There's a Black Dog in my Jardin: mc130p's horticultural adventure

[mc130p]

Oh so I forgot the side view from last night:

 

[FranJan]

MC dude you grow really nice plants. You really do. You ever think about adding whites or supplementation? Any new panels you're looking at? And what temps is your tent at? I'm assuming you've added the CO2 for yield but are you doing it for managing your temps too? I'm assuming that monster panel you use can get hot after 10 hours+ of it being on and CO2 is a good way to deal with that IMO.

It's funny mc130p, and don't take this the wrong way please, but you do know you're the red-headed-step-child of the RIU LED section . No one ever recommends Black Dogs, but there you are knocking it out of the park with that monster, but no one, or not enough peeps, give you your due so I would like to do that right here. But I do have to admit I'm with GG and if you ever got your hands on an Apache you'd be folding your plants in half to keep the buds in your tent .LOL But whatever bro, do it your way, cause it be workin' 4 u!

 

[mc130p]

MC dude you grow really nice plants. You really do. You ever think about adding whites or supplementation? Any new panels you're looking at? And what temps is your tent at? I'm assuming you've added the CO2 for yield but are you doing it for managing your temps too? I'm assuming that monster panel you use can get hot after 10 hours+ of it being on and CO2 is a good way to deal with that IMO. ...

Hi FranJan, thanks a lot for the compliment, I really appreciate it

So, I have been thinking about getting a new panel, but I think I will probably do at least one more grow with the BD240U. I am thinking of a new light soon though, because I think if I had something just a bit bigger than what I have right now, I could use the rest of the space in the tent and really get what I want as far as yield is concerned. Then I could sell my old stuff on ebay for a few bucks. It seems like there are lots of good options out there, but I'm still undecided on what to buy next.

Temps haven't been an issue since I increased the size of my scrubber from the tiny 4"x12" phresh to the 6"by16", which is a perfect fit in my tent and allows the TD Silent to really pull lots of air, I think it's probably pulling at least 75% of the rated 200cfm. I use a temperature controller to keep the tent at 76-80F-I hooked up a SPDT relay that flips the fan on and the CO2 off, in addition to another relay that can override that with a timer based control. I noticed by looking at the last grow that I should really add the CO2 for yield, though I'm sure that we will be having some hot days and nights soon, so it will also be a temperature issue. The BD240U does put out some heat, but since I haven't used other lights, I can't really say if it's a lot for a light of that size. I do know that the temps don't seem to really be an issue for me, as the temperature controller keeps the heat exhaust fan off far more than it's on.

Okay, so long post, I'll get to the rest later....thanks again man!

 

[mc130p]

...

It's funny mc130p, and don't take this the wrong way please, but you do know you're the red-headed-step-child of the RIU LED section . No one ever recommends Black Dogs, but there you are knocking it out of the park with that monster, but no one, or not enough peeps, give you your due so I would like to do that right here. But I do have to admit I'm with GG and if you ever got your hands on an Apache you'd be folding your plants in half to keep the buds in your tent .LOL But whatever bro, do it your way, cause it be workin' 4 u!

Haha, yeah I know. I don't get paid by anyone, so I won't go out of my way to recommend any lights, except to try to steer people away from the cheaper p's o.s. I guess I ended up buying the Black Dog was because I hadn't seen very much about it here and yet they were willing to give a substantial warranty on their product, and I was willing to be a bit of a guinea pig on the deal. I don't want to piss anyone off, so I won't talk about why I didn't choose other products. I got really lucky when I got the light because originally I bought the smallest light for a bit over 400 dollars and they sent me the 240U on accident, so it was a nice free bonus upgrade. Overall though, I can't really complain about the light...it seems to be doing a great job at growing pretty much any type of plant I put under it.

I like the Apache 120WR a lot, but it is a bit pricier than I want. Also, I'm not sure about the effective flowering area for the light. Think it could flower a 3'x2' area? Do you know of any discounts available for them? If I get one of those, I'll take that BD240U apart and show everyone the guts, lol.

 

[mc130p]

Hey everyone, so I got this free sample of nutrients a while back, and I was thinking about trying it out:


Anyone use this brand before with a soil grow? If so, can you give any thoughts? Thanks!!!

 

[puffenuff]

The AT120 should be able to handle a 3x2 if you run it long ways. I wouldn't go much bigger than that though. Not sure if greengene's code will work on that model since its already discounted. Last I heard they were limited in number of units left. Is the price of the AT200 the only thing making you think about the 120 instead?

 

[mc130p]

The AT120 should be able to handle a 3x2 if you run it long ways. I wouldn't go much bigger than that though. Not sure if greengene's code will work on that model since its already discounted. Last I heard they were limited in number of units left. Is the price of the AT200 the only thing making you think about the 120 instead?

Thanks a lot puff! Yeah, the 200 is pretty pricey. The 120 is more than I want to spend, tbh. But, my current light paid for itself on the first grow, so it might be worth it....I'll have to clear the paypal paymelater first though O_O

 

[PSUAGRO.]

Did you get the RO/soft or tap/hard V&B for soil use??? I would prefer the former IMO

ask CM and Pet they are using it for awhile now.......pet is in hydro though

 

[mc130p]

Hmm, that's a good question. I can't really remember, so I'd have to guess that I got the V&B for tap water, since that's what I'm using.

 

[mc130p]

Hi everyone, I hope your week is going well so far. Thanks a lot guys for the tips on the nutes and the light discussion.

So, the girls are starting to get a little better. As Chronikool kindly pointed out, they looked a little off. I really appreciate it when other people say things, sometimes it's hard to notice until things get a bit more out of hand than they should. I ended up measuring the distance to the light, and it was only about 10 inches, so I raised it to 12 inches. I could see that I needed to up the Cal-Mag based on the 1024 and the LH beginning to show some spots after adding CO2, but the tips on the leaves made me decide to lower the nutes a tad. I think they look a bit better, or a least the same

Here's a top view:


Here's a side view:


And a bud shot of the Liberty Haze(sideways, of course ) :

Lastly, here's the Lost Coast OG:

 

[Rooster99]

Tasty!! And pretty frosty too!

 

[mc130p]

Hi everyone, here's an update on the girls:

The 1024 and the Liberty Haze are showing a bit of damage from last week's incident... but the buds look good and they seem to be getting better, with damage confined to some of the top leaves.

We had a nice week weather wise, but it's supposed to get kind of hot this week. I sure hope the weather can hold out for a few more weeks without AC.

It's a good thing I didn't bet on the Desert Diesel finishing first, I'd say now it's going to be the Liberty Haze. The Lost Coast OG is a tank, she can seemingly can take anything and remain photogenic...a perfect plant for a noob like me, haha. They all get the same nutes, so I think best case scenario is that they're all a tad bit unhappy, being different strains and no previous experience with those strains. The only one I've done before is the LH, and she was a picky girl last time... and I'd say the 1024 should be in that group with her.

Here's some pics:

The top and side views:


Here's some bud shots

Desert Diesel:


Lost Coast OG:


Liberty Haze:

 

[mc130p]

Hey RIU peoples

Here's a quick mid-week update with the cam:


As you can see, everyone is really plumping up I couldn't help myself and I took a small sample off the Liberty Haze... I think that should keep me occupied for a few days, and keep me from getting tempted on the sinful early chop!

 

[mc130p]

Hey everyone, here we are at the end of 8 weeks of 12/12. The girls are still doing alright, and getting nicer looking every day-as long as you don't count the fan leaves that I damaged a while back, haha. I'll get it right the whole way through one of these days

Here's the top and side views:


Here's some Friday night bud shots:

Lost Coast OG is looking fantastic. I wish I had planted her at the same time the other three and been able to top her:


The Liberty Haze looks like I can chop her down Sunday night I'm thinking. Anyone disagree?

 

[mc130p]

Well, my jar is running low so I decided to chop down the Liberty Haze: 57 days of flowering, with a 7 day decrease to 12/12. She's not the biggest plant in the world, but the buds are super dense I will grow her again next time, but she will be topped at least twice to get some more colas. Here's some pics:

I topped her at the first true set of leaves, those little side branches grew from the cotyledon nodes:

Here she is after a rough trim:


And here's the tops, with a standard bic lighter for scale:

And a picture of a cat hair:

 

[Greengenes707]

Looking damn fine
Size doesn't matter...specially when jars are low.

 

[mc130p]

Thanks a lot GG!

 

[Greengenes707]

Thanks a lot GG!

Of course..you deserve it and more form others.
A lot of smack gets talked about BD(me included in the past)...but you just keep pumping out grow after grow of big dank nugs...results speak the loudest...yours are loud imo. They may not be the doing/showing what the rest of the top brands are...but man look at your grows. Beautiful and grown like a major pro.

A true home grower growing the best possible buds with less energy and heat...and lots of them. Sounds like the whole point of people look into led in the first place.

Much respect my friend

 

[mc130p]

Thanks a lot man, I don't even really know what to say. I really appreciate it, and I gotta say, I learned by watching you guys

I don't know, maybe I'm being a worry wart, but I was/am afraid to use the traditional high output bulbs, as they are super hot and seem like a big fire hazard, especially for a plastic tent. So, I completely agree with what you're saying about less energy and heat, and those are the main reasons I was immediately drawn to LED. Plus, in general, I hate wasting things, and LEDs are the most efficient lighting source out there... so I pretty much had to go with them to not waste electricity. I wish I had the resources and space like you guys to do a real grow!

I can't wait to get a better/bigger panel and really see what I can do with the girls. I was thinking next time, if I can get the light before or soon after starting, that I would do 6-8 small plants in the 6 inch pots again...maybe then after that, I would go a bit bigger in the pot size, and fewer strains. I'm still wanting to do as many little plants as I can, so that I can try lots of strains and figure out what I like best

 

[puffenuff]

Man you grow some serious chronic. Just looks so god damn dank. Looking forward to a smoke report!