how many hours under 600watt halide?

9 years ago

I have had lots of different peppers on my deck in pots all summer ( cayenne, jalapeno, scorpion, sweet cherry red and some cool ornamentals ). Most of them i want to keep all winter so i can get them off to a good start next summer. I have read about over wintering but i do not want to cut my plants in half and i actually would rather they keep producing over winter for me. I bought a 600watt halide to grow them under in my basement. My sweet cherry reds have been ripining faster in 3 weeks then they ever have outside. However the leaves are a lot softer in feel and are more of a lighter green color rather then a thick strong green leaf. At first they werent doing good at all and just drooping even when they had water so i took the light from 100% to 60% (phantom ballast) and they seem to be doing a little better. The only thing i can think of is even at 60% they may be getting too many hours of direct light. On my deck they would get about 6 hours direct light every day, i have my 600watt lighting them up for 12 hours a day. I thought 12/12 would be a good combination to keep them growing fast but maybe thats too much direct light in one day?Ã¯Â¿Â½

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Comments (5)

User
9 years ago
In my experience yellowing / lighter leaves are more related to a nutrient deficiency or over watering than excessive light.
Burning can also cause leaf problems. How close to the plants are your lights?

At 100% a 600W MH should provide enough light for a 4.5 - 5 x 4.5 - 5 square foot area. I'd only dial back the intensity to save money on power if I only need to light a smaller area.

When I keep plant(s) over winter, I personally run one or two 400W MH's 14 on 10 off. Works for me.

FWIW
super600
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the reply. At first i thought nutrient problem but they have been getting the same scheduled feeding all summer with no problems until now, including carefully watering. Im just very confused what would make the leaves softer and more flimsy. It's a michigan basement so the ceiling is about 5'7" and the light hangs down about a ft or a bit more. The plants canopy is about 2ft away from the reflector which i thought was plenty. Once i turned down the light and added a fan it started looking a little better. Could the plant have gone in shock maybe? Not used to such long hours in the intense day light? So far i have put my strong hardy plants in the middle right under the light and put the sensitive ones off to the side where they are just catching left over light for now, hoping they will brighten up again with a little break.
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super600
Original Author
9 years ago
Also the bulb is a year old, not sure if that could cause a problem if its losing some of the color spectrum or not. I plan to replace that anyways so maybe that will help getting some fresh light on it. I have seen people grow big plants under T5s so figured 600watt bulb should do fine for now even if its old.
seysonn
9 years ago
600 watts seems like a lot of power.
In addition to light it can work like a space heater as well.
My 48" T8 Florescent lights use ~ 60 watts (per two bulbs). But then I used them just for seedlings.

Good luck with indoors growing.
User
9 years ago
super600,

I like to have a three foot space but two should not be that bad. I'd think hear would be the issue, not intensity of light. The addition of a fan should resolve any possible heat issue I would think. As for light intensity, it get's pretty bright (intense) on mid-summer days and the plants lap it up.

Unless you run your bulbs full out 6 - 8 months a year for a few years, I don't think you need to replace your bulb. One of my 400's is going on five years old and is still doing fine.

Bill