Planning my first grow, thinking about the details

[Jbird7]

I calculated i have 65.7" from the ground to the LED panels and 54" from the top of my pots to the panels. I can lift up my panels maybe 8" more if necessary.

So i could have about 35" high plants if i keep my panels 22" from the flower canopy, at maximum 43" (3.6ft) high without the hangers. Dunno if that's okay, wonder how tall plants people usually grow at similar conditions.

And at what time/height i would need to flip from veg to bloom? I probably need to do a lot of tying down and let them keep filling up the tent from the sides too.

Well u always want to be prepared for plants to get as much as 2-3 times their height in flower. Also realize that depending on ur light, once u switch it to bloom mode, it may need to be raised further away. U really want to play it safe first go round. Honestly a scrog would probably be ideal. But u may want to get a couple grows under your belt first. Its however u feel.but if u have 78" total... ur pots are 12" tall. Leavin u 66". Depth of ur light plus a possible 4ft distance between plant and light. Lets say 54" total. That leaves u 12" for plant. So youd flip at 6"tall. Now lets be clear. U may b able to get away w much more height..but the taller u go, the more risk of burning tops when u go into flower. And unfortunately manufacturer recommendations for light distance are notoriously inaccurate. Just some food for thought so u kno ur risks. Trial and error is the only way sometimes.

 

[Jbird7]

Well u always want to be prepared for plants to get as much as 2-3 times their height in flower. Also realize that depending on ur light, once u switch it to bloom mode, it may need to be raised further away. U really want to play it safe first go round. Honestly a scrog would probably be ideal. But u may want to get a couple grows under your belt first. Its however u feel.but if u have 78" total... ur pots are 12" tall. Leavin u 66". Depth of ur light plus a possible 4ft distance between plant and light. Lets say 54" total. That leaves u 12" for plant. So youd flip at 6"tall. Now lets be clear. U may b able to get away w much more height..but the taller u go, the more risk of burning tops when u go into flower. And unfortunately manufacturer recommendations for light distance are notoriously inaccurate. Just some food for thought so u kno ur risks. Trial and error is the only way sometimes.

Either way, mainline then scrog or lst for best yield. Or even sog, shorter pots = more head room

 

[Jbird7]

Ha i quoted me

 

[Jbird7]

I calculated i have 65.7" from the ground to the LED panels and 54" from the top of my pots to the panels. I can lift up my panels maybe 8" more if necessary.

So i could have about 35" high plants if i keep my panels 22" from the flower canopy, at maximum 43" (3.6ft) high without the hangers. Dunno if that's okay, wonder how tall plants people usually grow at similar conditions.

And at what time/height i would need to flip from veg to bloom? I probably need to do a lot of tying down and let them keep filling up the tent from the sides too.

Damn i replied yesterday but it got erased i guess. Anyway, so, u have about 78" total height. U always want to plan for ur plants to get 2 to 3 ×the height once n flower. So, ur pots are about 12". Leaving 66". Planning for up to 4 ft between canopy and light plus light depth, lets say 54". Leaving you 12". U wld have to flower at 6". Now to b clear im not sayin u have to flower at that height, u cld possibly get away w much more... but the taller u go after that the more risk ur taking of burning tops. Also once u switch ur light to bloom, u may need to raise it higher than in veg. Honestly i think scrog would be th way to go, but u may want to get a cpl grows under ur belt 1st..depends on how comfortable u feel. Either way def mainline and lst or scrog. Or even sog..shorter pots= more head room.

 

[Jbird7]

I calculated i have 65.7" from the ground to the LED panels and 54" from the top of my pots to the panels. I can lift up my panels maybe 8" more if necessary.

So i could have about 35" high plants if i keep my panels 22" from the flower canopy, at maximum 43" (3.6ft) high without the hangers. Dunno if that's okay, wonder how tall plants people usually grow at similar conditions.

And at what time/height i would need to flip from veg to bloom? I probably need to do a lot of tying down and let them keep filling up the tent from the sides too.

Damn man I've replied twice and it erased them both times I'll reply getting a second after I see if this sticks

 

[Jbird7]

Damn man I've replied twice and it erased them both times I'll reply getting a second after I see if this sticks

and now it's back the site is tripping

 

[Blossom21]

Well u always want to be prepared for plants to get as much as 2-3 times their height in flower. Also realize that depending on ur light, once u switch it to bloom mode, it may need to be raised further away. U really want to play it safe first go round. Honestly a scrog would probably be ideal. But u may want to get a couple grows under your belt first. Its however u feel.but if u have 78" total... ur pots are 12" tall. Leavin u 66". Depth of ur light plus a possible 4ft distance between plant and light. Lets say 54" total. That leaves u 12" for plant. So youd flip at 6"tall. Now lets be clear. U may b able to get away w much more height..but the taller u go, the more risk of burning tops when u go into flower. And unfortunately manufacturer recommendations for light distance are notoriously inaccurate. Just some food for thought so u kno ur risks. Trial and error is the only way sometimes.

I'm pretty sure i could go around 11" before flipping if we say it triples in height. I can get around 60" space between the panels and the top of the pots, so plants could grow 35" tall if i keep my panels 24" away from the canopy. I can also play around with the LED output so that might help too. My LED is pretty much a copy of HLG 550 v2, but 4 heatsinks and boards instead of all in one.

 

[Jbird7]

I'm pretty sure i could go around 11" before flipping if we say it triples in height. I can get around 60" space between the panels and the top of the pots, so plants could grow 35" tall if i keep my panels 24" away from the canopy. I can also play around with the LED output so that might help too. My LED is pretty much a copy of HLG 550 v2, but 4 heatsinks and boards instead of all in one.

Yea honestly id probably take my chances and do something similar...

 

[Blossom21]

Yea honestly id probably take my chances and do something similar...

Thanks for all the insight, now my only worry is watering the plants. There's some guides on how to do it, but how easy it is if you go from the starting pot straight to the final 7 gal pot (that's what my friend suggested because it's one step less for a noob). How do i even know how much to put water there, should i only pour water in the middle where the roots are, and should i keep pouring enough so i get any runoff water? And when is the right time to water more, many have told "you just lift it up and know", but i'm not that sure if i could even tell the difference, and how to judge it. Probably making it sounding harder than it is, haha.

 

[Jbird7]

Thanks for all the insight, now my only worry is watering the plants. There's some guides on how to do it, but how easy it is if you go from the starting pot straight to the final 7 gal pot (that's what my friend suggested because it's one step less for a noob). How do i even know how much to put water there, should i only pour water in the middle where the roots are, and should i keep pouring enough so i get any runoff water? And when is the right time to water more, many have told "you just lift it up and know", but i'm not that sure if i could even tell the difference, and how to judge it. Probably making it sounding harder than it is, haha.

Well...i wld say goin straight to final pot makes it harder for anyone. Much higher chance u will over water. But if u do.. the idea wld be to only soak the area u think has roots in it...no runoff. Until the roots spread out more. U will get a sense in time of th weight of ur container... but if they were in a pot sized to the plant u wld water every 3 to four days, as needed, feedin every other water. Minimal run off on feed days. About 20% run off on days with just water.

 

[Blossom21]

Well...i wld say goin straight to final pot makes it harder for anyone. Much higher chance u will over water. But if u do.. the idea wld be to only soak the area u think has roots in it...no runoff. Until the roots spread out more. U will get a sense in time of th weight of ur container... but if they were in a pot sized to the plant u wld water every 3 to four days, as needed, feedin every other water. Minimal run off on feed days. About 20% run off on days with just water.

Will keep that in mind. Btw should i put my just germinated seeds into full soil cups or is that 50% soil 50% coco good there too? The biobizz all mix should be pretty well pre-fertilized. And when do you start feeding the babies? BioBizz feeding schedule says i should start week 2/when the plant is 4-6" tall/has 2-4 leaves. Kudos.

 

[Jbird7]

U cld go eitherway. Or even germ n cup o water or paper towel. Soil by itself is probably the easiest. I dont kno much about bio bizz..sorry

 

[bartow]

Do not place an LED light any closer than 2’. I have seen the instructions that come with a few and all have stated this. It’s not the heat.

Can you expand on that? Do you happen to know the optimum distance? Do you know the consequence of being closer than two inches?

 

[hotrodharley]

Can you expand on that? Do you happen to know the optimum distance? Do you know the consequence of being closer than two inches?

Well this is a copy and paste from Platinum LED:

“INTIAL SETUP/HANGING HEIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS:
The most important concept with indoor horticulture is not only watch your plants, but to tune into them! Great care must be shown when properly acclimating young or new plants to our LED grow lights as they are extremely intense. Remember that with young plants less is more and to always make sure the leaves are happy and pointing skywards toward the light. If while acclimating, the leaves show any signs of curling or overall stress, please raise the light until the problem is solved.
1. Seedlings and Clones - 36” - 40” - VEG switch only
2. Early Vegetative Growth - 24” - VEG switch only
3. Late Vegetative Growth - 24” - VEG and BLOOM switches together
4. Flowering - 18” - VEG and BLOOM switches together”

It’s not the heat.

 

[bartow]

Well this is a copy and paste from Platinum LED:

“INTIAL SETUP/HANGING HEIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS:
The most important concept with indoor horticulture is not only watch your plants, but to tune into them! Great care must be shown when properly acclimating young or new plants to our LED grow lights as they are extremely intense. Remember that with young plants less is more and to always make sure the leaves are happy and pointing skywards toward the light. If while acclimating, the leaves show any signs of curling or overall stress, please raise the light until the problem is solved.
1. Seedlings and Clones - 36” - 40” - VEG switch only
2. Early Vegetative Growth - 24” - VEG switch only
3. Late Vegetative Growth - 24” - VEG and BLOOM switches together
4. Flowering - 18” - VEG and BLOOM switches together”

It’s not the heat.

I appreciate you posting that. All of my LED lights are too close based on this information. Some of them are just an inch from flowers. After I switched to LEDs I have been loosing a lot more leaves in flowering. The yields have been good and it is plenty strong but I am betting that backing the lights off some is a good idea. Thanks

 

[Chip Green]

Go into the LED and other lighting subforum, under indoor growing,and find some of the Quantum Board threads....
QBs, their knockoffs, and white phospor LED emitters in general, are a completely different animal than other LED units...

 

[Jbird7]

I appreciate you posting that. All of my LED lights are too close based on this information. Some of them are just an inch from flowers. After I switched to LEDs I have been loosing a lot more leaves in flowering. The yields have been good and it is plenty strong but I am betting that backing the lights off some is a good idea. Thanks

An inch?! Wtf

 

[Blossom21]

What should my PH be if go 50/50 mix with coco and soil? I know in soil the optimal range is higher, but in coco you have to adjust around 6 to get all the nutes in. So how would i treat it?

If anyone still have a better idea than having 50/50 mix then i'm all ears, i just want a little bit forgiving medium since all kind of abusing can occur for the first timer.