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lighting Using Different Lights

patrick

patrick

Before this year I've always used the cheap Wally World 2" florescent lights hung over my seedlings with good success. I got tired of all of the surge protectors and extension cords so this year I'm using a single fixture that holds four 4" T5 lights. The bulbs are 6500K. Would I get better vegetative growth if I changed them to 2700K lights or maybe have two of each, 2700K and 6500K?

Thanks.
 
i run double tubes with 1 being 6500, the other 2700 and that seems to work okay but i still have to take into consideration higher humidity levels and i feed a cheap homemade co2 generator tube into my covered plants. where last year my wiri wiri quit growing at less than inch in height then died, this year the wiri are almost 3 inches tall with 3 sets of leaves. my choc & yellow bhuts are looking full and robust and growing straight up. lights go on at 7am, then off between 10-11pm.

before the 4' tubes, i had to single cfl bulbs, 1 6400, the other 2700 and to my surprise, my seedings would lean towards the 2700 bulb, so i was always turning the plants to get them to grow straight. plus, they stretched towards the 2700 bulb, so some would appear leggy.

so, i bet you are going to see improved growth as long as all other seedling needs are being met.

good luck with your 2013 growing year.
 
I am doing the same thing with 2' bulbs. Last year I wired them into sets of 2 and am thinking of putting each shelf on it's own plug instead of the 2 per shelf that it is now at. I have mine with 1 2700K?(cool white) and one 6500K over each tray. All are T12's. Did great last year and they never are hot enough to burn plants that get right up and cozy with them. Not sure how T5's are with heat on contact.
 
Those will promote a more compact growing plant. I prefer using 5000k-6500k on starts but mix the colors when planning on trying to pod up.
 
6500K is what you use for all vegetative growth. A mixture shouldn't be used unless you want to promote growth and bloom. Going to lower temp lights will initiate bloom.
 
Island_Dan said:
6500K is what you use for all vegetative growth. A mixture shouldn't be used unless you want to promote growth and bloom. Going to lower temp lights will initiate bloom.
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WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG. Light color(temp) will not cause peppers to start blooming. Peppers grow and flower at the same time and having a different light color will not change that. Neither will using bloom ferts. It may help with flower SET but it will not induce blooming.

You can grow pepper plants from seed to seed under 6500k lights or metal halides. Do not need to change colors.
 
millworkman said:
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG. Light color(temp) will not cause peppers to start blooming. Peppers grow and flower at the same time and having a different light color will not change that. Neither will using bloom ferts. It may help with flower SET but it will not induce blooming.

You can grow pepper plants from seed to seed under 6500k lights or metal halides. Do not need to change colors.
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Yessir!
 
Well 6500k has enough red in it to cause the hormonal trigger that initiates bloom but a more red source will result in a more aggressive bloom. This has been an argument on forums for decades and I am not getting into it now.
 
Peppers are not weed and do not need a difference in lighting to create fruit. Plant growth stage determines when a pepper plant will bloom. I do understand how people get confused because nearly all available info is for the cash crop and not much else when growing indoors. You can grow peppers in 15000k light and still have fruit. They do not need red to bud/flower/fruit.
 
So would there be any benefit to adding some cooler light, like 2700k? Would they have more vertical growth?

Millman just about everything I've read concerning this has come from weed growing sites. Thanks for straightening that out for me. I'm trusting you.
 
While they do not need a specific light temperature to flower or produce fruit, they do have proteins that are affected by the wavelength of light. For instance, if you have extremely blue light, it will inhibit auxins and thus prevent the plant from stretching a lot.
 
idosimon said:
While they do not need a specific light temperature to flower or produce fruit, they do have proteins that are affected by the wavelength of light. For instance, if you have extremely blue light, it will inhibit auxins and thus prevent the plant from stretching a lot.
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Correct, you get tighter inter-nodal spacing with Metal Halide lights than with High Pressure Sodium.
 
millworkman said:
Peppers are not weed and do not need a difference in lighting to create fruit. Plant growth stage determines when a pepper plant will bloom. I do understand how people get confused because nearly all available info is for the cash crop and not much else when growing indoors. You can grow peppers in 15000k light and still have fruit. They do not need red to bud/flower/fruit.
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You may not "need" different colour temperatures (ie blue or red spectrum bulbs) to induce fruiting in chillis and neither do you with "other" crops however you will get more flowers and more set pods and larger pods with an increase in the red colour temps but a balanced colour temp mix of blue (6400k and 2700k when using fluorescent bulbs) is best for all round long term growth and fruiting. If you only want is vegetative growth then blue (6400k) colour temperature induce the fastest initial growth however red light can increase the acidification of plant leaf surfaces which can help combat health problems on leaves
The plants (chilli and "other")may not share the same photo period requirements but plant biology remains very similar across most fruiting plants.
 
I'm currently using a 600W HID light for my seedlings and over-wintered plants. The ballast is compatible to both MH as well as HPS and came with both bulbs. The MH bulb puts out roughly 60,000 lumens and the HPS puts out approximately 90,000 lumens.

So far I've just been using the MH bulb. My grow space is too large for the light. With that said, although I'm not replicating the stellar results of other THP members, my plants are indeed growing and look quite healthy. Would I benefit from alternating bulbs? Say one week with the MH followed by a week with the HPS?
 
Captain Capsaicin said:
I'm currently using a 600W HID light for my seedlings and over-wintered plants. The ballast is compatible to both MH as well as HPS and came with both bulbs. The MH bulb puts out roughly 60,000 lumens and the HPS puts out approximately 90,000 lumens.

So far I've just been using the MH bulb. My grow space is too large for the light. With that said, although I'm not replicating the stellar results of other THP members, my plants are indeed growing and look quite healthy. Would I benefit from alternating bulbs? Say one week with the MH followed by a week with the HPS?
Click to expand...

Basically... they care more about the density of the light and lumen output. The HPS puts out more light and would help your larger grow area. No need to switch back and forth. Pick one and stick with it.
 
Trippa said:
You may not "need" different colour temperatures (ie blue or red spectrum bulbs) to induce fruiting in chillis and neither do you with "other" crops however you will get more flowers and more set pods and larger pods with an increase in the red colour temps but a balanced colour temp mix of blue (6400k and 2700k when using fluorescent bulbs) is best for all round long term growth and fruiting. If you only want is vegetative growth then blue (6400k) colour temperature induce the fastest initial growth however red light can increase the acidification of plant leaf surfaces which can help combat health problems on leaves
The plants (chilli and "other")may not share the same photo period requirements but plant biology remains very similar across most fruiting plants.
Click to expand...

So you're saying if I were to add a "red" light ie., 2700k it will give their disease tolerance a boost?

I think I'm going to just keep things the way they are. If the 6500k lights will give them enough light to grow to plant out time then I'm not going to mess with it. Big fan of the KISS principle.

Thanks everyone for the help.
 
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