xbravoz
Well-Known Member
have you harvested anything using your wallyworld lights...how many grams??? any pictures????
WTF Guys..Is all lumens talk BS or not!!!!
- Thread starter xbravoz
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bonghitgreenthumb
Active Member
the smartest way star is to think the minimal amount of lumens to produce decent quality buds is 4500 lumens per plant cfl(compact florecnt light)they sometimes come with ballasts and are available at home depot for 30 -75 $or u.You can buy a couple pure plant for better results.You can also buy standard shop lights T-12 systems 4'long that fits 2; 40 watt tubes and is available at ace hard ware stores home depot as well,these bulbs produce in one set up is 6000 lummens and are available in different spectrums 6500 k for the vegatative stage and 3000 k for the flowering stage and the good thing about forecents they dont produce heat so u can have them 6"away from the tops of your plants and u can have several florecents set ups and it wont hurt the pant it would only help .Also the t-12 systems are only 20$ it.also if u grow with different spectrums of light with florecents it produces better healthier buds.additional black light or uv lamp helps some.If you want to invevest $ high intensity discarge light or high pressure sodium lights witch are avaiable int 150 watt 250 watt 600 watt etc and produce large amounts of lumens there availabe at home depot stores in their catalogs and they are expensive and run your electricity bill up,remember proper lighting ph tests and ventilation and you will b mr big nuts
xbravoz
Well-Known Member
Here's another guy referring to lumens....Lumens have nothing to with what plants need for proper growth... I just dont understand why so many people insist on using lumens as a gauge for what lights to purchase...Why...Why....WHYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Lumens mean about as much as watts do to the plant...which is very little, the only thing the plant cares about is spectrum and intensity. I'm with you on that one, there's alot of things growers refer to that really don't make that much sense...everyone gives you their lights in watts per square foot, doesn't make much sense to me, I live in three dimension...height plays a big factor with lights. Also alot of people refer to their PPMs as the number they take off their meters, that is a total PPM, it doesn't tell you what specific nutrients/chemicals make up that amount. I know if you have reliable ferts there is no need to really dive into it, but some plants like different nutes...my WhiteWidow for example loved Mg.
grower1991
Active Member
What you CAN learn from lumens is when to replace your bulb. If you are supposed to be getting 10000 lumens from a bulb and you measure 7500, perhaps its time to replace the bulb. Does anyone do this?
As far as proper spectrum, stick with cfls or hps. I've never seen anything else that works as well.
As far as proper spectrum, stick with cfls or hps. I've never seen anything else that works as well.
xbravoz
Well-Known Member
With regard to light intensity Ive read the argument that hps/mh offer superior light penetration therefore it's a no brainer....however, all HPS systems I've seen hang above their plants... It seems to me that buy surrounding my plants with alternative lighting (cool lighting) that I would get adequate light penetration....all other arguments I've read advocating hps/mh all throw out the lumens argument...Are people just lemmings mindlessly echoing what the popular opinion is...never mind the bad science of it!!!
xbravoz
Well-Known Member
Hears another guy placing emphasis on lumens...lumens is what your eyes see...just because the lumens of the bulb are depleting...does it matter to the plants...or is it possible that they are getting the same nutritional benefit as before???
grower1991
Active Member
I'm not sure what you mean by 'penetration' but what plants need is light radiated in spectra that they can absorb for metabolic processes. The more usable light they have, the bigger energy budget they have.
I was in a grow room 2 weeks ago that was half MH and half HPS. The buds in the hps side were obviously noticably bigger and better.
grower1991
Active Member
All I am saying is if a bulb is putting out less light, measured in lumens or in burnt nose hairs, its a sign you should replace the bulb. It has no bearing on what type of light you should choose in the first place.
xbravoz
Well-Known Member
That has to do with flowering...plants bud better in HPS/RED light
Indeed you would, I've argued this myself. The thing that gets me is that (whatever) per square foot should only apply to even canopy grows. Otherwise you should be looking at it in cubic feet, overhead lights provides little penetration into a thick canopy...T5s or CFLs on the otherhand could quite easily evenly distribute that light. SOG growers are the only exception as far as I'm concerned (SOG and whatever variations of it)
mockingbird131313
Well-Known Member
1. I use a tight cluster of T-8s on my movable ceiling. Then the T-8s can nuzzle the plant canopy.
2. I use a 2X6 board with 3 ceiling light fixtures on it, for 65 watt CFLs. I lay the board on my pots, so four plants surround the CFL. Now I have canopy light and side light.
3. Finally, lumens are critical to indoor plants. Cannabis needs, as best as I can tell, about 3000 lumens per square foot to start their metabolism. At 5000 lumens per foot, plants start to thrive and absorb the nutrients better.
In general, lumens diminish 50% for every 12 inches the bulb is from the leaf surface. So plants next to leaves is critical.
2. I use a 2X6 board with 3 ceiling light fixtures on it, for 65 watt CFLs. I lay the board on my pots, so four plants surround the CFL. Now I have canopy light and side light.
3. Finally, lumens are critical to indoor plants. Cannabis needs, as best as I can tell, about 3000 lumens per square foot to start their metabolism. At 5000 lumens per foot, plants start to thrive and absorb the nutrients better.
In general, lumens diminish 50% for every 12 inches the bulb is from the leaf surface. So plants next to leaves is critical.
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