I am a Lighting Designer 30+years,Have used just about every source of lamp tp do every sort of thing. There are some Glass Filters called "Dichroic" Color Filters. They are used inside Robotic Lights with everything from MH to Xenon to LED these days. The uv flourescent tubes are a bit week but if you have one of the HID for Buildings and shop lights,they have a case with a glass cover that encloses the bulb and the ballast is mounted at the lamp socket instead of remote ballast. If you have a Dichroic filter for UV you can kill Powdery Mildew. They even have a UV Light that goes in your resi sump and a small powerhead flows the water bast the bulb,I think its a 17watt bulb. you can just plug in the powerhead attached to the UV Module and set it right in your sump. UV Light is very dangerous and harmful to people eyes,skin,etc.so image what a little young canny plant would feel like you can burn them easily enough. IMHO U/V light is a good tool and much preferred to all those stinky sprays and such,anytime you can wipe out a fungus and don't have to put crap on your plants,especially during late flowering cycle when you have to spray all your nugs,careful use can be a powerful tool,not careful will slow down/burn/etc. your plants.vegas
THATS the response that should come from a question like this I don't have many non-Stoner friends. The non-smokers have the tendency to lack a genuine personality. 😤💨💨🔥ðŸƒðŸƒ Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
According to a 1992 study conducted at the University of Jerusalem in Israel, UVA rays have been found to trigger certain proteins when the plant is under light stress. These proteins seem to help plants resist degradation after or during sunburn. This same response doesn't seem to be triggered by UVB rays, and the response decreases once the heat stress passes. I don't know if someone already posted this but here ya go. I found this in a couple places I'm a noob so you don't have to listen to me. http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1305920-Kushgodrex%27s-First-Grow
Don't waste watts on blacklights. Even if they seem to work they'll waste your time . Craigslist them for t5's. Then get an HPS to flower. Or even go into the led lights if you wanna get into that. -growtender
Lol, your math makes me happy. I know you said not to quote you on that but I couldn't resist. Cramped quarters.
I'm getting in way late on this, and I didn't read all the pages (hell, I might have even posted in it before!) BUT... Legit blacklights (ie NOT the purple incandescent ones) do put out UV light. And while that kind of light might do little - if not nothing - during vegetative growth, it can be useful to increase the output of UV in your grow area during flowering. Why? One of the ways you can get a plant to produce maximum amount of trichomes is to add UV. Preferably UV-B or UV-C. The damaging light will cause the plant to produce more trichomes as a defense against the harsh rays. Of course genetics and nutrients play a large role in trich production, probably more so than anything related to light, but like I said, you can at least make sure the plant reaches it's genetic potential.
You need red, blue, and white light. Blue for veg, metal halide, red for bloom, HPS, but you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle if you just get an LED. They have all the spectrums you need, you can get them cheap, they don't give off heat, so you can put the light as close to your plants as possible. Black lights don't have either spectrum, and they don't put out enough lumens.
OK...time to play scientist, here.... Plants use NOTHING in the green spectrum...that's why they are green, it's reflected. Look at a light spectrum chart....the main wavelengths pot uses run through the 3-4.5nm and 7.7-9.2nm areas (blue to violet and orange-red to borderline IR) as far as "useful visible light" goes. The purpose of "white light" is the fact it also puts out a certain level of UVA (low UV spectrum), a lower level of UVB), and some IR (heat)...the shorter wavelengths (blue through UVB) are higher energy, which is why you lean more towards blue during vegging, when the plant needs lots of energy, and more towards red/IR during flowering (less energy, but more "relaxed" energy). True blacklights are pure UV, at low enough output they won't create "sunburn" (which is what UVB does...to us, too). UVA and SOME UVB are necessary for the plant's health. Plant's health means yield and quality. But you don't want them getting too much of either...too much UVA isn't as dangerous, but both are extremely high energy, compared to visible light, and neither are naturally found in a consistent high dose, except at midsummer. So if you use blacklights, first be certain they're UV lights, not party blacklights, because the party lights are simply plain old bulbs with the glass coated with a filter (that's why they get so hot, they reflect everything but the violet/UV output back into the bulb, or absorb it and transfer it as heat). Second, do NOT use a whole lot of them. UV's damaging in high amounts (sunburn, remember? day at the beach, and four days of aloe vera so you can sleep). Third, you STILL have to use lots of lights that give out the red and blue spectrums, and you still need a moderate amount of IR. People all have their own opinions on MH/HPS, CFL, T-15/T-8 fluorescent "daylight" bulbs, incandescent grow bulbs, LEDs....and really, that's what it is is a matter of opinion and preference for HOW you deliver the light. The only important thing is that it gets ENOUGH of each wavelength it uses, and NOT so much it damages the plants. How much wattage per plant is "too much" is determined by what method you use. It isn't the visible light that burns plants, it's the IR and UV bandwidths. But without those, the plant suffers, too. If you use LEDS or another system that uses "targeted wavelengths", you HAVE to supplement the UV...both UVA and UVB. Until they come out with an LED that puts out the proper bands of UV, there's no other option. For price, I discovered that, since you don't need a whole lot of supplementary light, going to PetCo and buying the UVA/UVB reptile lights and fixtures for about $25 for a 20 watt bulb and fixture I could attach to my hood by running a couple sheet metal screws through it was perfect (I run 4 of them on a 5 by 10 tent currently, ran two in a 4 by 4 tent with 4 plants, got no less than an ounce out of each plant, of quality that had my dispensary's manager buy all I passed through them instead of keeping, for his own use--that wasn't all because of the UV bulbs, obviously, but they get some of the credit). Those bulbs are "white" in appearance, but they're designed to give off "desert levels" of UV spectrum light, mostly in the UVA, but they're usually referred to as "UVB reptile lights", because, unlike most fluorescent of CFL bulbs (and they come in both types), they're actually capable of putting out a fair amount of UVB without putting out two tons of heat or intense amounts of higher spectrum UVB. Just enough to keep a desert or tropical reptile healthy and happy. As I just said, you can get these in CFL, and hang them in a standard bowl style fixture, or fluorescent in a hood type fixture. But keep these suspended HIGH, don't bring them low like you will with your hood usually...you want the UV dispersed widely. High energy doesn't spread well, it tends to be really intense around the bulb, and to lose energy (change spectrum to an extent) as dispersed by a reflector...you don't want the intensity, you DO want the dispersal. Less chance of UVB causing "sunburn", but still enough to make Miss Smileysmoke happy (and, as we all know, an unhappy female don't give you NOTHIN' worthwhile, but keep a girl happy, and she'll keep you grinning and comfortable--works for humans, works for plants. So far as I can tell, works for anything that HAS a gender). Same rule applies if you have actual blacklights, not party bulbs, but you have to be even more careful, as they have higher end UVB output, and less UVA. Hope that answered some things for a few folks, and explained the "whys" to others, so they can think more critically about how they want to go about delivering their light.
I use uvb lights when I'm flowering. The LED system I have comes with a set.. California light works" 440.. I have tried it over and over to see if it really works and in my opinion yes it does add beautiful crystals to my flowers.. I have gone as far as to go pick up a lizard heat light at the pet store and use that... 1. Don't put it to close it will destroy plants in a very short time if to close 2. Once you get the distance correct there is no need to regulate the light other then your normal 12/12. I've done side by side grows even in the same tent and see a difference under the uvb light.. Of course I'm no expert but it is what it is in my case I love the "looks like snow on my buds look.. You are so open minded I should only think like you...
Excellent post. I use Solar Flares myself...have used one as the "central" light of a hybrid system, now using them as a booster, with HIDs as central lights. best LEDs on the market for effect for the dollar, IMO, though others swear by Black Dog. You're spot on with the relationship between reptile bulbs and burn...they're UV (sunburn wavelengths), and light fall-off rules still apply, so close to the bulb is a LOT of UV. My solution was to use hood style ones that are supposed to sit on top of the terrarium, and a couple machine screws, and mount them straight to the light hood/assembly. Worked fine.
The solar storm has that set up out of the box. I really like that you made your own. The hood lights are probably way safer to use, the bulb type I have burn the plants so easy. (You can actually see where the light penetrates through the leaves.. Through destruction or if you get it right the crystal trail I would use hid but my power bill has only gone up 20$ running the LEDs. That's hard to beat! And really they work pretty good.. Three week veg and an early finish (I prefer the energetic type buzz) I average a little over an oz per plant... Well I'm a little off topic, sorry... I'm going to look into the hood style uvb lights.. 1. Is distance a huge issue? 2. Do they still burn easy 3.the bulb style comes in several different light configurations.. Any recommendations on watts or power levels?
Just a side note.. I'm not sure you can buy UVC lights. As far as I can remember they are really really toxic.. Food company's use them to destroy micro organisms to keep food safe... (And leach out nutrients but I'll stay off the podium uVA is harmless and basically useless to add UVB will tan you... Sunburn you...Tanning booths are the proof so be careful The reptile lights have different amounts of UVB so choose wisely there too. I guess lizards and animals like that need the UVB to feed their skin so pet stores carry them but other then that it seems they are hard to find.. Regulated? or just not a huge seller?
I always get mine from a pet store, anyhow...low wattage, and designed to deliver safe amounts of UVB for the critter at relatively close range.
Could always keep the fixture and replace the bulbs with cool white flouros, when you buy flouro lights 60% of the cost is the fixture, bulbs are only a couple bucks on the internet (assuming they are flouro black lights)
I'm growing in the living room and my growing lights are very bright. Any ideas in how I could get the brightness out of my eyes?
Wow...What a history lesson that was,To see what folks were using for UV supplements in those days, and look at how it has evolved since then. I mean Today, company s like Solacure are building UV bulbs specifically designed for cannabis,and still to this day, not many folks are sold on it, but I am seeing the benefits in person, and I am totally sold on it. I love my Solacures ! Only half way thru Flower,and only 2 wks of UV doses, my leaves are frosting over faster than ever before., And,the trichomes are BIGGER than what I'm used to seeing.