First time grower...Tent, Hydro, LED/CFL combo. Thanks for any advice.

Am I doing good so far. I command honesty!


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DarthBlazeAnthony

Well-Known Member
IMO you should have at least two of those LEDS in that tent, your light only will give core coverage of acceptable flowering umols in about a 2 foot area(hung approx. 12 inches above), that area looks larger than 2 feet and if you look at the edges you can see a noticeable difference in brightness.
It's pretty bright in the tent...I have it about 18 inches above to cover the area squarely. Blue dream strain might just take a bit longer to finish. I definitely agree the buds should be larger. Lets take a look from last night
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GroErr

Well-Known Member
It's pretty bright in the tent...I have it about 18 inches above to cover the area squarely. Blue dream strain might just take a bit longer to finish. I definitely agree the buds should be larger. Lets take a look from last night
They look good Darth but imo there's not enough light in there if they're 5 weeks +. 18" is pretty high for flowering with those lights, you'll get the coverage for the area at the expense of intensity. For comparison, here's my HSO Blue Dream at 5 weeks (last Sunday, Day 36 of 12/12). Not the same lights and all but a significant difference in bud development. You can ride it out but they'll take a while to flower and suffer in yield without additional lighting I think.
BD-Day36-Day21-3.JPG
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
Groerr is right, and this is honestly the hardest part about using LEDs, Finding the sweet spot where your buds can grow big and dense but still having enough coverage area to fill your tent. That's another reason LEDs are more expensive, because coverage is a serious issue even with the best LEDs.​
 

Tazbud

Well-Known Member
If your already at 12", comparing Groerr's grow, it does look like your falling a bit short on light (perhaps spectrum?) for flowering?Are they 2700k bulbs in the bud space? which bulbs? or separate LED? (sorry if I missed it).

Definitely got the veg pinned down. Maybe try the 14/10 or less veg light/ cooling veg cabinet/ slow them down somehow? for now.
 
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DarthBlazeAnthony

Well-Known Member
If your already at 12", comparing Groerr's grow, it does look like your falling a bit short on light (perhaps spectrum?) for flowering?Are they 2700k bulbs in the bud space? which bulbs? or separate LED? (sorry if I missed it).

Definitely got the veg pinned down. Maybe try the 14/10 or less veg light/ cooling veg cabinet/ slow them down somehow? for now.
It is a 600w led, full spectrum, super bright...in fact, it is burning the leaves a bit because I had it too close. The tent is 2 feet 9 inches square. I believe it is taking longer because it is from seed, blue dream, I topped it so many times, led, hydro...all those factors are making this one take longer. I think she is starting to take off now...maybe 4 or 5 more weeks to go.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
The light is and was 9 inches above canopy. Just thought it was higher. My ph may be off, need to check that.
Yeah that's pretty close, 10-12" is fine, less and you loose coverage but that light probably pulls around 350-400w, lot of light for that space. I'm soil, don't have a clue how to troubleshoot hydro.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
I know soil pretty well but stay away from it because once you get pH problems they can be hard to adjust. I would suggest testing run off, if the run off pH is really out of wack you may want to try to flush the plant with a mild nutrient solution or flushing solution. Good luck !
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
I know soil pretty well but stay away from it because once you get pH problems they can be hard to adjust. I would suggest testing run off, if the run off pH is really out of wack you may want to try to flush the plant with a mild nutrient solution or flushing solution. Good luck !
Yeah, suppose it can be problematic, I've been using it for so long I can "sense" when the mix is right - lol And I find it forgiving in a lot of ways. I travel a lot and soil can be forgiving that way, even when my GF waters them (that's a feat, she can look at plants and they die!) :shock:
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
Yeah soil should be pretty simple you just water and then feed like 1-2 times depending on how hungry the plant is and how rich your soil is and by feed I don't mean full strength bottled nutrients.
 

GroErr

Well-Known Member
Yeah soil should be pretty simple you just water and then feed like 1-2 times depending on how hungry the plant is and how rich your soil is and by feed I don't mean full strength bottled nutrients.
I use AN A&B both grow and bloom but only as supplements. Since I use so little of it I calculated my nute costs to somewhere between $0.06 and $0.09 per gram so cost is not a factor. It also, along with filtered or RO water, maintains ph levels to the point I don't even test or own a pen anymore. I switched about 5-6 runs ago to 50% Pro-Mix and 50% Triple mix with supplemental feeds (low dose, like 400 - 500 ppm every other watering). Very happy with it, no bugs/flies since I switched and the plants have responded great, that and the fabric pots have made soil so much easier and productive for me I don't think I'll switch away from this formula for a while.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
I love the advanced nutrients a+b its what I use and I am sticking to it. I also use R/O water but I do PH my nutrient solution as AN always comes out to 5.3PH and I do coco and like to be at 5.8PH. I also use fabric pots usually 5 gallon or larger I have done up to 10 gallon. I mix my coco with perlite 50/50.
 

Tazbud

Well-Known Member
600 is a lot of W's!
My first LED was a 300w reflector LED (the ebay ones with the green case) but I noticed, in hindsight, that it wasn't ideal for flowering, like the floodlight great till about this stage then just took an age to heavy up. Maybe you need more deeeep red? Be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring eh.

After a few years trying to water soil with hydro nutes, the only (studied) hydro runs I did were with Canna products and I decided, once learning what was actually needed, that i'd rather be a dirty gardener, gardening.. than a chemist in a lab :-P
 
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DarthBlazeAnthony

Well-Known Member
600 is a lot of W's!
My first LED was a 300w reflector LED (the ebay ones with the green case) but I noticed, in hindsight, that it wasn't ideal for flowering, like the floodlight great till about this stage then just took an age to heavy up. Maybe you need more deeeep red? Be interesting to see what the next few weeks bring eh.

After a few years trying to water soil with hydro nutes, the only (studied) hydro runs I did were with Canna products and I decided, once learning what was actually needed, that i'd rather be a dirty gardener, gardening.. than a chemist in a lab :-P

These are the specs.
  • New 2014 600W LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants Growth and Flowering
  • Spectrum: 430~440nm, 450~475nm, 620~630nm, 650~670nm, White
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  • Lumen: 14300lumens
  • Coverage: 4*3ft( Veg), 3*2.5ft(Flowering)
  • Output power: 600Watt
  • Power consumption: 110V: 335W-360W/220V: 346W-320W
  • Amp: 2.8A/110V, 1.4A/220V
  • Worldwide Voltage Capable: AC85~265V
  • View Angle of LEDs: 90/120°
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