Veg cycle LED intensity?

Burning a leaf is a bad investment when the return is only a few days. Once burned the leaf can never recover at a time when the plant needs it most. I have my seedlings a mile away from the light. I can double their growth by moving closer. I can extend the veg by about 3 days and in a month we will all be in about the same place. $30 gets you the meter. I think I went all the way down to 20 lux.

 

all I was saying is the risk of too far is merely stretching which can easily be fixed. Too close and that leaf is damaged for life and veg plants do like their leaves. You can get a Dr Lux meter for $30. Sweet spots seem to vary greatly. I was testing some new lights and foliar feed so I moved very far away to 20 lux and seedlings are growing at a slower but really fine steady nice node pace. So, no, I am also tempted to blast them, but I am still recovering from a burnt plant.

 

There is very good info on light burn at growweedeasy. Make sure you can identify it. It takes a day delay for it to show on the leaves after exposure. Watch edges of leaves. First they turn up, then a day later the edges turn brown. If you feel your plants need more light then you must move closer. But if you feel your plants could take more light, IDK.

 

5,000-8,000 lux for seedings/clones.

10,000-20,000 lux for early rooted veg.

20,000-40,000 lux for mid to late veg.

55,000-70,000 lux for flower.

The variation in those numbers accounts for different strains and gardens. In your garden with your strain you might either hit on the low side or the high side of that scale.

For the final decision you have to check with the top of the plant and it's posture for light stress but those are excellent rules of thumb to go by if you have a decent lux meter.

BTW I use a Dr. Meter LX1330B from amazon. They're about $30 and seem to give excellent light readings.

I resisted buying a light meter and I just watched plants for what they wanted for the longest time. Years. But after I bought a meter I realized I should have a long time ago. Even if you just watch the plants for your light distance it's nice to know what they are actually getting for your own reference.

 

All light readings measured at the top most portion of the plant canopy.

 

In my seedling tent 1 - 35 day old plants from seed or clone I run a fotop 800 v3 with (H) type chips and 3 kinds of reds @ 25%, which uses 77W at the wall and my lux at the furthest end of each comer of my tent 32" x 54" reads between 15600 - 16300, and my seedling grow really nice. I use to run a 600 MH @ 50% in that same tent, it drew 310W at the wall and my lux using that light gave pretty much the same readings as my fotop 800 v3 running @ 25%, 15900 - 16600! Oh' yeah... those readings were taken @ 22" from top of my seedling pots, which are 1/2 gallon nursery pots.

 

easier to raise and lower individual plants rather than adjusting one light for all.