LED light intensity

[giantsfan24]

UPDATE

Well, I had to leave town on family business for a couple of days and gave them a good watering before I left last Thursday midday. I got back yesterday and check them, they were very nicely recovered. My inclination is to bury the stems however I don't think I want them under any more stress at this moment so I staked them up with the skewers idea and they look great.



There's been a heck of a lot of growth in just the last couple days and it seems the stress of being planted in the cups has passed. Confused me as the stress took a couple of days to show up. I'll let the owner of the plants decide what to do with the stems at this point. I think they're only in for another 10 days at most, I just didn't want to kill them on my watch! lol!

I turned up the light just a touch to get them used to it and if they don't react negatively I'll up it again in a couple days.

Thanks for all the advice folks. I really appreciate it.

 

[KonopCh]

Seedlings are most happy under 20-50 umols usually. 300 for veg and increase from there as the plant will take it. You can tell when you hit the max (eg DLI) once the leaves start to droop towards the end of the lights on cycle.

Can you somehow "train" plants to take more DLI?
More light means more end product.

 

[Viceman666]

Can you somehow "train" plants to take more DLI?
More light means more end product.

Higher temp with co2 should allow you get more DLI

 

[ANC]

I hope you have a small fan in there. they should move ever so lightly to help build strong stems.

 

[KonopCh]

Higher temp with co2 should allow you get more DLI

And without CO2?
I know optimum temp is 25-30°C when plants growing the best.
Any other "tricks"? Full blast from day 1 till harvest no go?

 

[Slinging PAR]

Can you somehow "train" plants to take more DLI?
More light means more end product.

Take or use?

Take, as in the maximum amount of light it can absorb? No that comes from genetic traits and individual expression. The use of the absorbed light is far lower than what the plants can take. Plants only use 3-4% of sunlight.

Use, is also is determined by genetics but can be influenced by the environment. If you give an optimal environment then your plant will be able to use the light to its maximum potential.

It is better to think the other way around in that factors causing less than optimal conditions will negatively impact results.

More light only means more end product if there is more area, more plants, more veg time, etc as well.

Higher temp with co2 should allow you get more DLI

Change the should to might and I would agree. For example, when trying to find the max DLI for lettuce the researchers had to lower the environment temperatures to counter the heat generated from smashing 5k ppfd at the leaf.

And without CO2?
I know optimum temp is 25-30°C when plants growing the best.
Any other "tricks"? Full blast from day 1 till harvest no go?

When referring to CO2 I think of it as more correct to say available CO2 to the plant. Not a fan of using compressed CO2 delivery systems for hobby unless you are a die hard researcher. Sure they should work if properly run but there are far easier ways to make sure there is enough CO2 available. Increasing airflow accomplishes the same and also helps with heat management, transpiration, etc, but like compressed systems, needs to be properly run. Too much of anything is bad.

25-30c is a good target range. Some genetics that are from colder regions have a lower limit with some easily handling 20-30c. There are other factors to balance with temperature - humidity, VPD, altitude, growth stage, etc.

 

[hybridway2]

Here's a pic. My next course of action was to be to get them in 1-gallon pots and soil up the stems so they aren't leaning over but when I saw them stressed, they look marginally better today, I decided to hold off stressing them any further.

View attachment 4106014

Well, I'm no expert but did just germ 5 party cups & almost made a similar mistake, if I'm right. Looks like they didn't get planted deep enough. I noticed guys were germinating or sprouting rather in a cup only half full w/ medium. After they sprouted tall then they'd fill the cup the rest of the way.
I planted mine deep in a full cup of soil & am lucky they made it to the top.

 

[Ghost of Davy Jones]

I hope you have a small fan in there. they should move ever so lightly to help build strong stems.

and put that light closer

 

[Big Green Thumb]

Well, I'm no expert but did just germ 5 party cups & almost made a similar mistake, if I'm right. Looks like they didn't get planted deep enough. I noticed guys were germinating or sprouting rather in a cup only half full w/ medium. After they sprouted tall then they'd fill the cup the rest of the way.
I planted mine deep in a full cup of soil & am lucky they made it to the top.

Thats what I do - start with a cup half full of coco/perlite and let the seedlings grow a bit. There is always more stem than I would prefer, so I add about a 1/2" more medium every couple days until the medium is up to leaf growth. I veg and flower under 4000k leds. Using other color temps will change the growth characteristics some as well.

 

[ANC]

If you start the seed with a 20W spiral CFL or 10 LED bulb about 2 inches away, it won't stretch

 

[Olive Drab Green]

If you start the seed with a 20W spiral CFL or 10 LED bulb about 2 inches away, it won't stretch

My COBs keep my plants super compact from 12-18” away.

 

[ANC]

I've done a 42 cob grow, I still prefer CFL for the first 2 weeks at least.

 

[Olive Drab Green]

I've done a 42 cob grow, I still prefer CFL for the first 2 weeks at least.

RM3 seems to use T5 fluoros really well. I don’t doubt their effectiveness.

 

[Ghost of Davy Jones]

My COBs keep my plants super compact from 12-18” away.

View attachment 4110985

as do my l.e.d.'s

 

[Ghost of Davy Jones]

I've done a 42 cob grow, I still prefer CFL for the first 2 weeks at least.

A cfl light for the first few weeks seems to be the most awesome way to go.

 

[Olive Drab Green]

as do my l.e.d.'s

What LEDs?

 

[Ghost of Davy Jones]

What LEDs?

I have a couple Bestva led lights that keep things really short and the internodes are super duper close together. It's Very red on the spectrum. i actually bought a pimpin' t5 light last week for veg because I was unhappy with the spacing of the inter nodes

 

[Olive Drab Green]

I have a couple Bestva led lights that keep things really short and the internodes are super duper close together. It's Very red on the spectrum. i actually bought a pimpin' t5 light last week for veg because I was unhappy with the spacing of the inter nodes

You should eventually check into COBs, QBs, or EB/F-Strips. Like, it’s cool to start with a Chinese panel, but you’ll do yourself a favor taking my advice.

 

[OneHitDone]

My COBs keep my plants super compact from 12-18” away.

View attachment 4110985

God Damn bro, your proud of that? You are making all cob growers look bad posting pics of tortured little bonsai plants like that.
Either you are way too close or made a horrible spectrum choice??
At any rate, maybe take some notes from brother @Evil-Mobo and growing some more natural looking plants without the Bonsaititis
Grow some healthier looking ladies before instructing others

 

[Streetsports]

Start with a tiny 5oz paper cup like the ones dentists use. Then every time you transplant, bury enough stalk to keep the plant low. New roots will grow out of the buried stalk. I go from tiny paper cup to 16oz paper cup after it's filled in with roots. Gives me a nice healthy root plug to start with. I eventually go to 1 gallon, 2g, 3g, 5g and then flip to flower.

If your stalks are flexible like spaghetti then you probably need to water.