Has anyone tried hanging their lights vertically to shine more at the side of the plants instead of just at the top? I’m thinking it could give more light to the lower buds on the plant instead of cutting back some of the leaves. Any thoughts or experience with doing this? I have 2 autos that are flowering nicely but the lower buds aren’t getting much light. I am gonna try it and see how it goes with one of my lights and keep the other one above the plants. I have 2 photos that are just starting to flower. I may try this approach with both my lights once the autos have been harvested.
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not only has this been tried but lights have been tried on all 4 sides…tops/bottoms/right and left
anything to increase bud growth…we trim, crop, LST, HST, trim, top, fim…all methods added to try to provide the same result, increase the ROI on the plant
It is why most tents / grow rooms are reflective…to reflect the photons from light back to the parts of the plant that don’t get as much as the tops / apical buds
here is what happens…YES, there is an increase in production but…is it worth the investment?
When we add more lights, we increase electric costs, heat, lower or raise humidity, change CO2 levels, air pressure, circulation, chance of issue, problems, etc. All of this must be eventually counted / countered.
If you have a decent set up to begin with (good lights, proper temperature control, Rh control…basically a good ENVIRONMENT, I personally do NOT see the return based on costs. Better of just going the sure, quick and easy route
It is like autoflowers…hook or crook, around 12 weeks is the MAGIC time-frame, no more, no less…to maximize the size,quality and EFFORT (yeah, effort is a cost). So those who push them for greater returns, wind up exceeding the ROI.
We are not commercial growers, we grow at home. We want to get our seeds / clones in and out ASAP and reap the reward, as best as it can be, in the shortest time with the lowet cost
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I have A 4’ four lamp on each of my side walls, far wall is mirrored, and 3 -4’ four lamp overhead in my 6x 10 room… Seems to be doing ok, but I’m only 4 weeks in the dirt.
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It’s certainly a way to increase the plants daily light intake indoors. Outside the plant does get a lot more ambient light to the lower portions.
I’ve been training my indoor plants to sort of be all tops, cause that’s where my light is coming from. But if you didn’t do a lot of training it will definitely increase yield in my estimation.
I do agree with Mike though, as far as bang for the buck on the electric bill side, training is definitely a cheaper way to go.
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That reminds me of the old phototrons from the late 80s and 90s. Always saw them in high times adds at the back. By the PF mushroom syringes. They had 2-3 vertical lights in them. Never tried one.
Jeremy, if I had extra lights just laying around then I would put them in there. Vertical or in the corners diagonally. But if I liked the results the end plan for me would be to just get a brighter light. Like a temporary trial. You could train a plant out into the space that vertical light is occupying. Or just more air flow.
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i would be more inclined to match the growspace with the light, & line the growspace with white poly…its very reflective without the worry of burning your plants. some use the dimpled foil windshield reflectors, but beware of burn if its too close…
We are not commercial growers, so return on investment may or may not be a relevant metric. For some of us, it’s all about getting our medicine at all, or without legal hassles or without dealing with street commerce. For some of us it’s as much a hobby as it is practical. Like the people who grow orchids and show them in juried events. Some of us are like car nuts, willing to spend gobs of time and money to wow our friends and ourselves.
So if let’s say somebody figured out a way to grow a plant with a cola two feet long as big around as a half gallon milk jug, cubic dollars per ounce aren’t the issue.
My fantasy set up would be a “Vee” shaped vertical light array, with the pot on a slow turntable, maybe a Revolution per minute or less, to light the plant all around and minimize hot spots. That said, leaves are designed to energize from the tops, so you might wanna angle those vertical lights just a little, creating a slight downward focus, and minimizing the intensity of light making it to the underside of leaves
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This is my first grow so I didn’t train the autos but I have been with my photo plants. I have a couple more auto plants I started that are about 6” tall and I have started training them. We will see how it goes. I haven’t gotten a power bill yet since I switched the plants to an indoor grow. I just added a second light yesterday, so time will tell.
I was thinking it would be cool/good to have a rotating stand of sorts but that’s not something I will be doing anytime soon if ever. I left the light vertical while I had my photo plants out for some alone dark time. I started a few other photo plants and want to keep the 18/6 light schedule for now, so I am moving my flowering photo plants out after 12 hours. It is kinda a pain for now. I’ll have to plan my grow a bit better next time.
I’ve had to put my lights on the side before plants got to big and in the ceiling worked just fine to finish the grow
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I grow horizontally when ever I can…I start training at an early age (garden is easier than a container in a tent…you need horizontal room just as much as vertical room so space has to come from somewhere)
this plant is only 4 inches tall…4 feet long…I have begun stretch and the tips are moving up. I can tell already that this plant will never reach over 12-14 inches in height. Even the bottom branches are getting good bud development…some even better than the apical bud. Now this is outside and I understand this would be difficult in a tent but you can still train plants to grow sideways to a point…then you can address the distance issue many tent growers run in to…not enough headroom
Even my 7’ tall tent…by the time you account for a base…just a couple inches, a container…1 to 1.5 feet, a stem of around 4-6 inches before you even get leaves, then the canopy of the plant, rods, fans, vent tubes, lights, etc…you only have like 3 feet of space to make this happen in order to keep that 12-18 inches of space between the light and the tops of the plants…
We must be friggin geniuses to make all this happen !!!
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try a Lazy Susan turntable…rotate the plant each time you visit and there you go
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Rotate it through out the day will keep it from stretching also
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I’ve heard of growers just hanging bulbs vertically all around the plants as supplemental lighting. I have a Mars Hydro SP3000 2x4 LED light. I definitely have some weak PAR areas that could use some extra help; however, these areas are still above the 600 par max value for vegetative stage. I have about 900-1000 par on the top new leaves forming. The plant is only in the 3rd week of vegetative stage. Been days of idling time because of excessive watering. First grow for me and learning a lot from hands on experience. Its one thing reading about growing and another to actual doing it. Refining the art of growing to compliment the science of growing:-).I just bought a sun shade screen so that I can move my plants outside while day light. Can’t improve natural sunlight. Mother Nature is my go to girl :-).
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