The Impact of Light Intensity and Spectrum-Tuning on Cannabis Yields

mustbetribbin

mustbetribbin

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
Instead of targeting the hps spectrum I think we should target the sun. Everyone agrees that the sun grows better weed then anything else right? Well then let's aim to make our lights as close to the sun as possible..... Full spectrum with uv for a good tan!

Step two intensity, and this is where lots of people that run LED go a stray I think. The sun puts an average of 1500 ppfd onto a canopy over the day. Most LED growers I see turn their lights down for efficiency and only run a few hundred ppfd. That isn't how you replicate the sun....
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I think that @Thundercat & @Kingrow1 both made good points here that I would like to pick up on.

Thundercat mentioned that the sun and it's light is very difficult to beat because of its full spectrum light that it produces year around, and the color changes to far red as the seasons change and so forth.

While I'll admit kingrow1 did make some points I don't agree with entirely (besides being a bit obnoxious) one point he did mention is that lighting is specific to each type of plant or strain, with the various DNA codes and chlorophyll levels, hormones, terpenes and other chemicals found in each specific and unique plant species or strain, the point being that plants all use light differently, some plants us more blue or red spectrum while others may find more use/efficiency/survival out of using more yellow, orange or green spectrum and so forth.

Basically the type of lighting used is plant and strain specific, each plant is going to utilize the energy that it receives from the light or protons in a different way, however slight it may be.

This is why the sun has the entire spectrum covered, because the entire world of plants known to exist on Earth exist by using the same exact light source, the Sun, and the sun provides ample amounts of energy/light for each exact and specific species to survive and exist, this is why lighting is still not fully understood by many people across the world because one type one light band spectrum will not work 100% for every plant, each exact plant has specific needs to be dialed in to full optimization, this is why people who provide ample spectrum to their plants have the most success, no one light fits all so to speak, it's about allowing the plant to decide what type of light is most efficient for it own growth, it's not up to us humans to decide what nature does on a cellular level, nature has its own way of excelling in the continuation of each specific species that is known to exist, we humans can only do so much to allow for nature to take its course.
 
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Thundercat

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
mustbetribbin said:
I think that @Thundercat & @Kingrow1 both made good points here that I would like to pick up on.

Thundercat mentioned that the sun and it's light is very difficult to beat because of its full spectrum light that it produces year around, and the color changes to far red as the seasons change and so forth.

While I'll admit kingrow1 did make some points I don't agree with entirely (besides being a bit obnoxious) one point he did mention is that lighting is specific to each type of plant or strain, with the various DNA codes and chlorophyll levels, hormones, terpenes and other chemicals found in each specific and unique plant species or strain, the point being that plants all use light differently, some plants us more blue or red spectrum while others may find more use/efficiency/survival out of using more yellow, orange or green spectrum and so forth.

Basically the type of lighting used is plant and strain specific, each plant is going to utilize the energy that it receives from the light or protons in a different way, however slight it may be.

This is why the sun has the entire spectrum covered, because the entire world of plants known to exist on Earth exist by using the same exact light source, the Sun, and the sun provides ample amounts of energy/light for each exact and specific species to survive and exist, this is why lighting is still not fully understood by many people across the world because one type one light band spectrum will not work 100% for every plant, each exact plant has specific needs to be dialed in to full optimization, this is why people who provide ample spectrum to their plants have the most success, no one light fits all so to speak, it's about allowing the plant to decide what type of light is most efficient for it own growth, it's not up to us humans to decide what nature does on a cellular level, nature has its own way of excelling in the continuation of each specific species that is known to exist, we humans can only do so much to allow for nature to take its course.
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I don't doubt this at all, and you did a wonderful job of wording it! Strains eats nutrients differently, so it would make plenty of sense to think try would need different lighting. I would venture to guess that adapting the lighting to be as similar as the region that the genetics naturally came from could be a reasonable basic approach.

Though I've also read about plants adapting to the various light sources we put them under over time. It's all pretty interesting really. Plants are fucking amazing.
 
hillbill

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Sometimes we each become the victim of our own binary perceptions. The importance of intensity and spectrum are certainly not mutually exclusive. And plants seem to grab what light energy is there if the ideal wavelengths aren’t present. Some fella figured that out.

However I like to use a source with a broad spectral coverage that has most of what the Sun does. Want to make it as easy for the girls as possible. Some great light sources are now available to growers.
 
Lockedin

Lockedin

Well-Known Member
They were just starting to around the time of the last post before yours - 2019 or so...
I just liked a bunch of posts too! bongsmilie :P

But to answer - no.
My "white box" burples are burple - mostly red actually..... (flower tent)
My Vipars are two channel (R&B) - but both have a lot of white, IR & UV - even a couple green. (veg tent)
And my GrowDaddy set-up is 8 bars of 2,700k & 4 bars 6,500k with a pair of XLG-240's on dimmers. (flower tent)
 
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W

Wrangler23

Member
Most people like chocolate chip cookies. Pillsbury is fine for people who just want an average cookie. But, if you want a great cookie hoe you like it, you have to play with the ingredients!
 
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