UVB/Cannabis science report

(PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT MY POST ORIGINAL POSTER TETRAHYDROCANNA LOCATED FORM A DIFFERENT WEBSITE)





The estimates below is my own estimations based on article mentioned below and actual research on the matter.

Article: UV-B RADIATION EFFECTS ON PHOTOSYNTHESIS, GROWTH AND CANNABINOID PRODUCTION OF TWO Cannabis Sativa CHEMOTYPES.
By: JOHN LYDON, ALAN H. TERAMULA and C. BENJAMIN COFFMAN.
Department of Botany, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

My estimated conclution: "Add 2 x 23w UVB lights / m2 to your grow room and increase THC levels up to 30% in buds."

Read this science article regarding UVB lights effect on drug type cannabis originated from high heigted tropical areas with highly elevated UVB levels. In experiments with plants they have shown an increase of THC concentration levels in leaves from in a range from 22% - 48% depending on UVB intensity. In flower trichomes they got an increase between 15% - 32%. Thats staggering news! Now, this is laboratory conditions with UVB lights flitered to emitt in 300 nm wavelenght UVB light. It's widely known that THC UVB absorption properties range between 280 - 315 nm, so that is important. There's no longer any doubt in my mind that UVB boosts the THC potency of drug type cannabis, and that dont having UVB light is not realising the full potential of our dear plants! Time for a change imho!

What id like to do is to get an estimate on how indoor growers could reproduce this results at home. To get an estimate on what lights, how much lights, and so on, wich could be beneficial. According to the scientists they used 240w UVB, but i dont know on how big of an area. The scientists says that 13,4 KJ / m2 is the level of UCB used in their trials, and that is as much as the UVB levels in 3000m altitude in mountains where strong marijuana is found to grow. According to the article marijuana grown in these UVB rich areas has a 33% increased THC content compared to the same marijuana grown at sea level.

Looking at wikipedia, i found that 1w = 3600 J (3,6KJ), but that seems a bit high compared to the ammount used by scientists, so I devided it to 0,36 KJ instead thinking i made some error somewhere. If i divide 240w (amount UVB scientist used) in 5m2, i get roughly 72w/m2, wich is around 14KJ according to my estimates, and that fits exactly and seems to be a fair estimate, so i think im on the right track here! Then, a 13w UVB light would give 4,5 KJ. Thats what i use, and that seems a bit lesser than needed. 2 x 23w UVB / m2 in the right spectrum should to the trick to produce massively strong cannabis with approximately up to 30% increased THC production in buds! I noticed the UVB bulb I use has the perfect spectrum for cannabis, repti glo 10.0. They come in 13w and 23w strength, and is avalible in sorted zoo shops.

Repti glo 10.0 UV spectrum chart:


It need to be stressed that UVB light is harmful to humans and plants that dont have developed defences to it (like cannabis has). When having such a bulb in the grow room, it need to be switched of when entering to room. Cancer is a known effect of UVB light exposure.

Peace
Tetra

Wow man thanks for bringing the info over to us here at RIU.

Just goes to show how few people know about the benefits of UVB lights, just look at the fact that no one has commented. I read a small article on it in soft secrets and was hoping someone here would have more info.

Have you done any experiments yet? What results are you getting? Should they be used throughout the entire flower cycle?

All my hydro equipment is bought from a reptile shop so will see how much these UVB lights cost and hopefully get a couple to put in the flower room.

Great info thanx !
This confirms all the research i did about a year ago here :
That makes me feel fuzzy knowing that I have done right by my plants

here is link:
https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/164474-thc-cbd-cbn-make-more-21.html#post3571329

happy to spread the knowledge guys tho i havent used the UVB lights in any of my grows im soon hoping too

They also sell these uvb kits for central heating & a/c ducting.

It is known to improve on the air quality when applied correctly..

I have installed countless UVB systems for customer's and can truly say it works..

I have run a 4ft UVB for over a year, and would NOT grow without it anymore!

i use a at least two uvb's in my grow room and i always have some bomb ass thc filled buds..there good for side lighting to and there good to use in veg cuz it makes ur plant use its nitrogen faster making it grow faster but be careful cuz this can yellow ur leafs if u leave it on to long in veg

eza82 said:

I have run a 4ft UVB for over a year, and would NOT grow without it anymore!

Click to expand...

Sup eza?

How many watts is your UVB?

How's your business doing?....

Hey Worm , been awhile ! Good champ biz is plodding along !

here is what I use !;


UVB Reptile Fluorescent Light Tubes x2 (one shade)

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] (1.5inch diameter x 2 tubes)[/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]S[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]pecified

• [SIZE=-1] output: up to 15% UVA : 10% UVB[/SIZE][/FONT] [/SIZE][/FONT]
• [/FONT][/SIZE]Size: 58cm or 2'
• Wattage: 20W​

I use a 26w UVB reptile bulb in my small closet grow. One thing ive noticed is that the colas closest the the UVB light, are the frostiest. mmm, trichomes.

eza82 said:

Hey Worm , been awhile ! Good champ biz is plodding along !

here is what I use !;


UVB Reptile Fluorescent Light Tubes x2 (one shade)

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] (1.5inch diameter x 2 tubes)[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]S[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]pecified

• [SIZE=-1] output: up to 15% UVA : 10% UVB[/SIZE][/FONT] [/SIZE][/FONT]
• [/FONT]

[/SIZE]

• Size: 58cm or 2'
• Wattage: 20W​

EZ​

Click to expand...

In you opinion, What would you rate the UVB on crop improvement? 1-10?

I knew your bizz would do well. just a matter of getting your product out there

Basic grow : 5 ....................................(1000W HPS, E&B, in coco)
With just co2: 7
With just UVB : 6.5
With just Hormones: 7
With hormones & UVB: 9
With co2 & UVB : 8
Combination of UVB, Co2 & Hormones; 10

Had to go back over notes for this one , hope that answered your question.

Wow, it's nice to see more talk about using UVB lights in the grow room. There seems to be some good evidence that it significantly increases THC production. Just like UVB radiation creates Vitamin D in our skin.

+ rep.

Lizard lights are cool and UVB is wonderful, there is a lot on Riu about it if you look Tahoe has a thread where actual experiments were done, it's a great read

But you guys/gals should be looking at CMH lights they have less heat issues, have uvb, can be used for both veg & flower and spectrum is closest to the sun of any grow light check the pic comparing CMH to HPS

riddleme said:

Lizard lights are cool and UVB is wonderful, there is a lot on Riu about it if you look Tahoe has a thread where actual experiments were done, it's a great read

But you guys/gals should be looking at CMH lights they have less heat issues, have uvb, can be used for both veg & flower and spectrum is closest to the sun of any grow light check the pic comparing CMH to HPS

Click to expand...

I've switched to Sun Pulse 3K Metal Halide lamps specifically for that particular reason. I will report on how well that decision worked out in the near future. They also make 10K bulbs, but I haven't invested in those yet. Would be sweet to hear how well they've worked out for others though.

use phototherapy UVB lights produce well over 50 % UVB with No uvc and not nearly as many wasteful wavlengths. these are lights to use to see the true benefits of UVB but they are very concentrated compared to the reptile ones much more dangerous to the eyes and plants for evert 1000 w of light use 30-100 w of these uvbs for less then an hour in the middle of the day. you gotta be careful as no one has made many suggestions for these lights i would start of with just 15 min a day and gradually and carefully increase until you get a feel for what your plants can handle

narrow band UVB phototherapy lights are the closest u can get to pure UVB they are fairly exspensive and the fixtures either have to be the extremely exspensive ones ment for these bulbs or you buy the bases a ballast urself and wire it up. there may be some bi-pin lights still around that can fit and normall fixtures but you gotta make sure all the numbers match up otherwise theyll blow pretty fast

riddleme said:

Lizard lights are cool and UVB is wonderful, there is a lot on Riu about it if you look Tahoe has a thread where actual experiments were done, it's a great read

But you guys/gals should be looking at CMH lights they have less heat issues, have uvb, can be used for both veg & flower and spectrum is closest to the sun of any grow light check the pic comparing CMH to HPS

Click to expand...

Yes, it is closest to the sun, but, correct me if I am wrong, a lot of the sun spectrum isnt usuable for MJ plants. That is why we focus on the 2 spectrums for veg and flower.

I started using the reptile 15% bulbs a couple years ago on my CFL Grow. I read somewhere that it was helpful because people were starting to think the trichomes were an adaptation to protect the plant from UV light. I immediately noticed a huge difference, about 30% increase, in the # of trichomes. The MH bulbs put out UV so I assume most people don't need anything additional.

I should probably replace the bulb now, I wonder how long they really last...

There's a lot of things you can do to improve the grow, lets be honest most of them aren't really that noticable. Some don't make any difference at all. This is not the case with UV bulbs!
Anyone running a CFL grow, this should be their first purchase when entering flowering.

This is precisely why a lot of people (my self included) like to run both HPS and MH through flower, for the added benefit of the UVB, which metal halide provides a LOT of (ever been in a room with an uncovered MH light for too long? I've been sunburnt by them, a few times.)
This should be a major focus for growers, I would personally like to experiment comparatively in a controlled setting, I suspect the difference may be more profound than CO2.