Howdy.
DLI: Daily Light Integral (DLI) is a measure of the aggregate amount of PAR light that a surface receives over the course of a day. It is a very useful metric to determine if a particular location receives sufficient amounts of light for plants to grow well.
How much light your plants are getting over the course of 24 hours.
Pluggin some numbers into a DLI calculator tonight and I'm starting to wonder if some of my late stage leaf problems are due to missing the mark on DLI.
I've read you want to keep your flowering plants close to around 40 DLI. With the lights always on, that only requires around 475 PPFD. Looking at PAR charts for some common lights around the forum, I'm seeing readings of 475 way out in the corners of the tent and almost double that towards the center.
So then I think, well if you don't need that much light then why not use something like a 300 watt in a 4x4 and crank it? Then I remember that I know someone doing just that and is having problems getting any size on their plants. So the small footprint must be the detriment.
I guess I'm just spit balling here. My lights almost never go past 75% currently and even that might be too much at times. It's a balancing act at all times.
For you auto growers:
Are you full burning at 18 inches 24/7? Do you need to hang your light much higher?
What's the consensus? I need to steal my wife's phone a bit to use her app but what if 60% power is where DLI is most compatible? Wouldn't that mean we're buying lights that are suited for photos but are overkill for autos?
I plan to dig deeper but wanted to get your qualified (or unqualified I don't give a damn) opions on the topic as well.
Cheers
B
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