Will a extra light on the side of a plant help the lower branches?

I have all my good lights near the top of my plants but I threw in a 30 watt Fluorescent tube which is on the side of the plants. The top of my plants get the most light, that's why I put the tube on the side of the plants. The bottom of the plant doesn't get much light at all.

Will this help the lower branches or should I move the tube on top of the plants? If the bottom of my plant doesn't get that much light but the top gets a lot, will this stress the plant?

It will not stress them as long as you can keep the ambient temp at decent levels - toss as much light on them as you can. On the side, on top, 30 extra watts is 30 extra watts.

Like @.Pinworm. said, the more the merrier. Supplemental lighting on the lower third will simulate nature in a way, as the sun makes a full arch around the plant providing light to all areas. As the sun rises and sets the light is obstructed by dust and other atmospheric particles (that's why sunrise and sunset appears red, these obstructions are slowing down the frequency of the waves of light) making the light less intense.

So no, it will not stress they, it will only make them better.

Side lighting is the single most overrated element in growing. In the end, if you have it, go ahead - it's not going to hurt anything, but it's certainly not going to set a world record difference either.

But don't go out and spend money on it. You'll be sorely disappointed.

TacoMac said:

Side lighting is the single most overrated element in growing. In the end, if you have it, go ahead - it's not going to hurt anything, but it's certainly not going to set a world record difference either.

But don't go out and spend money on it. You'll be sorely disappointed.

Click to expand...

So if I were to put 400 watt hps' on the side of my plants it wouldn't make a difference

Not much of one, no. You can get just as good results with decent reflection without all the added expense and heat. It's simply not worth it. In fact, it can actually cause more problems than it fixes.

I did a couple experiments with side lighting vs. reflection and found essentially no difference at all in yields. The variance between the two was minimal at best and could in all likelihood have had more to do with the particular grow at the time than the lighting or reflection.

it's a combination of all factors, so more light might not be what is limiting your output. Then again it might be... Experiment and find what works for you.

if you have a plant with a particularly dense canopy, i've found it helps with filling in lower buds, if the light can get down pretty well, it doesn't seem to matter much

Do you have a Christmas tree or an even canopy. Are going to clear undergrowth and weak lower limbs. When I had outer bud sites I would cluster them and drop a 35 or 45 watt cfl near them.

I used to try to light my lower canopies with fluorescents and even LEDS. A fellow grower showed me a method, I can't recall the name of it, in which from the beginning of flower I would trim my lower canopy to focus energy towards the top. I grew the same strain for almost 5 years just so I could test different methods. I noticed some boost in quality and minimal boost weight in the lower canopy. Led gave me slightly better FINAL results but fluorescent is a better choice for return on investment. I by far noticed more weight gain when I trimmed like my friend told me and my buds were a more consistent quality none of this tiny 3/4 mature buds. Though these are great for concentrates but I preferred the flower. Here is the method;

When you begin budding start looking for leaves towards bottom there not getting direct light and trim them. As your plant starts filling out continue this process. It will come to a point, and trust me it's hard at first, you are cutting tiny buds off that are not mature enough to do anything with and you just throw away. Towards the end passed week 5-6 of flowering I would often be cutting off dime size and some size quarter sized buds that weren't maturing like the rest. Those can be turned into live resin or cured and smoked they just aren't at full potential so taste and high aren't fully there but still works. The way my friend explained it is when the smaller buds aren't maturing as fast, the plant allocates extra energy to get the buds "healthy" that energy is better used in the main kolas.

Weed growing is like art there are a ton of ways to make an awesome piece of art. This is just a method that helped me hopefully it can help you.