How about natural sun vs. HPS? Can you improve on mother nature?

All this talk of CFL vs. HPS lighting got me to thinking. I use a combo of natural sunlight (when available) and supplement with CFL. I know I run the risk of confusing the plants but so far, I have seen no adverse affects. I;m in flowering stage and here's what I do: if the weather is nice and sunny, which it usually is here in Florida, I put the girls out at around 7:30am. I'll rotate them and move them around as the sun moves, to ensure all parts of the plants receive light. I'll leave them out as long as the sun is shining. Most days, that's up until 7-7:30. If I need to, I will put them under the CFLs to complete the 12 hour light cycle. In my mind, I am thinking natural sunlight is the best light. Better than HPS and definitely better than CFLs. PLus, I get the added benefit that my power bill does not rocket up. Currently Florida isn't too hot, with daytime temps ranging from 72-89 (the lower and upper limits occur maybe once every 2 weeks).

What do you guys think?

hearmenow said:

In my mind, I am thinking natural sunlight is the best light. Better than HPS and definitely better than CFLs.

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Using natural sunlight will get you a much better end product than by using artificial light. Sun light isn't restricted by the 'inverse square law' of light intensity and therefore the buds at the bottom of the plant will get just as much light as those at the top - unlike HPS.

No light can compete with the sun. As long as your not shocking the plant you should see some nice results.

That's what I was thinking too. I was just wondering lumens comparison. Having used CFLs and researched HPS and how many lumens a plant needs to grow (minimum 2500), I was wondering how many lumens are in natural sunlight.

I spent some time researching this topic and it's hard to find exact numbers. The World Meteorological Organization defines sunshine as direct irradiance from the Sun measured on the ground of at least 120 W·m−2. Direct sunlight gives about 93 lumens of illumination per watt of electromagnetic power, including infrared, visible, and ultra-violet.

Every plant growing site I visited all said sunlight is the best light for growth. Good enough for me.

It's hard to argue with mother nature.
Peace

lol good thread.. im now thikning of using sunlight.
also its got me thinking about transplanting some clones outside.....

hope my dog wont eat em tho cause he sniffs mine all the time ......

am gunna av 1 stoonnneeed dogggg.....

..... a just have to hope e dunt get munches and eat me hhahaha

Dude, before you start getting your packpack all loaded...think it through. Growing outside has a whole bunch of other problems that go with it.

Sure the sun is better than an HID light, but in my closet, I dont worry about the cops flying over, the deer eating my whole crop, I dont have to lug all that water, up a 3 mile trek only to find some punk ass kid stole my crop.
The list goes on and on.
Peace

Doctor said:

lol good thread.. im now thikning of using sunlight.
also its got me thinking about transplanting some clones outside.....

hope my dog wont eat em tho cause he sniffs mine all the time ......

am gunna av 1 stoonnneeed dogggg.....

..... a just have to hope e dunt get munches and eat me hhahaha

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WOW, great minds think alike or at least tokers minds, I just brought a male that got culled from the flower chamber 3 days ago in from outside....it was sitting on the clothes dryer getting ready to be taken out and distroyed and for some reason my better half suggested we sit it out and see what would happen to him before we moved the ladies out for a dose of Real Sun....we had been exploring the idea also thinking it would enhance the growth...well he survived fine 5 full hours in full sun and no ill effects...in fact he looks Happy to see real Sun....going to move him back inside and see how he takes it tomorrow....if he does OK I will destroy him and move the ladies out for a few hours.....I have him in 5 gallon camoed bucket lined with mylar...other than the slight glow at the top from the mylar he\'s undetectable.

you don't need 12 hours of light. you can probably just keep them outside. i've had 2 outside for over a month now and they are flowering just fine. you do need 12 hours of dark or more but the night s are getting shorter and mine are getting less then 12 but it has not effected them yet. they should finish fine in a couple more weeks.

i have a light meter. it asys the highest level of light a plant can actually use is 50,000 lumens. here's the quote.

" The rate of photosynthesis is proportional to the light intensity received by the leaf to a maximum of 5000 footcandles(1 foot candle = 10.06 lumens). At 5000 fc, most plants are at 100% effiency and light intensity levels above this measurement are of little benefit and can only cause heat exhaustion and undue dryng of a plant. Therefore, the light meter has been calibrated to 5000 footcandles."

when i point it at the sun it max's out.

ok quick quesion how do u get plants to veg out side tho? cuzz i got plants outside and they went straight into flowering

Full sunlight is around 2000 micro-mols per square meter per second, or around 500W per square meter in PAR.

MajoR_TokE said:

Full sunlight is around 2000 micro-mols per square meter per second, or around 500W per square meter in PAR.

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that flew so fast over my head. i need to do my homework. i guess that means IT'S BRIGHT. lol

trusten said:

ok quick quesion how do u get plants to veg out side tho? cuzz i got plants outside and they went straight into flowering

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you put them outside during a NATURAL 12/12 light cycle. that's my guess. plants will flower in the late winter months when put outdoors.

what if for young plants you put a peice of glass over.let the sun rays bend a little for an added heat source

now that it seems perfect i placed all my plants outside for the power of the sun

With my grow, they started outside. This was before I discovered this site and learned about 18/6. Currently, I have 2 plants left, which was my goal all along (personal use for the Mrs and me). It's easy to place my 2 girls outside among our other potted plants. Sure neighbors can spot the plant from their 2-story house but unless they use binoculars, they won't be able to tell what is it. Plus, I disguise them with plastic flowers and leaves.

My biggest concern is the weather while I'm at work. I find myself calling the Mrs several times a day just to ask how's the weather and to remind her to rotate the girls and make sure they are in the sun. LOL. My next grow, I'm going sunlight again. Unfortunately the heat is going to increase dramatically in the coming weeks, with daytime temps running close to 90-95. Then there are the daily summer afternoon thunderstorms.

rite well im FINAILLY getting my 2 cuttings tomoz..... i only have enough room for 1 plant relli... so im thinkin of simply putting one on my windowsill instead of in the bin lol... what do use think???

im not relli ni dnger of anyone seeing it the way my house is postioned...

I am a newbie on my first grow.

What is the logic behind rotating the plants? I don't get this one? I have 4 plants in veg and 2 in flower, all outside. The plants (girls) in veg just sit out in a sunny spot (in pots). The plants in flower (ladies) are in pots, and i bring them inside each night for 12 hours of sleep.

I don't rotate the plants at all, and my thought process is that the sun will do that for me as it moves through the sky.

If one were growing under an HPS- would you rotate the plants? It also seems un natural. A plant growing in the soil or naturally would not be rotated.

It just seems like a lot of work, with limited or no retun. What am i missing?

I live in Oregon and have a medical marijuana growers card, and we always use summer time go grow outside and save some money on electricity bills. There is nothing like having 6 gorgeous beasts in your own backyard by September. Natural light is definitely the way to go as far as economic considerations go, but an indoor grow has the benefit of creating "better than ideal conditions" which will produce much better bud than outdoors ever could. We use summertime to improve on our indoor grow room problems we've noticed over the previous 7 months of continuous use.