Why do many light meters have two different settings? One is for sun and HID and one is for fluorescent. I simply don't understand how that makes sense. Of course I realize that they are two different sources with different intensities. But the point of checking the lighting isn't to ensure your grow light is working. It's to check if your plant is getting what it needs. And yes, those are two completely different concepts. See, a plant leaf (which is a natural light meter) doesn't have a switch that you can flip if you put it under T5 grow lights. It's needs don't change according to what you decided to buy. The light meter should be set to ideal photosynthetic processing conditions.

If I put my "Environmental Concepts" light meter under a compact fluorescent with the setting on "sun", it will reach 6,000 foot candles. It measures to 10,000. If I set it to "fluorescent" it flies off the charts. I just don't understand how light intensity measurement is different based on knowing what the source is. Plants aren't going to know that you switched from HID or sun and installed fluorescent lighting and flip a switch to accommodate you. This and a couple of other discoveries I mentioned previously in an experiment are leading me to believe that the hype that fluorescent lighting is as good as HID is simply a total scam. Given the fact that I know two people using HPS lighting for flowering/fruiting and they never have any problems with blossom drop on peppers and tomatoes and I don't ever have a problem with it outdoors but I consistently have a problem with it indoors (particularly with peppers) with T5 lighting, I am beginning to see a bit of a pattern. Thoughts, anyone?