How to measure light intensity outdoors?

[Piecho]

Hey,
I started balcony grow with help of the LED lamp. If I measure the light with photone set to full spectrum for ~12DLI 16h I have to set power potentiometer to ~10%. If I take measurements during the day, I would have to move it to around 40%.

Its 120W panel 25cm/10inch over the seedlings. The power supply goes for 2x120w using the same potentiometer, so not sure if it works now with minimum of ~12W or ~24W.

 

[mudballs]

Really, you dont...outdoor it's just always kinda this..

And you learn to play with the annual variations in winter/summer intensity...aka DLI

 

[Piecho]

I do not have direct sun that long, the measurements do differ too much IMO. Just want to understand how I can approximate the measurements in the current config.

 

[mudballs]

Grab any ppfd app on google apps...sensors on phone work fine within a range you can use

 

[Piecho]

Yeah, photone is well known app. Was my description from first post unclear to you?

I checked for iOS and android devices getting similar results.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Youre trying to figure out how much light your giving from the led while having it dimmed down low, right? The pots dont always have a linear response, some are exponential.
Tbh in this type of setup id just focus on watching for plant health; watch for signs like pale new growth etc, keep pushing upwards slowly and back off if you see any bad signs. To do this the "scientific" way by the numbers is likely to be harder than just looking at the plant and adapting your lighting to what the plant tells you.
Full summer sunlight in spain and led light is so different that its going to make calculations very hard, the shortest road is likely just looking at the plants and adapting to what the plant tells you.

 

[mudballs]

Yeah, photone is well known app. Was my description from first post unclear to you?

I checked for iOS and android devices getting similar results.

Yes as i wake up amped to help, get stoned, listen to music...saw the title...processed logic, made post...you're spinning wrong wheels trying to measure sunlight

 

[Piecho]

Yeah, I will be just paying more attention to the leaves. Still feeling puzzled about measurements tbh, they have to getting 300% of spectrum : d

Youre trying to figure out how much light your giving from the led while having it dimmed down low, right? The pots dont always have a linear response, some are exponential.
Tbh in this type of setup id just focus on watching for plant health; watch for signs like pale new growth etc, keep pushing upwards slowly and back off if you see any bad signs. To do this the "scientific" way by the numbers is likely to be harder than just looking at the plant and adapting your lighting to what the plant tells you.
Full summer sunlight in spain and led light is so different that its going to make calculations very hard, the shortest road is likely just looking at the plants and adapting to what the plant tells you.

I tried to measure the sun separately and LEDs separately, but it doesn't make any sense either. I played with light sources in the app as well, dunno.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Yeah, I will be just paying more attention to the leaves. Still feeling puzzled about measurements tbh, they have to getting 300% of spectrum : d


I tried to measure the sun separately and LEDs separately, but it doesn't make any sense either. I played with light sources in the app as well, dunno.

I know, its a mess. Sunlight has a massive amount of light that usually fall outside meter range. In this case the old fashioned gardener approach is better, let the plant tell you what it needs.

 

[mudballs]

Full sunlight is like 120,000 lumens..just way up there off the scale of indoor ranges

 

[Rocket Soul]

Full sunlight is like 120,000 lumens..just way up there off the scale of indoor ranges

Yes but all in all Sunlight carries more photons and energy per lumen, since it includes a lot of light that registers poorly on a lux meter.

 

[mudballs]

Bingo...sorry piecho..we're just trying to expose you to how we think...we did the same thing...you'll end up right here like us..lol

 

[Piecho]

Thats the only way, next lamps for sure gonna be DIY and tailored to the area : )

For now I will be keeping stronger settings, they seem to like it