DLI important or not?

KonopCh

Well-Known Member
So as title says, is DLI important or not? One say yes, others says no because plants likes light.
If it's important, 20-25 is optimal for 12/12? How much for autos which receives more light?
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
yes ive seen negative effects at 24 hr with lots of light. same plants do fine at 18/6 or 12/12

i didnt used to be a believer when people say "plants need rest" but now i do.

in the cases i do 24 hr (easier to maintain if your schedule is not regular), ive turned them down to less light (300 ppfd) and they are fine
 

KonopCh

Well-Known Member
Anyone did test with two different DLI? Let's say 20 mol/d and 45 mol/d?
Can anyone recommend/answer first questions please?
 

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Automatics also need a certain rest phase, but only 4-6h.
That means, you can light 18-20h.
20h at 700μMol would mean 50Mol/d DLI, but no danger for bleaching.
To get to 50Mol/d DLI at 12h you need 1170μMol/s with high risk of bleaching.
In addition, less light provided for a longer period is more efficient than more light in less time.
 

Randomblame

Well-Known Member
Anyone did test with two different DLI? Let's say 20 mol/d and 45 mol/d?
Can anyone recommend/answer first questions please?

30-35Mol/d Is the average light intensity on the northern hemisphere. You need about 800μMol/s for 12h to achieve this or 18h with 550μMol/s.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
The DLI says only how much light was delivered per day. For instance 150μmol/20h or 190μmol/16h in both cases you get about 11Mol/d DLI and thus identical growth rates.
Isn't there some "wake up time" that factors in as well? It would be interesting if the longer period of lower intensity actually produced more growth
 

wietefras

Well-Known Member
yes ive seen negative effects at 24 hr with lots of light. same plants do fine at 18/6 or 12/12

i didnt used to be a believer when people say "plants need rest" but now i do.
How does that show plants need "rest"? It shows there is a limit to the amount of light they can process during a day.

Give them half the intensity for 24h and they will be fine too.

I've had plants under 24/0 for long periods and seen no ill effects at all. At low intensities. Benefit in my case was that they were in a cold room, so the temperature wouldn't stay acceptable with the light on all the time.
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
sorry i could see where that would be less than clear

thats why it was in scare quotes, as its somewhat of an urban legend that they grow better under light cycles as opposed to 24 hours.

ive used 24 hours for decades but ive run into situations lately where they have been possibly exceeding DLI and stressing them, thats my only conclusion
 

MrTwist1

Well-Known Member
It all comes down to diminishing returns. Yes you will yield more with more light... up to a point.

If total yield is your priority then squeeze just as much light in there as you can without harming the plants and go at it. If efficiency is your priority then go low power, but focus on good distribution.
 
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