Light rail 5.0

40below

Member
I am hoping someone else has one of these. I set mine up in a 7x10 grow room. Seems like the travel time is too slow. I have reduced the stopping points to about a 6 foot run cycle. 30 second pause on the ends. Have the ballasts set to 750 watts. At 30 inches above my plants. Plans are about 10 days into veg. My worry is they are not getting enough light as it takes a few minute to travel from one end to the other. Should I turn ballasts up and raise lamps to get better coverage? I have about 25 plants total. 2 lights. Plan on putting the third in once I flip them. Also have some 1000 watt leds I could use to supplement.
 

Stiickygreen

Well-Known Member
Yo 40. I >have< ran these in the past though I do not currently own one. I'll give you my take....you can take any/all of it to heart or leave it. Best of luck either way!

I'm trying to visualize what you have going on. Guessing it's 2 lights on a t-bar. (?)

Out of the gate here... I'll say upfront that I was never that impressed with the grows I did using the LR. I personally believe it does starve the plants for light overall. My lesson from it all was this...If you don't have the lights to cover an area fully...you are not not covering the area fully. There's no way around it.

But we all see/do things differently. After reading your post, a few questions come to mind. I ask these not for an answer for myself...but for possible further thought on your end.

10 days into veg? 25 plants.....in what type of grow? How large of containers? Do you need the LR going back and forth over the entire space to fully light these seedlings? Would grouping them together and blasting them with a stationary light for early veg do the trick? Again...without pics/knowing your set up/intent/etc. it's hard to zero in on things.

How big of plants are you trying to finish with? Are you trying to grow wall-to-wall in this space? Would 3 stationary lights cover the area you need to cover?

FWIW....the LR experience was a good experience for me because it taught me to spend future $$ on more lights. If you want dense budz....it takes lotsa of light...not intermittent light, IMO.

So YES....if you are going to use this rail...crank up the lights you have to the MAX and possibly side light/etc with other supplemental light.

That...or ditch the LR and buy a couple more 1K's and call it golden. ;-)
 

40below

Member
Yo 40. I >have< ran these in the past though I do not currently own one. I'll give you my take....you can take any/all of it to heart or leave it. Best of luck either way!

I'm trying to visualize what you have going on. Guessing it's 2 lights on a t-bar. (?)

Out of the gate here... I'll say upfront that I was never that impressed with the grows I did using the LR. I personally believe it does starve the plants for light overall. My lesson from it all was this...If you don't have the lights to cover an area fully...you are not not covering the area fully. There's no way around it.

But we all see/do things differently. After reading your post, a few questions come to mind. I ask these not for an answer for myself...but for possible further thought on your end.

10 days into veg? 25 plants.....in what type of grow? How large of containers? Do you need the LR going back and forth over the entire space to fully light these seedlings? Would grouping them together and blasting them with a stationary light for early veg do the trick? Again...without pics/knowing your set up/intent/etc. it's hard to zero in on things.

How big of plants are you trying to finish with? Are you trying to grow wall-to-wall in this space? Would 3 stationary lights cover the area you need to cover?

FWIW....the LR experience was a good experience for me because it taught me to spend future $$ on more lights. If you want dense budz....it takes lotsa of light...not intermittent light, IMO.

So YES....if you are going to use this rail...crank up the lights you have to the MAX and possibly side light/etc with other supplemental light.

That...or ditch the LR and buy a couple more 1K's and call it golden. ;-)
Right on! Thanks for the input. I have all the indica in 3 gallon pots and the sativas in 5. My best guess after they mature I will be down to 15 or so. I have lots of lights just trying to cut down on power bill. Running 5 or 6 lights plus AC get expensive fast. I am using the rail to run the full length of the room.
I did have them all together but I just transplanted so Now they are in large pots and not so easy to bunch up. I will add a third raise the light up and add the LEDs for stationary lights.
They are all in 50%happy frog and 50% potting mix.
 

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40below

Member
Right on! Thanks for the input. I have all the indica in 3 gallon pots and the sativas in 5. My best guess after they mature I will be down to 15 or so. I have lots of lights just trying to cut down on power bill. Running 5 or 6 lights plus AC get expensive fast. I am using the rail to run the full length of the room.
I did have them all together but I just transplanted so Now they are in large pots and not so easy to bunch up. I will add a third raise the light up and add the LEDs for stationary lights.
They are all in 50%happy frog and 50% potting mix.
 

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