My LED fluoro grow #1

[Bean 420]

Well here we go my first indoor grow. 1 90w triband (blue, red, orange) LED. and to 2 24" 24w t5 strips in my homemade grow closet 6'6"ft tall 3ft deep 5ft wide.
4" in duct fan exhaust running 24/7,passive intake 10in x 16in filtered opening, small fan for air circulation, lights on 18/6 over 12 bagseeds in soil. temps stay from 64-72F and humidity between 60- 70%Put all 12 seeds in soil on 4/20/09 Started using fox farm grow big every-other watering. have some pics

 

[Bean 420]

I was hoping for some input on the set up or suggestions

 

[thetrot]

I was hoping for some input on the set up or suggestions

im no pro, but it looks good. i'd use the LED's as a supplemental lighting though, and add a few CFLs in there...

 

[Treeth]

Not bad bean,

I agree with the above post, that the ufo isn't going to really be enough for flowering, and second the supplementary warm cfl's. Go pick out some powerful ones online, perhaps two or four. Or stick with the bars, switch out some warms. You probably don't have enough as is, but you can certainly try it and get something.

Get an IR bulb to "wash" your plants before bed. This is the most important thing to add to your garden.
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/186647-experiments-cutting-edge.html

Add a uvb for some delicious frost.


I would recommend either lolipoping them, for large main colas,

or trying a scrog, for many smaller buds.

I wonder how many plants you're gonna loose as males.

 

[Bean 420]

Treeth thanks for the input. I couldn't pull up that link that you posted . not sure i know what about these ir or you uvbs you mention, I'm assuming some different style of fluoro bulb? I am interested though. I was planning on adding more cfls later as they grow. hoping to end up with at least 6 after I get rid of the males, nine would bee ideal i think. my plan was to scrog. I'm pretty impressed though with the UFO LED. By itself it looks more powerful with a pink tint but when I added the the strips(about a week ago) it made the light much more white(hoping thats a good thing). the plants all look nice and healthy and aren't stretching really.I'm not sure how it will do for flowering but hoping for the best

 

[Bean 420]

Treeth whats the ideal height for the LED light to be above the plants? I looked into that uvb light very interesting

 

[Treeth]

By IR I mean those fat ass red bulbs that you've might have seen in a bathroom sometime, maybe in a hotel room.

It's a heat lamp, and it puts out energy in the in far red, feels good on your skin, and your girls will like it even more, for only a couple minutes at bedtime.

Search for su1rrely 's post entitled experiments at the cutting edge,

It's a couple of articles published by Ed Rosenthal, good stuff, a decent summation of the best info available regarding the application of dees.

For right now, I dunno, I would keep it high enough to hit as many plants as possible.

I know that the more blue, the more N, and the cooler it is the more females you will get.

So hit all of em', however, keep it low enough to avoid stretching, but i'll bet those flouros are helping.

For flower I don't think it will do much good being more than a couple inches atop the canopy, in scrog, after some LST , that would probably only be one plant,

which is really why I don't think the ufo really represents a value in practicing our hobby.

Or you could just spring for a 600 for flower, the lights you have now would be great for side lighting, and they are probably fine for veg.

~Remember to take some cuttings for mums!

 

[Bean 420]

Treeth thanks again for the info. i know I was taking a chance on the UFO but for a little under $200 I thought I would give it a try. From what i read the different colored light needs some room to blend so i keep the UFO about 18" to 20" off the tops of the plants

 

[Bean 420]

Ok so its been a month since i put my germinated bag seeds in soil, minus 3-4 days to break the surface, we're talking 3 + weeks under 18/6. The tallest is about 6" the shortest 3-4". Does this seem right? My only real experience has been with an outdoor grow. Now I realize they wouldn't grow as fast as if they were outside, but i did think things would be moving faster than this. Can anyone tell me if this growth rate is normal? I realize it differs from plant to plant. Info from people with LED growing experience would be great! LED haters save your hate speech not gonna change my set up except maybe adding more strip fluoros or cfls. take a look at the newer pics tell me what you think. Also some of the first sets of fan leaves seem twisted / wrinkled what might cause this

 

[Treeth]

Hey Again bean...

They look pretty decent for a month in...

It's really not until they have a decent root mass established that do they really begin to take off.

Looks to me like the roots have yet to hit the bottom of the pot.

They also look like they are stretching a wee bit...

I would get a decent reciprocating fan in there to fatten up the stems a bit...

But I do agree that they do not look vigorous.

Whats your soil like? It doesn't appear to me to have the type of drainage most people here like to have...

I would even lift those bitches out to check on the roots. It looks like their growing roots pretty slow.

Maybe you should mix some other shit into the soil to help with aeration and drainage?

 

[Bean 420]

Treeth the soil I bought was hyponex potting soil saw it a local hardware store thought it was a sign...lol I didn't really know much about it but i thought it would be ok, maybe not should have put more thought into something as important as the soil but was a little anxious to get the show on the road and that store was much closer and the hydro shop in my area. it looks and and drains pretty good. the only thing is that it get a white residue on the surface when it dries out. I though it was salt build up but it might be some sort of fungus since I have had some small mushrooms pop up. i googled it and the site said it was a combo of manure and compost

 

[Bean 420]

treeth since your the only one that seems interested, or at least replies to my thread I figured look into the thread you started. I had no idea you were so into leds. have you ever heard of bridgelux? thats the maker of the leds I have. If so are they any good? and the soil that I bought hyponex potting soil isn't made of compost and manure like I thought that was a different product they make. I don't know the whats in the soil but it got pretty bad reviews on line for what that worth ...boo

 

[Treeth]

My seedlings have just like one or two more sets of leaves than yours...

and only now are the roots starting to explode into my medium.

I bet in a week they will probably start to look more healthy.

 

[Bean 420]

Treeth I was looking into those uvb and infrared bulbs you told me about awhile back. I was thinking one of these might work

http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=2179 in my fluoro strips what do you think if you don't like those can you recommend some in a t5 24" and i was wondering if these were the right infrared lamps too?

http://www.petco.com/product/106238/Zoo-Med-Nocturnal-Infrared-Heat-Lamp.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Reptile-_-Zoo Med-_-481335&mr:trackingCode=6C35DAE1-7A19-DE11-B4E3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA
what wattage would you recommend? again if you don't like those any recommendations would be appreciated.
Both of those would be used only in the flowering stage right? what kind of time frame for each? I believe you said just like 5 mins at the end of the light cycle, but what about the uvb are they one for the full 12hrs?
And since I'm talking shop I added some soil to my pots to cover some of those skinny stems. also notice some roots poking out of the stems near the surface so now they are covered. and for now I'm sticking with the soil, i gonna give them some time cause things seem to be perking up a bit. even starting to notice a little skunk stink on the largest one. the fans on them now(and from the start 24/7) rustles he leaves nicely but doesn't oscillate. might have to break down and buy another one when things get bigger. also been keeping a better watch on my ph levels when watering. i use tap water but ph is between 7 and 8. I looked into using water from my dehumidifier the ph is 4 to 5 so either way i have to adjust but it takes less adjusting when using my nutes. any thoughts?

 

[hock8889]

well...i just bought a UFO cheap too...i only really want one plant....i'm growing outside like last year...but then i'm pulling one or two in...and finishing inside. as Last year I only ahd one plant with real dense orange hairy buds....so I'm hoping for more luck inside this year. I think i'll pull one in early and make it bud when it's pretty small..just to see what happens..your grow looks great...it does take a while for them to get big and then it's watch out.

 

[Bean 420]

Hock I'm hoping that cheap doesn't = sh!tty but it seems pretty good we'll see when it comes to flowering. I'm gonna give it some help though

 

[Treeth]

Bean!

That uvb bulb is bitchin. Its gonna look like a snowstorm hit!

They will replace those higher kelvin tubes you have now for vegging quite nicely when you switch to flower... They are much more of a warm white. I would keep the old ones in though until your girls actually start really showing, which is really when they stop growing vertically. Then pop in the uvb.

That ir bulb looks good too. The idea with the ir is to hit all of the plant, or as much of it as you can. I think one bulb is enough, as IR will really bounce around inside of a room. Two, on two opposite angles, would be really complete however.

The best part is... you can run 14 or more hours of light when using the IR for those crucial five minutes after lights out. 12/12 is a myth.

You'll get the soil thing down. Once you think they are established, try practicing the wet dry cycle with the soil. Let the pot get pretty dry before you water again. This will probably take almost a week with the lights you are using, as they cause less transpiration than HIDS.

 

[Treeth]

Haha...

Yeah I'm pretty into the dee scene. I really like what I have going. Think a ufo... per plant. And because its per plant, its literally ON the plant.

I cant wait to flower!

Bean.

Check out general hydroponics subculture b? and m.

The b is symbiotic bacteria that is all beneficial for your roots. It effectively innoculates them against anything that is already in your soil. The m is mychorizal fungi... It takes a while to establish, but it builds a network of, im no mycologist, lycium? Its essentially a second root system. Many growers on here swear by it... It is definetely a boost for the plants.

 

[Treeth]

Be careful with your nutes, I've read only every other feeding for soil...

And if you run into any signs of trouble, don't wait, immediately flush them.

-------------

I have never known who made the leds for the ufo... and now I know!

They seem to be pretty reputable, Although I could not find their colored leds for sale... This isn't bad, they are just a more OEM focused than, say,

Cree or Phillips, which are the best known companies.

 

[Treeth]

Here are MY GIRLS!

Bubble bucket in front, Fog bucket in back, under royal blue rebels.

Roots!