How far should HPS grow lights be from cannabis plants?
Light is essential for successful growth. Indoor growers who use plant grow lamps must imitate nature to achieve a good harvest. Insufficient grow light spacing can damage plants (placing the grow lamp too close to the plant may burn the plant) or significantly slow growth (placing the grow lamp too far away from the plant). Various grow lamps have different location requirements. Among all the options of grow lamps, high pressure sodium (HPS grow light) is commonly used to promote flowering or vegetation. Unlike led plant grow lights, HPS grow lamps generate more heat, so growers need to know how far HPS grow lamps are from plants. High pressure sodium (HPS) grow lamp is half of the standard HID (high intensity discharge) grow lights system. Once your plant enters the flowering stage, HPS growth lamp will produce red spectrum grow lamp to replace MH (metal halide) grow lights bulb. As a popular choice for indoor growers for more than 50 years, HPS plant growth lamp is cheap and can be used by indoor gardeners of all skill levels.
Because the high-pressure sodium grow lamps will generate heat, higher wattage should be installed far away from the plant. Depending on the plant you grow, HPS growth lamps can be installed anywhere from 6 to 34 inches away. Make sure you study your plants thoroughly so that you can create ideal growth conditions instead of burning your plants too close to the grow light. You also need to set up a ventilation system.
Although most high-pressure sodium grow lamps are designed to be used with MH grow lights bulbs, in a few cases, these grow light bulbs can be used as independent grow lights. Some HPS growth lamps are designed to have a higher blue spectrum, so that they are also conducive to the vegetation stage, thus eliminating the need for MH growth lamps. If the high-pressure sodium grow lamp is located in the area receiving natural sunlight, it can also be used without MH grow lights bulb. Sunlight fills the missing blue light.
In order to maximize the growth potential of your light rail and HPS grow lights. The timer allows you to harvest as planned, ensuring that the grow lights are turned on and off at the same time every day. Move your fixture slowly along the light rail to ensure that the plants get the same amount of light. HPS plant growth lamps should be replaced every 10 to 14 months to ensure that plants receive sufficient light.
HPS consumes a lot of energy, with an average energy consumption of 60.8. HPS grow lamps are very popular when into flowering stage of plants, because considering the high initial cost of LEDs grow light, they can sometimes become a cheaper alternative to LED grow lights during flowering. When using HID grow lights, the output also tends to become large.
HPS lamps are sometimes referred to as the “gold standard” for marijuana cultivation. For decades, growers have been using HPS to achieve excellent yields. In addition, HPS lamp is very suitable for developing several or dozens of plants.
Due to the light intensity of HPS grow lights, growers will need a tall planting space. HID plant grow lamps are not easy to find locally, so growers usually need to buy them online. Similarly, heat may be a big problem of HPS grow lights, because when growers use 250W, 400W, 600W or 1000W HID grow lamps, HPS grow lamps will generate a lot of heat, which will increase growers’ high electricity bills and other supporting equipments.