Trichomes, THC and UVB light.....

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
... 290nm was chosen as the distinction between UVB and UVC because UVR in the shorter wavelengths are unlikely to be present on Earth's surface, other than at high altitudes . The division between UVA and UVB does seem to be rather arbitrary however, as I have yet to read a definitive explanation. More recently what does seem to becoming clear now, however, is that electromagnetic radiation occurring at wavelengths shorter than 320nm are thought to be generally more active photobiologically than longer wavelength UVR.
What is high altitude?
 

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
...the penetration of UVB should be pretty good considering the wavelength

:idea: :idea: Cell phones, satellite dishes, etc don't work because of the chloropyll. Seems that it just sucks the RF right up. I don't know how to convert nm into ghz but.....

I once had to tell someone their stuff wasn't working because of activity on the sun. You should have seen the look they gave me :)

Chlorophyll
 

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
As a side bar. UVB is the more dangerous form of UV.

IMHO, I'm gonna do a bit o' research on shielding, prior to putting the 'lizard light' on my babies and me_cause I spend a heck of a lot of time looking at them.
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
I have to do some more reading before I can give you a definitive answer. The papers that I have as background have methodology sections, but so far, I have only been skimming the results and conclusions...so its gonna take more time....sorry I could be of more help at this time.
 

tastyaces

Well-Known Member
what i just said makes no sense....sorry blew out!!! Do you pu it over the plants so the are hittin the light or it doesnt really matter
 

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
...in my case....I will never have more than 5-6 plants...so its not as much of an issue


:lol: yeah, sure - that is like saying "I'll never need more than 4Gb of RAM"

Just wait until those big time lights show up...woohooo, you'll be a sea of green on the frozen tundra. :)
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
hahahahaha...we haven't even met yet....and you already know me better than I do! hahahahahaha....

then again..now I have to re-think the bulbs...that are going to go into that monster!......hahahahaha....
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
good evening man. more toys n' things..good for you. you know, about that humidity...I have been running a steady range of 24-27% and based on all the recent reading I've done, I'm not sure that humidty is a real problem? or am I missing sumthin? :blsmoke:
Well, what do we have here. 8)

Blue box is controller for aux. internal lighting.
You can see the 4" inline fan_need to work on getting more humidity into the box.
Temp is no problem. Humidity is at 20~23%, this device doesn't know what low humidity is :)
Also can see the 6" inline exhaust fan.
Black wire going into the inline fan is the temp/humidity probe wire.
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
awesome good for you...I'm happy for ya....I can't wait to see the pics....I really enjoyed my day off work today....though I really did spend the WHOLE (or was that HoLE) day on here....and not a minute wasted either...hahahahahaha!!
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
good evening man. more toys n' things..good for you. you know, about that humidity...I have been running a steady range of 24-27% and based on all the recent reading I've done, I'm not sure that humidty is a real problem? or am I missing sumthin? :blsmoke:
Plants can take a higher humidity and grow normally, so long as the roots are at an adequate temperature. I believe that more co2 being available will also help the plant withstand temps of 100f and still grow better than a well constructed grow room that doesn't have co2.The only really worrying part about high humidity is mould... plus other harmful pathogens are more easily created in this type of environment.Also, doesn't the sun change it's wavelengths? Or do they stay consistently the same day to evening, season to season?
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
Like you have mentioned, the ultraviolet region of the magnetic spectrum is divided into three different regions, UVA, UVB, and UVC. These three sub-divisions are rather arbitrary, however, as it seems that most disciplines originally defined them differently and have their own definition of what wavelengths fit in which division. Environmental photobiologists (who I tend to trust because they know plants) tend to define the wavelength regions as: UVA= 400-320nm, UVB= 320-290nm and UVC= 290-200nm. 290nm was chosen as the distinction between UVB and UVC because UVR in the shorter wavelengths are unlikely to be present on Earth's surface, other than at high altitudes . The division between UVA and UVB does seem to be rather arbitrary however, as I have yet to read a definitive explanation. More recently what does seem to becoming clear now, however, is that electromagnetic radiation occurring at wavelengths shorter than 320nm are thought to be generally more active photobiologically than longer wavelength UVR.
Yes, that was a good point... what would be considered as high altitude? A place with little vibrant plant life?After watching the marijuana man (mm) video, I felt that he was almost there... but his reasoning did falter at certain points. For example he made no mention of thcv. Only cbn, thc and cbd. Yet, the strongest plants we know are very high in thcv. These plants are also the smelliest. Marijuana man mentioned that one of the cells in the trichome (as there are two) is responsible for creating chemicals that make the plant smell, and that the other cell is responsible for creating cbn.This seems logical to me then, that one of the cells reacts to blue (i'd say the thcv, which i think may also be the precursor for thc)... the other to red which releases the cbn and changes (downgrades) to cbd.All this of course, is also assuming that the trichome only magnifies certain wavelengths that are suitable for the devlopment of these chemicals.Maybe. Maybe it does, and the leaves are what draw enough of the light in for adequate plant growth. But I doubt it.The trich' is still going to magnify all the colours of the spectrum, just like a raindrop. The light is filtered all across the head of the trich'... hence the shield-like shape. There are two cells in the trich' that are the focal points for all this light.
 

skunkushybrid

New Member
Do you think it might be possible to genetically alter the flowering time of cannabis just by using correct wavelengths of light? We do it in veg' right now... by giving the plant 24/0 the plant grows and matures much faster. Yet cannabis has not evolved in a 24/0 environment. I honestly believe that cannabis merely gets the best out of what nature has to offer. If we are to change that world completely, the plant will respond in kind. It always does, whether that be good or bad. If we could work out the correct workings of the trichome, we will unlock the secrets, and by using correct wavelengths of light, and plenty of co2. Not only could we keep a plant in perpetual harvest (if we so chose), but we could increase the potency to a like never seen before.
 

Your Grandfather

Well-Known Member
"How can you get more UVB light to your plants? Certainly it's true that MH lamps emit more UVB light than HPS lamps. Still the amount that MH lamps emit is small. In fact, many manufacturers use UVB shielding glass to filter out most of the UVB that's produced. The UVB light the plant receives from an MH lamp does increase the plant's potency slightly at the cost of yield, but there are better ways to introduce UVB light into the grow room. They include reptile lights, which emit about 10% UVB, and tanning lamps.

The problem with using these lamps is that they are associated with increased number of cancers and many other problems. They should not be on when you are in the grow room."

Ed Rosenthal - cannabis culture magaize."


I want a UV lamp real bad but I've gotta do more research on how to protect myself. Just as I thought, this stuff is dangerous.


Thanks for the link bKonz :)

Also as a sidebar, an interesting comment Ed made in the article is that mfg's of lamps create UV shields to limit the amount of UV which escapes from the lamp. hmmmm, so are some bulbs better than others? And, are these "better bulbs" actually not better? If you have one of these 'uv' emitting bulbs, are you placing yourself in danger?
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
hey man...thanks. As I had said in anotehr post/thread....seems to me we have been chasing a manner of growing that is highly suitable for certain objectives, but very possibly not the best for "other" objectives. Thanks for posting those links....more to read! cheers! :blsmoke:
CC had a really good article on the topic of UV light and the production of THC. I haven't seen it linked in here yet so here it is.

Light disagreement

Pot potency
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
thanks man.. yes there is a tremendous amount of discussion, and some of it goes way way back. I too am on my first indoor gro....only 15 days into it....but things are good. I'll take it as it is for now. but this certainly sparks the intrigue and inqusitivieness.....gotta keep reading......!
 

natmoon

Well-Known Member
Being exposed to a sun bed for 20 minutes a day is a risk being exposed to a small single tube for 10 mins a day indirectly is not a risk at all imo anyway.

The real risk from uvb tubes is to your eyes.
Always make sure you switch the uvb lamps of before you enter the grow area just to be safe.

Remember that the advice about skin cancer is from tanning beds that have maybe 40 high output tubes in them and the fact that some people use these beds for 20 minutes every day.
A single tube or even 2 will do you no harm(i think:mrgreen:):blsmoke:
 

tahoe58

Well-Known Member
hey nat....I agree with you. the easiest mitigation option is to turn them off when you enter the room. I used to use tanning lamps years and years ago. they continue to be popular with a certain segment of the population.

hahahahaha...I just remembered a funny story...I was about ten, and fell asleep under the tanning light and fried my most sensitive parts. I thought for sure the radiation had baked my breeding capacity. Not to mention how frickin sore painful it was for quite a while. Duh! anyhwo....I have kids today and although they do glow a little in the dark, they are otherwise completely normal....:blsmoke:

Being exposed to a sun bed for 20 minutes a day is a risk being exposed to a small single tube for 10 mins a day indirectly is not a risk at all imo anyway.

The real risk from uvb tubes is to your eyes.
Always make sure you switch the uvb lamps of before you enter the grow area just to be safe.

Remember that the advice about skin cancer is from tanning beds that have maybe 40 high output tubes in them and the fact that some people use these beds for 20 minutes every day.
A single tube or even 2 will do you no harm(i think:mrgreen:):blsmoke:
 
Top