The girls were looking pretty today and wanted their picture taken. As you can see I have done a little training What A difference 5 days make [IMG_20200308_113719_hdr|690x393](upload://j3shjJfBH78LOLVBHUhybLxtFbE.jpegIMG_20200308_113810_hdr|285x500 .
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Filling out.
Nice.
I have some questions. Im on day 35 and my plants have doubled since my photos on 3-8. When I checked them this morning after work I have lady parts on both plants. So Im on 18/6 light at 20 in. above canopy. First should I raise or lower lights? Also when and what would be the process of changing nutes from veg to flowering nutes. Am using bergmans nutes and only fed the veg nutes 4 times total. Only used 50% of concentration that was called for .At this stage any and all advice will be greatly appreciated. Ive come this far am really pleased with the results so far. May have to rethink growing outdoors again. The indoor grow has been super exciting and quite fun although my wife tells me I spend more time with my plants than her .Guilty as charged!!! Im doing the ww autos/
Is this your lightâŚ
If so the second photo describes coverage and height recommendations for it. It states it consumes 260 watts. Good that your using both switches as they will need all it can provide. The higher you hang it above the plants the bigger the foot print it can cover BUT the less photons they will receive per square foot so itâs a balancing actâŚthat light is really made to cover one plant well for what it is. When your able to upgrade to a more advanced LED it will better cover that space at similar watts used and produce denser bigger buds.
As they are autos the light schedule doesnât matter but in order to get as much light (photons) to try and meet their Daily Light Integral (DLI) I would leave them at 18/6 through the entire grow.
As far as feeding them they need the veg feed schedule until they have buttons forming at the top bud sites and this indicates that youâll want to transition to the bloom schedule for the nutesâŚand each plant can and usually do progress at different times. I donât use Bergmans nutes but I believe some here do.
Veg stage uses more nitrogen and a fair amount of Potassium too and when in flower much less Nitrogen and increased phosphorus and Potassium in general.
Hope this helps
Yes that is the light. I have been pulling 258.49 watts from the wall. I will leave them on 18/6 and I will leave both bloom and veg switches on. The paper work I got with the light says 20- 24 above canopy They show a par /umol rating and also a ppfd rating. Which one is the top priority as far as effectiveness in blooming? The par numbers are highest at 6-12 in. above canopy but that seems too close to me. The ppfd numbers are at 24 in above canopy but I have it at 20 in now and have no light burn on top of plant. That seems the more feasible distance to me .The bergmans nute show the n-p-k and the veg is higher in n while the bloom is higher in p & k. Veg is 19-5-20 and the bloom is 15-6-30. Not much of a difference . I thought it would be a greater shift in values than that. Since this is the first indoor grow I donât want to screw it up now by doing something too drastic and lose everything .And yes I have already given thought to upgrading lights as my wife informed me I could turn our 8 ft, x 8 ft. spare bedroom into my own indoor green house. Will be a major initial cost to start but I like the results Im seeing growing indoors and will probably stop my outside grow. A lot depends on the yield using sub par equipment and how that translates to the upgrade. Built homes for 30 plus years so the room refurb will be a piece of cake and my budget doesnât limit me on my upgrades. My state is still illegal so indoor would be a much better option for me. I know right where I will get all my help and info when I start. Right here on the forums. Great people and fantastic help. Will post some new pics when I get my tablet back from the wife. Thanks a bunch. As the song said ANTICIPATION!!!
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It the paperwork / manual you have the same as thisâŚfrom web site?
In general during flowering the plant needs the most light (photons) to grow thick dense buds. Especially at the edges where they recommend somewhere around 400 Umols/m2s or greater. Less than 400 will work but the perfect scenario would be even across the entire footprint but as far as I know the only light that does that is the sun within a reasonable cost anyway. The center of the light space will always be the highest and falls off as you move away.
Here are a couple examples of more efficient LED lights that produce more ppfd/umol/m2s (meters squared per second)
(Open air means they tested the light without reflective material like whatâs on the walls of a grow tent which makes a difference to the plus.
I couldnât find a chart for the HLG 260 watt fixture but using 260 wall watts would provide double if not more light across the footprint as compared to the light you have now using essentially the same watts.
As you can see the closer the light is to the plant the more it will receive but also reduces the space it can coverâŚfootprint.
Your light will grow them as is now but better lights will get you better yields.
Thatâs great that youâll be able to convert a unused space for grow in the futureâŚbigger space more plantsâŚmore lights neededâŚhahaha
Yep Iâm in the same boat with youâŚOhio
I ran all 3 switches that was on my Viparspectra PAR600 from start to finish. Max weight I got was only 3.32 oz dried, cured sbd no stems. Now I am getting over 11 oz dried, cured and no stems with my HLG lights. 
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I see a lot of people on here using the hlg 260vspec I think is what it is refered to as. So if it pulls the same 260 watts from the wall as the viparspectra 600 I now have. What determines the difference in lighting capabilities? Is it the diffusion of light over a larger area or does the hlg use the power more efficientally due to the type of led bulb that is used. To triple the yield there has to be some reason why it is so efficient. Im not a doubter just curious as I like to know how everything works and why. Case in point I have been looking at exhaust fans and carbon filters and still am comparing them and it has been a month. I guess if I wasnât so damn curious I would just buy one. My wife calls me a miser but when I buy something it lasts and definitely serves its purpose. Hopefully in May they will put the recreational issue back on the ballot. If not then I am pretty sure it will be back up for vote next nov.
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I am the same way as far as researching things to understand and then make a choiceâŚafter âsleepingâ on it firstâŚlol
Iâm no expert but from what I have learned is even though both light fixtures draw ~ 260 wall watts the HLG uses top end diodes (led) that output the more photons and uses less power to do that. There is also the power supply that comes into play as to its efficiency and some are say 75% efficient while others are 92% efficient. Heat is another factor as the watts are best to be used producing photons and not heat as a byproduct from less efficient diodes and power supply.
In general what Iâve seen is if the light has a fan it isnât cutting edge and needs a fan to dissipate the excess heat as a byproduct from inefficient parts. Not a steadfast rule but seems to be in general the case.
@dbrn32 could better answer your question above and if Iâm off the mark could help me learn as well.
Here is an article I just found that helps explain things as well.
Much info out there on this subjectâŚalso look up Daily Light Integral (DLI) which will also be good info to know growing inside.
Yea letâs hope out state moves forward with rec use!
Hope this helps
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@buckeyedave Comparing a Viparspectra light to HLG is like saying a 1979 Ford Fiesta is a Saleen.
Iâve ran a Viparspectra PAR600 and it doesnât even come close to a HLG production.
Max I ever got was 3.32 oz dried, cured and no stems.
Now my HLG lightsâŚone plant that barely got light gave 3.43 oz dried and no stems. Second plant gave me 11.36 oz dried and no stems. I just pulled my 3rd plant from the same grow and I would not be surprised if she gives a minimum 1 lb dried, cured and no stems.
Iâve been growing monsters since day 1 so I have plenty of experience with a Viparspectra light and have been growing 5 months under HLG lights.
That was a 19â cola.
The mason jar is a 64oz one and its smaller than this cola and it is well past 19.5â longâŚmore like 2 feet. The cola is so big I could only get about 1/2 of it in the picture.
This plant was 75â tall and no wat would have a Viparspectra PAR600 could produce this beast.
How efficiently the components used are able to turn power into light. When hlg released the first quantum board the lm561c s6 flux bin was the most efficient led available in any market. Products like that are more expensive, which translates to higher production costs and retail prices.
Okay. Now I think I have a handle on this. I noticed that the hlg light has a wider spacing of the diodes than my vipra which allows for better light distribution. Also makes sense that in the box of the vipra you would need fans to dissipate heat which would take away from power usage to produce light ( 600 watt light only using 260 to produce light the rest is for fan operation etc). So to be as efficient as an hlg light they would have to increase diode spacing and remove the box and fans to create the same effect. that would make the vipra too cumbersome and heavy. The hlg utilizes heat sinks instead of fans that dissipate heat and the spacing allows for better light coverage. Am I correct in my thinking on a simplistic basis. Not to get too technical. I am definitely glad I have you guys around to bounce things off of. Knowledge is a wonderful thing. I believe it is time to upgrade.
The way many âblurpleâ light makers get their 600 watts or whatever the number is by doing this. It is somewhat misleading to the uninitiated consumer.
The light has 120 LED bulbs and each has the potential to be powered with up to 5 watts each(600 watts) but they donât run them all at full potential so they are only being ran at say 2 watts per bulb so 240 wall watts.
Sounds like your getting this down.
Let us know what light your looking to order and we would be glad to discuss thingsâŚ
The girls are going great! I am running out of room in my grow space I have a ton of little white pistils all over both plants. I even see them in the interior of the plants that donât get as much light. Had to do some more training after I took these pics to open them up a bit. Wish my tablet took better pics so I could show them. Have been looking at HLG, Spiderfarms and going to look at budget lights website today if I have time. Working out in the yard prepping flower beds and garden. Also getting greenhouse ready for my outdoor crop,
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Nice bushes!
Just be aware of potential for bringing nasty bugs back in with you from outside from garden.
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Any thoughts on the Spiderfarmers SF 2000 led light. Amazon has it on sale right now and thought of getting one or two. Anyone ever used this brand and with what results.