This I want to do, get a little garden going in my backyard, I’d love to see a pic of the lady.
@JKDjEdi A picture of the 
, the cbd, or the garden? The fire is Bruce Banner Fast Version and the circle ID picture is from that plant about 2 weeks before harvest.
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first time that I’m calculating my par for the veg cycle. I usually just guess a little or set my lights to 75% and call it a day. I read an article (and I’m paraphrasing here) that the PPFD/DLI should be at about 25% less than expected flower levels. The article explains in depth the rhyme and reason to this equation.
Adding to the above, if I went with the articles calculations, this is how it would play out for me in this current grow. If my goal is to flower at about 40 DLI, then 25% off that number would be about 30 DLI. My optimum VEG DLI would be at 30 DLI. Thinking I’ll slowly ramp it up week by week till I get to 30 DLI and leave it there till I switch to flower.
“So, 40-50 DLI is the sweet spot for flowering cannabis, and this is supported by the fact that a 1000w HPS over a 4×4 tray typically delivers around 40-45 DLI over 12 hours. Optimum Veg DLI levels should be a minimum of 75% of flower DLI to avoid shock when moving from veg to flower”.
I would go and look at the actual studies instead of reading the articles about the studies. Main reason why, the most popular se horticulture bulb is probably sill hortilux, and there is sphere data available for it. At 1285 umols/s 350nm-750nm the theoretical ppfd average in a 4x4 would be 865 umols/s/m². At 12 hours the dli would be about 37.5, not 45. We also know this light requires a reflector above it, and in a tent to be covered in glass for air cooling. And neither reflection or glass is 100% efficient, and the light that gets through won’t all make it to the canopy. So the actual dli is going to be less than the theoretical 37.5.
I will agree that 1000 watt hortilux does a damn good job in a 4x4, but i think most of the references from articles aren’t vetted very well.
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Yeah I agree that 45DLI in a tent (without CO2) is kinda high. The sphere numbers don’t really mean much to tent growers because our tents are not sphere shaped, so we can throw those numbers out. I think the numbers thrown in this article were thrown in to explain better to the readers the just of the article. They explain at the bottom that the 45 DLI was just a reference number considering the day to days DLI fluctuate dramatically. Cloudy day vs full sunny day and that DLI isn’t gonna be the same. In the tent where we have more of a controllable environment, with a 1000w light, 45 DLI should be really easy to obtain. The idea I’m drawing from it all is the minus 25% of your intended flowering DLI (whatever that is for you) for veg is an interesting conclusion.
What do you guys make of this thing…lol, sprouting about 5 inches away from the main plant. How’d that get there?
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I don’t agree. An integrated sphere or gonio is the only way to make an apples to apples comparison of any light. From there how the light is used can change the effectiveness of said light, but adds all kinds of variables that makes a linear comparison impossible. Take hortilux example above, and pair it with a dozen different reflectors. You could chase different readings all over from differences in size, shape, or material used. But not a single one of them will put extra photons into your tent. They will all take some photons though, some more than others.
Bonus something haha
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Might take some time for me to digest this because my tent is not a sphere. Whatever is measured in that fancy sphere tester isn’t gonna translate to my real world environment. Who grows in a sphere?
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Alright, I’m gonna read up on the sphere thing, thanks for the input.
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The sphere isn’t important, just the industry standard in measuring light output. You are correct in that not many grow in a sphere, i was just giving that nearly the easiest information to check in that article isn’t accurate.
If you want to deep dive on dli the info is out there, and it’s more complicated than just subtracting 25% from your flowering dli to veg. A very highly regarded study actually recommends varying levels of dli throughout veg and flower, with the highest level in late veg. And this study is done in an actual laboratory with control plants and scientific method. Not just thumb eyeballing the output of a historically popular light arrangement.
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Thanks, my mentor just gave me crap about the article just now too. Guess I’m over thinking it. I’m gonna copy and paste your response there (to my notes) for reference. thank you.
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There are a lot of misconceptions of dli in general. To me, the most important time to consider dli is when trying to decide which light to buy or use for your grow space. If you’re trying to get every last gram of weed from your space it’s important to have enough light energy. Or maybe you want to want to be efficient and make sure you’re not running too much light. After that you’re going to run into plants here and there that may be a little more light sensitive and not tolerate what the charts say or all kinds of random stuff. You want to keep on your mind, but not get tunnel vision either.
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I’m going for max growth right now in the 2x4. Those 16 ounce challenges in a 2x4 intrigue me. I understand a little more than the average bear about DLI. Then there’s the PAR spread. An even PAR spread to me is just as important. And mixing phenos/variants isn’t idea now that you mention it, I get lucky…lol. Last winter I had MAC, End Game, Dos Si Dos 33 and Purple Kush going in the same tent, all came out good. Think I had 1200 watts in that tent.
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Certainly. One extremely intense beam of light to center of canopy would be hard to work with. The more diffuse lighting is typically better.
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We just finished adding the top mulch, my daughter had some extra straw put away from when she had a rabbit as a pet. 
Soaked it in water so that it would compact easily on initial set up. in a few weeks the green coloration will fade to a normal color of beige. The ladies seem to be in great health. Anxiously waiting for the roots to take hold of it’s new environment.
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Interesting difference in leaf structure. I thought the left pot was the Alcapulco Gold for couple weeks. Then it dawned on me, Sativa’s are thin leaved vs Indica that are more broader. I usually mark the pots right from germination. The brother and sister of these two were given away couple days ago, that dude was a happy camper.
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As you know it’s not hunky dory all the time, and catching a little something before it gets worse feels good too. I had no idea that wrinkling and tacoed top leaves could be a Cal Mag issues. One of the ladies had this last night and they were kind of sad too, haven’t watered in 2 days so maybe some of that played into it? Anyways, the last time I checked the pH it was at 5.8. A little low for soil growing. Didn’t even think about any potential lockouts when I saw it. So last night I did some reading about it and it’s suggested to make sure your pH is good before adding ANYTHING. I already knew my pH was at 5.8, so no emergency Cal Mag till we get this straightened out. I recall that SILICA is made up of Dolomite. At least the product I have is. And Dolomite will raise the pH of your soil. I dabbed half teaspoon into gallon of water and treated both ladies. Nothing changed within the hour. I checked the soils pH before going to bed, it was now at 6.5,this morning I checked on them before going to work…NO MORE TACOED LEAVES. It was a lock out. Well I’ll be damned.
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