i was at that height 18" at those levels for seedlings, plants have since grown and are in that 8-12" range from the light but i have yet to really turn the light back up as im now cautious.
Also consider now that were getting better and better efficiencies out of lights but yet we still want to throw as much light as possible at our plants so a metric of 40-50w/sqft shouldn’t and doesn’t really apply anymore yet we still do it.
Im guilty here too cause i designed my lights to run around 120w max which would be around 40w/sqft, but im currently playing in the 65-75w range, oh well lol
I’m all for leaving out the MG and osmocote but it’s your call in your grow they just end up killing all your microbes looking forward to seeing what pops up glad to have ya on OG @Bob13!
Yea @Mr.Sparkle I totally understand I will probably end up dropping lots and having them close, you can always alter your board for more distance between the strips to run at full efficiency. Covers a bigger area
Yep. Miracle Grow can yield some fine plants. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Don’t sweat the NPK too much in outdoor. Full sun, well watered, follow directions on the Miracle Grow and you’ll be successful. I’d spray a pesticide in mid spring and early summer as a preventative if you can get there.
Thanks for the input @Mr.Sparkle and @OldToby.
so with the light (as i can only measure lumens) what range should i be looking at hitting? I know its an outdated measurement but my phone doesn’t have a sensor for umol haha
Thats measuring at the plant height ^
Any specific pesticide? Im not really keen on pesticides as killing the nature isn’t my thing and was looking into preventative measures of companion planting instead. Basil, garlic, chamomile or something, not sure yet still researching that one.
I have very little experience with indoor growing, so again I will differ to Mr Sparkle and others. But one of my experiences was too much light from my Bridgelux strips. My new cabinet, the strips are mounted to ceiling, not moveable. At 36” high and 36”x24”
My strips are 560mmx12. And I started at 100watts. Droop. I went to 140watts. Droop.
Not until I went to 60watts did my small plants perk up. That was last week. Today I am at 70watts and they look great.
I’m measuring with my phone and an Amazon tablet with lux measuring apps. Two for a bit more accuracy but you know it’s not reliable haha.
My measurements!
In a 2x2 ft area
199.5w 19 inches 22k lux
142w. 12 inches 20k lux
Is there any reason why I should have more distance and higher watt draw? I can keep dropping it and regulating the watts to the same lux I assume until the led spread is too small and doesn’t give coverage over the area. I also heard I can go up to 75k lux but I will do a slow increase and maybe sit in the 40 - 65k range so I don’t fry em.
If you can’t tell it’s my first time using led and measuring for anything hahaha my usual was stick a cfl above their heads and if they burn then move it up a bit till they bonk their heads on it or burn again.
You are more than welcome to do things the harder, less effective way with companion planting. But let me be perfectly clear, an infestation doesn’t care one bit about what’s growing next to it. Get past ideas about “killing nature” you’re trying to grow a decent crop outside. Realities of outdoor growing don’t conform to crunchy sensibilities.
I’d use malathion. It’s cheap as hell, available everywhere, works on many pests. Smells terrible, really only for outdoor use.
well what im coming to find is every device is different in how it measures so comparing one device to another is a bit impractical, also were not taking into consideration cosine correction.
Saying that im running in the 30-40k lux range myself, but something to consider is my space is more efficient in the light reflection department compared to your photo above, so where you may be at 50w/sqft but only getting 22k, im running at 22w/sqft and getting 30-36k at the same distance.
Also plant droop can be caused by many things, and thats not the only showing thing to point to phototoxicity, exposed leaf yellowing and certain growth habits also can show signs, but again can be hard to read cause that can be caused by other things.
So yeah guess go and adjust as you see fit.
But should throw up some mylar, emerg safety blanket, flat white paint, and or aluminum foil shiny side out on those walls and measure the difference im a fan of the later with some super 77 spray glue to some cardboard panels, but everyone has their own methods
two different phones, but they were off between each other, also have a lux meter in the mail that i may get today, just cause i wasn’t trusting my phones
Yeah I don’t trust mine either though I really don’t have the money to spend on one of those which kinda sucks, my phone measures way under what my tablet does but I put that down to being scratched.
needless to say the lux meter i picked up is most likely junk and ill be returning it, as it was reading 50% lower than the three devices i thought i was in a ballpark on, so giving me more uncertainty on what’s what, said screw it and turned up my lights again “testing at 30w/sqft” and will be doing it the proper way as in seeing how the plants respond and what they want or like.
So just ignore my comments to a degree, other than just be mindful of what they are doing and that may be better to start low and work you way up.
