Lighting theory. Switching from 1k to 600 halfway through

I was thinking about starting my plants with a 1,000 watt light for the 1st half of flower cycle and then switching over to a 600 watt light for the 2nd half of their lives.

I have 2 systems that are both 3 feet wide by 5 feet long and a light mover on each. So the 600 is enough, but the 1,000 is better for penetrating deeper beneath the canopy. Still, I don't want to waste power if it is not needed and it seems to me that the plants could get by with less light during the 2nd half of their life.

This is based on what my eyes can see, but I am not a botanist, so I was hoping someone could come along and let me know if this made any sense? It just seems to me that the plants absorb the light, grow, and store energy the 1st half and then slowly use it up and die in the 2nd half. So what real use is all that extra light and energy if the plants won't really use it all anyway? or do they?

another point to add here. the width and length are covered just fine by the 600 watt lights, i have some bad ass huge reflectors and there really is no difference in coverage between the 600 and 1000. so the only real benefit that i can think of with the 1000 watt lights would be the penetration through the top canopy. but once the leaves start dying on the back end, they are no longer as transparent as they once were and most of that extra light gets blocked off anyway. also, a lot of people raise their lights during the last couple weeks as well, so dropping to a lower wattage would make more sense then too.

thoughts? are there any real benefits to riding through with the 1000 to the end?

I already have everything i need to make an easy switch from 1000 to 600, so that is not an issue.


ty

In my observations as a farmer the fruiting part of the plant relies more on the nutrients available then the lighting.

This also helps to explain why a plant can loose all it's leaves in the fall but still produce bud.

I have a bagseed plant that I flowered for the first half with a 400w and now I'm finishing it out with a 42w cfl and it's doing great.

i like to raise the lights in the last phase.

i have also thought about this.

fall/winter = sun farther away and shorter days.


it would seem to reason.


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yea i also like to switch fom 12/12 to 10/14

I don't like to monkey with things too much when flowering. I don't raise the lights or increase/decrease intensity (well I do keep the lights as close as possible). I don't want to throw the plant a curve ball when it's flowering. The way to get the most yeild is with CO2. Gas the hell out of them, like double to like .0030 and they bud crazy. The tighter sealed and more confined the space the better to not waste the CO2.

RemeberMe said:

I don't like to monkey with things too much when flowering. I don't raise the lights or increase/decrease intensity (well I do keep the lights as close as possible). I don't want to throw the plant a curve ball when it's flowering. The way to get the most yeild is with CO2. Gas the hell out of them, like double to like .0030 and they bud crazy. The tighter sealed and more confined the space the better to not waste the CO2.

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Yeah. I have CO2 and keep it at 1500PPM. Are you suggesting to go higher than 1500PPM? Not sure what .0030 means.

rzza said:

i like to raise the lights in the last phase.

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How far do you raise them? Why not just turn it off near the end? Keeping in mind that there is another light on the system next to it, so it wouldnt be dark.

420God said:

In my observations as a farmer the fruiting part of the plant relies more on the nutrients available then the lighting.

This also helps to explain why a plant can loose all it's leaves in the fall but still produce bud.

I have a bagseed plant that I flowered for the first half with a 400w and now I'm finishing it out with a 42w cfl and it's doing great.

Click to expand...

that would def seem to support my theory