Advice
Lamp Distance
The most important thing to achieving the best yields and quality with our bulb is to keep the lamp at a proper distance from your plants. Light from a grow light changes in intensity very drastically as you move farther from the lamp, so it's easy to put it too far away without knowing, as our eyes actually auto-adjust to brightness and we can't tell the difference easily. Even a couple of inches too far away can deliver a drastic decrease in light intensity, producing smaller flowers. Using a PAR Meter, measure the light levels at your canopy to get dialed in quickly.
We can recommend hanging the 1000w bulb approximately 20-36 inches from your plant canopy, but depending on your reflector and grow environment, the exact proper distance may be different! We will teach you how to find the sweet spot below.
Our 600 watt bulb can be positioned much closer to the canopy, too. Exact measurements will vary, our 600w version can be around 14-16 inches from the canopy in flower.
Light intensity changes exponentially with distance, a few inches closer or farther can make a large difference (giving too much or too little light in any given spot).
Taking PAR measurements is the best way to lock in a high yield first try, with no wasted trial and error. The number one mistake that led people away from flowering with MH bulbs is using the bulb too far away, leading to a lower yield.
Measuring Light Intensity at Plant Level
A PAR Meter is a device that measures the light intensity in any spot you hold it. You can measure light levels at canopy on every plant or branch if you want, to determine the exact position for optimal flowering. This technique will significantly increase yield, because plants will be receiving precisely the correct amount of light intensity in all areas. Also, place taller plants around the edges and shorter plants around the center, to take advantage of angular light at the sides of your garden and get even bigger yields! For plants around the edges, angle your sensor toward the light to properly measure the angled light intensity which your plants are receiving.
Also, different varieties demand different light levels. Our advice is to flower your varieties at around 750 ppfd, and then adjust based on your plants' needs. Some plants may handle 1000 ppfd or more, and other low light varieties may want just 500 ppfd. You can raise or lower your light, or you can move the plants horizontally or vertically to adjust how much light they are receiving.
Recommended PAR levels at top of canopy:
75-125 PPFD Rooting Clones
125-200 PPFD Small veg, seedling, clone
200-500 PPFD Mature veg
500-750-1000 PPFD - Flowering (Strain dependent)
If your plants show signs of light stress such as curled "taco" leaves, they might be telling you to give them a bit less light. It's more rare, but some varieties can actually yield lower if given too much light, so if you notice larger buds on the lower branches than the tops, you might be giving too much light up top on that particular variety.
Because our lamps include usable energy outside the measurable PAR spectrum, you may notice that 600 ppfd of metal halide light is as good as something like 660 ppfd of LED or HPS light. The new ePar meter from Apogee can show this measurable increase in usable light from our lamps. However, you can use a standard PAR Meter and achieve great results. Just watch your plants while taking note of how much light they respond positively to.
It's very easy, the main point is to know the ballpark of where you are, so you don't accidentally give your plants way too little light by keeping the lamp too far away.
Multi Lamp Layouts
When using multiple lamps, position them about 5 feet apart from bulb to bulb on our 1000w, or 4 feet apart on our 600w bulbs. The area in between lamps will have light that is just as intense as directly under a single light because of crossover of angular light. This also increases light penetration deeper into the canopy and helps with yield and light uniformity. You can also position lamps farther apart for a greater spread if needed.
Our lamps can take your commercial grow to the next level and stand out from the competition with the best quality herb for top shelf flower markets.
Beneficial Heat Management
Our lamp produces a similar ratio of heat to light exactly like the sun does. This is beneficial for the plants, and easy to control in your grow with an extraction fan. We recommend venting your air outside through a carbon filter if necessary, some growers will also vent into their house to take advantage of the free heat production and warm their house during winter. A typical grow tent will be approximately 8-15 degrees warmer inside with the lamp running, compared to the temperature of the intake air from the room it is in. Some growers choose to use air conditioning for cooling, but in many cases it’s not always necessary. It depends on the way you set up your grow space and what you choose to do with your heat/exhausted air. On a larger scale or commercial scale, air conditioning is standard to use for all lighting styles.
Our 600w lamp creates 40% less heat compared to our 1000w lamp! Warm air rises, so we recommend continually pulling out air from the top of your grow space, if possible. Passive air intake at the bottom of your tent or room is ideal, ensuring cooler air is entering the grow space. Also, remove any 90 degree bends in your ducting, each bend reduces air exhaust efficiency by a lot, and you'll notice that your grow can be a few degrees cooler just by setting up your exhaust fan and ducts in a straight line!
Lamps used with air cooling may be able to be positioned closer to your plant canopy, too! Our bulb is safety rated for Enclosed Fixture use. Growers are often seen using bulbs in Open fixtures, please note that this is against official recommendations for safety reasons. My previous favorite MH bulb, the Hortilux Blue 1000w, is also rated for Enclosed Fixture use only, for example. When using enclosed hoods, it is best to connect your exhaust duct to the hood for air cooling, to remove heat from inside the fixture.
Our bulbs emit UV just like the sun does, so don’t spend too long up close, and wear sunglasses and long sleeves if you feel the need. A few minutes of distant exposure isn’t a problem, but you could get a sunburn or skin damage if you are staying too close for too long. Do not look into our bulb (or any grow light) for any amount of time as it can be harmful for the eyes.
Handling tips:
Metal Halide bulbs should be kept clean from fingerprints and handled with gloves. If you do touch the bulb, be sure to wipe it off with a dry cloth until no oil remains. The oils from your fingers can heat up and explode the bulb during operation! Make sure not to spray anything in your grow while the bulb is on. Any liquids on the bulb could heat up and cause the bulb to explode. We assume no responsibility for adverse events, use at your own risk. Under normal conditions they are extremely safe. Do not touch a bulb when it is on, and allow it to fully cool after turning off before handling.
If you turn off your bulb or lose power, the bulb will not turn on again until it has cooled down, even if you unplug and plug it back in. It is best not to cycle the power off and on frequently to protect the lifespan of the bulb. For example, don’t turn it on for just a few minutes and then off again. We recommend running it for a minimum of 30+ minutes if you have to turn it off. Turning the light on and off excessively multiple times a day may damage the bulb.
Ideal Light Cycles
We recommend running the bulb for 11 hours on during flower, and 17 hours on during veg. These light cycles promote favorable expressions in the plants, leading to better results for many growers. Some growers will opt for traditional 12 hour flower cycle, and 18 hour veg cycle.
Is the bulb dimmable?
No! Even though some MH ballast manufacturers give a dimming capability, we do not recommend dimming the bulb, as this deteriorates the spectrum and may be dangerous. We have heard of MH bulbs exploding when dimmed.
Instead, use the appropriate wattage of bulb for your grow. We offer 1000w and 600w bulbs.
Make sure your ballast is the same wattage as your bulb, do not dim a higher power wattage ballast to a lower power wattage bulb.
(Only ballasts that say Dial-A-Watt can safely power multiple wattages of bulbs!)
The proper usage of the lamp is to adjust distance to the plants rather than dimming it, when lower light levels are needed. Many growers will veg under a lower wattage lamp when plants are small and don't require as much light, and then bring them in to flower under our higher wattage lamp. Our lamps can be used full cycle from seed to harvest.
