Hi,
as the title says really, does a reflector make a big difference to the yield, i imagine it does but would like to know if its alot.

im growing under 600w lamp an from my first grow i got 10oz, which int too bad for my first time but idealy i should be lookin at more than that shouldnt i? my reflector is a budget one an dunt look that great really.

also whats the best reflector i could get?

thanks


Dan

10 ounce off your first grow under a 600w isnt bad, it will improve as you get better, its better to improve your growing skills and then once you hit a plateau start rinkering with reflecters etc.
joe

yeah was happy with 10oz like, just the plants on the outside yeilded alot less than the centre ones but i should rotate em really but had favourites . was gonna get a growstar reflector but if ya think i should concentrate on my growin skills first then will save me 150 odd pound.

think i want too much too soon,


cheers

dan

i use a 600w adjusta wing reflector an its a good one pull easy 14 -16 oz per grow they are great quality and can be placed very close to the tops of the bud i.e 14-16 inch is normal

im sure your next grow will be even more successful than the one before

good luck buddy

reflectors do make a difference
i went from the cheap barn reflectors to a adjustable mantis...and then onto a mini grostar
the improvement over each reflector was noticeable

light reflectors can make a difference I think but I would say developing growing skills is good advice and the way forward just now. Of course if you can afford a better one then get one but you could improve yeilds more with tlc, minimal stress, and good roots, all of which would cost you nothing.

yeah mate

you should rotate your plants

i move mine every time i water them and i end up with a nice even canopy

I sometimes scrog them but mostly I let them grow free range, they get fed and I bugger off. I'm starting to intuit where to place them when they first go into the flowering tent. Get it right and they sort of self scrog. Hit a gram per watt with the last lot, parabolic reflector but my highest yield from a 600w Grolux is a 24oz scrog flowered under the cheapo Euro reflector.

With both of those harvests, I fluked it. I don't know what really gave the yield increase. I've only been using the tent and 600 watts for less than 2 years but every grow before that was done with the cheapo reflectors. I sort of know how to use them, because I've watched so many plants grow under them.

That little skill became redundant when I switched to the parabolics and it took a grow or 3 before the yields started to get uniform. Makes me think that every time we change something in our groom, it costs us something on the next grow.

iow, the best reflector is the one that you have used the longest.

thanks for the replys. i have the budget euro reflector at the min, i could afford a better one but think ill follow the advice and improve my growing skills till i upgrade, ive been lookin at the growstar reflector but cant afford that one just yet really so i may aswell wait till i can then saves me wasting money, plus i would like to try my hand at scrog an will have an idea if im gettin it right if i stick with the cheap reflector an get a bigger yield. an lazi 24oz is impressive. also rotating my plants this time should help too.


@tightbud or anyone who has one, are the growstars worth the money?


thanks

dan

i paid £60 for the mini delivered ....it was well worth the money

Thats not a bad price.....Could you PM me where you got it from

I have a 600 Watt sunmaster and a mini grow star, I yeild roughly 14-20 oz each grow.

£60? did you buy it from a shop? one im looking at is £150, if i can get one for £60 ill get one now, .

yeah i want to be lookin at 15 my next grow really, anymore than 10 ill be happy tho, just so i know ive improved but got different strains so that will make a difference aswell

how long you been growing mrandmrs?

dan

mine is the MINI grostar at £60 ...first time used it i pulled 650 from under it

thats impressive that like, hope i get to that kind of growin one day, did you sog, scrog? or just do it normally to get that yeild



dan

I got over 14oz from my mini using scrog in soil and 400watt hps , as for the 60 quid i paid around 80 i think for mine but that was a long time back now.



Wish i had bought this before anything else as now i have a diamond shade sitting here collecting dust as it's shite compared to the mini grostar.

Can't recommend the cool tubes though,

mine forms a sort of heat spot directly under it, not to mention that the glass knocks out certain areas of the light spectrum.

4O only two plants 2 on each (bonsai style)

S

x

ive never seen a shade make much difference space,soil amount, light wattage and feeds seem to be much more influencing on yield(unless your using a rusty tin can as a reflector i suppose)

get yaself a light rail an hang your bulb verticle without the shade id say you'll at least double ya yeild

this man says it all.rotate and good reflector does wonders....also a ph meter and trucheon are a must ...peace out

I never rotate any of my plants as its virtually impossible once there in a scrog hence why you use a descent reflector like a grostar as it gives a edge to edge spread of light unlike other reflectors meanin no need to rotate really.

I did read of a guy that tried rotating the plants with vertical lighting and his opinion was that any gains get mitigated by the plants re-orientating themselves so it's counter productive. No idea if it'll help with a flat garden but any change can lower yield as well as raise it.

I'm sure there are reflectors that yield more than the Euro but they don't beat it by that much and in unskilled hands you can say that they all yield the same unless the reflector has known problems like the cooltubes. £60 can buy a datalogger plus change or some lights off heaters etc. difficult to say what purchases give the better harvests.

thanks for all replys, i think i should improve my first yield under this reflector as ive learned alot more than my first go. ill stick with this reflector for this grow to see if ive improved. long way to go yet. think after that i may treat masell to the growstar cos the euro one i have is a small area an doesnt seem to spread the light as good as a better one would. but think i need to concentrate on my skills more tho.

i want to try scrog too an as dj mentioned you cant really rotate ya plants that way.

@leepy is that how you do it, an do ya improve yield that way? so get a light rail an move the light each day or week? summet like that?

@pienmash i dont think i need a ph meter and trucheon growin in compost do i?

@lazi i dont know what a data logger is, but ill look into it cheers, ive got heaters for lights off tho.


thanks agen


dan

A datalogger records temps and humidity constantly and the software also calculates the dew point and creates a graph. Lets you try out different things and by looking at the graph the next day see if the change is helpful or not. Great for sorting out climate problems but not essential if your climate is already reasonable.

yeah mate i use light rails there fucking mint iv got 3of em i use one with 2x600s on it slightly modified .And you dont move the lights m8 it moves it self thats the idea your lights travle up an down a rail once it gets to the end it flicks a switch then gose the other way there mint

Here ya go fella this is one of my rails Click to view attachment

Hi,
Thanks lazi will have a look into that, sounds interesting.

@leepy, dint relise the rails moved the selves, when my loft is done im thinkin of using 2 600w's myself so might be a good idea to use them, cheers for that. in ya pic tho, it looks like you have reflectors for your lights, is it best to just hang vertically like u said or use the reflectors. thx agen.



dan

thats right fella cos this pic is from my 1st ever grow diary so i hadnt read about using verticle bulbs thats why the shades are there i personly wont use shades again but each to there own m8

ive had a look at the rails an the ones ive seen are around £165, this bout right price? if so an if it'll be better than a growstar reflector i might go that way, i was thinkin of saving an buyin a growstar for bout that price anyway before i started this thread so may be best to go that way then.


dan

try the grostar first
there seems to be an optimum point for the 'flector
the shape it is it's literally like having 4 lamps in there

as for the optimum height ,for me that depends on the plant canopy...but as you raise it higher ,you get more coverage
again depending on the amount of plants and area space is what you have to consider

it wouldn't be worth me putting that amount into a light rail to move it half a meter seems pointless.........i can just move it from hook to hook at the moment