Supplemental UVB lighting (reptile bulbs, etc.)

rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
RM3 said:
here was what he posted (my forum) after testing the arcadia's

uvb 7300ft elevation New Mexico 5 minutes ago

415 uw/cm2 !!!

JUST TESTED THE ARCADIA D3+ 12% uvb T5 54 watt HO Tubes...At 12 inches 480 uw/m2!!!! OUTSTANDING!!
Click to expand...

how often do you change bulbs? how many hours are they good for? are they a gradual fade in performance or a steep drop off?
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
BobMoses said:
@whitebb2727 Well yes, but you'd need a power inverter and you'd have some energy loss from it... One similar to the inverters you'd use for your car outlet to 110V AC and then a driver...
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No you don't. Cobs are DC power. That's why you use a driver. Solar and batteries are DC. No biggie to run it.

Yes a cob light plugs into 110 but the cobs themselves are DC current.
 
BobMoses

BobMoses

Member
whitebb2727 said:
No you don't. Cobs are DC power. That's why you use a driver. Solar and batteries are DC. No biggie to run it.

Yes a cob light plugs into 110 but the cobs themselves are DC current.
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True... But you'd need a resistor to regulate the current of each COB or they'll blow up instantly lol, also wiring them like that would require a parallel connection to each COB to keep the 12V on each of them. So long dimming abilities!
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
My flowering LED has UV and IR lights included in the fixture. Careful putting really young plants under it. I put 3 1.5 seedlings under it, not really thinking about it, and in less than two days, they all turned completely brown and dry-dead. My big one that's 2 weeks into flower after a 1.5 month veg is flourishing, though.
 
testiclees

testiclees

Well-Known Member
Olive Drab Green said:
My flowering LED has UV and IR lights included in the fixture. Careful putting really young plants under it. I put 3 1.5 seedlings under it, not really thinking about it, and in less than two days, they all turned completely brown and dry-dead. My big one that's 2 weeks into flower after a 1.5 month veg is flourishing, though.
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bro which light is that? What range of UV is included?
 
theexpress

theexpress

Well-Known Member
RM3 said:
Been tellin folks bout this stuff for years LOL

The Agromax pure UV T5 is the UV bulb you want and you "should" run it "always" I run one bulb in veg (in an 8 bulb fixture) and 3 bulbs in flower ( 3, 6 bulb fixtures) I use a LED bulb that has UV for seedlings & clones

But UV is about potency not frost, tis the deep blues that make frost the 10K to 15K bulbs are great for this with best tested being the ATI Coral Plus

The truth is that most reptile bulbs are a waste of time
View attachment 3631617
you can check my journal for pics of frost :)

https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-leprechauns-pot-o-gold.855314/

.
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meh the ones for desert reptiles are good
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
RM3 said:
Been tellin folks bout this stuff for years LOL

The Agromax pure UV T5 is the UV bulb you want and you "should" run it "always" I run one bulb in veg (in an 8 bulb fixture) and 3 bulbs in flower ( 3, 6 bulb fixtures) I use a LED bulb that has UV for seedlings & clones

But UV is about potency not frost, tis the deep blues that make frost the 10K to 15K bulbs are great for this with best tested being the ATI Coral Plus

The truth is that most reptile bulbs are a waste of time
View attachment 3631617
you can check my journal for pics of frost :)

https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-leprechauns-pot-o-gold.855314/

.
Click to expand...
What distance should those be run from the plants?

If I were to add these to my grow, I would be using them in combination with my LED/COB lights, so I'm trying to imagine logistically how I would hang these keeping in mind their optimal proximity to the canopy.
 
testiclees

testiclees

Well-Known Member
Humanrob said:
What distance should those be run from the plants?

If I were to add these to my grow, I would be using them in combination with my LED/COB lights, so I'm trying to imagine logistically how I would hang these keeping in mind their optimal proximity to the canopy.
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I suspended a 4',T5 under my panel. it's adjustable to a degree. I keep my light about 20-24" above canopy and the t5 is about 4- 6 inches lower. It's not elegant but it works fine, easy to clean or replace etc.
 
RM3

RM3

Well-Known Member
Humanrob said:
What distance should those be run from the plants?

If I were to add these to my grow, I would be using them in combination with my LED/COB lights, so I'm trying to imagine logistically how I would hang these keeping in mind their optimal proximity to the canopy.
Click to expand...
12 to 20 inches
 
testiclees

testiclees

Well-Known Member
Just sticking to the schedule is the important part. 730nm is the far red spectum and some graowers use that band just after lights out to simulate sunset trigerring the plant to change modes of metabolism more rapidly.

If interested there is a thread discussing it, The Far Red Thread
 
Chunky Stool

Chunky Stool

Well-Known Member
I run 23w reptile cfls in all four corners of my tent. They run 12/12 with the other lights (mostly hps). The difference is dramatic! I had a hard time getting my buds frosty when I first started & lizard lights did the trick. They even made the stems frosty!
Since I veg with mostly MH, my plants start getting UV when they are young so there's no transition for flower.
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone for your comments. I will share my first lesson learned... The reptile bulbs are CFLs, but do not treat them as such. Got mine too close (4-6" away, well outside "normal" CFL distances) and burned some leaves with them.

Like the folks here have said, stick with 12+ inches of distance.
 
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