Small fluffy buds

Hey Hey!

Tent 3x3x6
Lights G8900 LED kept at 22 inches away
Temps Day 72-76 Night 63-65
Humidity 25-35
Pots 5 Gallon
Medium FFOF Super Soil (organic)w - worm castings, perlite and happy frog bulb food 3-8-8
Feeding schedule is usually dechlorinated tap water w - air stone - seaweed xtract 0-0-1 molasses and compost tea every 2 weeks. I only feed (water) when the leaves droop slightly or by weight of pot.

Sooo what am I doing wrong ? Why are my buds always small and fluffy?

You need more light.

xtsho said:

You need more light.

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The light I use has a PAR reading of 1500. I thought it’s enough, no?

sero1991 said:

The light I use has a PAR reading of 1500. I thought it’s enough, no?

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I grew with the Blurple lights in the past so can relate to your post. Those lights don't provide the PPF, PPFD, and photon efficiency required by the plant to grow big chunky buds. Your light will grow something but if you're not happy, maybe it's time to consider an upgrade?. I tried googling that light and it looks like it was popular in 2014/2015?

How old is the light btw... I noticed my blurples wouldn't have quite the oomph they first had after a few grows...(maybe that was just in my head). It is hard to tell under the purple light, but do you have any deficiencies? Do you measure your ph or EC of your feedings?

If you had or can get access to a legit light meter try taking some PPFD readings and that will tell you if it is your light or your growing technique. I am leaning towards the light.

Its hard to see much with the pink lights, maybe a picture with just white lights on.

How far into flower are they?

I don't run LED yet but I respect the tech. I just went and looked at the light you've got, and I do think that's part of the issue. First off I would have it closer to the tops, my 1000w is always within 18 inches of my canopy. Your light claims to use 540w of power from the wall. Based most LEDs I've seen(with some exceptions) that is the wattage you should expect from it, not try to compare it with 1500 watts of HID light. IT WILL NOT COMPARE. Now if you have three of these lights in the same space then you will have 1500w worth of light, and you will get some awesome buds. I would still get them closer to the tops so you are maximizing the light that hits your plants and not the walls. Are you familiar with the inverse square law to lighting?

Honestly, on paper that light looks strong enough for decent bud out of a 3x3.

Hows your ventilation OP?

Also, what are you running? Some strains start to get airy when you train too much.

They dont look tiny and will swell, looks like a nice weight so far.

More light, cmh/hps led if you can afford it

18touring said:

I grew with the Blurple lights in the past so can relate to your post. Those lights don't provide the PPF, PPFD, and photon efficiency required by the plant to grow big chunky buds. Your light will grow something but if you're not happy, maybe it's time to consider an upgrade?. I tried googling that light and it looks like it was popular in 2014/2015?

How old is the light btw... I noticed my blurples wouldn't have quite the oomph they first had after a few grows...(maybe that was just in my head). It is hard to tell under the purple light, but do you have any deficiencies? Do you measure your ph or EC of your feedings?

If you had or can get access to a legit light meter try taking some PPFD readings and that will tell you if it is your light or your growing technique. I am leaning towards the light.

Click to expand...

First time using it and it’s brand new. It was 1,100.00$ and is meant to flower in a 4x4 I have a 3x3

SPLFreak808 said:

Honestly, on paper that light looks strong enough for decent bud out of a 3x3.

Hows your ventilation OP?

Also, what are you running? Some strains start to get airy when you train too much.

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The light is extremely good quality led for 1,100$. Ventilation is on all the time. Air gets sucked in from outside and gets sucked out. They’re white widow, Mazar x white rhino

Thundercat said:

Its hard to see much with the pink lights, maybe a picture with just white lights on.

How far into flower are they?

I don't run LED yet but I respect the tech. I just went and looked at the light you've got, and I do think that's part of the issue. First off I would have it closer to the tops, my 1000w is always within 18 inches of my canopy. Your light claims to use 540w of power from the wall. Based most LEDs I've seen(with some exceptions) that is the wattage you should expect from it, not try to compare it with 1500 watts of HID light. IT WILL NOT COMPARE. Now if you have three of these lights in the same space then you will have 1500w worth of light, and you will get some awesome buds. I would still get them closer to the tops so you are maximizing the light that hits your plants and not the walls. Are you familiar with the inverse square law to lighting?

Click to expand...

They are in week 5 and are fast flowering plants 6-7 weeks. I’ll try lowering the lights than

I count 70 tops so factor in its an led/true draw and skills if you pull 5gram a branch/top thats almost 500grams.

I grow a seven week strain, its 8 weeks from 12/12 for an early harvest 9 weeks for proper harvest.

Many strains advertise as 6/7 weeks but take longer, mine is a very fast strain but still need to add a wee or two for true 12/12

sero1991 said:

First time using it and it’s brand new. It was 1,100.00$ and is meant to flower in a 4x4 I have a 3x3

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i am sorry you spent so much on a crappy light i did that once. send it back quickly

Well I tried googling that light and a Casio watch came up, G8900?

Without the specs I can’t tell if your light is the issue.

I know high temps can cause loose buds, but yours seem to be okay.

Your lights seem high, but then again can’t tell without knowing the specs.

Take pics without the lights on FYI next time.

Blurples can grow awesome bud, so don’t be discouraged

My bad 70 x 5 = 350

Kipn said:

i am sorry you spent so much on a crappy light i did that once. send it back quickly

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All lights apart from your own leds are crap....

We get this a lot from led growers, let me just say your crap for crapping on lights here and making such a toxic tone.

Fullscan19 said:

Well I tried googling that light and a Casio watch came up, G8900?

Without the specs I can’t tell if your light is the issue.

I know high temps can cause loose buds, but yours seem to be okay.

Your lights seem high, but then again can’t tell without knowing the specs.

Take pics without the lights on FYI next time.

Blurples can grow awesome bud, so don’t be discouraged

Click to expand...

The brand is g8 900 is the one he has. It pulls an actual 620 from the wall according to them. I’ll stick with cmh and strips.

According to their specs that light should be way more than enough! I cant believe it’s a grand tho, Holy fuck.

Here's the specs I saw: https://www.ledgrowlightsdepot.com/collections/g8led-grow-lights/products/g8-900
https://www.dormgrow.com/products/900-watt-led-grow-light/

They say it pulls 540w from the wall. This is just like the cfl bulbs that say 100w but are actually only 25w. I know the difference between wattage, lumen, and par measurements. This whole thing is the exact problem with LED companies. Many of them flat out lie to people to sell products.

The guys getting really impressive results with LED are using Bars or cobs to get the distribution, and higher powered full spectrum LEDS to get the penetration these cheap ones don't have.

Your light will grow awesome buds, in the right size area from the right distance. 550w over a 3x3 at 14-16 inches will give you some real light. When you try to double that footprint you loose half your light. INVERSE SQUARE LAW guys come on. I'm sorry you spent so much with the wrong expectation. I don't think you bought a bad light, I think you are trying to use it wrong based on the companies false advertising.

https://www.amazon.com/G8LED-Flower-Optimal-Infrared-Ultraviolet/dp/B008ANH8O0

Amazon here claims it should be hung 16 inches above the canopy. So you have yours at least 6 inches to high. They also suggest for the best results adding 2 more booster lights to flower with. The company knows this light won't really do what you want so they tell you in advance to buy more lighting to flower with........

Pulling 300grams with that light is not a bad grow for newer growers for 540watts at the wall.

I never said he had a bad grow or a bad light. Just making suggestions to solve the problem he asked about and trying to help explain the results he's seeing.