rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
Got these 80w Ramon UVA floodlight. Lux meter reading of 7000 lux an inch away. Are they useful and how can I use them?
UVA
- Thread starter rundlescunder
- Start date
Grow Lights Australia
Well-Known Member
You're not going to get an accurate reading for a UVA light with a LUX meter as LUX meters are weighted towards the green spectrum and measure brightness in relation to the human eye. I couldn't find the lights you describe on Google. It would be helpful to know a bit more about them, such as wavelength (nm) and mW output etc. They could be better than nothing, especially if they are in the right frequency.
rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
How close do you think I should keep the away, right now I've got it at the top of my tent like 3 or 4 feet away and everytime I use it, I noticed decent growth but I cant say for certain if it is the use of uva, as these things grow everyday anyway.
These are the lights
Southside112
Well-Known Member
Uvb is the spectrum you want for increased potency. Uva to a lesser degree. Uv has nothing to do with growth.
rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
O ok I read UVA could be used for flowering to increase potency but then I read your post and saw it was uvb. Can I use this at all with a uvb light?
Southside112
Well-Known Member
Uva helps a little with increased potency but not as much as uvb from my understanding.
That light you linked is useless imo. If you want to supplement with uvb get a 2' or 4' uvb florescent tube with a reflector.
rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
Well damn, I never got these for growing so not the biggest L, I'm gonna peep some uvb lights now thank you
Southside112
Well-Known Member
No problem. Yeah that light is in the 400nm range. Cannibis benefits from uvb which is 285nm.
rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
It's so confusing I google hlg uvb and it leads me to a 30w uva strip within the same range as the lights I have. Some people on there posting studies that say they never compared uva to uvb and that uva can also increase thc and cbd production.
Grow Lights Australia
Well-Known Member
UVA and near-UV (400-420nm) does increase cannabinoids and terpenes when run full cycle (12/12) and this has been proven in scientific studies. We've also done our own testing which confirms the results (and we continue to test). It's the reason we include UVA in our own LED boards, as it does produce a mild stress response in plants that stimulates them to increase secondary metabolites to protect their DNA. Not trying to spam, just trying to present correct information. We have a couple of threads on the subject if anyone is interested.
UVA LEDs are typically not very efficient and their lifespan is not the same as white phosphor LEDs – around 30,000 hours compared to 50,000 hours – due to the extra energy of the violet light that degrades the plastic LED package. But that fixture looks reasonably well built (we've seen a lot of the same fixtures in outdoor settings around China) and if it were up to me, I would use it. However, I would hang it high enough to get maximum coverage across your canopy, so 3 feet would probably be a good starting point. 400nm light is still stronger than other wavelengths in typical white phosphor LEDs that start at 440-450nm, so if you are running it full cycle then it does not need to be too strong to get results.
That light doesn't mention spectrum, but black light LEDS are typically in the 385-400nm range and often closer to 400nm (deep UVA LEDs tend to be more expensive and/or don't last as long depending on whether they use a ceramic instead of plastic package). Regardless, it should work. Perhaps you can even trial it yourself if you have time and space by adding the light to one side of your room or a separate area and them comparing the results. We're always interested in such experiments.
rundlescunder
Well-Known Member
Cool will do, I got 2 of them I'll see how it goes
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
The benefit of uva is not limited to potency, its also great for opening the stomata which is the basis of transpiration/praying leaves and eating nutes.
Potency can be incrrsaed both with very small amount of uvb and with larger doses of uva, but its alllways better to give uva aswell as uvb, uva seems to protect or harden the plant to more dangerous uvb.
Potency can be incrrsaed both with very small amount of uvb and with larger doses of uva, but its alllways better to give uva aswell as uvb, uva seems to protect or harden the plant to more dangerous uvb.
Fluffy Butt
Well-Known Member
The graph at the very end of this video has me considering adding 395-400nm strips to my grow;
The strips I'm looking at would be around $60 for 4 strips, 80w total. I would probably add two strips to each side of my 4x8.
The strips I'm looking at would be around $60 for 4 strips, 80w total. I would probably add two strips to each side of my 4x8.