Should my HID lights hang vertical or horizontal for maximum penetration?

[Stonefree69]

Straight from the Hydrofarm site (for 8" Cooltube):

Q: Should my HID lights hang vertical or horizontal for maximum penetration?
A: Studies have shown that a horizontal positioned bulb and reflector unit will
provide superior light penetration to a garden compared to vertical orientation.
However, both styles are acceptable for cultivation.

Guess they've never heard of Heath Robinson! Or tried to use tube sans internal and external reflectors, or a bulb w/no tubes
at all.

 

[nuglets]

if you position your plants right then growing vertically is more efficient. some people just don't have the space for it or prefer to grow larger plants which is hard in a vertical setup.

 

[smoke and coke]

i use the vertical stadium grow and works well in my space. i hang the bulbs vertical about 2 1/2 -3 feet apart. under the bulbs in the center i supercrop to keep them low and have taller plants around the perimeter or shorter plants elevated.

when i try a vertical grow i will probly have 2 bulbs hanging 1 above the other and have 6 foot tall plants in a circle around the bulbs.

 

[nuglets]

cool diagram smoke. thanks for sharing.

 

[Saldaw]

what they mean by that is that its better to hang your light horizontal above the plants instead of vertical above the plants

 

[Thatoneotherkid]

I have a question. I have just a normal 600 watt hps/ mh bulb and ballast. Could I hang my light directly from the power cord attached to the socket? Or would that just be a bad idea. If it is, is there any good online stores that have vertical hangers?

 

[problemsolver]

Bad because no matter how you try it won't level properly.

 

[citifield]

i grow trees in my vert set up 1 or more lights per plant, keeps plant count low, and you'll get the most grams per what out of your bulbs, of course some hydro company says its better with horizontal light cause a bare bulb hanging socket cost 20 as opposed to a $250 xxl raptor.

 

[OGEvilgenius]

Straight from the Hydrofarm site (for 8" Cooltube):

Q: Should my HID lights hang vertical or horizontal for maximum penetration?
A: Studies have shown that a horizontal positioned bulb and reflector unit will
provide superior light penetration to a garden compared to vertical orientation.
However, both styles are acceptable for cultivation.

Guess they've never heard of Heath Robinson! Or tried to use tube sans internal and external reflectors, or a bulb w/no tubes
at all.

They are completely wrong. Not shocked they'd say this though, as their business is reflectors. Cooltubes are completely useless (and a net negative in terms of heat and light production) in almost any setup. Go horizontal and there are better reflectors (literally almost anything is better). Go vertical and you're better off without a cooltube.

 

[OGEvilgenius]

what they mean by that is that its better to hang your light horizontal above the plants instead of vertical above the plants

No one does that, but to them... duh. Although actually the best reflector for horizontal light production has the bulb hung vertically (at least according to Greners).

 

[citifield]

if you grow trees in vert lighting you need fewer plants to get to you're yield goal, i haven't met mine yet but i know i will with care full tweaker and adjustments after everysingle grow i learn how to better oil the machine getting the whole plant light in a 360 canopy is the best way to achieve max yield per bulb, just like outside, of you can pull 5 p per plant out side you can do it in doors and just need to dial in your prograqm.

 

[Sir.Ganga]

I have not see anyone mention that bulbs are made to hang vert or horz so check your bulb first before changing its orientation. They both work and there is very little difference to lumens output or intensity.

Use which ever works best for your lay out. Cooltubes are the shit though, my room dropped 12 degrees using them.

Good Luck

 

[problemsolver]

The hortilux blue 400 watt metal halide comes in a vertical version.

 

[Opm]

Riddle me this batman:

You hang a bulb verticle and it's light is emitted 360 degrees.
You add a reflector (usually horizontal) So the same light being emitted is now at least concentrated to 180 degrees.

So how can a buble without a reflector have better penetration?

You can say that a non reflected verticle bulb gives better coverage area but not better penetration/lumens.

 

[smoke and coke]

 

[smoke and coke]

also look for heath robinson and his vertical grows. mind blowing

 

[Clown Baby]

Vertical grows by heath robinson:
vertical Trees
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/101347-critical-mass-tree-grow-x.html

vertical SOG
https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/149998-heaths-flooded-tube-vertical.html

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/133309-heaths-mini-vertical.html


Heath lurks other threads moreso than RIU, but he's got a few gems posted here.

 

[BearDown!]

thanks clown for the link i was just on here the other day trying to show someone that thread of the "nasa" grow Heath did.. rereading now and i missed some things last time.
and great pics earlier smoke/coke, your proff is in that fat AZZ crop circle...lol

 

[BearDown!]

can i ask how many plants, how many watts, and how long your veg/flower times were..and yield, sorry if im asking too many questions, trying to plan ahead...

 

[smoke and coke]

sorry i should have posted that these are not my plants so wattage is unknown. there is a floor fan in the center pointing up blowing air away from the bulbs. if memory is correct, may have been 5 plants.