Advanced Spectrum Manipulation, here we go again

Pipecarver

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I've been playing with Far Red for a few years now, I like playing with the pretty colors over my plants. I bought a pair of 450nm blue Tarantula booster bars from Master Led. I picked up a Green Ion Beam booster bar & full spec side lights and recently bought a pair of Black lights ( Ultra violet ). Now the fun begins.

I've had my Blue lights on along with my 2 FC4000 -EVO's from 2 weeks in veg with lights on only 12/12 from a grey error of mine but my plants seem fine and well developed considering the lack of full 18hr grow days. I'm trying to figure out the best way to utilize all of my lights.

I usually only use the far reds at lights out for 15 min and that gives me longer stems and wider leaves. I can only do that for 1 week or the plants stretch too much. I've also used them after stretch at lights out looking for the Emerson effect. Putting my plants to sleep faster enabling me to extend light hours in flower and perhaps elongate my buds at the same time.

My Green light is said to enhance the effect of my the other spectrum's when run in conjunction with them...so says the company info. The Black light I bought after reading about Cannabis photography and that it can give buds an appealing look. Along with it being Ultra Violet light that plants can use, I thought wtf throw it in, at only 10 watts it won't kill my elect bills.

So now to use them all and manipulate my plants the best way I can. I found this piece someone ran though a bot I guess but its the best info I've found that I can read and understand with getting to technical. If there are any light junkies out there you may find this helpful.

 
I've been playing with Far Red for a few years now, I like playing with the pretty colors over my plants. I bought a pair of 450nm blue Tarantula booster bars from Master Led. I picked up a Green Ion Beam booster bar & full spec side lights and recently bought a pair of Black lights ( Ultra violet ). Now the fun begins.

I've had my Blue lights on along with my 2 FC4000 -EVO's from 2 weeks in veg with lights on only 12/12 from a grey error of mine but my plants seem fine and well developed considering the lack of full 18hr grow days. I'm trying to figure out the best way to utilize all of my lights.

I usually only use the far reds at lights out for 15 min and that gives me longer stems and wider leaves. I can only do that for 1 week or the plants stretch too much. I've also used them after stretch at lights out looking for the Emerson effect. Putting my plants to sleep faster enabling me to extend light hours in flower and perhaps elongate my buds at the same time.

My Green light is said to enhance the effect of my the other spectrum's when run in conjunction with them...so says the company info. The Black light I bought after reading about Cannabis photography and that it can give buds an appealing look. Along with it being Ultra Violet light that plants can use, I thought wtf throw it in, at only 10 watts it won't kill my elect bills.

So now to use them all and manipulate my plants the best way I can. I found this piece someone ran though a bot I guess but its the best info I've found that I can read and understand with getting to technical. If there are any light junkies out there you may find this helpful.


I'll be starting phase 3 of my own advanced spectrum studies here shortly. I'm just not exactly sure when yet. I just had the electricity service to my house upgraded and I still have to put my grow area back together. I removed part of it to allow more room for the work to be done.

We can compare notes along the way. I'll be looking forward to your posts.
 
This is absolutely awesome.
I mounted a blurple light into my tent so I can add some reds to my current white bar lamp.
The blurple fits nicely, blocking only a small section of two bars (out of 4). Since I usually don’t run 100% at the top anyway, this souldn’t be a big impact and the blurple puts out some photons big time.

I’m excited to see if it makes any difference playing with colors at stretch. I’ve been a little underwhelmed with my tent stretches, so some red might be what I need to get my plants closer to the middle of the tent vertically.
 
This is absolutely awesome.
I mounted a blurple light into my tent so I can add some reds to my current white bar lamp.
The blurple fits nicely, blocking only a small section of two bars (out of 4). Since I usually don’t run 100% at the top anyway, this souldn’t be a big impact and the blurple puts out some photons big time.

I’m excited to see if it makes any difference playing with colors at stretch. I’ve been a little underwhelmed with my tent stretches, so some red might be what I need to get my plants closer to the middle of the tent vertically.
Hey, careful with reds, using them too much stretches the plants out a lot. 15 min at lights out for 1 week is all I need. I'm going to use them after 4 weeks in flower again then switch to blues the last 2 weeks of flower maybe to come on in the am first. I just read something about that this am. I'll read it again to be sure...just playing
 
Hey, careful with reds, using them too much stretches the plants out a lot. 15 min at lights out for 1 week is all I need. I'm going to use them after 4 weeks in flower again then switch to blues the last 2 weeks of flower maybe to come on in the am first. I just read something about that this am. I'll read it again to be sure...just playing
That's where you use the blues to counter the reds. In my case, using both blues and reds at the same time kept their growth balanced during veg. Using the blues during my stretch pretty much eliminated the stretch for me. I intend to use both reds and blues again during veg. Turning off the blues during the first 2-3 weeks of 12/12 to allow normal stretch before adding them back again for mid flower on.
 
Great stuff here thanks for sharing. I purchased two HLG UVA Lights, and two Solarsystem UVB by California Lightworks. I only just started using them, so no usable information yet. I will be happy to share once I get some real time in, with them.

I haven't delved into reds yet, and on another note, I am looking at adding two 4 foot, Full Spectrum, under canopy or supplemental lighting bars as well, meaning that reds are in my purview along with those bad asses...lol.

Not sure there is room for two UVA, two UVB, and a Photontek 600 Watt Pro, along with two Far Reds. Might have to get that 5x5 sooner than later.

Oh but, I wouldn't need the reds at the same time as the UVs, right? I mean, some say UVB at very end. Far Reds are for a limited time as well, and only during the Vegetative Stage...correct? Soooooo...maybe its all good. I have to do more research on the Far Reds, as I clearly am not able to speak to them with any authority. But, I might be okay.

Your thoughts are appreciated.
 
Great stuff here thanks for sharing. I purchased two HLG UVA Lights, and two Solarsystem UVB by California Lightworks. I only just started using them, so no usable information yet. I will be happy to share once I get some real time in, with them.

I haven't delved into reds yet, and on another note, I am looking at adding two 4 foot, Full Spectrum, under canopy or supplemental lighting bars as well, meaning that reds are in my purview along with those bad asses...lol.

Not sure there is room for two UVA, two UVB, and a Photontek 600 Watt Pro, along with two Far Reds. Might have to get that 5x5 sooner than later.

Oh but, I wouldn't need the reds at the same time as the UVs, right? I mean, some say UVB at very end. Far Reds are for a limited time as well, and only during the Vegetative Stage...correct? Soooooo...maybe its all good. I have to do more research on the Far Reds, as I clearly am not able to speak to them with any authority. But, I might be okay.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

I have 2 of the CLW UVB lights and I ran them in a 5 x 5. I didn't notice any improvement in resin or anything else. This leads me to believe that the amount of UVB in these units indoors isn't enough to trigger the resin response. This is what I took from it however your results might differ. I have also read elsewhere that the secret to getting UVB to work is starting much earlier during veg with the uvb exposure and gradually increasing the time as the grow goes on. I haven't tried that approach myself though.

I think you'd find the use of 440 blues/660 reds/730 far reds to be very useful in sculpting your grow. This summarizes my other 2 attempts. I'm about to start phase 3 here in the next few weeks. @Pipecarver has been doing his own spectrum studies for a while as well.

 
I have 2 of the CLW UVB lights and I ran them in a 5 x 5. I didn't notice any improvement in resin or anything else. This leads me to believe that the amount of UVB in these units indoors isn't enough to trigger the resin response. This is what I took from it however your results might differ. I have also read elsewhere that the secret to getting UVB to work is starting much earlier during veg with the uvb exposure and gradually increasing the time as the grow goes on. I haven't tried that approach myself though.

I think you'd find the use of 440 blues/660 reds/730 far reds to be very useful in sculpting your grow. This summarizes my other 2 attempts. I'm about to start phase 3 here in the next few weeks. @Pipecarver has been doing his own spectrum studies for a while as well.


I have 6 of those lights as well.
My meters contradict everything CLW has out there regarding those lights.
To be effective, they're so under powered they almost need to touch the plants to get those UV photons to target.
At the distance CLW says to hang, they don't register on any type of light meter or UV meter.
Only time I've seen effects from those lights happen was when I hung vertical and bookended a cola at point blank range for 4 weeks with two of the UV lights.
Basically, they're cheap floro reptile lights in a grow light package.

UV from LED tech isn't much better. A minimum of 40 watts to even see it on a meter at a usable distance above target.
IMO, if UV is to actually go where we need it to go, I'm thinking fixtures in the 200-300 watt range for a 5'x5' around 30-60" above target.
Given that I think they'd also be quite dangerous and would need to be turned off before a human enters the space.
Maybe even metal halide lamps without any protective UV coatings on the glass would be better than LED or floro. Definitely more cost effective. But I don't think we'll get anything too useful from low powered UV other than anomalies and random flashes of potential. I use it anyways though 😋
 
I have 6 of those lights as well.
My meters contradict everything CLW has out there regarding those lights.
To be effective, they're so under powered they almost need to touch the plants to get those UV photons to target.
At the distance CLW says to hang, they don't register on any type of light meter or UV meter.
Only time I've seen effects from those lights happen was when I hung vertical and bookended a cola at point blank range for 4 weeks with two of the UV lights.
Basically, they're cheap floro reptile lights in a grow light package.

UV from LED tech isn't much better. A minimum of 40 watts to even see it on a meter at a usable distance above target.
IMO, if UV is to actually go where we need it to go, I'm thinking fixtures in the 200-300 watt range for a 5'x5' around 30-60" above target.
Given that I think they'd also be quite dangerous and would need to be turned off before a human enters the space.
Maybe even metal halide lamps without any protective UV coatings on the glass would be better than LED or floro. Definitely more cost effective. But I don't think we'll get anything too useful from low powered UV other than anomalies and random flashes of potential. I use it anyways though 😋
UV has always scared me a bit that's why I'm playing with the colors. The Black light will be useless being only 10 watts, I didn't buy it for its low UV on my plants, I just bought them because they were $20, they scratched my lighting itch for a bit and Black light looks cool.
Google says using a black light in the AM to wake my plants is a bad idea, Says its a stresser being UV and won't provide any benefits being so low watt.....eh wtf do they know? Says Far Reds would be a better idea...
 
Interesting and confusing for sure.

Here is a mistake that I made, just recently. My strategy was always going to be the following...

UVA - On for duration of 12/12. Distance from canopy is 20".
UVB - On for 2 hours at mid light cycle. Distance from canopy is 20"

I maintain the 20 inch distance from the canopy with no issues. But, I accidentally put the wrong UV on all day. Having said that, I have yet to see the damage that may incur from such a mistake. Internet says my shit should be fried.

There is some truth to what is being discussed here, regarding efficacy, or lack thereof.

Several internet outliers reported the use of both UVs for the entire light cycle. I did not follow that methodology. But now I am thinking otherwise or at least thinking about it lol.
 
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