I was growing my seedlings under a 1000w light dimmed down to 600w. But it would seem even with the dimmed bulb this is too much light for seedlings. My method for figuring out how much light is too much is the forearm method. I put my forearm palm side up under the light at plant height. If I can feel any discomfort from the light its too much for the plants as well. Well I did not feel much so figured it was fine.. But too much light can hinder them and may be affecting their slow growth. I used a smart phone app that measures light, and seems they were still getting too much. Once they get bigger they can handle and thrive in the full intensity of the 1000w bulb. But for now it would seem I need to swap out my more powerful bulb for a less powerful one.
Keeping the light far away from the plants was not enough, as the light is so bright it was over the “lux limit” for seedlings. Pushing close to 14k LUX was too much. I used a smart phone app to find out how much light was being emitted.
So even with the ballast turned all the way down this was too much light, I could not raise my light any higher. So it was time to swap out the metal halide bulb for a lower wattage MH bulb.
Honestly last time I started my seedlings I think I indeed had the 600w bulb inside. But I was thinking I could dim my 1000W until they were ready, not the case it would seem. Also dimming the light seemed to shift the color spectrum, so maybe they were not getting the correct rays of light.
To remove the bulb I first have to take off the glass panel. This keeps the grow tent cooler and helps air pass through the hood without dumping into the grow tent. I cleaned the glass really good before putting it back.
Handling these bulbs require much care.. They are fragile, and if dropped can burst.. Sending glass everywhere. And if you get any kind of oil on the bulbs it can damage them as well. So handling them requires using a towel or gloves. And wear safety glasses in case you drop it.
I can see why many people just go with LED lighting. Once I burn out my bulbs I will probably upgrade to them.
Might be able to get the hood up a little higher if I ziptie the pulley connectors to the frame of the grow tent.
With the new bulb installed and the glass put back in the hood its time to turn everything back on.
Hopefully my seedlings will grow better. They no longer have the gnat problem they once had. And I am watering them way less, but seems the light may have also been hindering them.
With the 600w bulb installed and not dimmed the light seems much more balanced. Not a shift to blue as it was when I dimmed the 1000w bulb.
Once the plants grow bigger I will swap back to the 1000w to maximize their potential.
Hopefully the ones started yellowing will recover..
And testing with the new light I am pretty close to the limit already. So I will need to get that light a little higher in the tent I think. But at least its about half the intensity as it was before. Much closer to what it should be for seedlings.
But too much light can affect their slow growth because of breakdown of chlorophyll too much. Leaves become yellow then brown. Crop also face wilting problem and can even die
Ah yeah that sounds like exactly what was happening. Hopefully they can turn around now with a more suitable light.
Bro la germinación de tus plantas 🌱 la tienes bastante tecnológica @solominer !! 🤩, buena luz 💡 para el avance de las mismas 🫡😉.
thanks, I do have a lot of equipment for these little seedlings.
Wow!!!
This is a whole lot, growing different crops do not just stop at planting and watering alone as there’s a whole lot to do.
Yep, many factors come into play while growing indoors. Sometimes I forget about a few of them.
I admire your dedication to the plantations, it's impressive! (Is that you in the picture?) Cool!
Ah thank you, yeah that is me right after changing out the light bulb.
Cool! Taking the opportunity, thank you for your votes, they’ve been a great help to me! :)
You put a lot of science into growing things, and I am always learning something new.
Happy Thanksgiving
We are all learning together, you helped me learn about the harsh light outside with shade cloths. So now I am dealing with a similar issue indoors.
Ah thanks, hope you have a good one too.
Just wondering, but have you thought of using some sort of light diffuser - might be a significantly cheaper option....
I was thinking about something like that, maybe putting shade cloth over the glass. Though I would worry it would trap heat and damage the bulb.
So long as its not directly on the light, I can't see why that wouldn't work. The gap between the cloth and light would also keep the cloth cool to prevent discoloration and any fire hazard.... might be worth a try.....
Speaking of too much light, I remember I had a similar issue with my fish tank... If there would be too much light, algae would go wild! 🤣
Oh interesting, I can see how that could happen.. I guess light is a balance everywhere.
Dang dude, that's a chonky bulb. Way bigger than I had expected.
Hehe yeah its a mogul type bulb. The same kind old street lights used to have.
I don't think I've ever seen those before. Very cool!
Too much light can stunt the growth of plants as too much of everything is not cool. But I'm glad you discovered at the right time and adjusted the lights. Learning is fun.
Ah thanks, yeah learning is fun but I just hate when it affects my plants poorly. Hopefully they will be happy with their new light source.
I really salute the way you keep them out of the limits of my reason, I just realized that with bigger lighting they can grow more fertile, amazing work, it's true that glass bulbs are more fragile and dangerous if they fall, many people now mostly use LED lights instead of glass bulbs, I still pray that these cannabis seeds will grow well, keep the spirit in carrying out my friend's daily routine 💪😊
Yep, I am kind of old school with my lights. But I will eventually upgrade to LED.
Hehe yeah gotta be careful with those bulbs.. they have pressurized gas inside so it can be quite bad to break them.
thanks, I hope they do better now with the right environment.
I guess they might also need some darkness as naturally, they have to go through day and night. What you say?
Yes they do need that, my lights are on a 18/6 light cycle to give them rest.
Okay cool
I must admit I covert your method of farming. This is a combined method of scientific and experience approach. If I follow this way and study out what my plants need, my yield would improve. You are doing good, keep up 👍
Ah thank you, glad you find my posts useful.. Hopefully something of value with come out of them for you.
It is good to study what we do like the way you study your seedlings and your practice. In that way one will be sure of success and will also help to minimize losses.
Yep, I think its important to keep track of mistakes and correct from there.
The lighting you did is really cool and it looks like does the lighting use a lot of watts or does it cost a lot?
Yeah it uses around 600w of power right now, will go up over 1000w once the plants are strong enough to handle it.
A light kit like mine is around $250
I had similar experience with 600w HPS (on a 600 ballast) just too much heat for little uns!
I'm not sure my 200w MH is enough though but it was the biggest the shop had at the time.
I was recently wondering how dimmable ballast worked and if you could use a 1000w bulb on a 600w ballast (and vice versa), I was more wondering if something would blow up rather than spectrum changes, interesting!
I tried the light app but won't run on my phone :(
Oh interesting, maybe the HPS was too strong.. usually you want MH for seedlings.
Yes that is what I did. My ballast can be changed to different wattages. So I ran my 1000w bulb at 600w.. Seems the plants did not like that.. it changed the color spectrum a little bit and was still too bright.
oh damn, maybe some phone sensors do not support it.
Yes, definitely wanted that MH bulb. It had been about a decade since I last grew and somehow forgot I used to have different bulbs for veg and flower 😭 Killed so many plants! Blamed everything from the water to the incubator before realising my error!
Yep sensor, it was a mid range phone when I bought it (Samsung A12) but it's done well, I think the only other thing I wish it could do is automatic focus stacking.
Well hope both our lucks improve soon, it always sucks loosing plants.
If you can get your hands on a MH bulb it may change everything. If I tried growing seedlings under my HPS I would expect problems.
Wow! You're really taking good care of this and giving it so much attention. You're actually cute, haha. Someday, I'll reveal who I am too. But for now, I'll remain as I am.
Gotta care for my seedlings, they are quite fragile at this stage. Hopefully they will grow big and strong soon.
Hehe thanks.. oh cool, that is fine.
Now only I know that it is not easy to grow that kind of plant. It is very fragile and sensitive.
Good lightings surely can help plants thrive and you have proved that.