Z7, Snow Goddess, Tora Bora under CMH & LEDs

18", I had them @ 24" or so but lowered them a few days ago. The temps (@ canopy level) went up a few degrees after the move.

Question for you all if you don't mind. I've never grow from clones. Should I trim all the small growth at the bottom now that it's going? I'm pretty sure the FFOF may be a bit hot for her. Isn't that what causes leaf warping like this?

Shout out to da Treehouse for the kickass bubble I got there today and the e-pen with oil vape attachment. I'd never tried bubble in it until tonight. That little sucker hits hard.

Trim just the lower 3rd. Depends on training method.

TGIF and time for an update. I've made some changes in the tent as follows:
- added a 4" fan/ 9600 CANfilter to the 6" already in the tent to help manage temps
- added a 12" oscillating fan
- lowered the lights to 14 - 18" from the canopy
- feeding teas almost daily with guano and Roots Organics Elemental and Foundation
-Blumats dialed in, no run offs (famous last words lol) - sucking down a couple of gallons a day in addition to teas, drain trays are staying bone dry
- had the light timers set on 16/8 rather than 18/6.... corrected this week
- temps 81 peak lights on, 63 at bottom

So, I've decided to limit my canopy to an area about 4' wide by 3' deep. I've also decided to make the run with just the Elite Agro lights, I haven't had the LEDs in for over a week now and I plan to leave them out. These pics were taken with the lamps running... looks like sunlight yo, not that disco funk purple LED stuff . Don't get me wrong, I love my LEDs but want to see how these do by themselves.

Update next Friday, same bat time, same bat channel. (Showing my age with that obscure comment). I'm thinkin 4 more weeks of veg. The little Tora Bora is doing well. Gonna give her a hair cut in the morning. The really thin leaves plant in the back right is the Z7 - she's a straight up shrubbery. The back left corner is the Snow Goddess sativa CBD pheno. Front left is the Snow Goddess Indica pheno.... I got her fat ass hiked up on a stool to get her even with the sativas

Hi guys, I'm hoping for some advice on the scrog method. As this is my 1st grow with a screen, I'm pretty much clueless as to when I should do what So, I've been told to lollipop the plants. I've also read that you want all the growth below the screen trimmed. Any advice?

The Z7 turned into a stinkin bush overnight it seems.... looks like a jungle under the screen. So... Do I just wade in there with the clippers

Also, the snow goddess sativa pheno has droopy leaves.... kind of. I think the moisture is right as it's drawing on the Blumat and the drain tray stays dry. But the Z7's leaves are very perky and the Indica snow goddess is kind of droopy, but that's how she rolls. Any idea on the droop factor? Temps 80 max in canopy. Fans moving lots of air....

I don't wanna be an ass hole........but in your tent and with those plant #s, I would avoid the screen like the plague. Lst/train the bitches and you can still get in there to check on issues and the wonderful blumat system

Looks like you need a little more dialing in, definite watering issue. Too little too much idk, but your in coco? so probably too little is my guess.

PSUAGRO. said:

I don't wanna be an ass hole........but in your tent and with those plant #s, I would avoid the screen like the plague. Lst/train the bitches and you can still get in there to check on issues and the wonderful blumat system


Looks like you need a little more dialing in, definite watering issue. Too little too much idk, but your in coco? so probably too little is my guess.

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Thanks man. Yeah, my gut was telling me a watering problem. I'm in FFOF soil. I would guess too much, but the drain tray is bone dry always.... I'm gonna give it a big drink tomorrow and we'll see.


But on the screen, I thought it was important to have an even canopy across the lights footprint? I did Lst and trained the tops over in my last grow, this is basically the same deal, I just have built in supports with the screen. Without the screen, I would definitely have to stake and tie up the 2 snow goddess plants. There is plenty of room to get under the screen.... not sure why you think it's a bad idea, but I certainly appreciate the help!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Bubbagineer again.

Wow bro!! Looking good..

IMO..

I hated the scrog net.... It literally locked me into position, and I believe my 2 pheno suffered a great decrease in yield because I was unable to rotate the plant.

I believe scrog is awesome if I knew what the hell I was doing with the net...

But, I didn't...so I believe it was detrimental to my grow.
Just throwing that out there bro, looks fucking great.

Bubba, I'm torn between gavita 600's (220v) or sun systems lec 315's. The 315's are 10% off for the next week or so. Will you just keep adding the 315's as you grow? I'm assuming you're lighting 2.5sf per and dollar for dollar these are less than half the cost of plasmas. This is basically your primary light(s) and I'm thinking along the same direction. In short; would you recommend just doing everything with the 315's? I'm almost certain you're going to say yes, but like your other thread I'm looking for some opinions before shelling out 500 per. Best!

Looks good just make sure circulation is good around all those ladies since you cannot move them. Snow Goddess responds well to this growing method, canopy looks good just prune below the net and you will have a great grow. Deff figure out watering issue though

GreenPeak said:

Looks good just make sure circulation is good around all those ladies since you cannot move them. Snow Goddess responds well to this growing method, canopy looks good just prune below the net and you will have a great grow. Deff figure out watering issue though

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Thanks GP! I got the pruning done when I got home today. Respect to 303Seeds for these genetics.... and my sciatica thx you also.

cuckold said:

Bubba, I'm torn between gavita 600's (220v) or sun systems lec 315's. The 315's are 10% off for the next week or so. Will you just keep adding the 315's as you grow? I'm assuming you're lighting 2.5sf per and dollar for dollar these are less than half the cost of plasmas. This is basically your primary light(s) and I'm thinking along the same direction. In short; would you recommend just doing everything with the 315's? I'm almost certain you're going to say yes, but like your other thread I'm looking for some opinions before shelling out 500 per. Best!

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I expect the Gavita is a fine fixture, but so is this one. And I dig that it's made in the USA. And, they responded promptly to an email I sent them with some questions, see below. I love the lights, but if I had it to do over, I would have bought (2) 3x3 tents and had one vegging while one was flowering, then flip without having to change tents. I laid on my back in the tent today to prune and looking up through the canopy was like looking up through a jungle canopy on the equator somewhere - like true sunlight. Go with the lec315 if you plan to grow in a 3x3 or smaller area.... Or, you could probably hang 4 of them in a 5x5 tent


Thank you for choosing our LEC315! It is a great fixture, and I would like you to have confidence when using it.

There are two different types of the CDM315 lamps (and two different types of the CDM PGX sockets). If you look at the lamp that is provided with the fixture you will physically see that it has an inner quartz jacket surrounding the entire arc tube, this is the open rated lamp. The PGX socket is brown in color, and has a key way cutout that will only allow an open rated CDM315 lamp to be installed (the non-open rated socket is cream colored). So you are completely safe in the fact that the fixture itself physically cannot be used with a lamp that is not approved for open use.

The thermal cut off will be built into the ballast itself. I don’t know the exact temp in which the ballast will cut out. We designed the fixture to stay cool and this is an ETL approved fixture so we are way under the higher temperature threshold. We have never tripped the thermal breaker even in our prototypes that we rigorously tested. These ballasts just do not get hot enough to trip the breaker in our fixture design.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you for your inquiry. Have a great day!

Ok, it's Friday... update time. First, changes from last week:

1) Flushed the one that was droopy, and reset the Blumats.... successfully (I think)
2) Started loading teas up with guano and adding Dyna-gro pro-tekt for past 2 weeks (yes I realize this is not exactly organic, but look at the stems!). Teas based on Bountea system, but also been adding some stump tea mix.
3) Trimmed about 1/2 a paper grocery sack of undergrowth.
4) Removed LEDs about 2-3 weeks ago, pretty much from the start of veg.

I am in the market for a larger reservoir. I'm currently using an ~8g tub. Based off my recent out of town trip, I estimate needing a capacity of 20g to be able to leave my girls for 3-4 days without supervision. Do you guys have any suggestions, DIY is no problem.

I don't think I'm going to be able to veg for another 2 weeks like I planned. Thinking about flipping next weekend. The Z7 is just getting too big.

The little one is Tora Bora, she's starting to take off. Early conclusion on lights - they work far better than similar T5 wattages for veg growth, we'll see about flowering. I don't intend on putting the LEDs back in.

Question for you grow room guys:

I have a busy overhead area in my grow space due to drains, ducting, etc. Short of hanging an airtight suspended ceiling, how would you go about getting an air seal at the roof. When I trimmed the z7 the other day, it stunk up the house... I need to filter the air in the room around the tent also...

I guess a roll of heavy plastic, a staple gun and some tuck tape..... gonna be ghetto though and I have the ceiling light fixture to contend with...

2nd question:

Would you add a float valve to my current reservoir, or should I increase the reservoir size - current capacity is ~8g, I figure 25 - 30 gallons should be a great plenty if I upsize. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to actually put a float valve into service.....

thanks for for any advice.

Nice technique for your ceiling is the blown on expanding foam insulation. Have used on large basement grows and it also cuts sound down from fans.

SnapsProvolone said:

Nice technique for your ceiling is the blown on expanding foam insulation. Have used on large basement grows and it also cuts sound down from fans.

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Thanks man. That would definitely do it, but I was hoping for something a bit more reversible lol.... resale value you know

One patch of dry wall from the top of the pic down to the 6", then 5mm panda film for the overhang corner? Sorry man cant really come up with anything better.

Just came across your grow, and I think you're doin' great. Not sold on the watering system, I'm a heavy water and let it dry type of grower, but I'm always looking for a way to make my grow easier. I'm also very interested in the lights. I've been running dual Philips Retro 400w CMH bulbs for almost 2yrs now and I love the full spectrum, and the lower heat. Really interested to see if the new tech is worth the expense over $35 replacement bulbs, I've heard that the ballast, hood, bulb, combo is worth the investment.
I've got one question, have you seen a color spectrum chart for your bulb? I've looked but haven't found anything. I really like the way the color chart of CMH bulbs runs off the visible levels into the IR and UV range just like the sun.

As far as your screen is concerned, I would have flipped them by now. You have filled a lot of screen already, and expect those sativa pheno's to more than double in the 1st 3 wks of flower. Also Waiting on the little one may create some bigger problems later on, the difference in maturity between between the little one, and the other 3 will only get larger as you extend veg. Flip now and get the most out of the small fry.

Best of luck with your grow, and I'm subbed to watch the finish

SahTiva said:

One patch of dry wall from the top of the pic down to the 6", then 5mm panda film for the overhang corner? Sorry man cant really come up with anything better.

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Thanks, thats all I could come up with also. The foam suggestion would be the easiest, but I hate covering up electrical and plumbing..

WattSaver said:

Just came across your grow, and I think you're doin' great. Not sold on the watering system, I'm a heavy water and let it dry type of grower, but I'm always looking for a way to make my grow easier. I'm also very interested in the lights. I've been running dual Philips Retro 400w CMH bulbs for almost 2yrs now and I love the full spectrum, and the lower heat. Really interested to see if the new tech is worth the expense over $35 replacement bulbs, I've heard that the ballast, hood, bulb, combo is worth the investment.
I've got one question, have you seen a color spectrum chart for your bulb? I've looked but haven't found anything. I really like the way the color chart of CMH bulbs runs off the visible levels into the IR and UV range just like the sun.

As far as your screen is concerned, I would have flipped them by now. You have filled a lot of screen already, and expect those sativa pheno's to more than double in the 1st 3 wks of flower. Also Waiting on the little one may create some bigger problems later on, the difference in maturity between between the little one, and the other 3 will only get larger as you extend veg. Flip now and get the most out of the small fry.

Best of luck with your grow, and I'm subbed to watch the finish

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Thank you for the advice and welcome along to see how these lamps will do. I do have a spectrum chart.... you're gonna like it. One thing to know though, one of these 315w lamps really seems to only have enough juice to light a 3x3 footprint. So my setup is not optimal. What would kill would be a 5x5 tent with 4 of these... I think they would just fit.

On the watering, that is an interesting comment. In my last (and first) grow, I had bad issues with the Blumats early on due to my inability to not fiddle with shit. So I had a few run outs.... I think these served to give me a flush along about flip. This time, I have been going along feeding heavy teas with guano, but I haven't had any blumat run outs..... I'm 99% sure I had early stage nute lock out because I gave them a 1g drink of straight water w/ ca/mg dose and the pictures below is what they looked like 16 hrs later.

Also, thx for convincing me to flip to flower. I've been trying to convince myself of that for over a week now. So I flipped them tonight. The little Tora Bora had barely touched the screen.

While these lights give the closest approximation of real sunlight I've ever seen from a bulb, they do seem to wash out the colors a bit. For example, under the lights the plants look more pale green than when photographed in the dark with a flash - see pics.

oh and I decided no float valve in the res.... decided to limit the amount that could run out worst case to ~5 g or so. I will have to enlist my old lady to refill the res when I'm on the road.