and diffuse lighting.

I know that this approach may seem that it's not in the spirit of this thread because you just end up packing your growing environment with so much light that it's akin to growing inside one big ass light bulb, but I would argue that the sun is kind of like the element in a light and earth would definitely be within it's "bulb". Anyways, I know I am a noob here, but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and would love to discuss just about anything technical so we can all help each other learn.:hug:
 

Old Dog New tricks

Well-Known Member
I was shocked when i googled how much lumens does the sun produce ( 100,000 ) like 93 watts per Sq meter
I my self have have learned many things like even tho i run 1000 watt lights like 2 1/2 feet from each other, and plants seem like there beside a nuclear plant and grow crazy fast, it didnt matter how i did it i can not get lots of big buds on lower plant beeing canopy is covered my train of thought was pack as many plants in the room as u can even tho my yields are well over 1000 grams per watt thingy i believe i can achieve more by running less plants my indoor season is now over but my plans are to still run 10,000 watts but with no more then 40 plants

I know this is old, but a couple of misquotes should be corrected. First,93 watts per sq. meter doesn't equal 100,000 lumens. Second, definitely not producing 1000 grams per watt! That's 400,000 grams with a 400 watt bulb.
Answer from Google:
Multiplying the figure of 1050 watts per square metre by 93 lumens per watt indicates that bright sunlight provides an illuminance of approximately 98 000 lux (lumens per square meter) on a perpendicular surface at sea level.
 
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