Lighting Distance from plants without lenses/reflectors

[Puddentane]

Dang I wish you were my neighbor. I could sit out on the fence and pick your brain for hours.

 

[KonopCh]

I agree with arty there is allot of variables with the distances of cob to cob and driver current.
With my 450w lights I start them at 36 inches and raise or lower by reading the plants more importantly. When they taco/canoe or show serrated edges it's to close, when they are up and perky I drop it just a little each day till I find their sweet spot. I have spent hours doing par readings of different lights, the difference an inch makes is unbelievable. For instance 12" may have a reading of 1200 ~umoles while 18" has a reading of 500~umoles. Optics vs bare cobs can increase or decrease the center by 50%. So it really is based on each specific situation.

Could you please measure without reflector at different height? To achieve let's say 1000 umoles and 700 umoles.

 

[Site]

Im running my 3590's and 3070's at 700mA and they are only around 10 inches from the seedlings...they are running a lot softer than most people though...they dont seem to be unhappy so gonna keep them there to stop some stretch for the time being...will raise it up soon i think

 

[BigSm0]

Im running my 3590's and 3070's at 700mA and they are only around 10 inches from the seedlings...they are running a lot softer than most people though...they dont seem to be unhappy so gonna keep them there to stop some stretch for the time being...will raise it up soon i think

Softer but better. I really hate where things are going with ridiculous wattages going to cobs. Personal preference. 700-1400 in my eyes should be it. Saving money now only costs more in the end

 

[Site]

yep 100% just means that ive hung the light a lot lower as the spread from it is really even over all my pots...i suppose its some advantage of it being run softer that I can place it close and get the same coverage but maybe even better coverage as the lights being emitted closer...

 

[BigSm0]

yep 100% just means that ive hung the light a lot lower as the spread from it is really even over all my pots...i suppose its some advantage of it being run softer that I can place it close and get the same coverage but maybe even better coverage as the lights being emitted closer...

I have a few plants under one single cob each driven to 55watts and the plants are extremely short from the intensity and if the light drops below 16" they start to droop. Running higher wattage isn't needed. Lots of companies are selling higher wattage cobs to make the price look more reasonable. In the end you get less but pay more.

 

[Site]

thats nuts....i would like to say mine are looking fine at the height its at...i will probably raise it over the next week or so anyway to give them a bit of a stretch rather than being really short and bushy...i quite like a bit of space to get good airflow around them but its only my 3rd time growing and 1st time using a completely different light...definitely gonna be a bit of an experiment!

 

[BigSm0]

thats nuts....i would like to say mine are looking fine at the height its at...i will probably raise it over the next week or so anyway to give them a bit of a stretch rather than being really short and bushy...i quite like a bit of space to get good airflow around them but its only my 3rd time growing and 1st time using a completely different light...definitely gonna be a bit of an experiment!

Raising the lights will help tremendously. I like to train them and raise the lights which keeps them even.

 

[Site]

ok sweet i raised the lights from the 10inches to around 16-18" now...will see how they do over the next few days

 

[BigSm0]

ok sweet i raised the lights from the 10inches to around 16-18" now...will see how they do over the next few days

How were the leaves looking at 10"? When you raise them to 16" they may perk up and the plant should look much happier. I'm really messing around with the single cobs keeping a close eye on the leaves.