Aussie High Lights – we're official

Grow Lights Australia

Well-Known Member
I like the concept of compact mothers. And have been tempted to master unruly and rampant growth brought on by seasonal temperature increases by replacing 3K with 4K Q series strips. Mature mini mothers took well to the change, but there was one particular example that stacked nodes so tightly and made for zero chance of cuttings until it was back under 3K. Be interesting to repeat the effort with a 4K with richer deep red and far red than the samsung 80cri I used. I wonder what difference I would see?
Just add Far Red and you will find out.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Well, this is where we have to disagree with the common perception that blue is better for veg. We think it's a myth, and this is based on the grows we've seen and the science we've read. In all the studies we've seen, higher amounts of red light compared to blue leads to higher wet and dry mass of nearly all species (from leafy greens to flowering species). The difference is even more pronounced as you add far red. Yes, the addition of far red does elongate internode length, but it also broadens leaves which increases photosynthetic efficiency (bigger leaves = more area to photosynthesise) and leads to faster growth. There is only one reason you would want to sacrifice faster growth for shorter internodes, and that is if you predominantly grow sativas that flower for a much longer time and do not need to be vegged as long. We've seen faster vegetative growth under High Light UV boards than we have under straight 5000K CRI80 strips. In fact, we have recommended 4000K strips over 5000K for dedicated veg fixtures precisely for this reason. Those who have switched have reported no issues with excessive stretch. Many indoor growers these days grow indica hybrids so a little bit of stretch is actually preferred when going into flower as it opens up the canopy a bit more.
I agree that "blue better vegg" might not be completely accurate but it isnt exactly what im after and i dont doubt that the highlights can veg fine. But in some case when youre running low ppfd and also have problematic climate its hard to get your plants to transpire, blue helps opening up the stomata.

Im not after changing the high light spectrum, im asking for a bit more of it, and on tap. Id love to see a strip which would fit on the high lights heatsink with a bit more of wide blue and violet, and hell why not some uv360. Put the power to make your plants pray in your users hands, for those that have problems getting vpd and climate right.
 

Grow Lights Australia

Well-Known Member
I agree that "blue better vegg" might not be completely accurate but it isnt exactly what im after and i dont doubt that the highlights can veg fine. But in some case when youre running low ppfd and also have problematic climate its hard to get your plants to transpire, blue helps opening up the stomata.

Im not after changing the high light spectrum, im asking for a bit more of it, and on tap. Id love to see a strip which would fit on the high lights heatsink with a bit more of wide blue and violet, and hell why not some uv360. Put the power to make your plants pray in your users hands, for those that have problems getting vpd and climate right.
Well a High Light strip is not entirely out of the question, but it will be some time before we would have one ready. We're just trying to meet current orders at the moment. I'm sorry we can't move faster on this, but we're simply not geared up to produce lots of new products, so we normally point people towards Cutter if they want custom strips.

We are working on some things at the moment based on the feedback and suggestions we've been getting, but unfortunately the only new product announcement I can make at this stage is that we are about to launch some cool stainless steel hangars that won't burn, break or rust to compliment our boards.

WireHangKit.jpg

Hey, I know it's nothing special, but for us it's a nice little touch. The hooks have a spring-lock, and the self-locking hangar mechanism can be adjusted in one direction (up) simply by pulling on the tabbed wire and can then be locked in place with the screw-downs at the top of the hangar body. The screw-downs, when they a screwed out, become a push-button release for lowering the hangars. The top of the wire has an adjustble crimp that allows you to loop the wire over anything and then lock it into place with two screws. Each hangar has a knurled body for easy grip and comes with 1.5 m of 1.2mm stainless wire that holds 90kg. They will never break, burn or rust and are adjustable in any way you would want. We're just organising packaging before they go on sale at A$15 a pair (including 10% sales tax). We reckon they're one of the best and safest hangars on the market. They are certainly much better than those nylon yo-yo hangars that a lot of people use (and break).
 

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
Well a High Light strip is not entirely out of the question, but it will be some time before we would have one ready. We're just trying to meet current orders at the moment. I'm sorry we can't move faster on this, but we're simply not geared up to produce lots of new products, so we normally point people towards Cutter if they want custom strips.

We are working on some things at the moment based on the feedback and suggestions we've been getting, but unfortunately the only new product announcement I can make at this stage is that we are about to launch some cool stainless steel hangars that won't burn, break or rust to compliment our boards.

View attachment 4571111

Hey, I know it's nothing special, but for us it's a nice little touch. The hooks have a spring-lock, and the self-locking hangar mechanism can be adjusted in one direction (up) simply by pulling on the tabbed wire and can then be locked in place with the screw-downs at the top of the hangar body. The screw-downs, when they a screwed out, become a push-button release for lowering the hangars. The top of the wire has an adjustble crimp that allows you to loop the wire over anything and then lock it into place with two screws. Each hangar has a knurled body for easy grip and comes with 1.5 m of 1.2mm stainless wire that holds 90kg. They will never break, burn or rust and are adjustable in any way you would want. We're just organising packaging before they go on sale at A$15 a pair (including 10% sales tax). We reckon they're one of the best and safest hangars on the market. They are certainly much better than those nylon yo-yo hangars that a lot of people use (and break).
No, thats awesome, shows you are thinking of aspects other than photons.

End of tunnel - you outline the method to a tee, like gla said add far red. Tons of nodes comming from a shorter main stalk bansi back to short, back to blue.

Compact plant means more grams per square foot which is an expense and limiting factor as well. Thank you @Rocket Soul for covering additional benifits. The best is not always better for me, today is a fine day to drive the Ferrari tomorrow may require a mini van.

I figure my cobs have another couple years before they start losing an appreciable ammount of performance so you have plenty of time to get those strips going.
 

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
My two plants vegging under the highlights at a little over two weeks since breaking the soil I think. Transplanted last night and the plants seem to be doing great. Right now I'm at 100 watts from the wall and like 30inches from the tops.
Nothing wrong with those. You have those High Lights hung pretty high as well, so the fact those seedlings haven't stretched much proves they are fine to veg under. I've vegged under them as well and the only reason I don't do it at the moment is because I have a nice 5000K Samsung F-strip frame I built for veg and I don't want to waste it. I'm usually in no hurry to veg anyway. But I might give the strip build to a mate and start using High Lights myself.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
My two plants vegging under the highlights at a little over two weeks since breaking the soil I think. Transplanted last night and the plants seem to be doing great. Right now I'm at 100 watts from the wall and like 30inches from the tops.
Wow, they look so nice. Im starting to feel i might wanna eat my words on extra blue for vegg.

More than for the extra stretch of such a flowery spectrum it was for helping opening the stomata, weve had a hard time doing vegg with too little blue due to our space being a bit too cold, open space is not easy with this.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
I often wonder if it's a double-edged sword. Open stomata lead to increased transpiration which leads to lower leaf temps due to endothermic evaporation.
Yeah i guess but sometimes a few watts of blue versus a whole lotta watts for +2°, but i think new rumoured blue buddies will adress this quite nice, with wide light throw not to light shock. I have high hopes on these.
 

loco41

Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with those. You have those High Lights hung pretty high as well, so the fact those seedlings haven't stretched much proves they are fine to veg under. I've vegged under them as well and the only reason I don't do it at the moment is because I have a nice 5000K Samsung F-strip frame I built for veg and I don't want to waste it. I'm usually in no hurry to veg anyway. But I might give the strip build to a mate and start using High Lights myself.
I agree on the light's being pretty high up and in the future will probably lower the watts a bit for veg (at 100 from wall right now) and put them a lot closer to the canopy. Reduced the timer from 18/6 to 16/8 in the last few days gradually and will probably be flipping them sometime soon. I would love to veg them out for a bit longer, but time constraints on my lease and want to make sure I have plenty of time to finish everything up before then. I can't wait to get settled in somewhere though and really start playing around and figuring things out more.

Thanks again from you guys for all the input and support, take care and stay well sirs.
 

Grow Lights Australia

Well-Known Member
Day-um! 80 buddies? You gonna just run them all on a single driver like say an lpc-60-24?
Do you mean the LPV-60-24? We've been recommending the XLG series, as the cost isn't much different and they are pretty robust drivers with better efficiency. The XLG-50 should be pretty close. The report says it puts out about 54W at 24V and 8x Buddies should draw about 57W at 24V, so you will be very slightly down on power, but not much. The XLG-75-24 is only a few dollars more and would have head room to add 2-3 more Buddies later. It should put out about 80W at 24V. We've just ordered a few XLG drivers to test them out.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Hey I'm glad they arrived safe and sound. Now all you need is a driver and a plan!
Day-um! 80 buddies? You gonna just run them all on a single driver like say an lpc-60-24?
Yep just need a plan!! But ive got a bit to think about it. The plant that's in that tent at the minute wouldn't benefit much as its wall to wall but only 8" deep. It would be a real twat to work around at the moment.

Not my usual style but had it for ages so some with major butchering ive manipulated it to fill that tent.
Once its out the way I'm looking forward to getting back to my usual style and these buddies should really help .

One thing I wouldn't mind trying though as far as affixing them , using the sticky pads to stick them to a thin plastic sheet and then magnets to hold the sheet to the tent fabric.

Like a plastic tab , the magnet would be like 3-4" above the buddy and the aim would be been able to move them where needed for each crop.

Either of you see an issue?
 
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