At what point do you get light radiation?

Im just trying to figure out how many lumens is too much... Is it safe to have 70k lumens for example while in veg/flower? Does it have to do with temp... so assuming you have a light mover and fan/ducting would you be cool with it long as you have it cool enough?

2000tranzam said:

At what point do you get light radiation?
Im just trying to figure out how many lumens is too much... Is it safe to have 70k lumens for example while in veg/flower? Does it have to do with temp... so assuming you have a light mover and fan/ducting would you be cool with it long as you have it cool enough?

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That's what lights do, isn't it? They radiate photons! LOL, just playing with you! Like my wife says "I'm just playing Blonde!".

I've "heard" of leaf bleaching - never experienced it myself though! Given adequate venting and cooling, I'd say that what is "Safe" is debateable. Overkill could mean "on the verge of doing damage to the plant" - or it could just mean that you have "reached a point of diminishing returns".

Too many growers on RIU use "Bare Minimum Lighting", IMHO! Let's say that's 3,000 lumen/sq. ft. = ROCK BOTTOM!

3,000 lumen/sq. ft. = Bare Minimum.
5,000-7,00 lumen/sq. ft. = Recommended.
8,000-10,00 lumen/sq. ft. = "Full Dose" (not for Nubes).
11,000 + lumen/sq. ft. = Experimental.
15,000-20,000 lumen/sq. ft. = Time to get fitted for a Tin-foil Helmet!

How many lumens does a standard 1000w hps light give off on average

i81two said:

How many lumens does a standard 1000w hps light give off on average

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An easy way to find this out is by looking at HPS bulbs online.

Most of the 1000watt bulbs I've seen emit anywhere from 130,000 to 140,000 lumens. This number should be about the amount of lumens leaving the bulb. The amount of lumens hitting plants however decreases with distance, and that goes for heat too. So dialing in for light could be nearly as important as dialing in for heat is.

When you have big system like a 1000watt HPS you should pony up and buy a light meter too, just to make sure everything is fine and you're investment isn't being misused or wasted.

When u say misused, do you mean to much light. I sometimes wonder if you can have to much light in a grow area. But i always say to myself as long as u keep the temp correct and water enough you are fine. Is this true ?

i81two said:

When u say misused, do you mean to much light. I sometimes wonder if you can have to much light in a grow area. But i always say to myself as long as u keep the temp correct and water enough you are fine. Is this true ?

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Thats basically my question. From some of the reads ive done people have used 10 and 20 thousand watts... so Im assuming that if temp and humidity are under control then you can have as much lighting/lumens as possible

2000tranzam said:

Thats basically my question. From some of the reads ive done people have used 10 and 20 thousand watts... so Im assuming that if temp and humidity are under control then you can have as much lighting/lumens as possible

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It's not just about the amount of "watts", or even the overall amount of lumens produced! You have to divide that by the number of sq. ft. you are "lighting up". It's all about how much light you are producing "Per Square Foot"!

In order to make "an absurd amount" of light worthwhile, you would need to "Supercharge" your plants. That means more water, much more nutes and at least 5 times the amount of co2 that's found in "regular" air. At some point above that, the co2 becomes "toxic", so adding even more light would be an utter waste of time!