More Light...Will I notice any significant difference?

[Insight]

I'm now in the second week of flowering and still reading all I can on GWE. One basic theme regarding lights seems to be..."Light is Food".

I'm currently using one 600 watt HPS in a 4'x4'x6.5' tent...I know the ideal for 600 watts is a 3.5'x3.5' coverage area. My question is....

Would I benefit, yield wise, by adding more light? I can't add another HPS due to heat problems...I'm hitting 80°F with lights on with an air cooled reflector. I was wondering if adding a
300 watt LED...like the Viparspectra would be a worthwhile move....more light without much more heat.

Your thoughts?
TIA

[dontknownuttin]

600 is a bright light! 300 more? sounds like a unnecessary expense to me.

[Insight]

Thanks...that's is one of my concerns....spending extra for the light and electricity...and not seeing a return on investment (ROI)...more larger buds.

[dontknownuttin]

I think your plan would work much better by just swapping out your 600 watt for the 1000 watt lamp and forget the secondary light.

[GreenArmadillo]

To put it simply.. I say it's worth it.
My personal experience (although not too much as this is my first grow) has taught me this.

I started off with 300 watt T5s. When I added in a 400 watt HPS floodlight my growth picked up big time.
I have now added a 2nd 400 watt HPS floodlight, and i'm adamant it will boost things up once again. My babies are pure sativas, and Nebula told me that it was clear that they WANT MORE LIGHT. The 2nd HPS threw my temperature up a few degrees, and i'm on the edge with temperatures now. But because these are pure sativa landraces, i've read they can put up with higher heats. So I gotta constantly be careful, cause i'm hitting up to 29 degrees C every once in a while, and that is the ABSOLUTE UTMOST top heat we are allowed to let the girls experience, from what i've read.
It's a fun but risky game i'm playing, haha.

Just my 2 cents.

[GreenArmadillo]

PS. I went with HPS floodlights out of desperation as all HPS grow lights were out of stock here. I'm sure these floodlights create a lot more heat than the grow lights would. Just sayin..

[OzBud]

Silica and seaweed containing supplements are supposed to help plants withstand slightly higher than desirable temps

[GreenArmadillo]

I was giving my girls GO BioWeed, which I believe is a seaweed supplement, but I stopped using it after week 6, cause the GO chart says to stop using it.
Same story with my silica supplement, which is DynaGro Pro-tekt.

Would you say it would be to my advantage to add them back in this late in the flowering stage?

[007]

I think DKN has the answer with upgrading to a 1000 watt. I would just say I wouldn't bother adding more unless you're really utilizing the whole canopy already with the 600 watt. If the tent is packed, maybe the upgrade would be worthwhile. I run 400 watt CMH lights, one in a 4x4, one in a 4x5, and my problem is filling out my canopy to use all the available light I'm already giving them.

[redbeard]

Only on my 3rd grow so definitely no pro. With that being said I used a 400 hps conversion and a 300 galaxy hydro last time in a 6x2 space. The 2 plants in the middle with the most of both lights were the champs.

[oldjarhead100]

why not wait and see what you yield is with the 600. I run a 1000hps and added 100w led light bars to my room. If you plants are not filling up your room so that you need to use that extra 1/2 foot then the 600 might be good enough, I have not done a grow using a 600w hps and then the same strain under a 1000w hps to see if there was a difference in yield ,I personally would leave them be and if you want to go to the 1000 next grow have fun

[Barnietomato]

I have a 1.20x1.20 m grow with a hps 400w, and a friend has the exact same tent and settings with a 600 W hps light. It makes a noticeable difference (and its not a case of always greener on the other side...). His temperatures are on average 4 degrees Celsius higher than mine, aside from that we even use the same water and nutes...
i have little experience with led, and have resolved in using them just for cloning... but I have no doubt that more light is never too much light for sweet Jane, as long as the safe distance is kept... remember she can withstand the sun...

[oldjarhead100]

Hey Barnie have you notice an increase in yeild between the 2 lights?

[Barnietomato]

OJH yes, his plants grow faster, and bigger.
The difference is slight but significant enough, and we've come to the conclusion it has to be the lights, cause the rest of the setting is the same... we even check one another for nute dosage lol

[Insight]

Well, my wife must have heard me talking about the new 300 w LED and bought one for my birthday yesterday.

I've moved the HPS towards the front of the tent and put the 2 northern lights under it and put the new Viparspectra centered at the rear with the Sativa under it...might be useful because the Sativa is growing faster than the other 2 so now I can move the one light higher for her.

I'll keep you posted.

ps...did some more reading and found a post by Green75 where he stated...."Give all the light you can afford....."

[Green75]

Enjoy the added bud weight!!