Pheno tester light

[unkle_psycho]

I've been thinking about a light for a 4x4, made from 4 different modules. I would pull it out when I have a new clone to work with, and would like it to contain 4 different spectrums, designed to give a general idea of how the clone performs under different lighting.
I was thinking of including 80cri 2000k, 97cri 5000k, and generic 80cri 3000k. I wanted a fourth channel, but can't figure what it should be. Wondering if I should make 2 80cri 3000k channels, with one at 25w/sq f and the other at 40w/sq f so the fixture could give a pointer on spectrum and intensity too.

Anyone have other ideas what should/ could be included?

[TEKNIK]

I would use 3000K cri90 instead of 80, if you look at the peak of your 2000K it will be at about 610nm and that will be the same for the cri80 3000k, using the cri90 will make the peak go to 630nm.

My other suggestion would be to use near UV or UVA

[0 to 220]

Well, I heard NASA came up with this Awesome spectrum...

[unkle_psycho]

I would use 3000K cri90 instead of 80, if you look at the peak of your 2000K it will be at about 610nm and that will be the same for the cri80 3000k, using the cri90 will make the peak go to 630nm.

My other suggestion would be to use near UV or UVA

Now I'm running my first tests with 365nm and 280nm UV, and I'm instantly sold to it. I do plan to include it everywhere, and bump my diodes 4x so I can get better coverage.
So maybe the 4th section would be UV. And your probably right about the 90cri. What 90cri options does cutter have? Or should I just use 2700k vestas since I have a pile lying around?

[TEKNIK]

The 2700K spectrum on the vesta are really nice. Only other thing you would maybe do is use 3000K optisolis if you wanted the 660nm peak.

Not sure what you are trying to achieve here exactly, is it a full spectrum tunable system for tests?

[unkle_psycho]

Just thinking of a light that would give an overview of a chosen clone... so if I do a pheno hunt, and find something interesting, my first study would be sticking 4 clones into the pheno tester, to get a feeling of how it reacts to different light characteristics.

I feel stretch, bulk, node distances, reactions to blue/red ratios, light intensity, etc. change by cultivar. Using a light which is an 'overall' spectrum hides a lot of that information from me.

Looking back at the past 2y that I've been getting back into inside growing I feel I would have been in a much better position with my experiments if I had established some base characteristics. So this light would be a step between the pheno hunt and actual production, and would only get used on occasion.

Maybe I'm being greedy, and just making a tunable blurple light would give more disciplined data on blue:red ratios. The tunable system would also allow testing different ratios for different growth periods. I was kinda thinking my original approach here would give more information, but I guess it might just muddle things up?

[TEKNIK]

Strains react very similar under different spectrums the majority of the time. I would get a good base such as optisolis 5000K as the main grunt of the lighting then use monos to tune from there to check on changes with experiments. PC red is also a really good spectrum to blend with others as it is so broad.

My focus would more be on near UV and UVA for experiments now days.

[unkle_psycho]

Yes, I think you are quite right. To get significant results with quality, UV seems to be the holy grail for now.

I partially share your belief that even choosing the most different spectrum's possible, it will not yield huge differences, but at the same time I expect some cultivars to surprise on that front.

I always talk about how the best way to learn is by growing a clone for a year, and doing lots of controlled variation on it. You are probably right that dialing monos would be the logical way to approach it, and I want to definitely do that too. If this turns into an example of 'the meaningless of minor spectrum differences', then I would already be satisfied for contributing towards the subject. I will be ordering monos next week, so I will get that data on the same clones at the same time.

Do you think there is a way for cutter to get those PC red diodes onto strips? Somehow working on a huge volume of starboards takes so much time I can only justify using them for my own builds, I can't add 2 days of work to someone elses build just to access cheap red Being on strips would really optimize their potential, being cheap to buy, it would be great to have a cheap fast way to set them up too. Then they would have real market potential.

[TEKNIK]

They can do them on strips, they have the 5050 BR type of pcb. Just ask them to do one side instead of 2 and no monos unless you want them. Send them an email to see what they will do for you.