Strip LEDs in the garden of Paradise

[3.5 LMBS]

@Prawn, loving the grow and seeing you switch sides ...stopped getting alerts and lost track of time with the holidays but your plants are looking

If you don't have to deal w/ the IR and have hundreds of points of light, why not hang them low? I have my strips inches off my plants and they absolutely love it.

If they get fussy I'll turn them down just a tad and increase efficiency slightly...as i understand it, there is a difference between dimming the intensity and moving the fixture further away.
One is subject to the inverse square law, one isn't.

Happy New Year to All...One Love and Many Blessings

 

[Buck5050]

Mr connery being in Australia do you have access to "bloom yellow bottle" organic nutrients? I am interested to see how these do and since there based in your neck of the woods maybe you've heard about them?

 

[Prawn Connery]

Hi mate, no I hadn't heard of them before you mentioned. Seems they are based in South Australia - I will have to do some more reading and see where it is stocked locally. Looks interesting - Thanks!

@Prawn, loving the grow and seeing you switch sides ...stopped getting alerts and lost track of time with the holidays but your plants are looking

If you don't have to deal w/ the IR and have hundreds of points of light, why not hang them low? I have my strips inches off my plants and they absolutely love it.

If they get fussy I'll turn them down just a tad and increase efficiency slightly...as i understand it, there is a difference between dimming the intensity and moving the fixture further away.
One is subject to the inverse square law, one isn't.

Happy New Year to All...One Love and Many Blessings

Cheers mate. Well, this is all part of the learning curve. I had the strips up full power (280w x 2) and hanging very close in veg, but as soon as the plants went into flower, some of them started to bleach - incidentally, most of the Acids, as the Sensi Stars looked like they could handle the light and seemed pretty happy with no bleaching at all. That's not unusual, as different strains often have different light requirements. The Acids are also on the edge of my nutrient regime, while the Sensi Stars are handling the nutes fine.

Right now I have both LED frames turned down to 215w each for a total of 430w over 8 square feet. This seems to be about right, as the bleaching has stopped and the plants seem to like it. The frames are also just warm to the touch, so the reduced heat build-up will also help this grow during the summer - it's a challenge growing in this heat! I agree about the dimming, as I mentioned this earlier.

The Acid plants are definitely more sensitive to their surroundings, so I've probably gone a bit hard on them compared to the Sensi Star. I'll try to post some pix later, as they're currently at 6 weeks of flower.

 

[Randomblame]

Hi mate, no I hadn't heard of them before you mentioned. Seems they are based in South Australia - I will have to do some more reading and see where it is stocked locally. Looks interesting - Thanks!


Cheers mate. Well, this is all part of the learning curve. I had the strips up full power (280w x 2) and hanging very close in veg, but as soon as the plants went into flower, some of them started to bleach - incidentally, most of the Acids, as the Sensi Stars looked like they could handle the light and seemed pretty happy with no bleaching at all. That's not unusual, as different strains often have different light requirements. The Acids are also on the edge of my nutrient regime, while the Sensi Stars are handling the nutes fine.

Right now I have both LED frames turned down to 215w each for a total of 430w over 8 square feet. This seems to be about right, as the bleaching has stopped and the plants seem to like it. The frames are also just warm to the touch, so the reduced heat build-up will also help this grow during the summer - it's a challenge growing in this heat! I agree about the dimming, as I mentioned this earlier.

The Acid plants are definitely more sensitive to their surroundings, so I've probably gone a bit hard on them compared to the Sensi Star. I'll try to post some pix later, as they're currently at 6 weeks of flower.

Yeah, do it!
We are already waiting for the weekly update! Sure they have gained good and look great!
I'm not surprised the Acid's started to bleach, only few strains can handle 70w/sft.
At such intensities, it can be difficult to adequately feed the plants as the needs may change differently from strain to strain.
From what I've seen in the past at 1000μmol/s and more, the calcium demand can increases more, while the NPK demand does not increase so much. If I see first signs of bleaching, I'll give them some CalMag first, it's often already enough.
But 560w of F-strips with 52,5% effiency means 294PAR/w, x 4,86μMol/j this leads to 1430μMol/s PPF : 0,72m² and you get 1984μMol/s PPFD.
Even if you deduct 20% wall losses it will be good 1600μMol/s.
In fact, you could illuminate the double surface with it!
In that sense, your babies look super healthy and the bleaching could be a lot more worse.

 

[Prawn Connery]

Haha! Well, the 280w was an accident, as I didn't think the drivers would go that high - I was surprised at the 5.85a/48.1v reading. I thought I was maybe just over 250w total for each driver. Even bringing them back to 240w seemed a little high. I'd normally have a 600hps to cover that space. I seriously underestimated how much light those LEDs put out.

But apart from a few white tips, the plants look OK. Pix soon - promise!

 

[ANC]

I have the 4 footers, At half power and 35cm height, these guys are still putting out serious light, covering 0.63m2 at nearly 400PPFD from 1 strip.

 

[Prawn Connery]

LOL! That's about 1/5 of what I'm running at 430w over 8sqft!

As promised, weekly update: the girls are now all at exactly 6 weeks of flowering and half look like they'll easily go 9-10 weeks. The other half - all Acids - look like they'll go 8-9 weeks.


Left side of tent


Right side of tent

 

[ANC]

Looks like I made the right choice for now.

 

[Prawn Connery]

Sensi Star #2 up close. Sensi Star #1 in the background.


Acid #2 up close. Sensi Star #1 is rear left, and Acid #1 rear right. Note the bleaching on Acid #1 - it appeared to cop the worst of it. Acid #2 has only the very tip whitened - and that was from last week before I turned the lights down.

 

[Prawn Connery]

A couple more under lights . . .

 

[Prawn Connery]

And finally, this Sensi Star has had a LED-light pounding but seems to be very happy to take it! I'm really pushing the nutrient, too, as Randomblame is right - they do seem to hog Cal-Mag when they get lots of light, especially in straight coco.

 

[Prawn Connery]

Looks like I made the right choice for now.

Mate, honestly, I've been a bit too ambitious!

As this is my first LED grow (and first horizontal grow for, like, ever), I wasn't sure what to expect or how hard I should go. So I built what I thought would be enough - based on my experience with HIDs - and it turned out to be more than enough for this set-up. Unfortunately, I'm a bit pushed for space right now, but I'm starting to think I could widen both frames to 2'x2' and run one each in a 3x3' tent with decent coverage and good power. Maybe the buds wouldn't be as big, but I don't think I'd be disappointed with the yield.

Or - I'm really starting to think - I could widen each frame to 3'x2' and hang them vertically. I have a few vertical designs in mind, but I really need a bit more space . . .

 

[Prawn Connery]

Almost forgot . . . Here's the next generation of clones. Only maybe 6 of these will make the next run, including the two Sensi Stars, two of the bigger Acids, and two of the Acid clones I didn't have room for last time. I always keep clones and almost never throw anything out until I have grown and smoked it. You never know - sometimes the smallest plants have the best high.

 

[ANC]

THere is a nice 25-page thread over on 420mag forums, some other guys also built F and G type units.

That frame looks dangerously heavy. I'm starting to think maybe use alu sheet, in a 1 or half inch L channel frame. and then to bond 12 or 25mm C channel right over where the chips will run with some thermal glue. This should be quite light

 

[Prawn Connery]

Alright, one more before I go to bed. Seeds! These are my own cross of my keeper Swiss Bliss female that I grew for many years and a Schnazzleberry#2 male. They are not feminised. Swiss Bliss is my absolute favorite alround smoke. You can't buy it anymore, as Luc lost the original sativa mother plant. But I sent him lots of F2s from three different females and three males in the hope he would one day try to resurrect it. Such a loss.



Here are the notes I took at the time of each plant used in the cross:

SB2 = female keeper clone (hybrid pheno). Second-largest yielding F1 female with very branchy structure and limited height. Airy, foxtail buds – not very dense, but somewhat mold-resistant. Grape/strawberry bubblegum smell/taste with some skunkiness and quite astringent. Very oily, slightly fuely and a hint of rotting tropical fruit. Nice clear head high with relaxing, euphoric properties. Creeps up slowly and has absolutely no paranoia. Very functional high. Great smoke night or day – seems to accentuate mood – with no couch-lock or lethargy. Excellent alround smoke that is potent and “kind”. Takes 9-10 weeks to finish.

Schnazzleberry = Chimera’s Schnazzelberry #2 male. This male is ¼ Craig’s Skunk and ¾ DJ Short Blueberry. Very sweet berry taste/smell. Blueberry type head high with relaxing properties, but not a very long-lasting high. Very frosty, but not very high yielding. Dark blue leaves, sativa appearance, small tight buds on long branches. Very astringent and oily. Finishes in 7-8 weeks. Seems like it would compliment my Swiss Bliss (SB2) clone, hence the cross. Very hashy flavor.

 

[Buck5050]

Simply Awe Inspiring! I can't wait to see what you do with those seeds.

 

[Prawn Connery]

THere is a nice 25-page thread over on 420mag forums, some other guys also built F and G type units.

That frame looks dangerously heavy. I'm starting to think maybe use alu sheet, in a 1 or half inch L channel frame. and then to bond 12 or 25mm C channel right over where the chips will run with some thermal glue. This should be quite light

Hi mate, got a link?

I've got some 600x500x3mm sheet aluminum here and was considering using it, but it's quite heavy - heavier than the u-channel frames (which have less material) - and I was concerned about it trapping heat, unlike the u-channels which allow heat to circulate and escape.

The sheet aluminium has one advantage I can see in that it is a large reflective surface. Also, by tipping it on its side in a vertical style grow, it wouldn't trap any heat, so you might be on to something.

 

[BuddyColas]

THere is a nice 25-page thread over on 420mag forums, some other guys also built F and G type units.

That frame looks dangerously heavy. I'm starting to think maybe use alu sheet, in a 1 or half inch L channel frame. and then to bond 12 or 25mm C channel right over where the chips will run with some thermal glue. This should be quite light

Please share a link to the "other guys" building F and G builds. Thanks.

 

[ANC]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=344172&page=5

https://www.420magazine.com/forums/grow-lighting/413216-riders-first-foray-into-led-strip-lighting-samsung-h-series-gen3.html

 

[ANC]

Just something I saw
Might explain why the Chinese guys cant get 561Cs.

Wanted to make folks aware there is a shortage of Smasung LM561C 300k and 3500k diodes towards the future. Only existing supply is available as Samsung is retooling their operations towards the LM301B diode which they are producing at a 25% cost increase $0.06/diode up fro $0.04 but only in 5000k spectrum.​