# Cloudy days vs. indoor lighting...



## rebel

Ever hear "  a cloudy day outdoors is still better than any indoor light"
ive heard it and read it also, but from my experience indoors produce bigger and harder buds.
Just how much does a plant benefit by the cloudy days outdoors without much sun ?


----------



## MR1

Rebel ,I took my light meter outside, it is cloudy out , to check . My meter reads max 5000+ foot candles outside. To get that from my 430w hps I have to hold meter 11'' away, my led light I have to hold meter 10'' away. 2000 foot candles is supposed to be minimum lighting for good growth. 1 foot candle equals 10.76 lumens or lux.


----------



## Kindbud

it takes a lot of lights to match even a cloudy day outside!! Think about a sunny day!!!


----------



## Sherrwood

I would think the sun has every spectrum of light and even cloudy days outside would still be better than indoor light. 
Plus outside there's fresh constant co2.


----------



## rebel

really interesting the light meter is.
ok why arent the buds as hard outdoors as indoors ? 
Rosebud may chime in. i think i read she states the same.


----------



## Kindbud

ive grown supper dense bud outdoors rebel its all about how u grow best bud ive ever smoked is outdoor bud


----------



## moaky

rebel said:


> really interesting the light meter is.
> ok why arent the buds as hard outdoors as indoors ?
> Rosebud may chime in. i think i read she states the same.



This maybe a personal problem.  The light isn't what is effecting density. On a sunny day there are somewhere around 60000 lumens per sq ft and 5000 per sq ft on a cloudy day.  An indoor room on a closed system should have 5000 lumens per sqft.  But you have 3-5 times the co2 in the room then and about ten degrees F hotter.   There are 300 ppm of co2 in our every day air. A closed system works well from 900-1500 ppm of co2.  

Although your outdoor fluffy buds have to do with nutes.  To be simple there are hardeners to use. Don't use more than the bottle says or you'll lose most of it bud rott.   I don't use hardener though. I use a specific tea durning flower


----------



## DrFever

MR1 said:


> Rebel ,I took my light meter outside, it is cloudy out , to check . My meter reads max 5000+ foot candles outside. To get that from my 430w hps I have to hold meter 11'' away, my led light I have to hold meter 10'' away. 2000 foot candles is supposed to be minimum lighting for good growth. 1 foot candle equals 10.76 lumens or lux.



MRI   what foot candles do you get holding it  under your 400 watt @ grow  height  15"  away  ?????
 also curious  on foot candles  of a 1000 watt   would be closer  to getting it like the sun ??? meaning    the sun produces watt 130 + -  watts or 10000 lumens per sq foot   so    comparing it to a grow room  one would need  to match  it 130 watts or 10000 per sq foot of grow space   But here is a kicker   grow lights  manufactures are  making  grow lights for   veg and flowering wavelengths  and the sun  even tho its stupid powerful  not all energy wavelengths are used for plants,
Did you know  you can have the brightest light  only  the certain wavelengths   will plants use , for instance   out of all of the suns  energy  0.1 percent is used  by   plants,
  to say plants still would grow better for 10 day days out side  if it was cloudy compared to 10 days of  indoor growing ???? my guess would  be  indoor would win in growth rates


----------



## MR1

Fever I have a 430 watt and it shows 4000 foot candles at 15'' away.My instructions say the sun has 10000 foot candles on clear sunny day. I don't have a 1000w to check, sorry.


----------



## rebel

to say plants still would grow better for 10 day days out side if it was cloudy compared to 10 days of indoor growing ???? my guess would be indoor would win in growth rates -  as Fever stated above  so this is my recent experience - 

i put 3 sour koshers out too early , about 2' tall and they started budding. i knew they would reveg so i potted them and move them to a shed for 12/12 .
 my previous grow under 600w had a lot more growth, plant and bud growth.
 Its been cloudy for a week or more here, so theyve not gotten any sun at all


----------



## rebel

ive grown for yrs outdoors, plants 10' or more. i'd never grown indoor until last yr. and have had 3 grows since and it amazed me how much bigger and harder the buds were than o.d 
same strains, etc..  so dont know what i could of done different,  just my experience.


----------



## DrFever

Its pretty amazing how fast  plants grow indoor,,,,  and yes rebel from my experience  indoor is better  to a experienced  eye  you can easily tell  the difference  half pound bag of out door  and a half pound bag of indoor  i know few out door growers...  Growing  in  big totes  will  grow  outdoor  and last 2 - 3 weeks move  plants to indoor to finish it off in hopes  to pass it as indoor  
Out door is  great but   but many smokers  would rather  smoke indoor grown  hence   the price difference  between the two  
 Best part of outdoor is its free ,,,,but again  your at mother natures hands   you can have a great harvest  or  bad one   or completely lose  it all  from animals ,  theft, mold  
 The lucky growers are the ones  that are  in the  equator  to 37  lat north or south  they  do great  big yields  no worries  about frost  lots of intense sun


----------



## Kindbud

i guarantee u would rather smoke my outdoor bud then indoor i would love to tes the thc% one day


----------



## Kindbud

but i guess its all opinions and sell my stuff 4 the same price as indoor sometimes more


----------

