xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 2 (edited) I’m looking to supplement my 3x3 flower tent with UVA/ UVB . I’m thinking 20-30watts should be enough. I found this REPTI ZOO Energy Saving Lamps UVB Bulb,Spiral Compact 15 Watts 26 Watts UVB 5.0 Reptile Light Bulb Fit for Rainforest Type Reptile/Snake/Lizard/Insect/Turtle/Tortoise) . On amzn I ordered this 26 watt, but this is meant for reptiles. They have some for birds, which would probably penetrate better , but I couldn’t find one that I was looking for, they are all above 100watt. I guess I can just hang it low .Anyone know or have a clue as to whether this bulb will Work on plants ? Or do you have one you could recommend ? I didn’t think it would be such a pain in the ass to find one for plants. I know not much research has been done on the effects of UV light on marijuana plants, and I’m too impatient to wait for SB’s study lol. Thank you ! Edited January 2 by xXelitegpXx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 2 26 minutes ago, xXelitegpXx said: I’m looking to supplement my 3x3 flower tent with UVA/ UVB . I’m thinking 20-30watts should be enough. I found this REPTI ZOO Energy Saving Lamps UVB Bulb,Spiral Compact 15 Watts 26 Watts UVB 5.0 Reptile Light Bulb Fit for Rainforest Type Reptile/Snake/Lizard/Insect/Turtle/Tortoise) . On amzn I ordered this 26 watt, but this is meant for reptiles. They have some for birds, which would probably penetrate better , but I couldn’t find one that I was looking for, they are all above 100watt. I guess I can just hang it low .Anyone know or have a clue as to whether this bulb will Work on plants ? Or do you have one you could recommend ? I didn’t think it would be such a pain in the ass to find one for plants. I know not much research has been done on the effects of UV light on marijuana plants, and I’m too impatient to wait for SB’s study lol. Thank you ! Actually canceled that and found a company named SolaCure that produces UV lighting especially for Cannabis, grabbed a 2ft bulb and a fixture. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 2 (edited) 11 hours ago, xXelitegpXx said: Actually canceled that and found a company named SolaCure that produces UV lighting especially for Cannabis, grabbed a 2ft bulb and a fixture. Actually, that 1 Solcacure bulb With fixture was much more expensive, and since this is my first time experimenting I didn’t want to invest much more considering I just bought an entire new veg tent setup. The fixture and bulb that I ended up getting was a total of 27 only. It is 26watt bulb, they do not state the band of light which it is , I was doubting that it’s 280nm-315nm, but I actually found someone on YT who is swearing by this light bulb( Exo Terra 150), so we’ll see. Also on the reviews someone said it was also releasing UVC when they tested it. Supposedly a bunch were recalled but they got inventory mixed up and they are still sending them sometimes lol. Problematic if your using it with a reptile, but a benefit if using for cannabis. UVC will protect from disease and pests if I remember what I learned correctly. I remembered to get proper protective gear as well! I’ll be hanging it about 12 inches from my canopy and start by using it at 5 minute intervals every 4 hours . Then the next day I will increase exposure to 10minutes every 4 hours, then 15 minutes every 4 hours and so on til I reach 1 hour of exposure every 4 hours, at which point I will hold that level of exposure until harvest. Tips, observations , criticism all welcome. Thank you. Edited January 2 by xXelitegpXx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TerpSifting 11 Posted January 2 Looking forward to seeing how this affects your grow. Been reading a lot of about the UV spectrum and how beneficial different spectrums can be for cleaning/pest mitigation or increasing trichome production. I wonder how much change this small supplementation will make. Fingers crossed! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 2 36 minutes ago, TerpSifting said: Looking forward to seeing how this affects your grow. Been reading a lot of about the UV spectrum and how beneficial different spectrums can be for cleaning/pest mitigation or increasing trichome production. I wonder how much change this small supplementation will make. Fingers crossed! I seen for general agriculture it is proven that UV can increase production of certain hormones up to 35% in some plants, has not been proven with Marijuana though. Unfortunately I will have nothing to compare it too, seeing as this is a new strain compared to my last grow 😞 But if I am consistently getting ridiculously resinous buds then I will likely attribute it to this UV light , considering I’m still a noob to growing and I don’t expect consistent fire . I am now interested in planning out A side by side grow with a pure Sativa, seeing as those generally are more exposed to UVA/B in nature. SB is doing a side by side monocrop comparison with UV right now, he just plugged the clones ! So that will be a very good indicator ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bolognasilencer 9 Posted January 3 RapidLED has a UV-A booster board for a decent price, as well as individual diodes if you want to DIY. Another youtuber, JustinTime2Grow uses it and an Emerson version and sings their praise. I have UV in my lights but no experience with add on boards for an A-B comparison so ymmv. https://rapidled.com/products/violit-uva-supplement-booster-board Cheers 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 4 7 hours ago, bolognasilencer said: RapidLED has a UV-A booster board for a decent price, as well as individual diodes if you want to DIY. Another youtuber, JustinTime2Grow uses it and an Emerson version and sings their praise. I have UV in my lights but no experience with add on boards for an A-B comparison so ymmv. https://rapidled.com/products/violit-uva-supplement-booster-board Cheers Thanks a lot! I’ll be researching some newer and better quality UV lights for the near future, definitely gonna look into these . The 26watt exo terra came in today and I’ve begun flashing them with that for now. Thanks for the link ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 4 So the Rapid LED UV lights I see just go down to 365nm, therefore it is just UVA present . This is great for vegetative growth from what I have been reading up on. UVB is 280-320nm and is the band that causes the increase in resin production . The SolaCure bulbs are actually 320nm, so just barely UVB. They are about the same price point so I would rather go with the SolaCure, however , a combination of this and that could possibly work nicely and synergistically. The 26watt exo terra came in today and I’ve begun flashing them with that for now. Either one of those would be much better than this I’m almost certain, but maybe just some UV present at all will provide a boost. Hard to find conclusive evidence anywhere on anything to do with this stuff lol. Oh well . Guess we have to learn ourselves . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bolognasilencer 9 Posted January 4 The lights I use now have 365nm UVA in them and in my own experience, they do seem to help with trichome/cannabinoid development. Take this with a grain of salt though because I wasn't able to do a direct a-b comparison, just my findings with the same strain and it's known structure under LED with no UV. I had a look at those SolaCure UVB bulbs. IMO they may not be worth the cost for a home grower. They state on their site that the lifespan is from 600-1200 hours, which in a grow environment would last somewhere between 2 and 6 months depending on how early into flower you turn them on. The DIY LED option is probably the best bet for testing things out, I know MarkTech makes a 310nm and Luminus Devices have a 275nm, however I haven't used them personally and haven't seen any documented grow journals with them in it. You're right, I wish there was more information out there specific to UV and cannabis. In the meantime if you haven't already, give the Apogee Instruments YT channel a look. Dr Bruce Bugbee states that 350-400nm UV is a high driver of photosynthesis as well as cannabinoid production. I'm hoping they update soon with more findings on UV-A/B. Good luck with the Exo Terra in the meantime, let us know if you find anything interesting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 4 4 hours ago, bolognasilencer said: The lights I use now have 365nm UVA in them and in my own experience, they do seem to help with trichome/cannabinoid development. Take this with a grain of salt though because I wasn't able to do a direct a-b comparison, just my findings with the same strain and it's known structure under LED with no UV. I had a look at those SolaCure UVB bulbs. IMO they may not be worth the cost for a home grower. They state on their site that the lifespan is from 600-1200 hours, which in a grow environment would last somewhere between 2 and 6 months depending on how early into flower you turn them on. The DIY LED option is probably the best bet for testing things out, I know MarkTech makes a 310nm and Luminus Devices have a 275nm, however I haven't used them personally and haven't seen any documented grow journals with them in it. You're right, I wish there was more information out there specific to UV and cannabis. In the meantime if you haven't already, give the Apogee Instruments YT channel a look. Dr Bruce Bugbee states that 350-400nm UV is a high driver of photosynthesis as well as cannabinoid production. I'm hoping they update soon with more findings on UV-A/B. Good luck with the Exo Terra in the meantime, let us know if you find anything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 4 ooh ok. Those are some numbers I like more 🙂 I’ll have a look at the Luminous and Marktech. I’ll also check out what the Dr. has to say , thanks for informing me . Hmm I am only trying 3 hours a day basically. So 200-400 days roughly . So 3-6 flowering cycles . That’s not too bad imo if the light is 100ish or so. Hmm I have lots of research to do , thanks again ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xXelitegpXx 12 Posted January 9 (edited) I’m noticing substantial amount of increased resin production on the sugar leaves nearest to the UV light . It is possible that they are naturally heavier producers though since they are all the same strain but from seed. But it is split at about half and half . The 4 nearest to the light are producing heavier than the 5 furthest away. However, the largest increase was noticed in the first few days of implementing the UVB bulb. The effects seem to be tapering off now as more days pass . Can’t wait to try it again with a monocrop of Zkittalicious by Exoticseed 2 cycles from now. Edited January 9 by xXelitegpXx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
