Spectra Led 120. Stealth Cabinet, Scrog, Flowering has begun.

[puffenuff]

Looks good karr! Just curious if those cats have eaten any of your plants? My cats love the ganja plants, have to keep them away! Also more likely to spread pests and bugs to the plants, especially if they are outdoor cats too.

 

[karr]

Looks good karr! Just curious if those cats have eaten any of your plants? My cats love the ganja plants, have to keep them away! Also more likely to spread pests and bugs to the plants, especially if they are outdoor cats too.

Good call about the cats being dangerous. I will post up a quick tally for you;

Number of plants killed:

Cats: 7
Ferrets: 14
Me: 5

So the cats are definently something to watch for, but a ferret can destroy your crop in about 3 minutes.

The bugs and all is something to be cautious about, but it is a cold winter here, so most are gone for now. My youngest cat always climbs under the screen/canopy in the pot when im not looking, and makes it very difficult to get her out. Very cute though.


I just updated the cabinet, i lined the sides with Mylar as prior they were bare particle board (with a clear enamel by the looks). I think it will help a little lost light find its use.

 

[karr]

it wouldn't attach, here is the pic.

Dont mind the temperature dial, its wickedly off. I might have dropped it or something.

 

[karr]

Karr, your buds look awesome.
Does anyone know what the differences are between the spectra 120's vs. the spectra 100's? I have the spectra 100's but have never seen what the 120's are like.

Cant help you with the difference there. At the time i bought my 120 it was the cheapest light he had. It's still listed on the site, only the first paragraph refers to his new light. My light draws 180w so I'm told, though i haven't measured it yet.

I don't think i will be selling my lights, im definently keeping my led, and even selling the others i don't have the 1600 for the sulfur plasma light that i would like. It sure would be cool to get the light before it really hits our shores.

Thanks for the support all

 

[Swiftowl11]

I was told its the number of LED bulbs in the light, hat mak up the name Like my spectra 100 has 100 3w for 140w draw bulbs. So i guess the spectra 120 has 120 3w bulbs for 180w draw.

That suck bout all the animal attacks you experienced on your plants. I have 5 dogs and non of them go after my plants. But they sure love to get high. Your flowering is looking very good. Cant believe how powerful that spectra is. Keep it up.

 

[karr]

I was told its the number of LED bulbs in the light, hat mak up the name Like my spectra 100 has 100 3w for 140w draw bulbs. So i guess the spectra 120 has 120 3w bulbs for 180w draw.

That suck bout all the animal attacks you experienced on your plants. I have 5 dogs and non of them go after my plants. But they sure love to get high. Your flowering is looking very good. Cant believe how powerful that spectra is. Keep it up.

Yeah I'm having a great time with this light. I would love it if i had 6 of these lights, could have perpetual scrogs going and they are a lot of fun to maintain.

Haha the animal attacks aren't too bad, it's been a while so i lose one from a bad mistake on my part here and there.

One event the ferrets killed my cloaner, they broke out of their room, squeezed under an inch gap at the bottom of the door, got inside the humidity dome and pulled up all the roots haha. That mini bud in the earlier part of the thread was the only survivor.

Another occasion they snuck inside the intake vent of my stealth speaker box. If they get to a potted plant they go nuts, they just love digging. So they killed 2 by tearing up all the roots and digging to the bottom haha.

Most of the ones the cats have killed were very young. The cat just comes up and chomp, one bite and its just a toothpick in the soil.

The ones ive unintentionally killed were mostly my first hydro batch. It was ultimately a heat issue combined with ph. Others were just odd situations.

Haha live and learn

 

[karr]

Tomorrow or next day i am adding some diy co2. Just piping it into the intake vent to start. I'm not expecting much, but the cost is minimal and i like doing this stuff so we all win.

Who knows, it might actually help and i will get closer to my 1g per watt goal, yes it's a stretch for me, but you gotta have goals

I might separate the light from the grow chamber to create a sealed grow environment. The cubic ft of my space is only about 8 cubic feet, so it should be pretty easy to keep up.

 

[Psytranceorgy]

fantastic stuff karr! loving your updates, your plant is gorgeous, and I loled at everyone's animal stories... I have cats and dogs myself, and boy o boy the cats sure do love the plants... In fact, I think that cats love plants almost as much as they love themselves! which is mind-boggling! I always have to be extra mindful that my gals are carefully sealed off from them =D

loving that you are adding some diy co2! if that works out good for you, I'll be interested in hearing all about it!

 

[karr]

Got the co2 working, see some bubbles going. Also rerouted the ventilation to increase the temperature. Should hold mid 80s now which should help to increase the absorption abilities. Next step would be to increase humidity, but I'm reluctant to do that because of how tight everything is. I would need to address circulation better to keep mould possibilities down.

Has anyone seen decent increase without ideal humidity from 1500ppm co2? also does anyone know at what point co2 is a hindrance? I believe it to be pretty high, but i do plan to overdo the mixture amounts as I'm not running a sealed cab, somewhat close though.

Thanks guys

 

[FlatTopBud]

Got the co2 working, see some bubbles going. Also rerouted the ventilation to increase the temperature. Should hold mid 80s now which should help to increase the absorption abilities. Next step would be to increase humidity, but I'm reluctant to do that because of how tight everything is. I would need to address circulation better to keep mould possibilities down.

Has anyone seen decent increase without ideal humidity from 1500ppm co2? also does anyone know at what point co2 is a hindrance? I believe it to be pretty high, but i do plan to overdo the mixture amounts as I'm not running a sealed cab, somewhat close though.

Thanks guys

your really really really far away from getting any adverse affects from the co2. its only a prob when run at 100% for more than a couple of days. since you dont have a tank and are not sealing off the room, this is impossible to acheive. i would only use the co2 at night tho, itll be a lot more effective

 

[FlatTopBud]

oh and the buds look fat too!!!

 

[karr]

your really really really far away from getting any adverse affects from the co2. its only a prob when run at 100% for more than a couple of days. since you dont have a tank and are not sealing off the room, this is impossible to acheive. i would only use the co2 at night tho, itll be a lot more effective

Thanks for the input. I don't really have a way of moderating when the co2 is on, it should be consistent all the time since it's just yeast eating sugar and expelling co2. Mathematically i should have enough reaction going on to provide co2 for an area 4x the size(or so). I do plan on getting the 20$ co2 testing kits and testing the levels once things get stabilized. I would love to add a webcam and a hose to water once the cabinet is mostly sealed, since this form of co2 is kind of a slow builder. I have to see if yeast is less productive at night, or if it even knows.

My plan thus far is to move the lower intake vent altogheter. With just the upper exhaust vent going (as i initially had set up) temps sit mid 80s. I will make a passive intake vent at the top so that fresh air will be drawn across the light while most of the heavier air (co2) will be below. I'm sure I will still lose co2. But aside from having a completely sealed room, this is the next best option.

My last thought for perhaps the next grow would be to take the glass out of the led and put in a glass shelf separating the light into its own chamber, then working to seal the lower side completely.

Anyone see those new co2 meters on eBay? About 120$ but really not that expensive compared to what they used to be. I might pick one up depending on how large my tax refund is.

 

[PSUAGRO.]

Thanks for the input. I don't really have a way of moderating when the co2 is on, it should be consistent all the time since it's just yeast eating sugar and expelling co2. Mathematically i should have enough reaction going on to provide co2 for an area 4x the size(or so). I do plan on getting the 20$ co2 testing kits and testing the levels once things get stabilized. I would love to add a webcam and a hose to water once the cabinet is mostly sealed, since this form of co2 is kind of a slow builder. I have to see if yeast is less productive at night, or if it even knows.

My plan thus far is to move the lower intake vent altogheter. With just the upper exhaust vent going (as i initially had set up) temps sit mid 80s. I will make a passive intake vent at the top so that fresh air will be drawn across the light while most of the heavier air (co2) will be below. I'm sure I will still lose co2. But aside from having a completely sealed room, this is the next best option.

My last thought for perhaps the next grow would be to take the glass out of the led and put in a glass shelf separating the light into its own chamber, then working to seal the lower side completely.

Anyone see those new co2 meters on eBay? About 120$ but really not that expensive compared to what they used to be. I might pick one up depending on how large my tax refund is.

Nice grow you got going here..........
For co2 enrichment just move your grow room next to the water heater or furnace(gas burning of course)....if possible lol..

 

[FlatTopBud]

Nice grow you got going here..........
For co2 enrichment just move your grow room next to the water heater or furnace(gas burning of course)....if possible lol..

never thought of this but thats pretty genius. its like a ozone generator you already own

 

[karr]

Nice grow you got going here..........
For co2 enrichment just move your grow room next to the water heater or furnace(gas burning of course)....if possible lol..

Thanks, that was actually my thought as well. That combined with co2 sinks and basements are naturally cooled made the spot next to my heater very appealing. Thats where the mother ship is haha.

This grow is just a side project, in the kitchen. I imagine co2 in the kitchen to be on par with the rest of the house, aside from the basement, which is why i am supplementing with co2.

I don't believe water heaters put off a lot of co2 mainly because their design is all about NOT letting poisonous gasses to anywhere aside from their exhaust piping. When that piping clogs you typically read about dead families, very sad. Furnaces are the same, they have a lot of failsafes to prevent operation if the exhaust is not functioning correctly. I do think it is an obvious location choice for many reasons, but i would imagine the room would not be too far above ambient co2 for its given location.

With this setup i should be able to achieve 1500+ ppm, though my humidity is not great which slightly hinders the full potential of co2.

However you slice it im having fun and i think ultimately it will benefit the plants.

 

[PSUAGRO.]

Thanks, that was actually my thought as well. That combined with co2 sinks and basements are naturally cooled made the spot next to my heater very appealing. Thats where the mother ship is haha.

This grow is just a side project, in the kitchen. I imagine co2 in the kitchen to be on par with the rest of the house, aside from the basement, which is why i am supplementing with co2.

I don't believe water heaters put off a lot of co2 mainly because their design is all about NOT letting poisonous gasses to anywhere aside from their exhaust piping. When that piping clogs you typically read about dead families, very sad. Furnaces are the same, they have a lot of failsafes to prevent operation if the exhaust is not functioning correctly. I do think it is an obvious location choice for many reasons, but i would imagine the room would not be too far above ambient co2 for its given location.

With this setup i should be able to achieve 1500+ ppm, though my humidity is not great which slightly hinders the full potential of co2.

However you slice it im having fun and i think ultimately it will benefit the plants.

Buy that co2 meter and go near your heater and furnace...........you will be surprised....
Your absolutely right about the fail safes(thank god for them)..but their manufacturing and testing is all about not putting out more than 3000ppm(epa level/i think), and this on brand new/properly cleaned/well maintained gear.....

Happy growing....

 

[karr]

Cool, once i buy the meter(hopefully about a week maybe two before i receive it) i plan to test all sorts of areas and see.

I do imagine there is some co2 around the furnace, it sure will be interesting to see how much. If its like you say, i suppose i have been growing with co2 for quite a while now haha, which might be why things havent been so horrible when temps got a little out of control in the summer.

Anyway here is a small update:

Here is my DIY co2 generator. Temps are holding at 85-87, humidity is still low. These pics are when i just inoculated the big jar with active yeast, so no bubbles at that time. Today i get a constant stream of bubbles through the bubble bottle. I closed off all the lower vents and put both fans up top. the stronger one being exhaust (after a fast 101 degree scare) and the smaller being the intake. Also i made a small passive intake at the top as well. I still need to address circulation down below, havent decided what i will do there yet. i wish i could get a micro oscillating fan haha.

The bud shot is just showing the development of the average bud, not exactly huge by any standard, but keep in mind its still only 4 weeks in.

 

[karr]

Week 5 ALMOST done! The plant is finally starting to smell. For me, AK48 has been a very subtle, non-pot smell. It would be a good choice for someone doing a stealth grow, more and more i am liking this strain more than previous experiences, but ultimately its not coming back haha. The stink really started to kick in after the introduction of Co2, has anyone else had a similar experience? My co2 is still producing a nice consistent stream of bubbles, i intend to buy that co2 to really test what levels of co2 im getting, unfortunately it will only be next friday at best.

The buds are frosting up nicely, and the swell has started, nothing overly impressive yet, but AK for me has been a slow builder.

 

[karr]

Ok today was busy, tomorrow moreso. SOOO pictures will be on Wednesday! If anyone has any specific requests fell free to ask! I could understand how the same set of pics could get boring, though i like it because it shows the growth in a neat way chronologically.


Hmmm maybe next grow i will take a picture every other day or 3rd day and make a start to finish GIF of the grow. That would be sweet! haha

 

[Psytranceorgy]

Woo karr!!! Looking forward to pic update!!! =D