Lighting Reflector question
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AutoWonders
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I don't have the light spread difference. It's more intense with reflectors. I did a couple of test grows with reflectors/without reflectors. In Veg, the plants grew a little faster with reflectors. There wasn't a tremendous difference, so I stopped with the reflectors. As soon as I change out my tent, I plan to play with the reflectors again.
I had to save for awhile to buy equipment. I only have 5 foot of height so the really important question is that enough to use this light to grow small to medium mephistos? BigSm0 uses them 1 foot from the plant so I think I'm good but I need to be sure before I order. Can anyone with this light tell me?
Frenjamin Banklin
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I personally like reflectors on for veg, off for flower (if not a bit sooner depending on plant size for coverage).
Little late to this one but an explanation may help people in the future. The reflectors are absolutely amazing. They help by picking up any light that shines out of the cob horizontally. Even while being directional cobs this amount is significant. The spread or coverage isn’t reduced at all within the respectable light spacing recommendations. The only negative thing is that they can increase it to much which can have a negative affect on the plants. I know everyone thinks more is better but the opposite is true.
Additionally something I’d like to add that’s extremely important is light delivery. The reflectors have a major impact on ppfd. While most light companies are selling based on the most efficient or highest ppf people should know the difference between ppf vs ppfd. Ppf is the total light emitted. In my opinion these are just numbers and are somewhat irrelevant. Ppfd is the light that hits the canopy/ the plants which is the whole point of a grow light. Ppfd numbers are most related to the delivery. Smo’nalogy (which i should copyright). When building a race car horsepower-(ppf) is important. So are the tires, drivetrain and transmission. If you have 13x7” tires on a car with 800hp it won’t get down the road. All of this considered is why I only grow with cobs. A single light source directs more light to the plants than multiple smaller ones like a panel since light is being cast in multiple directions. Usually being lost. The shorter the distance and more direct path the more light hits your plants and the higher your ppfd will be. For example if you were trying to light up a dark parking lot you probably wouldn’t buy a single cob to do the job. If you were trying to light a specific area a panel would waste a lot of light. Spot and flood. If light shines in a direction outside your plants area it will travel to the nearest wall and be reflected down. By the time this all happens the intensity of the light is reduced so much it’s hardly doing anything productive besides keeping your walls illuminated. While this may seem a bit picky I assure you it’s very important. Like watering your garden with a hose that leaks half of the water before it gets to the sprayer. You want as much light as you can to hit the plants in the shortest and as direct as possible.
I hope this makes sense and helps clarify some important factors in grow lights.
Additionally something I’d like to add that’s extremely important is light delivery. The reflectors have a major impact on ppfd. While most light companies are selling based on the most efficient or highest ppf people should know the difference between ppf vs ppfd. Ppf is the total light emitted. In my opinion these are just numbers and are somewhat irrelevant. Ppfd is the light that hits the canopy/ the plants which is the whole point of a grow light. Ppfd numbers are most related to the delivery. Smo’nalogy (which i should copyright). When building a race car horsepower-(ppf) is important. So are the tires, drivetrain and transmission. If you have 13x7” tires on a car with 800hp it won’t get down the road. All of this considered is why I only grow with cobs. A single light source directs more light to the plants than multiple smaller ones like a panel since light is being cast in multiple directions. Usually being lost. The shorter the distance and more direct path the more light hits your plants and the higher your ppfd will be. For example if you were trying to light up a dark parking lot you probably wouldn’t buy a single cob to do the job. If you were trying to light a specific area a panel would waste a lot of light. Spot and flood. If light shines in a direction outside your plants area it will travel to the nearest wall and be reflected down. By the time this all happens the intensity of the light is reduced so much it’s hardly doing anything productive besides keeping your walls illuminated. While this may seem a bit picky I assure you it’s very important. Like watering your garden with a hose that leaks half of the water before it gets to the sprayer. You want as much light as you can to hit the plants in the shortest and as direct as possible.
I hope this makes sense and helps clarify some important factors in grow lights.
@AutoWonders also said the same thing. I think this has a lot to do with the way plants grow. In veg plants can take a lot more light without showing signs of stress. In flower it seems like the opposite. Phosphors deficiencies are very common and hard to resolve.
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Interesting. Does this apply in a room with reflective sides like a grow tent?
Are the so called quantum boards less efficacent, if that's the right word (ppfd), unless surrounded by a big reflector, like a tent and the touted benefits of diffuse light is just a myth?
Is there any difference in the energy loss when a photon does the reflective bounce between a plastic reflector at close range and some aluminium at a distance?
Perhaps with a SCROG style flat canopy, but would reflectors be a benefit with this grow style, where a desired depth of the zone delivering 40-45 Mol per day(DLI) is about 1 m or 3 feet and a bit
Are the so called quantum boards less efficacent, if that's the right word (ppfd), unless surrounded by a big reflector, like a tent and the touted benefits of diffuse light is just a myth?
Is there any difference in the energy loss when a photon does the reflective bounce between a plastic reflector at close range and some aluminium at a distance?
Perhaps with a SCROG style flat canopy, but would reflectors be a benefit with this grow style, where a desired depth of the zone delivering 40-45 Mol per day(DLI) is about 1 m or 3 feet and a bit
Most growers have efficiency wrong. Early on in my time here I spoke a lot about it. This was when everyone ran epistar powered lights. These 20% efficient 150 watt lights that claimed to be 1800 watts or whatever. When I first got here just about everyone here used them. I had to work pretty hard to convince people wattage wasn’t as important as the real light output. Now most think more efficient equals bigger plants. When that’s not the case at all. It’s more about saving energy. Higher efficacy and less wattage. Light height is the key to your ppfd numbers. The further light travels the more the strength of the light is decreased. It also decreases very rapidly. If you understand the light is shining in all directions and needs to hit a wall before it’s diverted down you can see how the length of travel is much longer than if the reflector aids it at the light source. Dialing it in is the hard part. You will see a significant increase in ppfd with reflectors. This doesn’t mean your plants necessarily need it. If they don’t it will have a negative affect.
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