Good day all.
I’m in a category 5 overgrow situation. I’m going to overgrow my tent height-wise.
So, my led rig is running very close to the canopy but I don’t think I’ll be able to jack it up over 60% power.
I’m getting the ppfd at canopy that I want but it feels silly to not be able to run at full power.
Anyone ever do thiis?
Thoughts?
I bend the top that is approaching contact with the diodes. I run 100% power. As long as the plant does not touch the light there is no burn.
Oh it’ll light burn if I let it get too close.
Believe me I’m going to be bending and snapping.
Do it on the plants; you might hurt yourself.
Crack snap pop groan.
If I were to jump up to 80% right now, given the distance, it would be a problem.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it is what Dad said.
Is 60% not producing what you want?
I’m still dialing in this light so I’m not sure. Based on the canopy I’m getting pretty good depth so I imagine I’m where I need to be. It’s too early in flower to really say for sure though.
I just thought I’d get some outside opinions because I’ve never been here before.
Most can’t run LEDs at full power up close, it’s not about “too much light” but rather harmful RF waves LEDs produce.
Up close those waves kill living tissue, plants are no different.
Id say crank it up until you see bad symptoms and back off a lil
There is no solution to this, no matter your temp or RH, they will always suffer up close at high rating.
Maybe supplemental side lighting? I’ve been playing around with it and happy with the results, I build my own lights tho. Wanna try some cobs coming in at 45° from the corners next.
Yeah this is where I’m at. 60 is the max at this level.
My tent is full full full. Even bending and snapping branches, they don’t have many places to go.
I run 100% because it’s too hard for me to get to the back corner of my tent to adjust height, so the light stays at the top of the tent.
But 60% power and closer to the plants will save you money on power bill, and will run cooler. If your PPFD is where it’s supposed to be at canopy level then you should be good!
Cool man. I’ve got maybe 2 more inches of play but that’s it.
Heat is a non issue
If my yield is lower it’s not the end of the world.
I’m running a 150w led at 70% power almost 2ft away from the tops and getting very good results. I think as long as ppfd is good then you’re fine
Cool yeah everything looks right I just wanted to make sure.
My last light the sweet spot was 16” but it didn’t have a useful dimmer.
A dimmer is key if you can’t move the light. Helps to dim the lights later in flower to replicate the sun being not as intense at the end of the growing season.
My last light I had to do stadium style so they wouldn’t grow into the lights.
This one is much more uniform and 800ppfd across the board seems pretty good to me.
I let mine get up there pretty close and pretty much just let the tops take in the high ppfd. I don’t like larf so I like when it reads 300-400 from the bottom/where I pruned them up. If that’s 900 on the tops, cool. If it’s 1050? That’s fine too. Less larf 
horses for courses they say
If you look at my Nepali Watermelon Hashplant thread you’ll see how I dealt with this exact “problem”. 
When I overpush my plants I go up by a little each day and observe. Some plants are really good at taking the over-cranked PPFD others not so much lol.
I always push 1050 in my flowering weeks so I think you got headroom buddy!
Yes I’ve noticed this too. Even with the same strain.
At peak I also aim to over feed due to the increased level of photosynthesis. At one point I experimented with a carboy with water, sugar and yeast piped into one of my 2x2’s. I did notice a little more growth that round then last but it wasn’t a closed system so I didn’t push 1050.
