DIY led grow

lax123 said:

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?

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I've got an available height of 55cm in my growspace (box) and hoping to be pulling 50g dry per harvest once I dial it in. I'd love to have 100cm.

4 days into 12/12 and plants are starting to stretch out. Hope I can keep the canopy a reasonable height. I always seem to run out of room with my stretchy strains. Hopefully the higher intensity of this light will promote squatter fuller plants versus stretched long nodes from the other leds I've run.

plant health is back in line. Should be a good run. Lets see if these 660nm luxeon are any good or not. One of the best 660nm available, in the best bin, at max current rating, with reflectors. If they don't pan out I'll replace the majority with 630nm.

Looks nice ur grow ak84 and you got only 55cm. I am wondering, first time grow, i try to lst. it Looks to me like in the led section, that it is quite uncommon. Why? Would you not Need much less W and power for same or increased yield when bending them down to get nice light to all the fresh growth and future buds and diverting the Auxins to get more spread growth instead of Christmas trees. or are you doing that and im just too noob to see that? I mean of course your space is completly filled there no space to put something sideways...idk. maybe i should open my own thread with all my specs and things but on the other Hand i guess it would be wasted effort since im a first timer and there will be plenty of other things (Major mistakes) to consider besides led

I don't really care for scrog and lst training. Too much micromanaging for me. I rather focus on providing a strong and efficient enough light source to get a nice yield in a more natural manner. Plus I find a upright plant with multiple tops more enjoyable to look at.

i just top a few times and call it a day. I have just read about mainlining which is quite interesting. It seems to be a lot like what I do, just starting with one node.

Day 7 flower

Darnit! My uv timer was on random on accident for one night. Hopefully that doesn't set flower back too much. Last thing I need is extra stretch.

plants are healthy and I see some pistils so hopefully I won't have to start bending branches. Definitely taking out a 740nm, two should be enough. That and add in a few blue leds to promote squatter plants. These strains always do this to me though, not really a surprise.

I don't think Scrogging is too much micro-managing. I've been doing it for years, and usually I stop training between 5-10 days of 12/12 (strain dependent) and then let it go from there.

Personally, I think the look of an even canopy of buds is pretty dang cool, but every has their own opinion.

One thing you can't deny is the yields from scrogging are dang good when done right.

Here's my current scrog at day 8 of 12/12. My next grow I'll have two plants to fully fill up the screen, but this is pretty full for just 1 plant and it will only continue to fill out the next 7-10 days.

View attachment 2870516

Just different style of growing bbspills

for me the best reasons for scrog are max yield and low plant count. Don't get me wrong...I love watching scrog grows! I just prefer running semi low electricity and running a perpetual style. I normally just put random different strains straight from veg room into flower...just enough to keep me supplied with a variety of fresh herb.

I also normally run fully amended soil with blumats.. I try to keep my time in the grow room to an absolute minimum. Literally check it once a week when things are running smoothly. This run was just for fun, just to see what this light can yield with a full room.

nice grow by the way! Much more controlled than my stretchy mess....lol

That's a nice led light you built. I'm in the process of buying all my parts to make my first led light and ongoing it will work just as well as yours. Definitely tuned in for this grow.

Day 12 flower.


ahhh the led world. So much theory and analysis, numbers and scientific articles, claims and rants, and so few grows to back them up. Such a simple thing to test an idea and share its results. Different levels of quality that range from hay to yes the old favorite killers. Old lingo from the past. But yet such simple terms keep things in check...reality check that is. Props to the people who share their results and put grand money making schemes on the side in hopes of helping fellow growers grow a better crop. Props to kite high and others for their work on uv when naysayers were saying it was a waste.


So my little test with 740nm at about 20w is living true to its claim. Stem elongation is definitely there. I've heard it before but never seen it so at least it has now been shown on cannabis instead of beans or peas or whatever type produce. Will let it ride out the rest of the grow to see effects on bud development. But for future led builders I think it's safe to say use less in a 3' x 2' area if always on. On the plus side this is the fastest my strain has shown flowers. 12 days versus 2.5 weeks. Next run I will just leave one led at 6.5w in and see if that's enough to maintain the accelerated flowering response.


this light is showing great potential for a version 1. A few tweaks here and there and I'm sure it will compete with any other led on the market. For all the differences in numbers and spectrums i don't think there are all so far apart as made to seem. I think I'll keep it simple stupid. Warm white, red supplementation, uv, and intensity.

So in a turn of events

reflectors are now off. I constantly evaluated light throw and finally came to the conclusion that I didn't like the result. They worked well with about 2.5' of distance. My space can't accommodate that so had to take them off. I actually really appreciate the spread and mix of light now. Everything looks happier which is a good sign.

also did a hard pruning. Topped some of the nicest branches but had to even the canopy. No record yield this round but hoping for some quality nugs still.

Damn, that's some serious stretch. What strain is that?

Might want to invest into some bushmaster or bushmaster alternative.

I'd even supercrop the first couple weeks of flowering to slow those bitches down.

What kind of day/night temps and humidity you got?

These strains actually always do this to me. There's a sweet tooth cross in the back much shorter so it's not all from the far red. Definitely a bit more stretch with my 20w far red this run.

Coconut kush

Did you run the far red the whole time the lights were on?

The whole time ..they are on the same string as the deep reds. There are 3 10w ledengin 740nm running at 700ma 6.5w. Next run I plan on running just one in the center of panel and add in 2 3up luxeon blue leds to counter the stretch and balance the spectrum. Possibly put the 2 extra ledengin on a seperate small sink and timer for the 15min before after scenario.

Positivity said:

The whole time ..they are on the same string as the deep reds. There are 3 10w ledengin 740nm running at 700ma 6.5w. Next run I plan on running just one in the center of panel and add in 2 3up luxeon blue leds to counter the stretch and balance the spectrum. Possibly put the 2 extra ledengin on a seperate small sink and timer for the 15min before after scenario.

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That sounds like a good plan.

Those 740nm 10W LEd engins far reds are pricey. $16 per???

They are pricey but when designing panel I was looking for a 730nm that could be run at 700ma on same string as reds for simplicity. These were the only ones rated at that on the data sheet. In retrospect I could have possibly just used their 5w version and under driven them. I tried to stay within data sheet recommendations though since it was my first build.

A lot of panels seem to run a smaller amount the whole cycle and still see the reduced flowering times. I think I just overshot the amount needed. I'd rather just try and get the correct amount rather than having to use a seperate timer and source if possible.

but I'm happy, I'm learning as I go. Anymore issues like bad bud development and I'll be starting over with led changes.

21 days in flower. Looks like I'm just gonna make it. Light is pinned to the top of tent. That would normally stifle a normal light. But super light fans kick butt with superior fan placement...lol


noticed couple things with reflectors. Some of my lower growth isn't as healthy as before I removed my optics. I do miss the intense throw they had. Probably throw them back on next run.

Slowly getting there. Can't wait to try some spectrum changes but not looking too shabby as is..

frostiest one one was sitting about 2 inches from a t5 uv...coincidence?

Xml bud porn

Coming along nicely. Quality is solid, that was the main goal, so I'm overall happy. The main tops are really nicely developed, just need more of them. Lots of scraggly lower growth that stretched up never had a chance at filling out.

Next grow a shorter and more even canopy is in order. Hopefully the blue leds I add, and 2/3 far red removed, will make that happen.