DIY led grow

Lax> sounds like it should help then. Too bad par meters aren't cheaper so we could measure all these changes. Just gotta do it the hard way and see if the plants like it or not.


Maybe just do a few rows on the outside and see if you like the effect before doing all of them. Just an idea


petflora> I'm eventually going to add more leds to the sink, ill be sure to stagger those. For now the light works good enough and I'm pretty burnt out on fiddling with it...lol.

Maybe just do a few rows on the outside and see if you like the effect before doing all of them. Just an idea

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thx, yea i thought so too, or maybe just the Warmwhites first or something like that.

Almost ready to flower. Damaged a few branches bending them into shape, will them recover for a bit.

Pretty sweet. You said you'd do things different had you read the DIY here first. What is it you were refering to?

i wonder, did you notice a difference between 240W vs 330? sry i smoked but i dont get it in your first post u write: "anyways here's some pics of day 1 and day 8 after a week of vegging at 240w." they r pretty big and just like 1 week +1 day from Germination or what do you consider vegging?

That's a real solid setup you got there, subbed!

Spike> probably would have tried a bit different leds. It was pointed out a few times the xmls don't have the best flowering spectrum versus some other whites. As far as my red choice the osram seem a bit better, plus rated at 1a.


But overall I'm happy with the growth so far. If anything ill probably take out a few reds next run...mix in some osions...hit 475nm (chloro b) with a few cool blue...525nm (carotenoid) with a few green. The xmls drop off in those areas. Just broaden the spectrum a bit to see if it changes growth noticeably.


its nice having screws holding stars down. Spectrum changes become a snap, just need to recalculate voltages and stay in range.


lax> things grew noticeably faster when I upped the power for sure. Adding the 660 into the mix made the plants smile


They were in my veg box in low light stasis for a while. When I said day 1 at 240w, I meant they were transplanted into larger pots and put under a bigger light to continue growing in the first picture. The second picture is what they looked like 8 days later under 240w (actually 6 days, I miscounted).


Hope that clears it up a little!

Starting to make some interesting observations on this particular light. When I put this together I maxed out the deep red and far red on purpose. I wanted to find out the upper limits of those two spectrums.

using just whites it is relatively easy to get normal healthy green growth.

adding a little red sped things up and seemed to improve overall vigor

So I finally maxed my light out on the red side. Light was putting out 360w. Went from 80w red to 110w red. That seems to have hit a maximum saturation point. Growth began yellowing (bleaching), leaves began closing (taco effect), and fast growth slowed down. I raised light to make sure the intensity was reasonable.

so I think at that point it's too much deep red. Ill be keeping the light at 330w (maybe even down to 320w), keeping deep red between 70w to 80w. That seems to be the sweet spot.

On the next run ill need to remove 30 - 40w of red from light. Now I need to figure out what would be the best spectrums to replace them with. The goal is to have a light that can throw intense light without causing growth problems. I think that's where a lot of grow panels go wrong.

One other thing ill be watching is the effect of the 20w (now about 25% less) of far red. So far I haven't noticed any ill effects. I'll probably get a good idea in the first few weeks of flower if I get too much stretching.

So...those are my observations. Could be wrong but seems to be the case.

taking suggestions on what to replace reds with. 630nm? 470nm? 525nm? Nichia ww?

Thanks for the thoughts pet.

i like the red addition so far. It was a nice effect in the smaller proportion. So ill be sticking with that for now.

I'm going to try and overload another spectrum next... Lol...I kind of like seeing what kind of effect it produces. Probably cool blue. The xmls drop way off there and I would like to see stronger, greener, larger leaves. Maybe 40w of cool blue at 470nm. Going to try a few things before I just throw more ww in

alright...nuff' experiments for now. Time to flower this thing out..320w it is. 240w whites 70w reds 10w fans

What r the dimensions of that cabinet/room and your veg box? I bought some Wood today and want to increase my 55x50cm area. 100cmx100cmx4cm wooden panels...Is a total height with only 100cm in total viable for a grow/box room while using leds?

Hard to say..depends on your lighting. 100cm doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.

more a convenience thing though. You can make pretty much anything work, pc case guys proved that one.

You gonna put lenses and increase your space? Probably better figure out your light footprint before you build anything..

friend once told me build the space around the light. That will tell you how big or small it needs to be..

You talk about the 100cm in height or also for WxL? What are your spaces for veg and those 6 plants ? Hm right i think that would be clever, checking the footprint first. I will upgrade it with additional cobs, so i guess i have to finish the light first. I wonder if it will be easy to determine the footprint, as cobs without Focus will be quite diffuse. Also which height would be best...without any light meter thingy.

Lax> for your size questions its all different bro. Just need to picture in your mind what you want to do. Tall plant, short, single cola,bush, it all depends on your personal style. Your light sounds like it'll be on the stronger side so the extra height would help.
My tent is 36" x 20" 54". Shorter and skinnier than I'd like but I make it work. Veg is about the same.

Microbe tea. One of my favorite additions to the program

Time for a 12/12 test run

I was a little worried giving the girls an act drench a few hours before 12 off but they seemed to enjoy it. That's the most upright I've seen the growth all grow.

its funny, i added 2 lenses to two Whites and now i have bright White spots in my otherwise uniform pinkish light. I dont know where do ask this, but in newb section they r usually using different lights with other height requirements. My cabinet footprint could be 105cmx95cm, but i think those 95cm length/ deep, could be too much to nicely reach everything in the back, dont you think, at least it feels that way playing around with the wooden Panels? I bought a couple of more Panels, so i think i could go as high as 150cm, would that be ok? If necessary i would upgrade the light then. Can you maybe give me some ideas, for the 105x95 foot print, if i want veg/clone/flower, how should i distribute that space % wise, 50:50 ? I guess i could put clone above veg vs flower taking both heights on the other side. What do you think how many plants could i fit in there while utilizing either scrog or lst? Or do you think i should create a Topic in newb section?

Hey lax

Starting a thread probably be the best bet. Lots of better builders out there than me I'm sure.

sounds like you may have went a little to narrow on the lens. That's why I went with 80 degree, spreads pretty wide still. Maybe just leave them off? Sounds like your space is going to be pretty small and won't need them anyway. Just save them for another day.

I'd personally split that space 50/50. Use the full height for flower and split the other half in two. Bigger portion for veg, minimal for clones. Should make a productive space.

As far as scrog, how many, and all that. That's where you gotta just do it, ya' know, like Nike, lol. Build a space...put a plant in..turn on a light..and have fun with it. The answers are going to be personal to you and will come with experience.

Little deep red shot..kinda cool. Can't barely tell there's any red in there when 240w of whites are blasting away

got the reds on full power again. Have a hard time believing its too much red. I think my ventilation was the problem. The reds at full heat up the sink more than I was expecting and I think the heat being circulated affected the plants.

So I adjusted my ventilation and everything seems to be running well. After this run I'll be adding two fans to the ends of sink. It's not that hot right now but more so at the ends. Think I was expecting too much of the two fans in the middle sending air down the channels. Should be all good after that.

one other thing. Added in 25w of UVB with Arcadia reptile t5, just 5hrs mid cycle. Was gonna wait till next run but figured what the hell. Throw the kitchen sink at them this run!

this will be a one time run at this wattage. After this its perpetual at around 300w total max