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Light upgrade?

S

Steviejee

New member
Hello community,

I was informed that I should/need an upgrade on my light. This is my setup. Tent: 2x2 vivosun complete setup, 4 inch carbon filter duct fan. VS-1000 light.
medium: coco coir, perlite, vermiculite in 5gl. Pots
Put into medium 10/09/23 germinated in water.
A fellow experienced grower suggested I should do an upgrade on my light. My plants are 2 Northern Lights (autos) because they appear to be stunted. At almost 2 months I feel that they should be larger. At least in early flower. He suggested a light from the HLG family. I looked at Spider -Farmer SF-2000. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.
 

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You have a 2 x 2. This means you have 4 sq/ft of floor space. Most try and go for at least 35 - 55w per sq/ft. 35 x 4 = 140w. This is the minimum amount of watts you want in your size tent. 55 x 4 = 220w. This is the maximum you want in your tent.

Any full spectrum light that falls between 140w and 220w.

I won a ViparSpectra 1500 pro in a raffle and I really like that little light for my 2 x 2 tent. It's 150w.
 
Okay thanks, this helps me a lot. I I have a friend who was trying to convince me to purchase a 300 watt light. He says that is what he uses. And besides, I don't think I will ever expand. This is why I came to the community, to get you alls thoughts. Thank you for introducing me to that formula. You have been a great help.
 
A 120w light will do but if you have the headroom you'll get a more even spread if you can run a 200w light...but you need the headroom.
 
Bluey is right. Keep in mind the wattage of light isn't just as much as you can stuff in the tent. Can you manage the heat it will put out in that micro environment? I use a lung room to control the temp and humidity in the tents, I also have a 5 x 5 for the main flower area, so I can run higher wattage lights and deal with the heat they put out in keeping my environmentals within range. You need to think of it in terms of a complete system rather than any one thing that will get you to your goal of a dialed in grow system.
 
My tent is setup in a lung room. Upgrading to a 200 watt light so hopefully I won't have a problem managing the heat. With the vivosun 1000 my range average is about 75 degrees. About where I need to be. I think.
 
I tend to like to run them hotter in veg as higher temps with high PPM feeds seem to really get them growing vigorously. In veg I usually run around 80* - 82* at around 55% - 65% humidity. Lower humidity will get the plant pulling more water faster through itself but your plants need to be healthy and happy for you to push them like that.
 
75 is fine but as Roots says, and I also find a bit warmer in veg is good too.

I aim for about 75 max later in flower but I push RH down also close to 40%.

Make sure you have great air circulation too.
 
This is just my personal observation so take it as Bro science but I've found that running lower temps in flower tends to help in preserving terpenes. The limited experience I have in this is purely anecdotal but my feeling is the lower temps reduce the evaporation rate of the terpenes and preserve them as long as the temp stays within 75* - 77* which, I feel is the sweet spot to balance out DLI and terpene preservation. Anything lower than 75* I feel you're giving up growth for terpene preservation due to the slowing down of the plant metabolism. Cannabis growth slows way down after you drop below 72*.
 
Cool with low humidity is key for me to do large dense buds. It works. The flowers love it as it keeps temps down in the bud. Always strong airflow across them too.

I don't know about your theory. I do know in lab testing a perfectly dried plant has been shown to lose 50% of its terpenes. Not sure you can recover terps but I have no idea what a great cure does to them either. It can improve them out of sight though.
 
The way I understand it is that terpenes form as layers of water. When you're actively growing they are evaporating hence the skunk you get when you are deep in flower. In cure terpenes, which are VOC's, begin to evaporate after 72* so I guess that's why they do the 60/60 rule in dry and cure.
 
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