So the very skimpy manual that came with the HLG 300L R Spec light I got says the light should be dimmed when in Veg state. The ILGM guide, which I’ve been trying to follow religiously since I am a total noob at horticulture in general, says that in Veg state the light should be: Amount of light : 100% of the lamps on (MH). My Trainwreck plants (which I got here and am really looking forward to) are about 3 weeks in. Should I turn the dimmer knob down to 50%?
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Welcome!
Not sure but also curious @dbrn32 @Hellraiser @Covertgrower @BobbyDigital maybe able to help.
You could check here:
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Me personally i have my light on 50% from the time the seedlings pop up out of the soil i just hang my light higher
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You can go ahead and toss the owners manual. What you need is a meter, then you can dial it in.
When you raise the hanging height, you increase the coverage area, at the expense of light intensity. When you lower it, the opposite is true: smaller coverage, higher intensity.
This can save you some money on your electric bill in veg. The canopy size is much smaller so you can drop it right in there close and dim the light down.
I set my hanging height to where I’m getting the most even coverage measured across the entire canopy, and then I adjust the dimmer to hit the numbers that I’m looking for.
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This really comes down to what size area you’re growing in and how long of light schedule you’re running?
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Mr. @dbrn32 is ILGM light guru. He is absolutely correct. If you are exceeding 75w per square foot. You probably need to turn them down in Veg.
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Youtube is all you need man.
That is a very nice light and many people run them.
Search you’re light " **** par test" .
Then watch other people use their metter to take readings at different heights useing the same model light as yours…
Then just set yours to whatever height they are getting the readings that your plants need for whatever stage they are in.
Thats what I’ve always done and works well for me.
I run a sf2000, se3000 by spiderfarmer and a Growers Choice Roi-e720 and all of them are adjusted based of Youtube par testing
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Id get the photone app or just get a lux meter. I use it and its pretty handy but they can range from $150+
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Yeah most likely you don’t need to run lights full blast in veg, get that photone app if you have a smartphone and get an idea of how much light the plants are getting, I use about 400-500 umols in veg and twice that in flowering.
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PAR guidelines:
Seedling: ~300 PPFD
Veg: ~600 PPFD
Flowering: ~800 to 1,000 PPFD
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Thanks for all the tips. I got the Photone app. There is really a huge difference for the ones on the sides and the middle. The distance from the light to the plant also make a significant difference to the PPFD (whatever that is).
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I got a 4x4x6 Mars tent. It came with a decent enough light as well as some ventilation stuff. I decided to upgrade the light with the HLG 300L R Spec because that seemed to be highly recommended on here. What I’m wondering now though is whether I should add a second HLG 300L in the tent. When the light is close to the plants to maixumize the reading on the light meter, the plants on the sides aren’t getting as much. The Mars kit also came with 6 cloth bags which I’m liking. I’m thinking I should have started plants in all 6 though. 4 might be better with the one light. So should I add a second HLG 300L?
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What light came with your tent? Just run both lights and you should have enough watts/SF for some great bud.
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I agree with @Growenmore . Just use the 1 with kit as a supplement for now if saving money. If no issue sure grab another. I have 2 550r with lights out. Gonna replace with the new boards with ir/uv. Hlg being modular can replace or upgrade forever. When better boards out will be able to bolt on upgrades.
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Well, one hlg-300 isn’t big enough to flower a 4x4 and get great results. But the others are correct, you could probably use light you already had in the meantime and do pretty good. If it’s not going to set you back to get another hlg-300 then two should do a very good job in a 4x4.
The light that came with it is the TSW 2000W. They describe it as - 300 Watts true output with 684 PCS LEDs, high energy efficiency with 1122μmol@18’’, full spectrum.
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I bet between the 2 your are golden. Watch heat.
You will need that additional 300W’s for flowering. That will give you an effective 550 watts with both lights. That should do well in a 4X4. Some are running just a 480w fixture for a 4X4 and do OK. If you had 2 HLG300’s you would have an effective 500 watts so you end up with an additional 50 watts draw using the TSW 2000W.
I appreciate the info. I just added the second 300W. I plan to keep the tent with the two 300Ws as my flowering tent. I have a closet where I’d like to put the TSW 2000W and use that for vegetative clones, to keep the pipeline going. I’m thinking maybe four of the five gallon cloth bags for the clones in vegetative. When those are ready, I’ll move them over to the tent. Now I have to go read the cloning section.