How many foot candles of light do I need for my plants?

Anyone have any experience with these light meters? Mine reads 50,000 foot candles at plant level with 24" distance between the MH lamp. From what I could gather it seems that is the most plants can utilize, anything more will just dry them up. Comments?

.....bump....

IDK, first time I recall anybody asking about CP.

how about Lumens then...the Minimum you can have to grow successfully

Use the meter to measure full daylight. Then measure at the level of your plants. Cry. Buy more light.

Yea u get 10,000 lumens consistently with the sun. This is on top the canopy and below it. As the sun has the power to penetrate through the leaf. 10,000 lumens is like a 250halide. So a 400 will give u more canopy power, but cannot penetrate like God's sun, neither will a 600. 600's are great for flower. 1000w is the only light that will penetrate through the foliage. I hope this helps. I have a lumens meter or candle power meter. I have actually posed this question before. Why I bought the meter. Waste of $35.