I don't know for sure but it should depend on other factors like environment and even genetics. Aside from that I'm pretty sure that some people keep them closer but time and replies will tell...
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
Im a little disappointed no one has responded to my poll. Here are some of my results. It seems that you can keep the plants pretty close to the lights but once they get 2 inches from the light you may experience some burn. 1 plant got some burn but another plant that was at the same level did not get burned. The other plant was just as close but did not experience a burn. I have since played with different light lengths. I do see that directly under the lights at very close range the buds can be very white and not green. I will keep posting my results. I would like to see others experiment as well.
Unfortunately, it seems that not many here are here for debate and discussion. Most are just here to post their journals and that's about it. I tried to start a discussion regarding yield and nobody wanted to talk about that either so don't take it personally, this is just a low volume forum.
*shrug*
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
I have been keeping the "recommended "distance of 18 - 20".... it would be great to know that I could have the canopy closer and not toasted the plants... are you indicating you had your SolarStorm lower then that ? .... thanks
Last edited by TXStorm on Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
Just remember that it's a trade-off. The specs are designed to work in a 4x4 area. The lower the light the more light per sqf but the fewer sqf the light will cover so watch out for over-crowding and not enough light on the outside edges.
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
thanks SME... my area is 31" x 31" so I have a lot of light per sq ft with the SolarStorm.... I was concerned about burning / bleaching the canopy if I went lower then 18".... I'm going to let the gap close to the light and see what happens as the original poster indicated the light was only inches from the top....
As long as you don't get the light so close that you burn or bleach the plants and you can deal with the heat, then you should be fine getting it closer.
Disclaimer: I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties or research so I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. I also run a medical grow consulting business in SoCal.
Hey Boltman great question, I started at 20 in away from solar storm. I am at 14 in for 2 days now ,no burning or bleaching. Let us know if you go lower.
I actually have gone as close as 2" from the plants, i got some burn so I moved the light to 4" and got no burn. the further you keep them from the plants the larger the area they cover. But with that said I am in a 4x4 area and I still had great coverage even keeping them at 4" from the plants. I am going to experiment on my next grow at keeping it 6" from the plant during the entire grow and will post my results all the way. Again I'm in a 4x4 room.