LEDs and height

[Clackboomdoom]

But also when talking about these LED fixtures that are pushing like 700w or more produces so high PAR ratings that you can run them way up too, not sure why to buy so strong LED if the potential is not used.

Hang higher and turn them up for a taller Goldilocks zone. Useful for stretchy plants.

 

[Terpyterps]

Hang higher and turn them up for a taller Goldilocks zone. Useful for stretchy plants.

Yup, that’s only reason but also waste of electricity, kinda my point there. But of course if it doesn’t bother then it makes sense and obviously those make some huge buds too.

 

[stellis0358]

I use a Spider Farmer SE7000. The height I run my light depends on temperature of my tent a lot of times. If I'm getting too hot I lower my light and dim it down. Regardless of how high it is, for veg I always adjust to maintain a PAR reading of 500-600 with a DLI of 30-40. So just for me, when vegging I don't go by height. I hang my light at a height where my PAR and DLI are within the range I like and my tent doesn't get hotter than 85 during the day. Obviously those numbers change once I get into flower.

I'm doing a grow where the tent was getting too hot for my liking. So I lowered it to about 12 inches above the girls and dimmed the light until my PAR reading was between 500-600. Just today I wanted to see it a little warmer in the tent so I cranked up the light intensity and raised it until I fell within my PAR and DLI numbers.

I'm sure all of what I do can be debated to death, and some may even disagree, but that's what I do and I end up with decent buds and it does what it's supposed to do.

 

[zachrockbadenof]

so if i raise the lights in my tent, the buds will be larger??

 

[stellis0358]

That's not what I'm saying and I've never heard of that result happening before by just raising your light. I didn't read through every post so I'm sure this was probably covered, but go get yourself a good PAR meter and adjust your height so your PAR reading is falling between 500-600 for veg at 18/6 - wherever that height may be. You have way more flexibility if you have dimming capabilities on your light. There are others here with way more experience and they may have a different opinion, but that's what I do and I do just fine.

 

[Terpyterps]

I would kinda like to have PAR meter, but if their price goes down quite a bit I might go for it. That’s rather curiosity than necessity. There is also pretty good data of many LED PAR values so it gives me good enough estimation how to run it throughout the grow.

 

[stellis0358]

No worries my friend. Sure you could go by manufacturers recommendations and set it to where they say to, but I myself wouldnt feel at ease unless i saw where Im at using a PAR meter. You can get a decent one for under $100 and its a 1 time investment. You can also download an app and use your cell phone. I didn't care for that option at all so I went out and bought a meter. In my opinion for optimal results and for peace of mind you should make sure your environment is dialed in if you dont already. If you do that you WILL get better yields, bigger buds, more trichomes and increased potency (as long as the genetics are good, and there is a boatload of crap out there). I feel your environment - lighting, air circulation, temp, humidity, growing medium, etc - its all just as important as any other aspect of growing if not near the top of the list. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

 

[Terpyterps]

No worries my friend. Sure you could go by manufacturers recommendations and set it to where they say to, but I myself wouldnt feel at ease unless i saw where Im at using a PAR meter. You can get a decent one for under $100 and its a 1 time investment. You can also download an app and use your cell phone. I didn't care for that option at all so I went out and bought a meter. In my opinion for optimal results and for peace of mind you should make sure your environment is dialed in if you dont already. If you do that you WILL get better yields, bigger buds, more trichomes and increased potency (as long as the genetics are good, and there is a boatload of crap out there). I feel your environment - lighting, air circulation, temp, humidity, growing medium, etc - its all just as important as any other aspect of growing if not near the top of the list. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Yep, like I said just curiosity. Might go searching one cheapish meter. Gotta investigate is camera technology in the cellulars capable of measuring photons or are they just measuring brightness and using some algorithm to convert that data into PAR.

Any engineers here who might have definitive answer?

 

[Terpyterps]

Mimosa, Strawberry Gorilla, Gorilla and Sticky Orange XXL(left to right)

I did stopped at 30 cm/12 inches. It seems to be at the max before burning tips of the leaves. Getting fatter by day these girls. Gorilla is first to come down, maybe week or week and a half. Sticky Orange XXL will be another month by her looks and Strawberry Gorilla might take another 2-3 weeks more, lets see what happens, it is still pushing white pistils and no signs of maturing. Mimosa might be there with SG too, it is bit odd ball, it has these very crooked pistils and it looks like it is not fattening up, but it does.

 

[trixP]

Raised my light couple clicks my taller plant showing bleach signs my smaller one the leaves are closed

2 weeks to go ( once finish this week final feed cycle )