LED First day of flowering, as well as day one of the babies in the veg-room. I just counted 6, of about 12 seeds. I only have 3 plants in flowering - and only two are positively female. I chose to start out in moderation, since LED grow is new to me, and I wanted to break into it gently - that way I will not be so disappointed if things don't go exactly as planned.
Generally I have a bit of 'shoot from the hip' attitude about most things, growing included - so I just tossed some seeds in some really gnarly soil, to find out later, it was way to strong, and I got burns. After a few flushes, the leaves started looking better, and I had decent growth. Then - I think I put the lights too close, and it seemed that the leaves got kind of bleak, especially those close to the light. One plant kind of closed it leaves - not as in drooping, but closed the leaves into a V close to the lights. To my inexperienced eye, that looked as if the plant tried to avoid the intense light.
Yes - intense. To all of you, who might think LED is not 'it' - think again. I run three 90 watt UFO lights, and you almost need sunglasses in the grow-room. I use a CFL just to make the light more agreeable to the eye, as well as balance temperature.
The plants seem to love it. In the beginning, I would keep a CFL close to the plant, and the LED further away, to see if the plant would lean toward the CFL, but no.
The light from the LED is much stronger, and clearly what the plants need/want.
As you can see from my pictures, I go for function, and not so much for beauty. It's a closet - well hidden, with access through another closet, and I have the flowering area above, a veg area under it. That way I get the heat from the 24/7 light in the veg room, keeping the flowering room nice and cozy overnight, when everything is off.
I shut the fan off at night, also. I'd like comments on that, as well as on everything else. Ideas, pictures, questions are all welcome.
The only thing I don't need is to be told I need HPS lights. I am perfectly aware of HPS, but my space with it's ventilation and cooling issues, as well as noise - makes LED a possibility for me to grow, where I otherwise couldn't.
I'm less than $500 into it - everything included. 3 UFOs, fan and couple cords, power-strips, CFLs, insulation, pots and soil.
Money I had saved, because I didn't have to spend money on inferior street-weed, because I had such luck with a 2-plant outdoor-grow. That's what made me decide it's time to do this ourself.
- so I'll throw in a political thought in the whole thing also. The way cannabis is criminalized, too much of it's economic potential has shifted to south of the border. The United States cannot afford to finance the flow of money out of the country, to get inferior weed from Mexico.
It's patriotic to grow. By growing locally, the money stays in the community. Mom and Pop makes a few bucks, everybody is happy.
- Back to LED - any good ideas?
