Dave's First LED Grow Using Area 51

daveroller said:

It looks interesting. Do the smooth river stones let water drain out easier than Hydroton? That's what I would guess. I might go out and buy some tonight to use as the bottom layer. But I was planning to use Perlite as the main medium. 100% Perlite worked good for me in a system similar to Flowamasta's. He got 2.5 lbs from one plant recently. The bottom layer of stones would be there mainly to keep Perlite chunks from getting through the holes in my bucket. And the better the drainage using this method, the better. I don't use a constant drip, just one watering every hour or two, then let the roots get some air in between waterings.

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I"m new here, but I get to contribute where I can

I saw a video that i'll post about a guy who suggests using a net that you buy where they sell paint it's used to filter paint and you can actually put that in the bucket and then fill the perlite in after. Problem Solved

Right now i'm researching LEDs until my eyes bleed because I don't want to go out and buy 16-20 MH, HPS, Ballasts and housings for the bulbs just to upgrade to LED later. The energy savings on our operation when we open up will be huge but the costs of the equipment up front are also huge. Why did you go with that LED and not another one? I like to do my homework as to why others made their purchase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A&list=PL6427FDD71B2B44D3&index=5

here it is

gachogavacho said:

I"m new here, but I get to contribute where I can

I saw a video that i'll post about a guy who suggests using a net that you buy where they sell paint it's used to filter paint and you can actually put that in the bucket and then fill the perlite in after. Problem Solved

Right now i'm researching LEDs until my eyes bleed because I don't want to go out and buy 16-20 MH, HPS, Ballasts and housings for the bulbs just to upgrade to LED later. The energy savings on our operation when we open up will be huge but the costs of the equipment up front are also huge. Why did you go with that LED and not another one? I like to do my homework as to why others made their purchase.

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Thanks for the tip and welcome, but I used one of those paint strainer bags in my previous grow's bucket. And the problem with it was that roots grew right through the bag and started to clog up the drain in my system. It wouldn't be good to have a clogged drain in this, because you can end up with your res water all over your floor. So that's why I modified my system to intentionally allow roots to grow through the bottom of the bucket through all the holes I drilled in it. There's no secondary drain to clog up. And instead of the flimsy strainer bag I glued metal screen door patches to the bigger 1" holes that I drilled. The roots probably won't be able to grow through them now, but we'll see. Anyway, this overall method of letting roots grow through works for all the people who use Waterfarms.

For info on different LED grow lights, the following thread has a whole long discussion about it. They like these panels in particular:
Apache Tech, Radiant, Area 51 - 5 Stars *****
California Light Works, Hans Panel - 4 Stars ****
ProSource, Grow Blu - 3 Stars ***
Black Dog - 2.5 Stars **1/2
Black Star, Hydrogrow, Stealth Grow - 2 Stars **
ProGrow, Ebay Junk - 1 Star *

* The list might have been refined since this. Read the thread here:
https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/633304-if-you-new-led-want-143.html

I chose the Area 51 because of all the detailed info about it posted on the manufacturer's web site and because of the rave reviews other growers on riu have been giving it. And the company is great at answering questions. He'll also give you a volume discount if you buy a large quantity of panels like you seem to need. I got mine wholesale for promising to write journal for my grow, just honestly reviewing it. But you have to be an established user of riu or another grow journal web site who has a history of getting along well with others.

Finally got around to moving the electrical cords & hardware up off the floor and making a little stand for my fan:



⬇ Lucky me that my stepdaughter brought her baby to visit us over Thanksgiving weekend. I'm thankful that her empty diaper box fits so nicely in my cabinet.



⬇ The stand for the fan is just a tall, skinny box that I covered with aluminum foil and put a few leftover rocks in the bottom.



I noticed that my little girl's gotten a little pale, so increased nutes up from 1/4 strength to 3/4 strength. The water's now around 800 ppm and 6.0 pH. She's already looking a little darker and grew some today.

Looking good brother, I love the Pampers box... I feel like I need to incorporate a Passie as a Float valve or something!


Thats some hot water my friend, what nutes are you using? Is your lady pale in the center, or the edges?

Scotch089 said:

Looking good brother, I love the Pampers box... I feel like I need to incorporate a Passie as a Float valve or something!


Thats some hot water my friend, what nutes are you using? Is your lady pale in the center, or the edges?

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Yeah, that water is a little "hotter" than I planned on, but I hope she's big enough to handle it. I was worried because the older leaves were getting pale and cruddy and the nute concentration was only about 380 ppm earlier today. Growth was going very slowly, too. The new leaves are darker green, especially in the middle. I'm using Advanced Nutrients Sensi-Grow with B-52 and Voodoo Juice added. Thanks.

PetFlora said:

Nice to see you 'pampering' your plant.

That's a lot of work for one seedling of unknown sex

I'll keep my fingers crossed

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Crossing your fingers must have worked. I'm using feminized seeds.

I think I made a mistake yesterday and added too much nute. Checked my notes from last grow and saw that the nute level was only around 400 ppm at this point. So I watered down the res water and poured some plain water over the Perlite to flush it a little. Now it's around 417 ppm and 6.2 pH.

Saw some obvious leaf damage today:



Hopefully things will go better now. I shoulda known better, but I blame it on senility.

Older leaves 1st? How are your calcium/magnesium levels?

Chronikool said:

Older leaves 1st? How are your calcium/magnesium levels?

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Hmmm... I don't know. Just used the AN base nutes. I do have some Cal/Mag that I can add. Do you think that could be the problem? I'm not an expert on reading the leaves at all.

daveroller said:

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Yip...your pH is in check...so it is not that. The tell tail signs is the yellowing/browning damage between the veins of the leaf....this will start on the older leaves 1st and if a solution is not forth in coming then it will spread to the rest of your leaves...Especially in LED grows.

Yip...add some Cal mag...this damage wont repair on the leaf...but look to see that the problem is not spreading after you add this.

Good news is that it is not very advanced.

Chronikool said:

Yip...your pH is in check...so it is not that. The tell tail signs is the yellowing/browning damage between the veins of the leaf....this will start on the older leaves 1st and if a solution is not forth in coming then it will spread to the rest of your leaves...Especially in LED grows.

Yip...add some Cal mag...this damage wont repair on the leaf...but look to see that the problem is not spreading after you add this.

Good news is that it is not very advanced.

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OK, thanks a lot Chronik! I added Cal/Mag according to instructions on the bottle (a little less actually). It sent the ppm up to 640, but I'll leave it alone. 6.10 pH. Not sure why my Advanced Nutrients base nutes are deficient. Maybe I didn't add enough?

Looking Good Brother.I See You Have The Oh So Common Mag Deficiency.Ive Been Chasing The Perfect Formula For 3 Years Now And When You Think You Have Found It BAM It Rears Its Nasty Head Again.In Short My Brother Some Of Our Beloved Flowers Are Just Plain Ole Mag Sluts

The Dawg said:

Looking Good Brother.I See You Have The Oh So Common Mag Deficiency.Ive Been Chasing The Perfect Formula For 3 Years Now And When You Think You Have Found It BAM It Rears Its Nasty Head Again.In Short My Brother Some Of Our Beloved Flowers Are Just Plain Ole Mag Sluts

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It makes me feel better to know that other folks have had this happen, too! I always used to think it was some kind of nute BURN, seriously. So I'm always real scared of adding too much. Huh. I hope it's as simple as it seems. Thanks, Brother Dawg.

just notice your thread and immediately thought you used to much nutes in the seedling stage. less is more. be carefull with the nutes. ph and ppm is very important. good luck.

daveroller said:

It makes me feel better to know that other folks have had this happen, too!

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Only reason i know what it is.....experience is king...

After adding the Cal/Mag last night my little lady is growing good again. Her leaves swelled up today like a horny lady's pussy lips & clit after stroking her.

♫ Who's that lady...


♫ Sexy lady...


Yowww!


Keep it cool guys, she's still a minor. From now on I'll add a little Cal/Mag every time I change the water. And I won't be afraid to raise the nute concentration a little more than I have been.

6.20 pH
740 ppm

Are you using RO water or tap?
I switched back to tap after battling with cal/mag deficiency's for months. My tap is 200-300 ppm which isn't too bad.
Is it really the LEDs causing this problem? Seems like what everyone is saying around these parts. Is something missing from the spectrum that hps and fluros have?

RO puts the grower in control of what (and how much) to add to the water base. There is so much crap in tap water, as well as the fact that the percentage of Ca + Mg is not dialed in either, and of questionable quality.

I use Hydroponic- Research VEG+BLOOM RO formula, which includes the correct amount of each for mj.

dude9000 said:

Are you using RO water or tap?
I switched back to tap after battling with cal/mag deficiency's for months. My tap is 200-300 ppm which isn't too bad.
Is it really the LEDs causing this problem? Seems like what everyone is saying around these parts. Is something missing from the spectrum that hps and fluros have?

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