Just caught up on the thread. There is a ton of great info here. Bravo fellas. I made some emails and think I will try the Solar Spec. I would be interested in seeing how it performs against my SolarStorm.
Welcome aboard IH! Were headed around the last bend on this ride. Yet plenty of track left before we hit the station. It would be good to see a comparison of the Spec and the Storm.
That would be very interesting for sure. Hey, check this thread out. This grower just posted very interesting pics that clearly shows the differences in growth characteristics between the Mars red spectrum vs. the SolarSpec whites. https://www.opengrow.com/topic/48859-solarspec260mars-ii-1200-with-ch9-jack/page__st__20
I should have SS's hanging by next week. They should be shipped out Tuesday! (2) 150's in a 3x2. Should be solid.
Welcome Lixx, That is great news! Like to see how those 150's perform. You should "rock solid" in a 3 x 2.
Week 11 update: We had some real crazy weather here dropping into the 40's and rather cool during the day. The ladies are ready for harvest. We are dropping leaves and have been watering with just plain water and Clearex for the last week or so.. The trichomes are 85 % milky 10 % clear and 5 % amber. We sampled at Week 10 and were happy with the medicinal properties. We are very impressed with the Solar Spec 260. We kept one plant under it for this grow and that plant has larger and bigger buds all around. The light also had much deeper penetration. We did not defoliate at all. The 100's still did a fine job compared to my red spec based lights when it comes to bud density. Here they are:
So what do you guys think of putting a SS260 on a 3' light mover? Or any LED light, does anyone have any experience with this? Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
Ha!!! I wasn't sure on the spelling it isn't KleeNex... I combined FloraKleen with Clearex. It was early and I combined them haaa! I use both of them...
The Spec260 will be fine, since it has enough intensity. I wouldn't recommend any light for this application unless it puts out at least 1200umol@canopy to make sure u get the intensity to penetrate the intra-canopy: otherwise, you will end up with lots of air popcorn buds. Nice thing bout the Specs is it's modular design that allow the panels to be attachable with supplied brackets, so u can add up to 4 panels according to your particular wattage needs.
It would make sense Prepper! I was considering this too. A light mover increases inter leaf exposure (no shadows due to light movement, just like our sun) as well as extending the footprint of the light. I believe anything more than 25%-30% lager than the initial footprint (for hid at least) will have less than optimal results. With the PAR values they are claiming, it would be interesting to see what would happen. Light mover parts wear out. Their wheel bearings are cheap and start to break down (humidity and metal), making noise and sprinkling pretty metal shavings. Ask me how I know. Better bearings maybe? I have a set of lights coming in a week too. Pulled the trigger on SS1040 set up like DDP. I still have parts for my light mover so maybe, if it's in the cards, we might see. However, I like the peace of mind that simplicity lends. -PG
I think a convex curves mover would be cool so the light always points at the plants. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1316222-4x4-led-wild-thai-seed-second-grow.html#entry20304616
DDP we are thinking the same thing. have an arch that runs from one side to the other. simulating the suns movement. I don't think a regular light mover could make the climb as most are on a roller assembly. A rack and pinion type system would work I think...
I'm looking at the Light Rail 3.5, It's adjustable to shorter distances. 3 ft would be the max I would move any LED. used to have a 6' light mover with a 1k bulb, but it was very cheap and didn't last long, but handy though when it was working. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
How long does it take to travel 3 feet? http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1316222-4x4-led-wild-thai-seed-second-grow.html#entry20304616
Travels 3.9ft per min. Website says to adjust the delay so it pauses for 35 seconds at each end for the most even coverage. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1318542-freedom-35.htmlk
The mover may allow you to run the lights even closer to the canopy with out bleaching. According to The PAR numbers Solarspec claims, at 24" they are higher than daylight. I am assuming that this may be true due to the size of the lower buds in the pics that are being posted. This led me to thinking about CO2? According to this: http://www.marietta.edu/~spilatrs/biol103/photolab/photosyn.html plants have a light saturation point at which photosynthesis maxes out. They conclude that CO2 is the limiting factor. I have been using MyCO2 mushroom boxes in my tents. They are mushroom compost bags that slow release CO2 into my grow space. The plants seem to respond well to them. With The SS LEDs being as bright as they are, I wonder how far our plants can be pushed beyond their nominal photosynthetic rates. Anyone else using CO2? -PG
The Solarspec1040 puts out 2550umol@12". Natural noon sunlight under a clear sky is~2000umol/sec/m2. At 24", the Spec1040 PAR is 1785umol, a standard 1k HPS is ~900umol@24". Cannabis has a light saturation point of ~1500umol/sec/m2, with Equatorial strains pushing up to ~1740umol/sec/m2. If this grow is any indication, it should answer your question regarding pushing beyond their nominal photosynthesis rates. Looks like they do pretty well by the way it clearly outgrows the red spectrum at only half the wattage. https://www.opengrow.com/topic/48859-solarspec260mars-ii-1200-with-ch9-jack/page__st__20__p__626272#entry626272
Hey PG, Thought about using the same thing how do you keep the MCO2 in the area if you run an exhaust fan?