Supplemental lighting

[DoubleA]

This is my 1st indoor grow…..3 clones from this summer. Using Spider farmer SE4500 LED in complete AC Infinity 2x4 tent. Are the extra red and blue supplemental light bars helpful? Are they worth $100 for two? Anyone ever used? They are in bud stage now

[Bluey]

If using a modern full spectrum grow light, no, you do not need them. Waste of money.

So what light are you using in what size space and what voltage is your power supply?

Using standard flood lights under the canopy in flower will give you much better results at half the cost.

[crucialbunny]

I've used supplemental multi-spectrum light bars for under canopy lighting and it worked very well. I'm typically an outdoor grower but on occasion do some indoor auto grows.

[MiguelEnfermo]

Bluey, do you use just regular incandescent flood lights for under the canopy? Like a regular GE 75W incandescent bulb pointing up underneath the canopy? I can see that getting pretty warm in a tent.

[Bluey]

Hey Migguel. No incandescents, only LEDs. I haven't used under canopy yet but I did setup for it a while ago and only recently read a paper on what results they were getting from them. They can make a big difference for yields

[MiguelEnfermo]

Understood. I think I might try that this go around. THANK YOU!

[DoubleA]

Awesome…..one says yes and the other no. Lol 😂

[Bluey]

Re read. CB didn't say that.

[crucialbunny]

Here's the under canopy lights I use for autos.
They're cheap and adjustable. Seems to make
a significant increase in my yields.

[Bluey]

I've got 20 & 80w flood lights about 4800K but the leads are short on them and I have to put longer leads on them to get the outlets up above about 3'6" high off the floor for water ingress protection. The 20w are probably way to small for the job anyway.

[Smallgrow]

How are you guys approaching light distance for under canopy lighting Bluey and crucialbunny?
It guess they are not strong enough lights at the proposed power to need significant distance from plants, thoughts?

[Bluey]

They way I grow requires about 300 to 400W per plant above canopy depending on veg time and size so underneath I only require between 75 to 100W per plant. I've got flood lights of 80W and 20W and I'll just be setting the distance so it lights up that part of the canopy I need lit up. Just divide your light up accordingly to get as much coverage as you can. It's not strong so shouldn't be an issue

[SWFL]

This is my 1st indoor grow…..3 clones from this summer. Using Spider farmer SE4500 LED in complete AC Infinity 2x4 tent. Are the extra red and blue supplemental light bars helpful? Are they worth $100 for two? Anyone ever used? They are in bud stage now

I would say given what you already have you do not need any additional lighting, keep in mind there is such a thing as leaf damage from too much light.

[Smallgrow]

Well, I couldn’t contain myself any longer so I pulled the trigger on the AC Infinity Ionbeam 16 supplemental bars, even though it might make my current problems worse. I do believe they can increase yield.
They are probably not the cheapest way to go, and by Bluey’s math (which I think is correct), I could use twice as much wattage. They are well made and except for the weak magnets I’m happy with them. I got them installed a couple weeks ago, well into flower but it’s seems like the buds down low are responding to them

[Bluey]

Oh cool.

Keep those ics coming as those buds fill out.

[Smallgrow]

I can already see a differences in the quality of the lower bud sites after a month. Even with that little extra lighting
These had about 2 weeks to go when the pics were taken. There still loose but good Trics, and denser than I’d usually get at the very bottom of the plant

[Artstone]

I had the same question if you are talking about blue and ir lights by spider farmer.

I can’t really summarize but I didn’t find that it would be worth it. Google supplemental ir lighting some college professor has a video, I didn’t understand it too much but what I got was - too much for too little payback

[Smallgrow]

I’m not sure what Bluey has going on , but I’m just using regular full spectrum LED under canopy supplemental lighting. It definitely seems to be making a difference down below. I’ll post some pics when I harvest in the next few days.
UV and IR may have some benefit but not something I’m using, or planning to.

[Bluey]

IR and UV supp lighting in a home grow situation is probably a waste of money.

I've ditched my supplementary and sticking with just full spectrum.

Under canopy lighting though is definitely worth having and nothing fancy needed here, just waterproof/resistant and about 20% power of what being used up top.

[DoubleA]

I purchased and am using all 3 spider farmer supplemental lights…IR is 15 mins before lights on (sunrise) and 15 mins after lights out (sundown), UV is 5 mins per hour and deep red about 15 mins per hour .I spent the money on a digital PAR reader as well and have always been under the threshold limits based on there grow state. I don’t know if it helps or not but they look pretty good so far.

[Smallgrow]

Ya they look good, I’m sure there is something to it.
There is enough preliminary research and anecdotal evidence at this point. I just have many other improvements to make before I get to that point with light

[Smallgrow]

This is an interesting conversation on supplemental lighting and some other things from pretty reliable sources. These guys know their stuff

[DoubleA]

Thank you.. will give it a listen