Dragon's XGS-190 Cabinet

Like all good ideas, I'm going to borrow someone else's. I'm just going to update this thread with my various adventures moving forward, rather than starting a new thread for everytime.

So welcome to the Dragon's LED Cabinet thread!

I'll give a quick run-down on my setup. My cabinet has gone thru several iterations so far. I started with a pre-fabricated sauderwood cabinet. The fixed shelf is on top, and I cut out a hole for an extraction fan there. The fan and carbon filter are housed in that top shelf. I cut several holes out along the bottom backboard and mounted 3 quiet PC fans for air intake.


Originally I ran several CFLs in the cabinet. I would run 2-4 large 105w bulbs for main lighting and several smaller standard size bulbs for further coverage. Using this setup I have run strains like Super Lemon Haze, Chemdawg, and Northern Lights Blue.

After gaining confidence, I decided to upgrade to a LED panel. I went with Area51's XGS-190 model. It was an excellent purchase, and I'm totally glad I did it. My first grow using it I beat my previous best (109g) using the CFLs. So far I've run Silver Kush, Blue Cheese, and now my current grow of S.A.G.E. n Sour.

This plant, T.H. Seeds S.A.G.E. n Sour, is about 8 weeks into flower so far. I probably spent 4-6 weeks in veg with it.


This is the 2nd time I'm following Nugbuckets guide to "mainlining" a plant. The system seems to suit my cabinet pretty well so far. This sativa dominant plant started to get a bit lanky, so I had to super-crop a couple of the tops so they wouldn't get burned by the light. Those branches responded pretty well to the super-cropping and have many fat dense buds on them.

I am having a slight problem this time around with spidermites. By the time I noticed them, I tried to just smash them on the leaves as I saw them. They haven't flourished in my environment so far. The temp never gets above 68 degrees. I've recently tried adding some of Hotshot's No-Pest strips...the problem definitely isn't getting worse. Anytime I've found enough of them that leave some webbing, I just pluck that leaf. The cabinet is definitely getting a scrub down after this cycle.

I figure I have a week or two left to go with the plant. The majority of the hairs have turned. They are starting to shorten a bit, but have yet to recede back into the swollen calyxes. All the trichs seem to be full on milky...I might have spotted an amber here and there. She looks soo frosty and delicious...I can't wait to taste her!

PRETTY FLOWERS

Subbed! Glad to see back around! We could use more experienced bad-ass led grows

Thanks @ Butsack (wow, I never thought I would utter a sentence like that...)

@Abiqua thanks for the kind words man!

good shit dude! im definitely gonna watch this thread

As far as your spidermite problem goes, scrubbing will likely not completely remove the problem unfortunately cause they can pretty much live anywhere inside of a house...(those fuckers).

Have you ever tried using take down garden spray? I live in a pretty warm place and have had spidermites consistently every grow, but i spray this during veg and during the 2nd week of flower and then my problems are gone except for the occasional bugger or two; but those ones, they get "3 minutes of playtime" with me. haha

Di Freal said:

good shit dude! im definitely gonna watch this thread

As far as your spidermite problem goes, scrubbing will likely not completely remove the problem unfortunately cause they can pretty much live anywhere inside of a house...(those fuckers).

Have you ever tried using take down garden spray? I live in a pretty warm place and have had spidermites consistently every grow, but i spray this during veg and during the 2nd week of flower and then my problems are gone except for the occasional bugger or two; but those ones, they get "3 minutes of playtime" with me. haha

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Heh... kudos for the Bonesaw reference. Thanks for the compliment, too.

I've not heard about Take Down's Garden Spray...I'll have to see if I can source it locally, or if online is my only option. It sounds like a decent product from it's description.

I'm wrestling with what to do....let the plant go for another week or two, and hope the spidermites don't get too bad. Or cut it down early before the problem gets out of hand.

On a side note...I think next time I get seeds, I'm going to have to get a packet of S.A.G.E. n Sour.

Here's a couple other pics...one of the mid level buds....and one of the top half of the plant

Ya dude my good buddy has been using it for a few years now and swears by it, its all organic made from a bug repellent flower. He actually said you can use it up to 2 days before harvest without a noticeable effect on the bud, I prefer not to let it get to the point where I need to do that however.

From the naked eye I dont see much amber, have you had a chance to check it under a microscope?

Them are some good lookin buds !
Do they smell much?
Are your filters handling it?

Mother of Pearl, that's a bloody majestic grow!
Are those buds stinking yet?
How much longer until you decide to harvest?

Di Freal said:

Ya dude my good buddy has been using it for a few years now and swears by it, its all organic made from a bug repellent flower. He actually said you can use it up to 2 days before harvest without a noticeable effect on the bud, I prefer not to let it get to the point where I need to do that however.

From the naked eye I dont see much amber, have you had a chance to check it under a microscope?

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I had to get the spray from an online store, so I won't have it for another week or so. I've never sprayed my plants before, is it il-advised this late in flower?

I hope you don't see amber. If you did then, I've let the plant go too long. Amber means the THC in the trichromes is degrading.
I have a pocket microscope, but I hate using it, unless you take a snipping off the plant. I prefer to just use my digital camera and look at the pictures zoomed in for wonderful detail and clarity

fishdeth said:

Them are some good lookin buds !
Do they smell much?
Are your filters handling it?

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Thanks man. Yeh they're getting pretty funky. New filters recommended for sure. Mine's about due to be replaced after this grow anyway.

Ruderalis Ryan said:

Mother of Pearl, that's a bloody majestic grow!
Are those buds stinking yet?
How much longer until you decide to harvest?

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Cheers! Thanks for the compliment mate!
The breeder says 9 weeks, the SeedFinder database users lean towards 10-11. Spidermites may speed up my timetable. I'll be entering the 9th week after the weekend.

I would say if you have at least 1 or 2 weeks left you could spray a light dosage like 1/4-1/6 and be totally fine.

imho, i wouldn't spray this late, mainly because whatever you spray won't have a chance to fully break down before you harvest and cure. Many people spray that late in flower, but it can lead to a whole host of problems, mainly botrytis and chemical burn......

Couple of things for mites, beyond spraying, 1: is they hate wind....so if you can direct more moving air at them....they can move.....I have a friend, who's son, uses bamboo poles to "herd" the mites away from plants this way.

Hot water can also work in small doses.....some of the same problems as foliar spraying such as +Rh, but none of the chems to foul the taste.....

I would just take them down really, if you can......spraying imho should only be done, maybe into the 3rd or 4th week of flower...even then I used to NEEM and stopped after getting burns all the time, later in flower.....

Actually one of the points that the makers of Take Down emphasize is that their spray is designed to breakdown quickly and not persist in the environment. It's natural being just canola oil and pyrethrin basically.

I'd prefer not to spray anything if I don't have to... If I can make it to the end, then I'll just cut all the branches down with plenty of extra branch at the end and when the branches hang upside down the mites should migrate to the extra branch at the top.

Welp, I had been mulling over my options on what to do about my minor spider-mite problem. Thankfully it hasn't gotten that bad. My normal temperatures are in the right range to keep the mites activity low.

Suprisingly the order I placed last week for Take Down Garden Spray arrived today. I'm definitely going to use it going forward, but I've been hesitant about doing something so late in flower.

After taking pictures tonight, I don't have to decide anymore. Her days are numbered now, I'll be taking her down sometime this week. For me the deciding factor is a marked increase in amber trichs. I'd say she's approximately 3-5% amber now. I'll just give her plain water over the next few days and monitor the spider-mites.

Here's a closeup:

Welp she made it thru 67 days of flower, before being chopped down. Since I used the mainline technique, I only had to cut down 8 branches when harvesting. This is the second time I've tried that method, and I hope to keep getting better with it. I think this strain responded quite well to the training. I probably could've trimmed more of the underside on this run, but oh well the fluffy stuff will make some nice hash oil. All the tops and the middle canopy are quite fat and dense...I can't wait until she's ready to smoke.

I normally don't trim so much during the initial harvest, usually just the big fan leaves. Since I had the spidermite problem, I trimmed alot more than usual. I'll let these branches hang for 3 days and check on them. I'm soo not looking forward to the final trim, it looks like that is going to take a looong time. Oh well it's a good problem to have

I think I might have a new personal best, but we'll have to wait and see...

Onto the bud pr0n!

Awesome job dude, even with a late spidermite problem that harvest looks pristine!!

Dragon311 said:

This is the 2nd time I'm following Nugbuckets guide to "mainlining" a plant.

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Hi, lovely looking plant man! If it's not too much trouble, is there any chance you could provide a link to this info please? I'd really like to see it. Thanks.

Dragon - Would you mind describing your technique for taking such good close-up pictures of your trichs? You said you used a digital camera. Can you provide more details please?

@Di Freal - Thanks man. Hopefully I can stop those mites from popping up next time.

@Heavy Consumer - search is your friend... http://rollitup.org/t/the-main-lining-thread.542308/

@John1961 - For that close up picture, all I did was instead of re-sizing the picture, I left it at 100% and cropped it