Full LED grow room/aeroponic system. first attemp

[thunderchunkie]

ya bud, sorry if i come off as a dick sometimes, hehe. i was just waiting for my first cup of coffee of the day and can't be held responsible for anything that i might say, lol.

I've been trying for about an hour to find a site I was on yesterday that sold LED grow lights. They had one that would completely replace a 1000W MH but the damn thing cost 1599$! I'm pretty sure that would work nicely but its a hell of a lot of money considering one MH bulb costs 100$, lol. I really think it would be prudent of these company's that sell LED lights to make a wattage comparison chart to explain the exact ratio of LED's in comparison to MH's and HPS lights. I did read that you can't do a Watt by Watt comparison because the MH's and HPS lights shed off alot of unused light and are not as strong in the right spectrum areas as LED's are. I would think that if you were to use 1000W of LED's compared to 1000W of MH, you would be overshooting the amount or required spectrum needed for growth and the cost would be outrageous. I have alot of more research to do on LED's but this is all just part of the learning process.

As far as that URL goes for that site, I'll keep looking and send it to you when I find it, it was some pretty wild stuff. I have seen that type of light that you posted there, but the ones I saw were radically different than that. pisses me off that I cant find the site again, lmao. thanks bud

 

[thunderchunkie]

Ya, they are stretchy. I made a couple mistakes as far as the height of the lights go so its my damn fault, lol.

I have the Panels 2" above the plants right now. the exact temp there, underneath the lights is 22.2 celcius ( or 72 Fahrenheit) I used 1/4" plywood to mount them cause they dont weigh nothing, lol.




Room temp, 21 degrees celcius,
Rez temp, 20 degrees celcius, 36 liter,
Nutes are Dutch Nutrient Formula A&B (don't have a ppm meter so I'm just following directions, 5ml/liter)
Ph, 6.01,
RH, 38% (need a humidifier!!)
Light cycle 24/7
Water cycle, flush and clean 10-14 days. Using tap water that sits for 3 days to let chlorine evaporate.

 

[slamminsam]

Very nice glad to see you lowered the light. I have been thinking about getting the 90w ufo light. I'll been watching the posts. Great job. lol I will be learning from your mistakes.
Very nice to see ppl like you expermenting with new technology. I have read up on the nasa grows and they said the only con of growing is the "blackish hue that remains on the leaves from lack of green light.

 

[thunderchunkie]

I'm gonna say this is week 3 cause I probably stunted them by putting them right into the system and full nutes way to early ( roots weren't even showing and there was only one set of leaves.) If anyone thinks this is wrong, I'll say week 5. It was my mistake after all, hehe'

The plants grew 1/2 inch overnight and I believe the stalks are starting to fatten up (probably due to turning on the fan a couple days ago, lol, and lowering the lights right down)

I'll put some more pics later on this evening so theres been a full day since my last post.

pH-5.9
Rez temp-21* celsius/68*F
Room temp-23.5*/*F-74.3
R.H-33% (need a damn humidifier!!!--next Tuesday)

Also, if you see any brownish/yellowish spots on the leaves, its due to the LED's being so close to the lights. Almost freaked out last night cause i could see brown tips and spots on the leaves. when I moved the lights sideways slightly, they went away, lol. its just the red lights being so close that does it, hahaaa.

 

[natmoon]

Just leave a bucket/dish etc.. of water somewhere in your grow room it will evaporate and create humidity in the warmth of your room

 

[thunderchunkie]

I'm gonna say this is week 3 cause I probably stunted them by putting them right into the system and full nutes way to early ( roots werent even showing and there was only one set of leaves.)

The plants grew 1/2 inch overnight and I believe the stalks are starting to fatten up (probably due to turning on the fan a couple days ago, lol, and lovering the lights right down)

I'll put some more pics later on this evening so theres been a full day since my last post.

pH-5.9
Rez temp-21* celsius/68*F
Room temp-23.5*/*F-74.3
R.H-33% (need a damn humidifier!!!--next Tuesday)

Also, noticed some brownish/yellowish spots on the leaves last night and almost pooped myself. turns out the red LED's just make em look that way when they're close to the plants, lol. Found that just by poking the lights over just slightly under a blue one and the spots went away, leaving a nice, emerald colored leaf, hahaaa.

 

[thunderchunkie]

natmoon. thanks for the advice. I did try that with a couple 2 liter bottles but perhaps there wasnt enough escaping from them. Fortunately I have an old Coors Light pail from an ex girlfriend kicking around so I'll try that ( I personally can't stand Coors Light, I'm a Bud/Blue or Guinness guy myself, and believe in consuming large quantities of each when available, hahaaa)
I just put a bucket of warm water in my room. the R.H. is 34% right now. will check it in an hour or so and see if its helping. thanks bud

 

[rastafari]

put a damp towel up m8 that should put the humidity up never needed to do this myelf so dont know if it works but read it does

 

[beautifuldisast3r]

Just leave a bucket/dish etc.. of water somewhere in your grow room it will evaporate and create humidity in the warmth of your room

This works? my closet stays at 20% constantly no matter what I do. I put in a little Honeywell Steamer and the circulation seems to just blow it all away. Should the water be in the light?

 

[thunderchunkie]

I read somewhere that the optimal humidity for growing, and budding especially is between 45-55%. It said that keeps just enough moisture in the buds to resist drying out and not enough moisture to encourage mold. I'm not sure where other ppl keep there R.H. at but if anyone knows better that I do I would appreciate the advice.

I raised the lights today to take some close ups of 5 different plants. they look very nice to me, good color.

Fortunately, putting the plants into the system before the roots were showing didn't kill them. They're just starting to show now. I think that mistake put my vegging time back a couple weeks, lol. I'll know better next time.

 

[natmoon]

They look like they responded well to having the leds placed a lot nearer to them.
I don't know about the exact humidity settings as its something i have never bothered with.

I just put a disposable dehumidifier into my room when i am budding to stop mould from being able to form and that works fine for me.
Its fairly cold and damp where i live so its not so much of an issue for me.
Best of luck

 

[thunderchunkie]

I've never heard of a disposable humidifier b4. Is that something I can get at a Hydro shop? If not, where would be a good place? Do they have a brand name you prefer to use?

 

[WidowMaker79]

Looks cool. In every one of these LED grows I keep expecting to see John Travolta in the background someplace...lol

 

[thunderchunkie]

Maybe I'll find a nice white big collared suit when I'm done the grow and use a big bud in the lapel with some sunglasses on, take a pic and post it, hahaaaa. Thats assuming of course I get some bud, lol

 

[asdfva]

Oh shit... What if you played Disco
music(I would not advise this) and the
plant responded to the Lights and the
music... Get a strobe and ladies in the
room and it might increase the yield??

Well... I was going to erase that stoned
tidbit of advise, but in awe of the fact
that I actually wrote it... it shall stay.

Oh, by the way, they are looking good!

 

[thunderchunkie]

Ya, Disco Music and Travolta don't really sum it up for me.
I think this says it more to my liking, haha

 

[Revolution101]

I'm definitely watching this thread. If these LEDS do a good job I might invest in some for my next grow... that is if my first one goes well enough.

 

[thunderchunkie]

Okie Dokie.
Everything seems to be going good still. They're still continuing to bush out more, Lights are definitely making a difference being that low.

Room temp, 22.3*C/72*F
Rez temp, 20*C/68*F
Ph lvl, 6.05
Lights, 24/7
R.H. 33% ( the bucket of water isn't helping, I'll get a humidifier.maybe its just the way the room is)
Watering Cycle, 24/7 ( it is an Areoponic setup after all)

Just to be a little more practical and to give them more light, I borrowed an idea from VictorVicious when I was going through his journal. He uses white paper plates under his plants to reflect more light from beneath.I'm sure he's not the only one that does this, but it's the first time I've seen it. I just expanded on the idea by putting Mylar over the paper plates cause I had a couple tiny pieces left over from when I did my room. Obviously they're not going to have much of an effect later on when the plants are bigger, but for now they'll help a bit, lol. The stalks are starting to woddy up a bit too.

 

[storm22]

how much were the LED's

 

[thunderchunkie]

I'm not completely sure (memory's a little hazy, lol.) I think I paid around 250$ or so plus shipping. Yes, I got them off ebay.