Light mover for Vegging Mothers , could use some advice.

My mother tray was a 2 X 3.5 tray but I was always running out of space. I just added a second 2 X 3.5 tray next to it. (Restricted narrow space). I just got a 6 inch air cooled hood, Hortilux 1000 bulb and a Sun Ballast for $150 and the guy threw in a nice Jupiter Lighter mover. Yet another Craigslist score ! For my mothers I am just using a 600 watt HPS. I was thinking I could use the mover and not have to add a second light since its just for the Moms. So I hooked it all up and it seems pretty cool but the ends dont get any good light when the mover is on the oppisite side I only have the light moving 3 feet total 1.5 feet each way from center. Was surprised to see how little there was. Was thinking about adding a 42 watt CFL on each end to help a little.

any thoughts, input, advise ?

Thanks

You might consider switching to a vertical lamp as it'll get more light to the outer edges of the grow area. Do you need the trays for hydro or are these just holding pots of soil?

Mother's Finest said:

You might consider switching to a vertical lamp as it'll get more light to the outer edges of the grow area. Do you need the trays for hydro or are these just holding pots of soil?

Click to expand...

I'd like to make the 600 HPS and the mover work if possible but am pen to ideas. Mothers are hydro and the space is narrow so 2 feet is the most I can use. Tried a 3X6 but was too tight. Was going to stick a 4 bulb T5 fixture on one end and the HPS on the other but the T5s just dont give the veg growth for mothers I would like plus I got the mover for free. Maybe have it only run 2 feet centeredwhich should cover a 5 foot tray well without much darkenss on the edges and toss the CFS on the ends ? New to movers so I just dont know what to expect.

This? http://www.jupiter2lightmover.com/

The thing about light movers is you can get the bulbs much closer to the plants, temperature-permitting. More weight can be had with a properly set up light mover because you're able to make use of the high-lumen area near the bulb. In a stationary setup this area goes to waste because using it would burn the plant. The faster the light moves, the closer it can be to the plants. Once you first reach the speed where the lamp can be an inch or two from the plant tops, that's the ideal speed.

Its a previous gen Jupiter looks like. Pretty fast though, I'd say it takes about 1 min to travel the 3 feet aybe 1.5 min. Should time it. So you think its better to put it really close to the plants ? Right now I think its about a foot over the tallest plants. Being closer the light doesnt spread as much either though so its much more focussed.