UV Suppliment Lighting

Gwhiliker

Well-Known Member

Aapoo

Well-Known Member
Yeah, still have a few cheap solutions in petto.
There are several diy spectrometers available with pretty good accuracy. But its a little more complicated to evaluate the spectrum shots. Often you need to upload the pictures you have made to a website to calculate PAR numbers aso. and to get an SPD chart. Some use a smartphone cam others are made with a raspi web cam. Pretty sure if you find a siutable sensor you could also create one able to measure UV light too.

What we really need for gardening is an AIO spectrometer with 250-800nm measuring range, measuring spectrum, calculating accurate PAR numbers and showing μW/cm² of each UVA/B wavelengths at least in 10nm steps. Even a UVB meter tells you only how much light you have in the 280-320nm range. But some older reptile bulbs start with 305nm UVB and those would have only little effect even if you measure 100μW/cm².
What do I need to open these files?
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Anybody tested these out ? Seem would be better than the t5 reptile bulbs ?
MIXJOY 160 Watt High Intensity Self-Ballasted UV/Heat Mercury Vapor Light Bulb, UVA UVB Full Spectrum Sun Light for Reptile and Amphibian Use https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07ZFKPFPJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mPCfFb78VFEC9
If you check the spectrum it has remarkably little uv. Spike around 400 and 360 and then just a little more. It has full reds and infra red though. But its a lot of watts to just get very little uv.
 

Merlin1147

Well-Known Member
I have some UVA chips on my “Blue” channel at about 2 watts per sq ft. They are on with some other violets and blue up to 485nm. I have bleached bud and caused some damage with that channel on a couple of strains if I crank but IDK if it’s the UVA, some other frequency or the whole package.
 

GrowGlowmj

Active Member
I have some UVA chips on my “Blue” channel at about 2 watts per sq ft. They are on with some other violets and blue up to 485nm. I have bleached bud and caused some damage with that channel on a couple of strains if I crank but IDK if it’s the UVA, some other frequency or the whole package.
Thanks for replying buddy! Appreciate it!

Well i can't crank mine. Its fixed at 30W. I'm about 2w per square foot of them too. 1 for each 4×4 of space.

Gonna just experiment myself, as it seems no one has any working experience with these Kingbrite UVAs.

Gracias!
 

end_of_the_tunnel

Well-Known Member
Thanks for replying buddy! Appreciate it!

Well i can't crank mine. Its fixed at 30W. I'm about 2w per square foot of them too. 1 for each 4×4 of space.

Gonna just experiment myself, as it seems no one has any working experience with these Kingbrite UVAs.

Gracias!
Problem is the majority of UV users posting here claim success and increases in medicinal compounds. But none of them provide real data. Instead we see people falling back to broad statements, saying plants did/did not burn at x amount of watts for x duration. No precise measurement or defined sets of parameters. No lab reports to compare runs. Someone somewhere did some reseach so it must be good? rollitup is a brilliant place with lots of useful posts. It gets buried, because no one reviews and stickys info into some sort of index thread.

I would search posts by @Randomblame . I would get the datasheet for the diode or tube and try to work out the levels of output of that product. Usually expressed as radiant watts (do not confuse with electrical watts) or something. Then depending on wavelength, you could convert those radiant watts to a usable metric like µmols. And from there make your calculations to calculate duration/time.

No idea of veracity of information on linked pages. They are trying to sell product. But could lead you down a rabbit hole. That second link even indicates that whilst you can make gains, you could even lose some terpenes with uv use. Again, this is just information posted by a company trying to sell a product. Be wise to research other sources.
 

mr. childs

Well-Known Member
Problem is the majority of UV users posting here claim success and increases in medicinal compounds. But none of them provide real data. Instead we see people falling back to broad statements, saying plants did/did not burn at x amount of watts for x duration. No precise measurement or defined sets of parameters. No lab reports to compare runs. Someone somewhere did some reseach so it must be good? rollitup is a brilliant place with lots of useful posts. It gets buried, because no one reviews and stickys info into some sort of index thread.

I would search posts by @Randomblame . I would get the datasheet for the diode or tube and try to work out the levels of output of that product. Usually expressed as radiant watts (do not confuse with electrical watts) or something. Then depending on wavelength, you could convert those radiant watts to a usable metric like µmols. And from there make your calculations to calculate duration/time.

No idea of veracity of information on linked pages. They are trying to sell product. But could lead you down a rabbit hole. That second link even indicates that whilst you can make gains, you could even lose some terpenes with uv use. Again, this is just information posted by a company trying to sell a product. Be wise to research other sources.
i think some years back @captainmorgan actually has validated tests, i could be wrong though...
 

end_of_the_tunnel

Well-Known Member
oh yeah, but most of the time people get dismissive, when its something that goes against what they know to be the norm
Very true.
But enough have some faith in UV supplimentation, to keep this thread going. What would be a concern for me ,personally, is pushing vague information out to bolster the case for use. There is potential for harm. (this is not the far red thread where someone blithely tells a newcomer to run for 15 mins and the guy ends up with a tent or room of stretched out plants from excess far red.)

If I have a cutting that is consistently testing 18%, but using some UV lighting product gives me a 4% increase on that.

18 x 0.04 = 0.72
0.72 +18 = 18.72

Result 18.72%. Worth it? And that potential percentage increase is going to vary by cultivar and the type and amount of lighting. Now what if you have some famous high thc varieties? Testing mid 20's? Wonder what the likelihood is of those getting an extra 20% on top? The devil is in the details.

Realistically outside our capabilities, to make statements without accurate measurement and repeatability. What we can do in this thread is read the research papers people have taken time to post. Read the posts giving details and examples. Use that information for a general starting point for levels of supplemental light.

Hopefully it will become easier when sensors become cheaper and more widely available. Then everyone can be on the same page.
 
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