Grow tent setup and light wavelength properties
Posted: Sat May 28, 2022 11:53 am
I've gotten really interested in growing vfts indoors under grow lights and I want to achieve as much efficiency and efficacy as possible. I'll be building a grow tent soon and I wanted to ask about a few things as I'm really interested in learning about the specifics.
I've followed this post's (how-much-light-do-you-really-need-t31035.html) instructions with my sansi 36W bulb (PPF: 65.6 umol/s, PPFD: 265.58 μmol/s/㎡ @ 1ft) and the DLI at 1ft & 16 hours photoperiod came out to ~15mol/day*m^2. Which isn't ideal especially that eventually I want to be able to cover a 20x20" square area. First, I wanted to ask if my calculations are correct in the first place. If so, vfts could use much more light for optimal growth so should I just up my budget and go with something more powerful?
And regarding light spectrum, let's say I was growing a few plants under that 36W bulb and wanted to achieve better coloring. Would adding incandescents to the mix for more ir light do the trick? And accordingly, would focusing on red rays help promote the growth? I'm mostly asking here whether playing with different light wavelengths would grant different results in practice.
I would really appreciate if someone who's had success with the above could help me out.
Thanks in advance!
I've followed this post's (how-much-light-do-you-really-need-t31035.html) instructions with my sansi 36W bulb (PPF: 65.6 umol/s, PPFD: 265.58 μmol/s/㎡ @ 1ft) and the DLI at 1ft & 16 hours photoperiod came out to ~15mol/day*m^2. Which isn't ideal especially that eventually I want to be able to cover a 20x20" square area. First, I wanted to ask if my calculations are correct in the first place. If so, vfts could use much more light for optimal growth so should I just up my budget and go with something more powerful?
And regarding light spectrum, let's say I was growing a few plants under that 36W bulb and wanted to achieve better coloring. Would adding incandescents to the mix for more ir light do the trick? And accordingly, would focusing on red rays help promote the growth? I'm mostly asking here whether playing with different light wavelengths would grant different results in practice.
I would really appreciate if someone who's had success with the above could help me out.
Thanks in advance!