Fiber optic cables direct light straight to fan leaves.

[gradolabs]

This pdf is a gold mine. I just learned ptfe, or teflon, aka the non stick layer on your pots and pans... reflects 97% of light, same with barium sulfate and nearly 15% better than mylar. You need a thin sheet of it, not just a sprayed coating so don't line your grow room with baking sheets just yet.

 

[gradolabs]

Also since this seems to be a repository for every crazy idea I've had for lighting cannabis, allow me to suggest bioluminescent bacteria as a means to an end. Its just bacteria that produces light... I think we have green and blue now... dunno about red - I'd have to do more research. But yeah, I'll be disappointed if there's not a lab out there injecting flourescent protiens and bioluminescent organisms directly into chloroplasts. If they can put fish genes in tomatoes to keep them from freezing, I think we can engineer plants that feed an organism that produces light. They might need a jump start at seedling level, but after that, the bacteria eats the sugar the plant produces, produces CO2 and light.


Someday...

 

[gradolabs]

Can't sleep. Studying physics. Penetration should be renamed path loss, a well documented reduction in power of an electromagnetic wave such as photosyntheticly active radiation as it propagates through a medium. Normal everyday signal attenuation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_loss

That's my goal, to reduce path loss from existing light sources and create new solutions that take advantage of every electron volt available, if you catch my scientific drift.

 

[gradolabs]

I'm still trying to figure out if I'll need a special fiber optic cable to transmit 400-700nm wavelength radiation, aka PAR. Time to Google my friends.

 

[gradolabs]

Google hath spoken. Ye verily, here be ye olde special fiber optic cables courtesy of Google and some strangely convenient company... 370-700nm fiber optic cables ahoy!

http://www.illuminationtech.com/FiberGuides.html

 

[Duck Commander]

:thumbs:

 

[gradolabs]

Also hot spots should be renamed specular highlights. Like the shiny spot on a round balloon. You've seen it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specular_highlight

And I don't think they should be frowned upon, we should take advantage of them by covering the grow room surface with teflon coated pvc pellets, as it is very likely that will reflect more light to the plant. DuPont needs to make a move. They own teflon...

also read this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambertian_reflection

 

[gradolabs]

I'm ordering lenses and cable this weekend. A tent and some filtered ventilation, hepa in, carbon out. A ph and ec meter, calibration and storage solution too. Nutes and soil... pots I can get local. I'm still debating what to grow. I have bag seeds from cali haze and some purple kush, but eh. I don't know the breeder or nute schedule, so I'm hesitent. Photoperiods are generally more stable and tough, longer grow periods means more time to dial in the set up. But I want to eliminate as many variables as possible to isolate the efficacy of fiber optics as a means of accurately placed and focused lighting.

I might be moving soon, so I'm in between grows but when I get settled I'll germ a bean for the test. If anyone has a good idea for a single plant/matched soil and nute schedule please please please pm me. The cliff notes are fine. Like barneys pineapple chunk 5 gal airpot ffof/perlite wk 1. ph'ed water wk 2. half str nutes blah blah blah I will follow it to a T, just for the sake of reliability - to factor out those variables. Thanks if you do, love you anyway if you don't. I'll holler when I get more hardware!

 

[gradolabs]

Oh, and if I come up with a good idea to couple lenses with fo cable I'll could post a 3d model in .obj or .3ds so you can print it out with a 3d printer. Cause all of you have one of those, right?

:fourword:

 

[gradolabs]

If all goes well a fiber optic PAR transmitter could be used in shallow water to provide light for aquatic wild life and underwater plants. Imagine the sea floor illuminated by heavy guage fiber optic cable, even down to 50m. They could stimulate plant life and micro organisms which are fundamental for nearly every other earthly organism. They affect weather and every food chain in existence. Also for cannabis...