Added an HPS - Is that bad?

I'm in a 3X3 space, using 2 Solar Flare (8 florescent bulbs each) EcoLux High Output. I just recently added a 175w HPS to give it a little boost and get ready for flowering. The HPS is up top and the florescents are on the side. The tops are looking a little stressed.

Is this normal? Also, what would be the best distance from the top of the plants for the HPS?

adding lightis never a bad thing.
hold your hand just above the plants canopy for a minute, if it is uncomfortable for your hand,it will be for the plant also.
how are your temps?

10 inches may have been a too close. It was a bit hot. I raised the HPS to 17 inches above the canopy and after half a day they seem to look a little happier.

I also have fan on them.

post a pic

17" is way too far away for a 175w hps it may as well not even be turned on at that distance.

10 was already too far away also.

Lights that small should be around 6" from the tops but could be as close as 4" given a good fan on it. It will be a lot more powerful than a cfl at the right distance so the plant may take a day or two to adjust to it but you must get it back closer if you want it to do any good. Place a decent 6" or larger fan blowing directly on the bulb and the tops of the plants to keep them cool and just watch your temperature, try to keep it reasonable.

OregonMeds that is the coolest pic Breaking Bad right? Must b the best thing on TV think it must have been cut here they must be worried about the way it promotes meth and thought it may take hold here too it just dissapeared one day...

Respect

Dbud said:

I'm in a 3X3 space, using 2 Solar Flare (8 florescent bulbs each) EcoLux High Output. I just recently added a 175w HPS to give it a little boost and get ready for flowering. The HPS is up top and the florescents are on the side. The tops are looking a little stressed.

Is this normal? Also, what would be the best distance from the top of the plants for the HPS?

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hps lighting guide.

LUDA.

Unless there is an issue with heat, the plants are going to love the light.

Straight up G said:

OregonMeds that is the coolest pic Breaking Bad right? Must b the best thing on TV think it must have been cut here they must be worried about the way it promotes meth and thought it may take hold here too it just dissapeared one day...

Respect

Click to expand...

Yep breaking bad, awesome show.

The show is still on but because of the writers strike a while back it was off for a while like a lot of things were.

Maybe you just haven't seen it since then because it's on AMC, a weird channel nobody ever goes to normally.

If you've only seen the first season you can always download the second. the pirate bay... Not sure when 3rd season starts but it's coming.

Dbud said:

10 inches may have been a too close. It was a bit hot. I raised the HPS to 17 inches above the canopy and after half a day they seem to look a little happier.

I also have fan on them.

Click to expand...

When I grew with 250-watt HID lighting I would normally have roughly 6 inches between the top of my plants and my light(s).

I did increase that distance to about 10 to 12 inches for new seedlings but soon I would begin to drop it an inch or so every day or every other day depending on how the seedling appeared to react to the additional heat.

Eventually I would lower my light(s) until the bulb was roughly 6 inches above the top of my plants.

I did keep an oscillating fan, not oscillating but just blowing in one direction, blowing so the blown air would just hit the tops of my plants and mainly under the light and over and around the light.

With a 175-watt HPS the same sort of thing should easily be able to be done, that is unless you are very lacking in an overall ability to dispense heat.

When I was doing it I grew in a closet that was roughly 4ft. X 3-1/2ft and 8’ high. With the door open and the single fan blowing over the top of my plants I never saw the temperature above 80 or maybe 81 degrees and normally is was below 80 degrees.

Light intensity diminishes the further it has to travel. This is the same for HID, CFL or your normal household lamp.

If you hold a light meter up close to any lamp and then slowly lower the meter, even a few inches, you will see the light measurement reduces dramatically. (If you can borrow, beg, steal or get access to a light meter please try this ~ you will be extremely surprised at the rate at which the light intensity reduces over a short distance).

Check out the following.
　
What distance should my light be from my plants?

For (artificial) light, there is a law that always applies known as the Inverse Square Law. It states that light diminishes exponentially in energy as the distance is increased from the source.

A good example is that you might be getting 1000 PAR Watts at 4" from your light source, but that would change to 250 PAR Watts at double the distance (8").
　
This law makes it EXTREMELY important for indoor plant growers to get their light source as close as possible to their plants.

The amount of light your plant receives is directly related to it's yield/flower density.

　


　
　

OregonMeds said:

Yep breaking bad, awesome show.

The show is still on but because of the writers strike a while back it was off for a while like a lot of things were.

Maybe you just haven't seen it since then because it's on AMC, a weird channel nobody ever goes to normally.

If you've only seen the first season you can always download the second. the pirate bay... Not sure when 3rd season starts but it's coming.

Click to expand...

Stay very clear of the Pirate Bay. They are finally done this time. Not sure when they are shutting down....but i'm pretty sure they are being watched harder than ever. Not sure if you can even download stuff there anymore...though it does show up. Nope...there tracker is offline

Dbud said:

I have the florescents on each side 6 inches out from center and the HPS 6 inches above. I have a fan blowing away any heat from it and the temp is fine. They just seem a little shocked from adding the HPS. Very strange.

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I'll try and load another pic, the one I have isn't working.

Okay, looks like it is actually no issue with the light or heat. It is a zinc deficiency. Any experience correcting that?

MORE LIGHT ALMOST ALWAYS EQUAL MORE BUD. If heat isn't an issue the more the better.

This is the set up. Not sure what the prob is.