First (seemingly successful) indoor LED grow optimisation help :)

Hey ladies and gents .
very proud to see my babies looking so happy. I’m on a sabbatical but will let my friends taste the harvest when completed . I have two technical questions and would really appreciate any help.

First is de-leafing. I removed most of the large fan leaves day 20 (now day 30) and was wondering if I should do it again to really get some light on those lower bud sites ?

Second is light intensity. I’m using some cheap LUX a levels and it’s hitting 1600-1700 range at the top of the bud sites. That’s about 50% on my Quantum Boards , question is can I go higher intensity ? Seems above my head to calculate PAR from LUX and above my budget to get a quantum meter :/
Appreciate any help

Hey, my plants are mid veg and I have them safely eating about 22k Lux and slowly turning it up every few days.
I’m not a seasoned grower but wanted to throw that out there, I think you can safely slowly turn them up and see how they respond. I wouldn’t jump too many Lux a day though.

to calculate ppfd, or umol, this is the formula. Depending on the cri of your lights you will divide your Lux by a number between 60-70, my lights are 60 because they are high cri.
The number you get it the umol/m2/s. Try and keep that number below 500 for veg maybe you can go abit over nearing flower just take it slow.

The higher the light intensity the more the plant uptakes nutrients and water.

EDIT: just noticed they are in flower, you can safely crank those lights up near max over the next week. Just don’t shock them and watch them carefully.

Check hese links below

Leave the leaves alone
Lower buds are almost always for the hash pile

Fhawila said:

Hey ladies and gents .
very proud to see my babies looking so happy. I’m on a sabbatical but will let my friends taste the harvest when completed . I have two technical questions and would really appreciate any help.

First is de-leafing. I removed most of the large fan leaves day 20 (now day 30) and was wondering if I should do it again to really get some light on those lower bud sites ?

Second is light intensity. I’m using some cheap LUX a levels and it’s hitting 1600-1700 range at the top of the bud sites. That’s about 50% on my Quantum Boards , question is can I go higher intensity ? Seems above my head to calculate PAR from LUX and above my budget to get a quantum meter :/
Appreciate any help

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look for a x10 or x100 on the lower part of the disay of your meter. there is no way that's 1600 to 1700 lumens.

NanoGadget said:

look for a x10 or x100 on the lower part of the disay of your meter. there is no way that's 1600 to 1700 lumens.

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I have the same meter as him, I just assumed OP meant 16,000

that's another confusing part . I hit the 10X and it goes to 1 and doesn't show me a reading. Max it goes to is 3500 with the current 10x factor.

What wattage boards are you running? Looks like 3 240watt. Crank them full blast and hold your hand at canopy if it’s hot on your hand it’s too hot on the plants. As for too much light I don’t think you will have too much trouble with full blast with those boards. I run a 480 plus 3 1200’s and they are always at full power unless it gets too hot in the tent then I may turn them down a little

Wow thanks all for the help. golden info.
this is a pic of the old tent where I fried all the plants with what I assumed was a combo of too low humidity (ac in the room and had the door closed all the time - mid to low 40s) too close to the plants and the intensity too high. What do you guys think?

Fhawila said:

that's another confusing part . I hit the 10X and it goes to 1 and doesn't show me a reading. Max it goes to is 3500 with the current 10x factor.

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You have to hit that range button where all the number conversions are to raise the calibration so you can read brighter light. Once you get in the right range it will say 10x or 100x that 1600 number your seeing is actually 16000 because it’s 1600x10

that setting will only read up to 20,000 Lux then go blank any higher, you switch it to 100x and use the 3 digit number to figure out the Lux.

so 16,000 Lux on the 100x setting will read at 160 I think.

I've had my share of bleaching with led I'd increase the intensity a bit each day.

I'd leave the leafs alone they're the foundation of photosynthesis.

Fhawila said:

Hey ladies and gents .
very proud to see my babies looking so happy. I’m on a sabbatical but will let my friends taste the harvest when completed . I have two technical questions and would really appreciate any help.

First is de-leafing. I removed most of the large fan leaves day 20 (now day 30) and was wondering if I should do it again to really get some light on those lower bud sites ?

Second is light intensity. I’m using some cheap LUX a levels and it’s hitting 1600-1700 range at the top of the bud sites. That’s about 50% on my Quantum Boards , question is can I go higher intensity ? Seems above my head to calculate PAR from LUX and above my budget to get a quantum meter :/
Appreciate any help

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Hey what size tent you running and what max wattage can you pull just wondering

Cotyledon420 said:

Hey what size tent you running and what max wattage can you pull just wondering

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60” x 32” x 80”
Using 3 x quantum boards 240 each

Fhawila said:

60” x 32” x 80”
Using 3 x quantum boards 240 each

Click to expand...

I calculate just under 15 sq feet. Are you running them on max? That is a lot of power for a small place. Try working yourself up to 30-35w per foot slow lo y.