Artificial Lighting (400w HPS)...plants too crowded....

[amh0001]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone with artificial lighting experience could give me some tips.

I have been using a 400w HPS bulb for a single tote grow bed. It can an be seen here:
http://www.aquaponics.net.au/forum/showthread.php?p=30860#post30860

All my plants seem to reach towards the center and end up blocking each others light. I had a cucumber that went wild but never produced any full fruit...It blocked the light to the other plants and caused them to die. Currently, I have a tomato (BUSH) plant that has grown like crazy...it kinda fell over and is engulfing the growbed.

My question is how can I keep my plants TIGHT and COMPACT and still get them healthy and fruiting.

I have MH bulb that I used for vegetative growth, but the plants still reached.

I don't have much gardening experience. Maybe I need to prune the plants as they grow to keep them in line? Maybe raise the light higher?

Thank you,
~Adam

[EdwardHill]

You're a;ways going to have trouble using 1 light to grow such a range of plant heights. Typically you want the light as close to the plants as you can get it without burning the plants.

One thing you can try is building a mylar reflector around the growbed to keep the light in, the problem with HPS is they get hot and often then require an extraction system to keep things cool.

But growing plants that are all comparable in height would also make things easier for you.

[AbeZee]

you write :I had a cucumber that went wild but never produced any full fruit..
cucumbers are not self-polinating....so you have to do it
you can rotate the light or the plants(if possible) http://homeharvest.com/lightmovers.htm and http://hightimes.com/video/nico/5697
white/blue light and 18 hr a day produce green growth
red light at 8-12hrs for blooming. i use incandescent light in a cheap dimmer lamp to give my tomato nice flowers and fruit!

[AbeZee]

this is what i actually were looking for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8tNABmFKqo
http://www.hhydro.com/RotoGro-312-Rotating-Garden.html

[Grimgrak]

I wonder why there are no t5 light movers? Maybe the bulbs arn't designed well to handle the moving shock?