Side lighting?

**Triptich** · 03-11-21, 07:21 AM

I am a big fan of NO LINKS. They take buckets and garbage cans and anything else they can get their hands on and turn them into mini grow tents.

They often line the sides of their buckets with tinfoil/mylar and in addition to a light at the top they often use a LED strip going around the bucket which provides lighting from the side.

Pls forgive the rookie question but: Why don't more people don't use side lighting? I have an autoflower in a 2x2 tent that is getting tall, the bottom leaves get less and less light as it gets taller and bigger. Would it not benefit from some side lighting?

**Mac** · 03-11-21, 07:28 AM

Cost vs reward

Extra light means extra heat to deal with, so while it may seem simple to "just whack some side lights in" you have to adjust your extraction to match. If that means a bigger fan and more electricity you have to weigh that cost against any gains from the lights.

LST can achieve the same effect as side lighting if done right.

Spacebuckets are a different matter tbh tho, the space is so cramped anyway that very little light will reflect round so sidelights help there. In tents you have big reflective walls to help bounce the light about.

**Farmer Geddon** · 03-11-21, 12:59 PM

How much benefit? Often the game isn't worth the candle. If only those led strips were used, what do you reckon the yield would be? One spliff? Those guys are working with such little space that one extra spliff is worth much more effort than the rest of us would be interested in doing.

**barney_b** · 03-11-21, 02:21 PM

Somewhere in the spacebucket archives you'll find my first attempt at growing many years ago. /u/ekrof was a great coach/mentor. That grow still went tits up because controlling heat in that tiny space was near impossible. I even threw in the side lighting LED strips!

In fact, it's still in the archive on their website! Fond memories, terrible result.

Anyways, yeah, juice being worth the squeeze and all that.

Cheers,
B