Your garden is looking great man! Have you noticed any obvious differences since you added the blurple light? I would have thought that the 3000k would have had plenty of red? Mind the noobish question. Hehe
No question is too noobish for me. I'm at the new growers section for a good reason. I'm just worried I can't give you a good answer.
My last grow was with 3500K cobs. During late flower, I supplemented with this same Blurple that I'm certain is of good quality and not those $0.99 a piece chips.
I can't give you any comparison, as this is only my second grow of any plant. If I say I notice any difference, it wouldn't mean a thing. I can however, give you my reasoning for doing so.
The roles played by this Blurple last grow and this grow is different but the core function is still to provide Red, UV and IR, although they have all. I also have zero idea of the ratio of each color.
When I used it last grow, it was to provide side lighting. I feel it works cos even my popcorns was decent sized!
This grow, besides side lighting, it also plays the role of evening out the blue spectrum released by the 4000K board.
This grow, I had more efficient and some say better spectrum QB boards. I decided to play with spectrum a bit especially since I can also dim these lights. It was not possible with my COBs.
When purchasing these QBs, I noticed newer models with deep red diodes incorporated into QB boards. I did not want them cos I was after the efficiency and rumoured better spectrum of Samsung diodes for the QB. I also felt I could supplement with the burple if I wanted to. So i decided on a 4000K and 3000K board with nothing else added.
I'm trying to observe a few things:
1. I gave 4000K during veg and 3000K during flower this grow vs 3500K all the way last grow. I already feel that having dedicated veg lights gives me slightly larger and healthier plants. But still have to observe further. It can help me decide how to best plan the lighting and spacing of a particular grow down the road.
2. The blurple was introduced to keep this variable the same as last grow. And also to see if adding deep red elements will help any? Might help me decide if I wanna add different channels for my next QB purchase, although that may be way down the road.
If blurples are inefficient (Gives out lower lumens per watt), why use them? This was my confusion too when I started out.
But then I realized efficiency is different from spectrum. The rationale behind newer LED techs like COBS and QBs is that they are very efficient. Even with white lights, they give out a very suitable spectrum for our plants. Many say 3500K gives the best mix. But that is just that. A "Best mix" doesn't necessarily mean it has everything you need.
If you are concerned with metrics like GPW, then the blurples would not make sense, no matter as side lighting or red supplement. Cos in the end, blurples are less efficient so you get less light per watt. Your yields will also not increase proportionately (At least according to what I read).
If you are like me, who don't care much about metrics but just wanna grow the best buds in my power, feel free to try it! I have a good feeling about it to be honest.
Hope I did not waste your time or bore u with such a long reply!
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