Okay buddie I gave my evidence to your claim that there is no spectral season shift, so I am gonna wrap it up. Accountability is alot like wisdom, it ages nicely like a fine wine. Amen
Fighting idiocy is a battle that is never won. Notice how SD fails to respond to the point made that daily shift far exceeds any seasonal shift. And that if we were to mimic nature everyone would use less light during flowering and change lights three times per day.
The battle never ceases my friend. You got any cool experiments or grows in the works? What do you think of Induction lighting? I agree on the mimicing nature part. Why I run veg 24 hours a day and my Autos I got going on 24/0.
Induction lighting may very well be a better light source than T5s. One bulb vs. multiple bulbs and much longer life. Not a direct competitor to HID. Still waiting for prices to drop.
so... in short, my 250w light setup came with a blue and an orange bulb. which should i use for the pre-flowering stage (short veg stage) of an autoflowering variety?
I have done one final update not that it is necessary. I put three light sockets in one and used 3 each 9 watt e27 warm white spotlight LEDs. It is much brighter than the CFL. I use 3 each 3 watters for seedlings. If someone merely wanted to hang CFLs in their grow room as opposed to doing a clamshell, then a 1 to 3 gallon bucket would be more practical.
I'm very new to the sciences and engineering of lights and lamps. There is a lot of information here and I'd like to verify that I am consuming it correctly. Reading through everything here I have gathered that Red and Blue light does not fluctuate at all, and that the sun is closer to the blue and white light spectrum, and the only difference in Spring(longer days) and Fall(shorter days) is the amount of time in which both lights are available. So if you can find a lamp/bulb that emits the appropriate amount of each light spectrum, the only change in atmosphere your plant needs is the availability of that light(Which is why we run 24/0 or 18/6 in veg and then 12/12 in flowering). Although both light spectrum are available, in veg it will use more of the blue(allows a higher rate of photosynthesis that the plant needs to produce foliage), and in flowering it will use more of the red(which allows a reduced rate of photosynthesis that the plant needs to grow it's stems)? So having both available will allow a balanced growth in height and width? If that is the case, then why have we been using lights that specify an availability of each light spectrum? Also, in reference to your bucket lamp. Why don't we see more growers putting reflector wings coming off the sides of their medium containers? This would allow people who do have high-heat emitting lights(HPS/MH) to optimize their light usage.
Seems you got the basics. Only one balanced spectrum light is truly necessary; however neither MH nor HPS is balanced. CMH is balanced and can be used throughout the grow, but does not have as high a an energy conversion to light as does HPS. Thus for now, professionals will stick with the two light system. If I had the space and cooling ability and were to grow with HID, I would use a dimmable 600w HPS with two 2 bulb dual actinic fluorescents on either side (4 * 55W). I would use the fluoros for seedlings and early veg. Then kick on the HPS at 300W for mid veg; 450W for late veg and early flower, then the full 600 for flower and keep the fluoros on the whole time to flesh out the blue spectrum. Might substitute one full spectrum fluoro instead of all blue to provide some of the missing spectra. Experiments in this area are needed. Currently I am updating my DIY LED lamp to the latest warm white CREEs (see thread) getting 112 LPW in nearly the correct spectrum. I will not change the lamp spectrum from veg to flower as there is no need. Only the intensity needs to be changed as a larger more mature plant can utillize more light. I will configure it so that I may have 35, 70, 105, 140 or 175 watts as needed for my 2' X 2' space.
Thanks for all the information Swami! I am also a part of the HID paradigm, but I was interested in the knowledge regarding the light spectrum's available here. Truly appreciated.