315w lec lighting use

420homegrown

420homegrown

Member
Just got started for my first time doing an indoor grow. I have a 3x3 tent and a 315w lec light with a 3100 bulb from sun systems. I was looking for information on what light intensity I should be running in the beginning and when or how often I should change the intensity.
 
I've heard it's best not to dim cmh bulbs for maximum longevity, rather, you should adjust the height of the light-start it high and lower it over time. I start my seedlings under fluorescents-if you are starting plants under a cmh you would want it as high as possible. Good luck!
 
Welcome to RIU!! Congrats on starting your first indoor grow!!! Your def gonna get some quality buds from that setup. I just added a cmh this year after many years of using solely mh and hps. Mine didn't come with a dimmer function so I just kept it far enough the first couple weeks to prevent any light stress.
 
Thanks for the info @BeastLebanese and @Rurumo. Some more info on my grow. I have 4 Mazar feminized seedlings that were just potted in roots organic micro-greens soil. I turned the light intensity all the way up and have the light 24" from the top of my pots.
 
That is a lot of light for a 3 x 3, I'd start with it on the roof of the tent(hope the tent is tall) running at full power(not good to dim CMH) if its your only choice. Otherwise id start under something less powerful and then ease the plants into the energy of the 315, that is just me.
 
You can do start to finish with cmh no problems, if you do notice any stress at all you can always just up the light a bit. I personally just germinate in a separate area with led, saves me on electricity and bulb life on the cmh. Depends on the model and bulb position (vertical vs horizontal), but I would keep a minimum of 3 feet and just let them get used to the light and kinda grow into it, if they start stretching more then normal feel free to lower it a couple inches at a time till your comfortable. I would rather them stretch a bit, instead of getting stressed out from the light too close, especially in the seedling stage. You can always train em later if they stretch, but hard for a seedling to bounce back after light burn, most can make it, but some never really recover. They really don't need that much light in the seedling stage.
 
420homegrown said:
@JoeBlow5823 Whats the reason for keeping the light high and the plant on a 5 gal bucket rather than just lowering the light. Im running a Phillips 3100k and plan to switch to 4200k at flowering. @farmingfisherman it is slightly oversized but I'm also doing 4 plants so I wanted to make sure I had enough
Click to expand...
Cuz i dont like bending over to water/top/train/etc etc etc. Easier to toss them on a bucket than lower a light. I find the bucket works great to get them the right distance from the light and I can train them in comfort. Then when its time to flower, pull the bucket out and again they end up just the right height.
 
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