is my light too far?

i think my light may be a little bit too far for my plants but not sure, i have a 400w mh lamp on 4 plants approximately 1 foot 7inches. Tell me what you think.

18 inches between an HID light and the tops of your plants sounds about perfect. what makes you think it is too far?

well, cause i can tell the branches that grow out of the part where the nodes are have stretched like to an inch b4 any leaves grew on it. Maybe it just that i dont have anything that is reflective on the sides of my plants? like i have the light and it shoots light down and hits the plants but the plants are ther only thing on the floor nothing else around it, not even a wall. What do you think

I think that sometimes you can't get a light close enough because of the heat.
pictures would help.

Air circulation - specifically a fan blowing on them also helps strengthen them and reduce stretch.

My air cooled 400 hps is 2-3 inches from the top colas, as long as the leaves don't show signs of heat stress you're fine.

gangjababy said:

My air cooled 400 hps is 2-3 inches from the top colas, as long as the leaves don't show signs of heat stress you're fine.

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my air-cooled 1000w light burned my tops that were a foot away so it all depends.

hmmmm, ok. I think i will just put my light closer to my plant, oh and i already have a fan on them, but do you think that it might need like reflection on the sides? like bc my fan leaves are rather very large and i think are covering the light that would hit the branches. Maybe thats what it is?idk

mreverything said:

hmmmm, ok. I think i will just put my light closer to my plant, oh and i already have a fan on them, but do you think that it might need like reflection on the sides? like bc my fan leaves are rather very large and i think are covering the light that would hit the branches. Maybe thats what it is?idk

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the more light you can reflect back on your plants the better. no doubt about that.

yeah true that. Ill fix this problem! =] haha i needa buy some mylar off ebay

mreverything said:

yeah true that. Ill fix this problem! =] haha i needa buy some mylar off ebay

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mylar is a great reflector but can be hard to work with (i use it). you may also want to consider panda plastic (black on one side - white on the other) and use the white side (duh) to reflect back on your plants. I say this cause plastic is easier to work with and keep clean.

just something to consider.

ohhh, alright