i completely understand what you are saying bullet. i do. everything i've read says uvb increases trich's development (quantity) and maturation (i think). every light gives off some uv rays, it's unavoidable. the glass surrounding the gas (cfl, mh more so from the size of the arc involved, halogen, incandescent) is what tries to contain the uv. glass (quartz) filters won't filter it 100%. if you take away his hps and power demands, and just use the light as it were...say side to side comparison as to trich quantity (as you put it, "potency") from a uvb enriched environment and a standard environment without the extra uv emitting bulbs. with what you've stated light can increase potency. that would mean growing outdoors would far exceed the potency of indoor pot for the simple reason being that hps and every other light source has extremely filtered uvb. just making sure i've understood this 1/2 of the convo cuz my screen name is 100% accurate unless i'm sleeping. if i'm misunderstanding this, please correct me.
The statement "Light intensity increaases potency" is not equivalent to "UVB intensity increases potency". All UVB is light. Not all light is UVB. Going from a 600W HPS (or MH) to a 1000W will not measurably affect the amount of UVB actually hitting the plants. It will DEFINITELY not be enough to damage the plants and stimulate them into protecting themselves from it (via trichome growth). edit: if you really want to be technical about it, the miniscule UV emissions from those lamps could increase trichome production at a level below the just noticeable difference, and/or at a level below the resolution of the test. IE you might get 3 more trichomes per plant. You will, by definition, be unable to tell.
ok, but if you add in uvb, uva, or just uv lights generally speaking, your premise is that the trichome development would increase. i'm not speaking wattage, just spectrum of light. i completely agree with the edit too, i doubt it'd be noticable, but 3 times the amount of trichomes means 3 times the amount of possible cannabanoids, which means you might be able to tell.
No, the potency will not be the same. Some strains wont even flower with not enough light. It comes down to energy and spectrum. You can find everyting you need to know by simply reading or looking at legitimate websites. (i.e. scientific, research, or education oriented) Not that these people dont know what to talk about, they may, or they may not. There are a lot of different opinions. Look for info from qualified people.
3x the trichomes would necessarily increase the potency by 3x per unit of weight (well, roughly. The trichomes have less than 100% cannabinoids by weight, so it'd be a bit less). You would definitely notice that. I meant 3 trichomes. As in the number 3. 3 more per plant. My point is that an extremely low level of UV light may technically be better than none at all, but it isn't likely to produce any measurable difference in your result (even if there is a theoretical technical difference of 3 trichomes or what have you).
Yes, it will be the same. A single cannabis flower weighs a certain amount, and is covered with a certain amount of trichomes, which contain a mixture of cannabinoids based on genetics and how long the plant has been flowering. The mixture cannot be changed with lighting. The flowers can be enticed to grow more trichomes/flower, but the only thing that does that is damaging ultraviolet radiation. Denser buds may appear to be more potent, but this is just an optical illusion resulting from cramming more flowers (and thus trichomes) into the same VOLUME, but at a proportionally higher MASS, which is what matters for cannabis buds. Each flower still weighs the same amount by itself, and is coated with the same amount of trichomes.