500 Watt Blackstar LED Grow- 6 OG Kush

Hi Everyone,

So I was impressed with my LED grow cabinet (In progress check Signature), so I decided to buy another Lighthouse Hydroponic light, The 500 watt Blackstar. For this grow I will be using a 12 sq ft grow tent:

Nutrients: House and Garden
Pot Size: 3 gallon pots
Soil: Fox Farm Ocean Forest
Light: 500 Watt Blackstar 3w (actual draw 304 watts)

My clones from my fire OG were taking too long to root and honestly I didnt think they would make it, so I tossed it, went to the dispensary and swooped up 6 OG kush clones. Time is money, and I wasnt going to gamble on some clones that might not make it in 2 weeks. Today, I transplanted them right from Rockwool into soil, and watered with ph 6.00 water. Sit back and enjoy!

Woke up this morning and checked on my clones. Bad News! I had aphids flying all around my plants! So I just returned them to my dispensary and I am waiting for them to give me a call with new clones. I requested Fire OG or $100 OG. So once that gets here, I will start this journal up again.

Round 2: Day 1

Ok Guys, so I got the call today from the dispensary telling me that my clones are in. I just got back and planted the clones into their pots and threw on the lights. I have 6 $100 OG clones. Hopefully they will make it thru this time! There is one really small runt, but hopefully she will catch up!

Day 2: Well my clones survived the first night in their new homes. I was worried I would wake up to aphids again. Everything looks clean and on track. 4/6 clones look very healthy, 1 looks below average, and 1 is a complete runt. Hopefully the last 2 catch up, because I want an even canopy. I have noticed the 500w Blackstar putting a lot more heat and light compared to my 300w. Because of that I started the first day with the light 24 inches away from the plants, just so they can acclimate. Today I dropped the light down to 18 inches away from the tallest canopy. I will leave the light at this distance until I feel they can handle 15 inches away with the 3w bulbs.

I am waiting on a 6 inch CFM blower for intake, and I think I have to order another for exhaust. As of now I keep the tent a little open at the top to vent the hot air and opened all intake ports. I am disappointed with the little 6 inch clip on fan, shit is weak. I might have to go run to Bed bath and beyond and swoop up an oscillating fan. I am waiting to see how the blower circulates first. Tomorrow is another water day with plain water and House and Garden Roots excelulator. I didnt use the Roots Excelulator on my last grow until the 3rd week. But it is supposed to promote a healthy root base, so I am starting early. I will also use the Magic Green Foliar spray next week and start using House and Garden nutes the end of the 3rd week in soil.

I have a 500W Blackstar in a cabinet with only 2 plants at week 5 of flower as I write this. Things are not going well on this grow.

1. The cabinet does get rather warm with this light.
2. By week 4 (flower), my fan leaves turned yellow and now have pretty much all died.
3. Buds are less than spectacular, thin and rather small

Not really happy with the results I'm getting on his one. I'm not blaming the Blackstar, but this is my 4th grow and in all honesty I did better on my first grow with a 90W UFO.

Thats sucks! Hopefully I have better luck

Day 5:

So I have been watering every couple days with ph'd water and roots excelulator. 4 of the 6 are growing nicely and filling out. The little runt of the bunch is getting new growth and actually started growing a little today. And the last one, is one weird looking clone! It grows slow, and it has 2 heads! Meaning its like two separate plants in one! You can tell in one of the pics, hopefully it catches up and starts growing, or Ill just toss it because its so weak!

Today at 2am I had a power outage all the way until 9am! I was calling the power company worrying if my landlord didnt pay my bill! Then at 6am I was looking out the door thinking the police were outside for some reason! lol, paranoia! So I found out my whole city was knocked out with power, so when the power came on, I reprogrammed my timer and manually turned on the lights the whole day to make up for the hours of darkness. 1 hour before my timer was to go off, I set it back onto auto and let the plants have 1 hour of darkness before going back on their regular schedule of 5pm on 11 am off, (18 hours). Luckily my other plant in Flower just missed 2 hours of light and I feel its no big deal. Anyways, here are some updated pics.

Day 7: All is growing just fine, the little runt is catching up, I just have problems with the double headed plant. Doesn't seem to be growing as fast, and just looks deformed! I really don't like that plant, its fugly. Been watering every couple of days with Roots Excelulator. Did magic green foliar spray for the first time today.

Day 10:

All of the plants are finally adjusting and are making some good progress. I was about to throw away the two headed clone, because it was not growing much, but yesterday I noticed some new growth and now it is starting to grow! So I decided to keep it. I have only been watering with ph balanced water with some roots excelulator. Planning to start feeding nutes starting the 3rd week (Day 15).

Day 11: So I decided not to SCROG this grow, because I find it pretty difficult to move the plants around, and have difficulty flushing when I have 6 plants in a SCROG net. I think the mobility of the plants and able to move things around is better for me this round.

Today, I did do a FIMing technique on 3/6 biggest plants. I have been following Dunit's grow journal and he is using this technique so I decided to see how the Fiming technique would do on my plants.

Day 13:

Everything looking good. Still watering with PH'd water and Roots Excelulator. Next water in a couple of days I am going to start feeding nutes from House and Garden. The two little runts have recovered and now are growing normally.

Nice grow so far sleezy. How do you like the blackstar so far? I almost picked that led up but went with magnums instead. Do you use co2? Feel free to check out my grow and leave me some tips or comments =)

is that the new blackstar 500watt? take a pic of the led pattern please...is it the 6 circles or lines?

Hey guys,

You guys were asking me about the 2011 500w Blackstar from LightHouse Hydro. So far so good! My plants are flourishing pretty well in the first 14 days. The real test will be during flowering. Here are the pics you wanted.

Rian said:

Nice grow so far sleezy. How do you like the blackstar so far? I almost picked that led up but went with magnums instead. Do you use co2? Feel free to check out my grow and leave me some tips or comments =)

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Hey Rian,

I have checked out your grow journal and I really love your setup! I almost got the 2 magnums also, but I opted for the cheaper approach. I love your smartpots and those pretty rocks you have on top of your soil, looks really clean. I do not use CO2 yet, and I will sub to your journals! LED users must unite and learn from each other! We are in essence new pioneers to this growing. My other LED grow is a SCROG and its looking awesome under my 300w LED from Light House Hydro. Check that out too, I am in my 3rd week of flower.

Day 15: The babies are looking good and healthy! The two runts have caught up and are growing pretty fast! I had to top the tallest plant because it was already 17 inches tall and towered over the rest of the bunch. Plus it was kind of stretching and was not bushy. So now everything should be in order and even.

those girls look very stretchy, try keeping the lights closer. i have 2 500's in a 4x4 and i keep them no more than 8 inches usually about 6 inches....the closer you get tho the less coverage...

solarguy said:

those girls look very stretchy, try keeping the lights closer. i have 2 500's in a 4x4 and i keep them no more than 8 inches usually about 6 inches....the closer you get tho the less coverage...

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I know they were getting kinda stretchy at 14 inches away, but as I got closer with the light I was worried about the 3w diodes intensity. Lighthouse Hydro recommends 10-14 inches away from canopy. If you got yours that close without any problems, Ill move mine down too. Also, your right, too close and I lose footprint.

yea dude im a rep for lighthouse and you can get them closer or keep them further to achieve coverage....your plants will tell you if the lights to close there is no set rule...8-10 is great, no closer than 6 i would say

solarguy said:

yea dude im a rep for lighthouse and you can get them closer or keep them further to achieve coverage....your plants will tell you if the lights to close there is no set rule...8-10 is great, no closer than 6 i would say

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Thanks man! I made the adjustment. Anyways do you think a 500w blackstar is enough for a 40 x 40 x78 grow tent? I was thinking I might have to get a 240w Blackstar also.