I’m putting a solacure fixture/bulb in my flower tent. Figure it’s $90 and 40 extra watts for an hour a day ain’t shit to add $50 extra an oz.
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The new LED setups usually include added UV/AB as well as IR…these are what I would purchase if buying a current LED…
Brian(Alaskagrown)
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Generally one use’s UV the last 3 weeks before harvest
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What do you have against purple buds and cake though?
Hello Peg I wanted to let you know you that the UV LED diodes that are currently available on the market are of a high spectrum of UV radiation than can actually improve your THC content. You need UV around 285nm to 290nm to force the cannabis plant to produce the UVR8 protean which will in turn increase the THC level. The current LED available only produce around 365nm or higher. Most UV LED that are used in these lights like yours are around 365nm or more and are not useful for UVR8 protean manipulation. The companies just add them to try to get more sales, knowing that they don’t really help. Currently only UV-b tube lights can produce the spectrum you desire and at a usable amount to trigger the UVR8 protean. Please ask the company you got your lights from what the UV spectrum the LED diodes they use are. I guarantee you its over 365nm.
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Alaskagrown Please show me a place you can get UV-b LED diodes that produces enough radiation to make a difference. I have researched and only found a couple of UV-b diodes that are being produced and they are $100 or more a diode. They still could not produce a strong enough UV-b radiation to make any difference in plant growth or hormone production.
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yoiu can buy single UV (long light bar)that can be asdded to HGL’S PRODUCTS, Myself use Budget Led’s can switch it on or off (UV) as mentione mosat new LED come with UV
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thanks good information
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I run gavita uvrs 315 -400nm
You’re only using 365nm UV which is basically a black light without the safety parts, 730nm IR and 660nm far red, that’s only the super high end of UV and some bloom boosters with the red. Gotta get lower into the UV spectrum with some 315nm at the very least, 285nm and maybe even a little lower too, sun is full spectrum not just one wavelength (or just one UV wavelength).
Why’s your post gotta come off so hostile though?
Edit: I see @Tao already dropped the knowledge bombs, although if you Google uv diodes news there’s some new tech coming in uv spectrums as they get better at it, apparently because it helps kill covid not specifically for horticulture purposes I guess
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I looked at the high power uv lights but settled on this as I have limited hight and it will be close to plants , lookin forward to using next run : )
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I got of of them uva pucks from rapidled in a kijiji deal and am looking forward to trying it out 
I recently switched from HLG products, to GrowLightAustralia long boards.
They offer a line called Buddies, that I’m now looking into to build a dedicated clone box. Prices seem fine, and the 2 long boards with dimmers, I got to hang are working out far better than I expected. Got another set for when I get to expand.
This thread has a lot of folks, that know a whole more about LED specifics than I do.
Maybe worth a look, to those searching. GLA are very good folks to deal with.
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Just in case you haven’t read my post above, UV-A is 315-400nm and does not effect the cannabis plant very much. It certainly does not produce the spectrum needed to force the cannabis plant to make the UVR8 protean that in turn triggers the growth of more trichomes and makes more THC. Only UV-B at the lowest spectrum of 280-290nm effect the cannabis plant to produce the UVR8 protean. There are currently no LED diodes that produce that spectrum at a usable amount for this purpose on the market. So any add on or supplementary LED of UV spectrum is a ripoff you would be better to buy a real old school blacklights. They are putting about the same spectrum as the current LED diodes but at much more emission and at a much lower price but still wont trigger the UVR8 protean and will not increase THC much at all. If that’s what you want then you need UV-B tube lights.
Please read this:
https://www.solacure.com/myths.html?viewfullsite=1
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Hello corgitron. 315 -400nm are UV-A radiation and will not increase THC much. You need 280-290nm to do that. Only UV-B tube lights produce that spectrum at a usable amount for cannabis. LED diodes currently don’t.
Please read:
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Yeah was really wondering why i always grow mids. I also have a 10k 315cmh finishing bulb but its just a pain in a perpetual grow.
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Someone in the HLG thread and in one of grandmaster level shows with Stephen present showed results of terpenes increasing even with uva Using the led uv light. You don’t need those deadly uv bulbs. Hell even green genes recently said you don’t even need to incorporate uv leds because the new led diodes have enough. I don’t have a link but it should be out there
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You don’t have to include them but let me tell you. They work wonders. My crop is so much stronger with it than not. I realized I was growing in a greenhouse that has plastic windows. No UV-b radiation can pass through plastics and only a very small amount of UV-A may pass through. I supplemented my greenhouse with two 4 foot UV-b bulbs and my product was almost too strong, if that’s possible. I smoke mostly concentrates btw.
Please read this:
You want to avoid UV-C bulbs. Those can be dangerous. If you’ve heard of blindness or eye problems from arc-flash, this is the radiation that can cause those problems. UV-C from the sun is mostly filtered by the atmosphere and we don’t really see much at the ground.
UV-B can cause some issues if you are staring at them, are using them to get a suntan, or experience significant term exposure. But, generally, much safer than UV-C particularly if you treat them with precaution.
To get a better feel for the spectra of natural light:
Sunlight, 11AM EST Northeast US. Current conditions partially cloudy.
Integral radiant (400-700nm): 341.7 W/m^2
Integral radiant (350-840nm): 483.8 W/m^2
Spectrometer PFD (400-700nm): 1580 umol / m^2 s287-320nm UVB : 0.06%
320-399nm UVA : 3.06%
400-475nm Violet-Blue : 11.54%
476-550nm Cyan-Green : 16.07%
551-700nm Green-Yellow-Red : 37.17%
701-850nm Far Red-NearIR : 32.09%
Compare this with a Fluence Spydr 2P:
Spydr 2P PhysioSpec Indoor
(open air, single point, 18" distance from center of lamp)
Integral radiant (400-700nm): 186.4 W/m^2
Integral radiant (350-840nm): 192.3 W/m^2
Spectrometer PFD (400-700nm): 889.56 umol / m^2 / s
Spectrometer PFD (350-840nm): 925.5 umol / m^2 / s
Quantum Sensor PFD (400-700nm): 850.4 umol / m^2 / sUVB(287-320nm): 0.01%
UVA(320-400nm): 0.12%
Violet_Blue(400-475nm): 11.91%
Cyan_Green(475-550nm): 18.58%
Green_Yellow_Red(550-700nm): 65.56%
FarRed_NearIR(700-850nm): 3.82%
Here is the Fluence UV spec bar:
Fluence RAY44 UVSpec
(open air, single point, 18" distance from center of lamp)
Integral radiant (400-700nm): 28.5 W/m^2
Integral radiant (350-840nm): 34.1 W/m^2
PAR (400-700nm): 97.53 umol / m^2 s287-320nm UVB : 0.02%
320-399nm UVA : 19.07%
400-475nm Violet-Blue : 80.89%
476-550nm Cyan-Green : 0.01%
551-700nm Green-Yellow-Red : 0.00%
701-850nm Far Red-NearIR : 0.00%
That is primarily a UV-A spectra with some spread into high UV-B.
The majority of LED fixtures that have UV are going to be UV-A. Fixtures do exist that have UV-B but they are relatively uncommon, and as other have noted, the lifetime is much shorter compared to LEDs in the PAR range.
Additional examples can be found in: Lighting Spectral Data
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Yes UV-C actually does not make it through the atmosphere so plants do not respond positively to it’s spectrum. It can cause mutation and cancer. UV-B causes sunburn effects from the radiation and prolong exposure could cause cancer but I wouldn’t sit under them for long time anyway and you can turn them off when you want to make it safe. UV-B bulbs are what they put in tanning salons units. So if they are so bad for you I would guess tanning salons would be outlawed by now.
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