I’m growing in a cheap 3x3x7 tent and right now for this first run after 2 year and being autos I made some changes and decided to add a CO2 bucket and the I change my lights completely to 2 Famurs TS1200 dimmable lights the are set maybe 20” away and are @75% light strength is it too much or too little? @Kronic
I bought a light meter and found that the some of the LED’s are too bright. Dimmable is good. I use foot candles to measure. 800 FC is plenty. Lot of confusing videos on light. I just keep it simple and use Foot Candles.
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Seems ok or maybe slightly high at 75% and 20" if talking seedlings… Maybe 60 to start… Just keep an eye on them… One plant may want more while another bends away from it. I prefer to start about a foot higher and give the ones reaching for the light a slight boost or move them to the side more and they’ll grow into it within a couple weeks.
If you’re talking veg state… That sounds A OK to me.
The manufacturer should have recommended heights and light intensity for each stage of growth, the smartest thing that I did was to download Photone on my phone, it’s a Grow light app that comes highly recommended, measure PAR / PPFD, lux, fc, and kelvin, you’ll need this or some form of a PAR/PPFD meter to accurately dial in your lights, if using LEDs you’ll need to pay a few dollars, but it is worth it’s weight!
In order to get the most out of your lights and plants you’ll need to dial in your lights, different stages of growth require different levels of lights, once you have your lights, temps, and humidity (you can use an inexpensive hygrometer) dialed in, then I would think about adding CO2, there are considerations for CO2 bags and buckets in tents, CO2 is heavier than oxygen so you usually put the CO2 source above your plants, but the charcoal filter will draw the CO2 into the filter, so either you raise the CO2 bag or bucket above the canopy and turn the charcoal filter off for 15-20 mins, or, set the CO2 source on the floor and the filter should draw the CO2 up through the canopy, turn on your fan(s) in the tent to help circulate the CO2.
I use the meter every day, especially before I purchased a bar light that covers practically 100% of my tent, it was extremely important to know if my plants we’re getting even coverage, which they weren’t, I’d rotate the plants daily, without a meter, it’s all guess work.
This is what works for me, I hope that it helps.
Running two ts1200s in a 3x3. Lights are probably wall to wall. 240 watts (Samsung diodes) at 20 inches is probably hitting plus 1000 par in the hot spots. Way to high for veg. At 24-30 inches probably 650-750 in the hot spots. For late veg that is fine.
Personally unless environment is getting in the 90s don’t waste your time with CO2. Keep your air exchange good with the intake/exhaust and good circulation. With a proper environment (RH/Temp, circulation, exchange) you do not need co2. Open a window once in a while and save your time and money as C02. Air exchange of 5-6 minutes or less and your plants have more than adequate co2 (6 in fan on lowest setting is enough to create that exchange in a 3x3 and only needs to be turned up for heat and humidity).
Why does everyone seem to think you have to be hot as shit to run co2? I’m pretty sure its just not the case. but carry on…
Because with proper air exchange and temperatures the additional CO2 is adding no benefit. fact. That would be like you needing additional CO2 to live in your house. its just stupid and an industry gimmick.
An outdoor plant has all the CO2 in the world available. How much does it use? As much as it needs and no more. Samething happens indoors. When it has enough it has enough and extra is not adding anything to the table. I know it cool to have a CO2 bag hanging from your tent but come on… I have a good friend that uses the CO2 in his hydro grows… Funny how he always smoking my weed.
And nobody said you can’t… just unnecessary. See the difference?
So a 1k plus plant grow running co2 at 1k to 1.2k ppm and a flowering temp of 72 degrees is just wasting bottle after bottle of co2 for no reason? I think you are running on dated info thats all. Ill keep the bottle but thats just imo. Everyone has thier preferences.
Not trying to be argumentative but I’ve worked in cultivation and co2 is a thing and it don’t have to be too hot for it to be effective. Now I may not have been the SCIENTIST making that call but I carried it out.
Exactly… Ive seen exactly zero benefit of using CO2. But then again I keep my tents dialed. And after studying how living organisms process CO2, I have come to the conclusion, it’s a waste of time and money.
In an indoor living environment, there is a rule of air in = air out. That rule never fails and why we set our tents up as such. That’s how we survive inside without assistance. The only time we can’t survive without assistance is when its too cold or hot. Would I be healthier and happier with a bag of c02 going off in my house every few hours? Nope, because my body already has sufficient amounts. But if I invite my 200 closest friends to live in my 4 bedroom house, then some CO2 would be necessary. So you cannot overload the environment. Im just saying for most people growing less than 20 plants… Probably not gonna be a problem.
More C02 does not make them process more CO2 it just makes it more readily available if they need it. And in a small tent with an exhaust and carbon filter… Is there really more in the air?
In plain English… My plants cannot consume all the CO2 in my tent if my air exchange is set to minimum so why would I add more… And if they could consume it I could just turn the dial up one notch.
If were talking about real science, the biggest danger to the survival or humanity is having enough C02… not too much. But the “science” has us reducing C02 in our atmosphere… So you may be on to something with the CO2 bags 
Trust me, Im all for using C02 if you want to. From a scientific point of view, it just does not add up for me… And im a math guy. And from the eyeball test, there is definitely no difference in the plants ive seen run with c02. In a shitty environment… Sure, I would concede the benefits…
I don’t take it as argumentative… It is just opinion. People that have questions can see the different opininions and decide for themselves if it is worth the time or cost. That’s what these forums are for. I just have not seen any evidence of benefit in a small home grow… So by all means, convince me with some data. Problem is, data available is generally for commercial grows.
In a commercial grow with thousands of plants in the room, then sure. There is a proper use for everything. A home grower dropping CO2 for his two plants is just silly.
Home growers see what they are doing commercially and then try to apply to their grows but you’re talking completely different needs and environments. A commercial grower also has state of the art room humidifiers and dehumidifiers…etc… I barely even use a humidifier and I live in Colorado because of the small tent size. Big difference when your growing 200 plants vs. 5 .
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Wish I could barely use a humidifier… I’m in AZ so it was a huge fight to find one that would sustain humidity. The biggest hurdle for trying to mimick a med grow at home is just the cost… it is straight up expensive. And unless that’s just something you are into. Getting the absolute best possible… then I’m 100% with you. O and co2 bags. I’m pretty sure are only good for about two days so that would get expensive on its own to maintain… so I’m not a fan of those either. Anyhow. Happy grows and high highs my friend.
Word, buy a couple of Guinea pigs and place them in the room your tent is in. Instant CO2.
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