LEDGrower1
Active Member
June 26, 2007
Hello Everybody, I want to start my thread by saying that everyone is invited to comment on my grows and give their critiscisms and observations.
Now for a one comment:
"Every theory and setup shown here is purely fictional and is not really happening. And the information in here cannot be used by anyone or against anyone as any other work of pure fiction."
VARIOIUS CHALLENGES:
WOULD AN LED AND FLUORO SETUP WORK AS WELL, BETTER, OR ALMOST AS GOOD AS MY LAST GROW USING THE SAME CLONES?
WILL ORGANIC SHORT CHANGE MY CROP TOO?
USING ORGANIC SOIL. FOR MY ORGANIC FERTILIZER, I AM BOILING FISH HEADS, GUTS AND SKIN, AND LETTING THE LIQUID THICKEN UP, ADDING BAT GUANO AND AN ORGANIC FERTILIZER TO MAKE SURE I GET ALL NUTRIENTS. I AM ALSO USING LAKE SILT AND COMPOSTING IN THE BACK. I ADDED EARTHWORMS AND VARIOUS DIFFERENT CONCOCTIONS OF ORGANIC INSECTICIDES READY.
I am setting up an LED/t5 fluoro setup. This will be a scale of about 60 plants when done. I bought The HPS's anyway, in case this fails or doesnt flower properly, inject it with either full HPS or maybe 6 hours out of the 12 hours when flowering, keeping my costs down and still giving me the FLOWER POWER. This is not my first grow, and I have used HPS grows with a good amount of success using regular grows.
And this is not my first LED GROW, this would be my second attempt. My first wasnt very good and I think for certain reasons other than the obvious HPS is for flowering. Ill give my reasons later, but in this I will explain my setup of LEDS and FLOUROS.
First I bought two types of LEDS, RED(630 NM) AND BLUE(475 NM).
I own now 30+ reds and 30 Blues. That would be good enough for 30 plants, one of each and could also have potential overlap if built in close enough.
My theory is, that LEDS and FLouros combined can effectively challenge HPS all through the plant cycle.
The flouros I bought were from Ebay and are plant specific. Since I already had two frequencies my theory is, that plants need plenty of the other light too. And with this will allow the plant to function properly with all necessary nutrients at the right dosages. (Iron is good for you, but it doesnt mean you going to eat a nail) and when all conditions are correct, give the plant a protein drink dosage of the blues and reds with the LEDS.
I ordered 4 sets of fluoros, with two sets of bulb configurations. I got the 2 cools Narrow spectrum bulbs, 1 red and 1 orange. My other kit has all red and orange. Which I will use for flowering including the RED LEDS. I will stay away from HPS and will only use at last minute if crop is not flowering well enough. I may be experimenting, but I am doing it on a larger scale and I am investing quite a bit more and at the end of the day, I have to get my money back for the grow. I will post and ask as much to avoid this and i will keep this journal updated.
For this I bought a few necesities at the hardware store.
My inventory included:
30 floodlights, WALL mounted, two lights model as long as its directional, so You can aim the beam, something i didnt do on my previous grow) and something I noticed from TM21thc with his thread and his successful setup so far.
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/14441-50w-killer-setup-god-knows.html
Two sheets of 1/4 inch plywood 8 x 4
Some good nylon solid rope about 75 ft long.
4 good metal cast pulleys
8 machine cut eye bolts with nut and washer
4 machine cut eye bolts screw tip ( to screw in to wood.
2 x 2 to be the support ribs for the 1/4" plywood to prevent bending with weight. 1?4 " plywood bends without supports, but If you buy 1/2 " plywood, its just oo heavy and it still bends. So put the 2 x 2 surrounding the frame.
I screwed in the 2x2 and then drilled straight through in eight holes and drilled holes at the same spots a pool table hole would be, all corners and two sides. For safety I added 2 more bolts on the sides. I cut two pieces of rope about 5 ft long each, burned the tips on the ropes and tied one piece of rope on one coner and tied the other end of each rope to the pertaining side eyebolts.
I drilled two holes into the cieling at 3 ft from wall facing the long side and at 28" from the wall on the wide side. Drilled another hole at around 7 ft from the first wall you measured. This will allow for the plywood to be on foot from one wall and 4 inches from the backwall, saving space, becasue with this setup I can move around closesly set lights. It doesnt matter If the cieling is vaulted, you just need more rope. Screw in the hook screw and hang the pulleys non business end into the hook. Tie a rope that goes from the floor, where the plywood is at present, and then thread the pulley and make sure that side reaches the floor, cut the rope and you should have about 16 ft. Burn the end and tie the rope using any marine knot that says would work for permanant knots in the little book that comes with the rope. I can guarantee that the knots that say (for temporary uses) will actually work as specified and even better.
Tie the two ropes attached to the eyebolts to the rope hanging from the pulley. Make sure you tie a nontightening knot, or use a rope ring that will hold the weight. Do this to both sides, (RECYCLING TIP)drill a hole into an excess piece of the 2 x 2 and thread the hole with the rope and use the 2 x 2 as a handle.
(I am definitely a tree lover)
Now that you can comfortably handle both sides and you notice the plywood is suspended and balanced nicely. Now I added the other plywood, setup the frame and drilled the holes on the roof, so both sheets are next to each other. If your worried about bumping and the just clamp both ends together. Dont fix both sheets together, cause then lifting would be tougher.
Now that both frames are hanging from their pulley system and you get a grip at what speed I should pull or let go of, I pulled the plywoods to about waist level and measured 6" from one corner and 6" from the 90 degree corner and drilled a hole at 6", then counted 12 inches away from the hole and drilled following the hole across the short side at 18". Then I added a 4 bulb 4 ft fluoro after the first row of leds then two more rows of leds bulbs, the one more fluoro, then one more LED.
At 6 kits per row of leds, im up to 4 rows of leds at 24 led lamps and I still have to hook up the fluoros. For the extra 6 inches left over, if you do it my way, you will have 6 inches left over, i addded a two bulb t8 fluoro.
As far as my knowledge goes, the two flouros I purchased are 400 WATT HPS equivalents on LUMENS and have 93% reflective hood. Again thats what the manufacturer stated.
By adding a two bulb t8 I cover the dark area in the room. I wired all the cables with high grade romex and tied all cables together. I figured with my math this setup would be about 150 watts total enery and very little amps. Plus I have had the bulbs on for a week, without the flouros to test heat and the room stays as cool as a cucmber. With no huge AC on. an 8000 BTU that runs during the hottest time of the day and when the lights are off. ALL WINDOWS ARE SEALED and using insulated reflective 1/2 " thick sheets on the walls and window, after covering up and adding a motion controlled night light, that gives the appearance of someone turning on and off the lights at random times through a thick curtain. TOTAL ISOLATION.
I have only 18 baby clones now and one mother. I only kept the mom from my last grow when I moved all my things "in the cover of night" to my present grow room.
Wish me luck everyone, and if anyone has any questions, you are more than welcome to comment and I will have some pics soon, but not until my damn t5's.
ONE SIDE NOTE. I am using YEAST, WATER AND SUGAR AS MY carbon dioxide machine. I just got a little electric warmer and put it under a 2 gallon pot running around 105 degree F. Very safe and pretty reliable. I dont have a gas tester to calculate exactly how many exact PPM I have in the room. If someone wants to test this method I am using simple active yeast from the supermarket adding water and sugar.
The reason for this specific setup is for one theory I have is that plants may survive and even l;ook normal with only red and blue leds, but the plant still needs a full PLANTFULL of the FULL useable spectrum, but limiting the harmful and useless ones to a minimum and maximizing the light consumption of the good spectrum, therefore giving a balanced diet but always making sure they are still eating healthy. Plants absorb, not only water as when people call them thirsty babies, but also need a good dose of light. SO MY CHALLENGE IS ON, I BELIEVE USING THIS COMBINATION I WILL BEAT OUT A SIMLAR HPS GROW WITH TWO 400'S. I have grown under HPS sungrow before and took out some delicious colas my friend does the same. I think I can match or beat the performance.
I WOULD LIKE ANYONE TO COMMENT SO FAR.
Hello Everybody, I want to start my thread by saying that everyone is invited to comment on my grows and give their critiscisms and observations.
Now for a one comment:
"Every theory and setup shown here is purely fictional and is not really happening. And the information in here cannot be used by anyone or against anyone as any other work of pure fiction."
VARIOIUS CHALLENGES:
WOULD AN LED AND FLUORO SETUP WORK AS WELL, BETTER, OR ALMOST AS GOOD AS MY LAST GROW USING THE SAME CLONES?
WILL ORGANIC SHORT CHANGE MY CROP TOO?
USING ORGANIC SOIL. FOR MY ORGANIC FERTILIZER, I AM BOILING FISH HEADS, GUTS AND SKIN, AND LETTING THE LIQUID THICKEN UP, ADDING BAT GUANO AND AN ORGANIC FERTILIZER TO MAKE SURE I GET ALL NUTRIENTS. I AM ALSO USING LAKE SILT AND COMPOSTING IN THE BACK. I ADDED EARTHWORMS AND VARIOUS DIFFERENT CONCOCTIONS OF ORGANIC INSECTICIDES READY.
I am setting up an LED/t5 fluoro setup. This will be a scale of about 60 plants when done. I bought The HPS's anyway, in case this fails or doesnt flower properly, inject it with either full HPS or maybe 6 hours out of the 12 hours when flowering, keeping my costs down and still giving me the FLOWER POWER. This is not my first grow, and I have used HPS grows with a good amount of success using regular grows.
And this is not my first LED GROW, this would be my second attempt. My first wasnt very good and I think for certain reasons other than the obvious HPS is for flowering. Ill give my reasons later, but in this I will explain my setup of LEDS and FLOUROS.
First I bought two types of LEDS, RED(630 NM) AND BLUE(475 NM).
I own now 30+ reds and 30 Blues. That would be good enough for 30 plants, one of each and could also have potential overlap if built in close enough.
My theory is, that LEDS and FLouros combined can effectively challenge HPS all through the plant cycle.
The flouros I bought were from Ebay and are plant specific. Since I already had two frequencies my theory is, that plants need plenty of the other light too. And with this will allow the plant to function properly with all necessary nutrients at the right dosages. (Iron is good for you, but it doesnt mean you going to eat a nail) and when all conditions are correct, give the plant a protein drink dosage of the blues and reds with the LEDS.
I ordered 4 sets of fluoros, with two sets of bulb configurations. I got the 2 cools Narrow spectrum bulbs, 1 red and 1 orange. My other kit has all red and orange. Which I will use for flowering including the RED LEDS. I will stay away from HPS and will only use at last minute if crop is not flowering well enough. I may be experimenting, but I am doing it on a larger scale and I am investing quite a bit more and at the end of the day, I have to get my money back for the grow. I will post and ask as much to avoid this and i will keep this journal updated.
For this I bought a few necesities at the hardware store.
My inventory included:
30 floodlights, WALL mounted, two lights model as long as its directional, so You can aim the beam, something i didnt do on my previous grow) and something I noticed from TM21thc with his thread and his successful setup so far.
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/14441-50w-killer-setup-god-knows.html
Two sheets of 1/4 inch plywood 8 x 4
Some good nylon solid rope about 75 ft long.
4 good metal cast pulleys
8 machine cut eye bolts with nut and washer
4 machine cut eye bolts screw tip ( to screw in to wood.
2 x 2 to be the support ribs for the 1/4" plywood to prevent bending with weight. 1?4 " plywood bends without supports, but If you buy 1/2 " plywood, its just oo heavy and it still bends. So put the 2 x 2 surrounding the frame.
I screwed in the 2x2 and then drilled straight through in eight holes and drilled holes at the same spots a pool table hole would be, all corners and two sides. For safety I added 2 more bolts on the sides. I cut two pieces of rope about 5 ft long each, burned the tips on the ropes and tied one piece of rope on one coner and tied the other end of each rope to the pertaining side eyebolts.
I drilled two holes into the cieling at 3 ft from wall facing the long side and at 28" from the wall on the wide side. Drilled another hole at around 7 ft from the first wall you measured. This will allow for the plywood to be on foot from one wall and 4 inches from the backwall, saving space, becasue with this setup I can move around closesly set lights. It doesnt matter If the cieling is vaulted, you just need more rope. Screw in the hook screw and hang the pulleys non business end into the hook. Tie a rope that goes from the floor, where the plywood is at present, and then thread the pulley and make sure that side reaches the floor, cut the rope and you should have about 16 ft. Burn the end and tie the rope using any marine knot that says would work for permanant knots in the little book that comes with the rope. I can guarantee that the knots that say (for temporary uses) will actually work as specified and even better.
Tie the two ropes attached to the eyebolts to the rope hanging from the pulley. Make sure you tie a nontightening knot, or use a rope ring that will hold the weight. Do this to both sides, (RECYCLING TIP)drill a hole into an excess piece of the 2 x 2 and thread the hole with the rope and use the 2 x 2 as a handle.
(I am definitely a tree lover)
Now that you can comfortably handle both sides and you notice the plywood is suspended and balanced nicely. Now I added the other plywood, setup the frame and drilled the holes on the roof, so both sheets are next to each other. If your worried about bumping and the just clamp both ends together. Dont fix both sheets together, cause then lifting would be tougher.
Now that both frames are hanging from their pulley system and you get a grip at what speed I should pull or let go of, I pulled the plywoods to about waist level and measured 6" from one corner and 6" from the 90 degree corner and drilled a hole at 6", then counted 12 inches away from the hole and drilled following the hole across the short side at 18". Then I added a 4 bulb 4 ft fluoro after the first row of leds then two more rows of leds bulbs, the one more fluoro, then one more LED.
At 6 kits per row of leds, im up to 4 rows of leds at 24 led lamps and I still have to hook up the fluoros. For the extra 6 inches left over, if you do it my way, you will have 6 inches left over, i addded a two bulb t8 fluoro.
As far as my knowledge goes, the two flouros I purchased are 400 WATT HPS equivalents on LUMENS and have 93% reflective hood. Again thats what the manufacturer stated.
By adding a two bulb t8 I cover the dark area in the room. I wired all the cables with high grade romex and tied all cables together. I figured with my math this setup would be about 150 watts total enery and very little amps. Plus I have had the bulbs on for a week, without the flouros to test heat and the room stays as cool as a cucmber. With no huge AC on. an 8000 BTU that runs during the hottest time of the day and when the lights are off. ALL WINDOWS ARE SEALED and using insulated reflective 1/2 " thick sheets on the walls and window, after covering up and adding a motion controlled night light, that gives the appearance of someone turning on and off the lights at random times through a thick curtain. TOTAL ISOLATION.
I have only 18 baby clones now and one mother. I only kept the mom from my last grow when I moved all my things "in the cover of night" to my present grow room.
Wish me luck everyone, and if anyone has any questions, you are more than welcome to comment and I will have some pics soon, but not until my damn t5's.
ONE SIDE NOTE. I am using YEAST, WATER AND SUGAR AS MY carbon dioxide machine. I just got a little electric warmer and put it under a 2 gallon pot running around 105 degree F. Very safe and pretty reliable. I dont have a gas tester to calculate exactly how many exact PPM I have in the room. If someone wants to test this method I am using simple active yeast from the supermarket adding water and sugar.
The reason for this specific setup is for one theory I have is that plants may survive and even l;ook normal with only red and blue leds, but the plant still needs a full PLANTFULL of the FULL useable spectrum, but limiting the harmful and useless ones to a minimum and maximizing the light consumption of the good spectrum, therefore giving a balanced diet but always making sure they are still eating healthy. Plants absorb, not only water as when people call them thirsty babies, but also need a good dose of light. SO MY CHALLENGE IS ON, I BELIEVE USING THIS COMBINATION I WILL BEAT OUT A SIMLAR HPS GROW WITH TWO 400'S. I have grown under HPS sungrow before and took out some delicious colas my friend does the same. I think I can match or beat the performance.
I WOULD LIKE ANYONE TO COMMENT SO FAR.
There are four LED panels now and also 4 CFLs. currently 3 plants 
