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https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=260046
This will be a well controlled experiment to test the difference between plants grown with UVB supplementation, and plants grown without.
The genetics are a strain called "psycho berry", they are all clones taken from the same mother.
They are running in NFT, in a 3x1.5m space, each side of the space has a single spectrum 1kw purely red bulb, there is a dual spectrum 600w hanging vertically in the center (but this is just to increase yield and contains little to no UVB.
Environmental factors are rather equal and symmetrical throughout, temp and humidity range positives over the entire canopy are minimal to none.
The test done by some scientist, that some of you will no doubt refer to in this thread, is somewhat lacking in or rather has some misconceiving info in regards to amount of uvb supplemented (it seems RATHER low)
I am sure we will mostly agree that geographically the Hindu Kush is probably responsible for harboring the strongest land-races known to nature, so lets work down from here.
A good estimate for watts per square meter of sun power, along side these valleys/mountains, would be around 1050 watts.
If we take the fact that at ground level 3% of the suns power is composed of UV, this gives us around 31.5 watts per meter squared of "UV"
UV levels increase by 4% for every 300 metre rise in altitude, and the Valley of Kuran wa Munjan, is situated 1,800m above sea level, so lets take our 31.5 watts and increase it by %24 (7.5 watts) this gives us around about 39 watts per meter squared of UV radiation in the Hindu Kush ( and I think that's being generous)
Our ozone is great of coarse at filtering UVB (and the more energetic wavelengths), however we are not at great enough elevation in the Hindu Kush to start factoring this in.
Now lets consider that UVB rays constitute only 5% of ultraviolet radiation in our ozone and this gives us 5% of 39 watts, (1.95) to make it simple lets say that, in the Hindu kush UVB radiation is around 2 watts per square meter.
Our space is 1.5 x 1.5 meters which = 2.25 m2, so 2 watts(per square meter) x 2.25(meters squared) = 4.5 watts of UVB (AT CANOPY LEVEL) needed for our test
Now lets consider that "Repti Glo 10.0" bulbs are 10% UVB (290 to 320 nm), we would need 45 watts of this particular bulb, this is of coarse not factoring in loss of irradiance (meaning these bulbs will not be touching the test canopy(inverse square law)).
If we do factor in the above and consider the distance light source will be from canopy, we are going to want much closer to 80 watts of said bulb, which is great anyway because they are available in 40 watt tube models.
Lighting schedule: UV is at its peak during solar noon, and is dramatically lower in the mornings and evenings, IMHO, I think giving test plants 4 hours of UVB supplementation either side of their solar noon, (8 hours per day in total) is a pretty good compromise and quiet accurately replicates nature, if anyone disagrees with this please let me know.
When I started this thread it was not made active for a few weeks and I did not think it was going to be made active so I did not bother setting up the test, the plants are now 3 weeks into 12/12 so it's still early enough to setup, I will get on the case immediately, for those, including myself, that are very interested in an accurate comparison of UVB.
Testing Results: I do not currently have access to a Gas Chromatography test to compare the 2 samples, if someone wants to help out here let me know, I can provide the funds.
Of coarse if a obvious visual difference is noticeable then the test will provide a positive answer, HOWEVER if a visual difference is not noticeable we could still be missing something that a GC will detect, and even if a visual difference is noticeable I am sure we all want to know in percentage values what kind of increases took place, like I said someone reach out to me.
Conclusion to introduction:To properly replicate UVB levels in the Hindu Kush (where some of the most potent cannabis grows naturally) in to our test environment (or more accurately, test plants canopy) , we are going to want to use around 80 watts of "Repti Glo 10.0" bulbs. UVB supplementation will be timed to accurately represent concentration levels of UVB in said geographic region, we will look for a visual difference, a difference in affects during consumption, and hopefully a accurate test showing us the definitive answer to our test
Here are a few pics of our test area, I will take some more as soon as I get UVB equipment running
