will the red in incandescents help flower???

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axelfoley

Member
incandescents do have alot of red right? i have a 400 watt mh and 4 40 watt fluros and because im in flowering ive been toying with the idea of throwing a regular 75w incandescent bulb in the mix. would it help? or is this a retarded idea? thanks for not hating on my noobishness btw :)
 
jumboSWISHER

jumboSWISHER

Well-Known Member
incandescent light is useless to plants...
if you get the colored CFLs it might help, but im not sure if that changes the actuall spectrum wave-lengths, or just the color you see.
 
A

axelfoley

Member
well its not entirly usless right? if you put it under just incandescents you do see some growth. but i have plenty of light already and i know the mh doesnt really have alot of red in it which plants use to flower. am i right? this is just a theory and i could be horribly mistaken. second opion?
 
stasis

stasis

Member
Unfortunately most of the *light* that comes out of incadescents is infrared ( heat ) and the 75w bulb might only put out about the same as a 10 or 15w cfl in useful light.
More harm than good, if you ask me.

Just get a cheap red-ish cfl
 
wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
the problem is that the incandesent light is pretty useless to your plant. it uses up more energy than it is worth. make sure you are suing cfl's that are in the 3000K to 2700K light spectrum. you would be way better off using a smaller cfl in that light spectrum than an incandesent. look for i think soft white on the box... and you can usually find the 2700 or 3000K reading somewhere on the box, might be in smaller print though
 
Lil Czr

Lil Czr

Well-Known Member
Yes, they can be used to augment your current lighting, but CFLs would work much better for a number of reasons.

Incandesant bulbs are the least efficient way to light your grow.
 
A

axelfoley

Member
mmmkays. i think this answered my question good. so is it worth it to go out and buy a couple cfls to help it along? i have 6 plants from 1 -2 feet high. and i just began flowering
 
Lil Czr

Lil Czr

Well-Known Member
I use a 600 watt HID with 12 23 watt (100 watt equivelant) CFL's as additional lighting.

I feel that it rounds out the lighting spectrum and the plants really seem to like it.
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
Eighty-four 60-watt incandescent bulbs will total one 400-watt HPS and fewer higher wattage incandescent bulbs would of course also total one 400-watt HPS bulb but it would be a very poor option to choose and adding only a few would be almost totally useless.
 
jumboSWISHER

jumboSWISHER

Well-Known Member
hey brick top,
on those party CFLs, does the spectrum change with the color? or is it just colored paint on the glass. lol, been wondering about the green ones so i can move about in the grow space without interupting the photo-period.
 
T

T.H.Cammo

Well-Known Member
When used by themselves, incandescent lights are a waste of time, money and effort! As far as growing is conserned, they are a real piece of shit! But - give Paul Harvey a friggin' break and hear - - - - "Wait for it!" - - - - the rest of the story.

Quartz Halogen lights are heavy in the "Far Red Spectrum", especially in the 700-710 nanometer range. You may say "So what?". But, a-h-h, this is where it gets interesting! If you combine this Far Red spectrum with the more conventional Red Spectrum of 650-670 nanometers (or so), you will get a "dramatic increase" in overall photosynthesis (about 33%, or so, above and beyond the normally expected, combined, results!). It's like adding 2 and 2 and getting 6! I beleive this would be a good way to add extra "kick" to LED growlights - just add a few small Quartz Halogen bulbs (maybe 20 watters, or so).

But don't just take my word for it, Google "emerson effect" and see for yourself!
 
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