Light Rails VS. Stationary Lights

[BudZad7]

Hi All ! Check this variation about lights on and off
In the spring, outside the sun has that intense orange glow in the early morning,and early evening and the flowers are blooming like crazy right!?
So, why not do that indoors-- 12hr light cycle...1st 3 hrs HPS,then turn off...
then have the MH light turn on for 6 hrs, then turn off....then last 3 hrs turn
on the HPS, so there is the early morning and early evening orange glow....
and mid day is not orange, it's white light....try it it works GREAT!!!
Peace!

 

[Diego]

nice grow setup there mr wags, was wondering what the setup of the inside of your fan box is like, is it just a fan or is it carbon filtered as well. I like that design.

 

[Guest]

Mr.Wags.........I got into this discussion with Budleydoright .......It`s beyond me how light dissipated can create"MORE YIELD" other than like I said creating angular light that wouldn`t normally get down far enough into the canopy for anything but popcorn...Maybe that`s what ya`ll are counting.....I`m not here for controversy ,only what`s worked for me and if I`m wrong and it`s proveable............I`ll be the first to say uncle,but I`m still waiting...........PEACE.........DHF.............

 

[Guest]

It sounds like yeild per watt and yeild per square footage are being used interchangable here. You would think that per a given area, more light would be more yeild. But if you're trying to set sexy records in the gram/watt category, i suppose a mover would help stretch the yield of a given set of lights/light.

 

[gertrude420]

i was looking at getting light movers... But It looks like it might not be worth the trouble...

 

[mpro]

DING

It sounds like yeild per watt and yeild per square footage are being used interchangable here. You would think that per a given area, more light would be more yeild. But if you're trying to set sexy records in the gram/watt category, i suppose a mover would help stretch the yield of a given set of lights/light.

I think people who get a light rail will like it because they will say to themselves.
"Hmm before I could grow 4 plants with my 1000w light, now I can grow 8 plants. success"

of course they would get an even better yield if they put a second 1000w light under the second set of 4 plants.

we're comparing apples and dogs though.


peace all!

 

[Trichome Toker]

I get more yield from my 1,000W lamp now that I have it on a light mover.

More yield for the same amount of electricity.

I use the same amount of plants I did before I got the light mover, I just spread them further apart and they are bigger.

2,000W is going to get you more than a 1000W on a light mover for sure.

However, 2000W on light movers are going to get you more than 2,000W not on light movers.

 

[mpro]

I use the same amount of plants I did before I got the light mover, I just spread them further apart and they are bigger.

Good deal trichome toker. Sounds like thats the way to use it. I would also use it to spread my plants out rather than add more plants.

I was actually thinking of having a few lights on rails in a big basement room that is taking our outdoor gardens place. No more depending on the crazy globally warmed weather to not fuck up my tomatoes and lettuce.

I could probably grow 100 head of lettuce with 1 light mover.

 

[Fonzie]

It`s beyond me

This is a brief but addaquate review of the mental abilities.


Multiple people state that they have produced more with a rail and you still wana argue. Not based on anything other that the fact it is beyond your grasp.
Evidence be dammed and everybody is lying out their ass - because you,,,, --- well here's your x-ray


budley thinks running 2 systems alternating hourly will double yeild and save electricity - wirh the same number of lumens (light output)


Whatever you two are smoking - isn't helping

 

[Trichome Toker]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

Someone just got:

Son!

 

[southwind]

ooo

ooo

That is just too cool.[

QUOTE=Trichome Toker]

[/QUOTE]

 

[SEAttown206]

Mr.Wags:

Now you want total coverage at all times imo with the light so adjust accordingly as far as heat what heat air cooled and enables them to be kept close but yet cover THE ENTIRE AREA at all time's.

I hope I got the quote of Mr. Wags post right; As you can probably tell, I lurk more than I post.............This is the key, as he points out: Using the light mover to move the lights just enough to improve light angles and penetration, thereby reducing/eliminating shading, not so much for the lower "popcorn buds," but primarily for the main buds. Early in this thread, goalie mentioned a 30% increase by using the mover over stationary lights, and that's the number that I have seen most often in other threads discussing light movers.

I once thought I'd outsmart everyone and put a light on TWO light movers: One moving the light lengthwise in the room, and somehow attaching a second mover above the first mover, to move it left to right. But after reading threads about movers on a few different sites, finally someone explained it where it made sense to me........If you have the light on for the usual 12 hours, stationary, the plant would receive a given amount of light .........but if you have it on a mover, and move it across the room, then you can't get the same amount as the stationary light........if the light is all the way across the room 1/2 of those 12 hours, you are losing approx. 1/2 of your lumens (it's not gonna be EXACTLY 1/2, but you get the point.......) If I were to try my idea of using two movers, I'd be getting like a quarter of the amount of lumens compared to a stationary light.

Fonzie made a post discussing the exponential increase gained by moving the lights closer to the plant canopy; As he said, for example, going from 30" to 15" doesn't double the amount of light, it increases it 4x ............ This emphasizes the gains to be had from air-cooled lighting, as Mr. Wags also points out, and also helps explain Trichome Toker's increases with the light mover. By moving the bulb vertically thru the plants, Trichome isn't losing lumens due to the inefficiency of the standard fixtures most of us are using.......... between using the mover and having the all sides of the bulb exposed to the plants, he is about as close as you can get to maximizing his light usage..........

I hope this helps to illustrate the point that Mr. Wags makes: Total light coverage over the ENTIRE AREA at all times is ideal, and the movers are best used to help maximize yields..................

p.s. Anyone used the light movers made by a company called AgraMover?............Seen them on ebay, quite a bit cheaper the the Light Rail..............Hoping for a review, thanks in advance........

 

[Trichome Toker]

I have my lights in cool tubes on movers.

You need a decent amount of slack in your duct work, but it isn't hard to setup.

I agree, air cooled lights are also a huge yield booster.

I think it cuts down on the stress the plants receive from having super hot & dry air beating on them all the time, along with greatly increasing the lumen's, because you can get them closer like you pointed out.

After I got cool tubes I noticed a big increase in bud density.

 

[SEAttown206]

Wow, Trichome Toker, you do have pretty much max-efficiency, using vertically hung bulbs in cool tubes....................Both you and Diego said you would be getting camera, taking pic's soon; Look foward to seeing your setup's............

Thanks again, everyone..........very informative thread!

SEA

 

[Fonzie]

It MOVES!!!


It MOVES!

I have the mover running for the first time today!

The motor made a racket for the first 1/2 hour or so. In a 8 foot wide room, I have the mover going 5 feet using about 1/2 of the total available delay on the ends - I have a nice mix of newly flowering mid term and near harvest girls for the first couple nights - just to observe.

I have a 1000W hortilux about 12 inches above the tops - which would burn them really bad if the mover stops - Does my distance sound about right?

I did get to move several more plants into flower, still have room available - - I have to resolve the cord moving the light around a little. Might as well hang the second light and start the ducting

EDIT:

Didn't get a response and while I was in pharmin,, decided to bee less aggressive and I moved the light up to about 20 inches - - easier to come down slowly than heal burnt tops. The plants like it - they stood up and leaves erect - - soon as I get the height ironed, they can pack some more weight on. This is instilling the desire to build a dedicated 2000W flower room

Next immediate phase is odor control

 

[mrwags]

It MOVES!!!




Next immeadiat phase is odor control

Fonz if you got neighbors man this is #1. I've read here for years about people getting in trouble from the sweet aroma their neighbors could smell, I have the biggest scrubber they make and will be getting a Vaportec 4000 in a few days they are worth every penny and besides those scrubber fans are loud man LOUD and mines in a sealed box.













Mr.Wags

 

[Fonzie]

Amen mrwags.

As this endeavor has progressed, each phase and milestone seem to require a new and different sumthin.

I'm planning 2000W flower and a couple veg areas in the 400W range, as that's about all the electrical I'd feel comfortable with, as the circuits are 20 amps. - I'm going to run the 1000's on 220V and the rest on 110 - I think.

Thinking also - about 750 CFM can fan, drawing thru lights, venting about 1/2 outdoors and 1/2 back into the house/attic.

IF I go A/C and co2, - I could avoid the exterior venting and just reticulate the air; right?

note to self - co2 control,,,,
There's that milestone thing again!

As I review te photos - it occurs to me I saw some water heater insulation things on sale at the local Habitat for Humanity Store - - might come in handy shortly - and the water heater is in the grow area
Note to self - 2 or 3 might be useful.

be safe, be smart

 

[Chronicsss]

Thinking also - about 750 CFM can fan, drawing thru lights, venting about 1/2 outdoors and 1/2 back into the house/attic.

Why would you split where it is vented? Either one should be fine but splitting just seems to needlessly complicate it. I don't see the point in that. Just have the fan suck the air from the hood flange, through the carbon filter, then into the attic or outdoors. The room will suck in fresh air by itself.

Also personally I haven't heard good things about the can fan, but i don't have any real first hand experience with them. you might want to do a little research before paying several hundred dollars on a huge fan like that to get the best.

IF I go A/C and co2, - I could avoid the exterior venting and just reticulate the air; right?

Since its on a light mover you could probably get away with just the a/c but it will cost more to run than venting and you still wont be able to keep your lamp as close to the tops of the plants as you would be able to if it was air cooled. Also the co2, from my understanding, does very little unless you already have a close to perfect environment. So if you are yielding 1.5g a watt and want to creep up to 2 you use co2. If you aren't even yielding a gram a watt it will probably be a waste of time and money, compared to other easier things you can do to increase yield and quality

Someone feel free to correct me if they feel I'm off on the co2 thing.

Good luck on your grow Fonzie, hope it all works out.

 

[Fonzie]

I know co2 is best when applied to a fine tuned grow and a waste if not dialed in, but I'm a student too. I am kinda high altitude (7000' ASL) air is thinner and CO2 is proportionately less available at atmospheric pressure.


The split in the output is due to my idea - 750 cfm is a lot of air to exhaust, prolly a little more than needed - but ---- big but - I don't want one molecule of odor in the outdoor vented air - thus the split output. Winter time here - the heat is usefull and I dont vent out - Last summer we used a swamp cooler, but you have to exhaust a lot of air.

Morning check-up and the garden looks great!

I'll let it run a couple days like this then find the best height.

 

[mrwags]

Mr.Wags.........I got into this discussion with Budleydoright .......It`s beyond me how light dissipated can create"MORE YIELD" other than like I said creating angular light that wouldn`t normally get down far enough into the canopy for anything but popcorn...Maybe that`s what ya`ll are counting.....I`m not here for controversy ,only what`s worked for me and if I`m wrong and it`s proveable............I`ll be the first to say uncle,but I`m still waiting...........PEACE.........DHF.............

The leaves of the plant are like solar panels. As the light goes back and forth they get charged up and take in the power of the light hence the ability to charge them up more by moving the light back and forth over the course of the day as compared to the same leaf being in a CONSTANT shaded area where as she gets less light through out the day giving her less absorbed energy to use once the lights go out. So it's not the fact that loosing a little light during the run of the rail (back and forth) it's the overall light/energy absorbed during the lights on cycle that makes the difference.

Sorry I'm no scientist I just grow weed.


Mr.Wags