Some calculations about LIGHT

[Iammygod]

Don't get 4+kW without every growing a plant or four.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n922[/ATTACH]

My 1st setup is just going to be 3.5'×3.5', 600watt HID and P450 Platinum LED. Currently im waiting for stuffs that ive purchased online to arrive, 2 weeks left. I know basics to grow. I got started with growweedeasy.com reading evey pages twice there(thank you Nebula) Also ive read many wikipedia pages that i needed to read. Now i think i know every basics that i have to know.

The Focus of a Parabola is just a point. No lamp can fit in a point. Also ive never seen Paraboloid shaped reflector that supports HID lamps. Indoor, my idea, unparalleled photons are beter than paralleled photons unless u have large setup with at least 2 lights or a light mover. Sun has parallel photons but she moves through sky.

[Smokey McPot]

The Focus of a Parabola is just a point. No lamp can fit in a point. Also ive never seen Paraboloid shaped reflector that supports HID lamps. Indoor, my idea, unparalleled photons are beter than paralleled photons unless u have large setup with at least 2 lights or a light mover. Sun has parallel photons but she moves through sky.

If we want to get technical, the diffraction limit (or circle of confusion) should be about half the wavelength. 600W focused down to a 300nm beam waist would kill your plants and probably burn your house down. It's a moot point though.





Pretty much all reflectors are linear approximations of a smooth parabala, usually in axial cross-sections, but sometimes with radial symmetry.

Parallel or divergent raybundles doesn't really matter. It's about pointing it such that it overlaps the majority of bud sites and leaves for the majority of the grow.

[Iammygod]

You painted a picture that a Parabola can push all light emitted by a HID lamp parallely down and i was trying to say we can't design a shape for HID lamp to do so and Im not going to say Parabola is not a good shape for reflecting lights.

Don't call me ignorant. Im not English native speaker and its hard for me to tell in English what exactly is running in my head , Although i can understand what i am reading completely. After im done with growing weed i will take a compressed course in English. After that we can have more effective discussion. You are not allowed to call me ignorant before i became master in English.

Place me in the center of every sphere you like with 1000km long radius and try to find a guy smarter than me. You can't success without 100s tyies(dont tack it too seriously). I learn soooo fast.

I really tried to find a Parabola shaped reflector in my city but couldn't find any.

[Flockshot]

As a new guy with little knowledge and limited budget I have studied this issue about as far as I can without going back to school. I just want to get the most bang for the buck when I buy lights, hoods, and electrical efficiency.

That said, Nebula Haze made the following statement and it perfectly explains my feelings on this subject:

"Some things are currently unexplainable, and we might not have the scientific knowledge to explain exactly why something works the way it does, but we can still look at the results people are getting in real life to estimate what we can expect in our own grow room on a practical level."

Actual results, from non-sponsored grows, are all that matter to me any more.

[Herbs n Stuff]

Just a quick note on LEDs. There are 3 basic colors for LED. Red, green, and blue. In order to get other colors, the red, green, and blue have to be mixed. Just like the rear projection TV's. Therefore white LEDs are a mixture of the the red, green, and blue. Now that this is known, the probability of getting a complete full spectrum of light needed for growing in an LED is not 100%. A lot will depend on how dedicated the manufacturer is to building a quality LED grow lamp. You could spend a lot of money and still get a that is low quality. HPS, MH, CMH, CFL's, fluorescent lights, etc. are your best bet for getting the full spectrum of light needed in grow lights. My understanding is, the new CMH (ceramic metal halide) is very good and it uses a lot less electricity than HPS or MH lights. Just a side note, I had an LED headlamp on my motorcycle. It was great when no cars were approaching from the opposite direction, but it was easily overpowered by the halogen lights on the approaching cars. Most of the time, I could barely see the road ahead of me when cars were approaching. This is just my thought, but I think LED grow lights still have a ways to go before I would invest in them. Maybe in another year. Right now I'm using T5 HO fluorescents and am happy with my results. Especially since this is my first grow.

[Iammygod]

You could spend a lot of money and still get a that is low quality. HPS, MH, CMH, CFL's, fluorescent lights, etc.

As i heard from many pro growers, it has been claimed LEDs produce better quality buds of all other grow lights but they have lower yield Than HPSs watt for watt. I used to believe a light that emits higher reletivity IR photons that what plants need may evaporate Terpenoids reducing smell and quality caused by higher LST.
Wish NebulaHaze read this post and correct me if im wrong. I've already asked her, too many questions.

CMH (ceramic metal halide) is very good and it uses a lot less electricity than HPS or MH lights.

Electricity depends on wattage the lamp uses. You should conpare efficiency not electricity.

Although CMH may have better spec for plants than HPS but If I'm not worng, CMHs produce 80–120 lm/W while HPS are quite efficient. HPSs produce more than 100 lm/W. The must efficient of them is 600w HPS producing 150lm/W. Because of this higher efficiency i think HPSs should produce a quiet bit more yield than CMH as spec has smaller effect than light efficiency when they both use the same wattage.

[Herbs n Stuff]

I have 4 T5 HO cool white fluorescent lights that are 4' long. 54 watts per light and my electric bill barely noticed - maybe $5 per month I'm not using hood reflectors. Just bought some white poster board that was shiny on one side and lined the walls. Here is just one of several cola bunches I got off of one plant after 12 weeks. This one still needs to dry and cure, but it initially weighs in at 33g (1.16oz). Once it dries and I remove the stem, I'm hoping for close to an ounce. Once everything is cleaned and dried, I think I'll get about 5 ounces from the plant. I should have taken a picture of some of the leaves. They looked like they had a thin layer of white cake frosting on them. But in the long run, everyone has their own thoughts and ideas that make them comfortable. And that's what counts.