lighting New lights...did I get it right?

L

LittleJake1973

Ok, so I have been tossing around all the possible lighting schemes that are available and my God there are a lot!! I did not think I could pull off the HID lighting system because the wife is gonna come unglued when I pull all that out of the box. The LED systems that were available were so overpriced for what you get considering if I spent the time I could build those myself. But what shift worker has the time to take care of honey-do's and still rig up lights that way. I settled on a 2 ft. 4 bulb T5 setup off of amazon. Was thinking I could change two of the bulbs from 6500k to 2700k alternating and that should be good for 12 Carolina reaper plants I have in double solo cups. I am unashamed to say I am a total newb at indoor growing so any advice is welcome...and feel free to tell me I'm a dumbass if that's warranted too I gots thick skin... :hell:  :onfire:  :dance:
 
juanitos said:
2' x 3' coverage. so yeah should be fine. (can probably add a few more cups  :drunk: )
you don't need to do any bulb switching either cool white(6500) or daylight(5000) is fine. 2700 is inferior.
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Thanks for the reply...I was under the impression that you had to change the spectrum for flowering for some reason...can't remember where I read that now but also change the light cycle to 10-12 hrs from 18 for veg...which is not a concern for quite a while with reapers granted. :?:  
Also is there a benefit to 24 hr lighting vrs 18 hour? Just wondering :think:
 
the lighting stuff is mostly from weed growers. Peppers continuously grow / flower when they are ready on their own they don't need light to tell them what to do(lol). it is shown that temperature has more of an effect.
 
most people run 18-6. if you watch time lapse videos of peppers growing you can see they grow / recover some in the dark it seems to be good for them. But studies show that 24 hours is fine.
i have done both and i don't really care, both are good lol. I do 18hrs now because it gives everything a break / lets it cool down (power supplies / ballasts, lights, fans motors). 
 
If you think about how much light they get as a quantity you can decrease the amount of light/second if you provide it for longer. example: 12/12 with 4 bulbs is the same as 24/0 with 2 bulbs.
For large growers 24hr can be nice because they can buy less light fixtures(upfront cost).
 
juanitos said:
2' x 3' coverage. so yeah should be fine. (can probably add a few more cups  :drunk: )
you don't need to do any bulb switching either cool white(6500) or daylight(5000) is fine. 2700 is inferior.
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Wild peppers, growing in native habitats, occur where a tree has fallen... and the light falling on the clearing is from a blue sky... thus, a blue-predominant spectrum ( 5,000-6,500°K white color temperature) is recommended.

Most of the spectrum and photoperiod preoccupations with light in indoor growing has to do with the life cycle of Cannabis, which is quite different than peppers.

One university-level document which i (attempted to) read indicated that long-term (several weeks) exposure of pepper plants to 24/7 illumination was harmful. I didn't understand all the details, esoteric terminology, or nuances of the text, but this much was made plain.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks so much for the info guys...I hope my peppers put off some good pods this year. Last years was an outdoor grow in half a 55 gallon polydrum had 5 plants that were 6 foot tall and dropped blooms all spring and summer long until the temps here fell in the fall. That's why I wanted to try an indoor grow this year but I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Time will tell. :D
 
LittleJake1973 said:
Thanks so much for the info guys...I hope my peppers put off some good pods this year. Last years was an outdoor grow in half a 55 gallon polydrum had 5 plants that were 6 foot tall and dropped blooms all spring and summer long until the temps here fell in the fall. That's why I wanted to try an indoor grow this year but I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Time will tell. :D
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The only dumb question, is the one that isn't asked. Ask away. This is a friendly community. Anybody that gives you sh!t for asking questions. Avoid! They usually won't be around long.

Anyways welcome!!

Getting them to fruit under the t5's might be difficult but not impossible. I haven't tried, so I don't know. Just have read what others have experienced. I wouldn't give up on the outdoor. I have a dry and hot summer where I live. I had blossom drop as well. I figured out growing them in a more shaded area worked for me. Especially the Chinese. They don't care for direct, intense heat all day. My Annuum's didn't care, one way or the other. That's just my 2cents.

Hope you find what works for you and good luck!
 
OCD Chilehead said:
The only dumb question, is the one that isn't asked. Ask away. This is a friendly community. Anybody that gives you sh!t for asking questions. Avoid! They usually won't be around long.
Anyways welcome!!
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What he said... and your OP questions were damn good ones... you contribute to this forum by asking the right questions at least as much as anybody offering answers.
 
LittleJake1973 said:
Thanks so much for the info guys...I hope my peppers put off some good pods this year. Last years was an outdoor grow in half a 55 gallon polydrum had 5 plants that were 6 foot tall and dropped blooms all spring and summer long until the temps here fell in the fall. That's why I wanted to try an indoor grow this year but I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. Time will tell. :D
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as far as growing outdoors in texas, try and plant where they will get some late afternoon shade. a shade cloth might be necessary to create some shade. i use an old bed sheet. when its 105 in the summer, flower drop is hard to prevent. shade will will help
 
OCD Chilehead said:
The only dumb question, is the one that isn't asked. Ask away. This is a friendly community. Anybody that gives you sh!t for asking questions. Avoid! They usually won't be around long.

Anyways welcome!!

Getting them to fruit under the t5's might be difficult but not impossible. I haven't tried, so I don't know. Just have read what others have experienced. I wouldn't give up on the outdoor. I have a dry and hot summer where I live. I had blossom drop as well. I figured out growing them in a more shaded area worked for me. Especially the Chinese. They don't care for direct, intense heat all day. My Annuum's didn't care, one way or the other. That's just my 2cents.

Hope you find what works for you and good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks! I haven't been here for long myself but what experience I have seen has been extremely positive. Thinking I will be around for a long time :dance:
 
mikeg said:
What he said... and your OP questions were damn good ones... you contribute to this forum by asking the right questions at least as much as anybody offering answers.
Click to expand...
Thanks Mike...I just got a little overwhelmed trying to figure out what was the best way to go when even the experts continue to argue and figured the best way is to experiment a bit and find what works for me. Then I can share that with whoever may be interested and hopefully help someone in the same shoes I am in now. The knowledge that seems to abound here is a very valuable resource but worthless if we don't share it as a group, right? :cool:   :D
 
rickster said:
as far as growing outdoors in texas, try and plant where they will get some late afternoon shade. a shade cloth might be necessary to create some shade. i use an old bed sheet. when its 105 in the summer, flower drop is hard to prevent. shade will will help
Click to expand...
Rick the way my backyard is setup I had a choice of full sun from about 11 am until about 7 pm or so, or morning sun from sunrise until about 10am then full shade. I have cut down a couple trees over the winter so I will have to look at how that works out once my plants are big enough to transplant. I also thought about a shade sail to put up over my pool and part of our deck, which would get my peppers too(where they were last year), but then never had the time off to get it ordered and put up. I work too damn much! Nice to see Texas Chileheads represented here too!! 
 
 
Anyway, Folks its time for a Bud Light(or six  :beer: ) and then to bed gotta be up around 3am.
 
Did you plan on growing 12 plants to maturity under those bulbs?  Or are you eventually moving outside?  If the latter, those plants would get way too cramped.  You could grow about 4 max IMO.
 
I was just about to say the same thing when I saw Scuba_Steve's comment, which I completely agree with. If each plant takes up 6 sqft at maturity, that means 12x6=72 sqft. That light is probably only good enough to cover an area of 6-8 sqft at a distance of 2 ft. Any distance higher might dissipate the light too much. I'm guessing only from my experience, mind you. I have a 4ft 4x54w T5 setup and I use it to grow my plants until they're ready to go outside. If I had to, I might consider maturing maybe 2 plants under it.
 
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