LED (the head)

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ed the head
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LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

I have grown a couple of times in the past with only moderate success using HPS and MH light. Coming back after 10+ years. With much of the world going so horribly wrong, it's good to see the cannabis world, and cannabis grow world improving so rapidly.

The new setup is a 2x4 tent kit with a 440w LED. It's got 6" input and exhaust fans and a carbon filter. The kit came with (5) 5 gal grow bags, Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil, pH up and pH down liquid and meter, and weather station. Setup was easy, but 1 fan was seized up. The RMA was noisy, and the saga continues. Meanwhile a substitute from HomeDepot is doing the trick.

I put 4 Paradise Fem Wappa seeds from True North Seeds in water 9/28 and onto a paper towel germination plate 9/29. By 10/1 they sprouted nearly an inch and went into the Fox Farm mix. Growth since then has been much better than expected (or previously experienced). I am trying LST for the first time, letting 4 true leaf lobs develop and then train down lob #5. I've done this twice now to each plant. After that I setup up a net to ease further training. A few lobs are beginning to creep over so I am looking forward to training them to fill the canopy.

This was the first time I paid any attention to pH. For the first 3 weeks, they only got pH balanced water (to 6.0 - 6.5). I noticed my tap water is usually a little high. After 3 weeks I am using about 70% recommend dose of Dr. Earth liquid fertilizer every other watering. This product bought my water pH way down to around 4.7 so I adjust it to 6. The plants seem very healthy with this regimen so it continues.

When we get to flowering, I have a 3 pack from Fox Farms for early, mid and late bud development.

So far I am very impressed with the performance of this LED unit. I read that it is optimized for bud development, which is particularly encouraging because the plants are growing spectacularly in vegetative mode. It clearly out performs the HPS and MH of my past.

The tent, ventilation, pH, augmented soil and quality seed are no doubt contributing factors, but I've become a fan of LED.

Here is a shot at 2 weeks, apologies for the pink light
Image

This was the 4 week birthday for the Four Ladies Wappa under my current stewardship. The Twisted Wappa Sisters
1. Winona Wappa, 2. Wilhelmina Wappa, 3. Winterrose Wappa, 4. Wynnifred Wappa

I keep thinking back to my previous grows. At this stage of the grow cycle, these little beauties are 4x the size of previous efforts. It's delightful, and amazing.

The two ladies in the rear had properly light pots this morning and were due for some plain water. When I checked my tap water pH, it was already spot on at 6.3. :mrgreen: Clearly a good omen from the Universe.
Image
Onward and Upward Edward


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macky
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by macky »

Nice ED :mrgreen: LED are getting better all the time ,like most things you get what you pay for :D There’s lots of junk in lower end led . I prefer my HPS with different settings ,400,600,1000 ,s in bigger rooms the heat from lamps I find make my plants drink more then with led .But in summer there the cats ass :D Fox farm has been used by master growers in California for years ,great choice there :mrgreen: Chi-Ching is my secret weapon on my outdoor crop ,makes oily crystallized bud .
When you water let 20% water go out bottom of pot very important not to let nukes build up in your soil . Always PH your flushing water . A small RO water machine will take you to the next stage . In these times I find great hours of enjoyment in my grow room .
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TransApenninesCouple
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by TransApenninesCouple »

Hi ACD growers, I also switched to leds after quitting for a few years, before I used HPS 600w. I tried using a Nutriculture system but returned to the soil after two failures. Now the last cycle is going pretty well, two weeks to go, I have a magnesium deficiency problem and maybe too much light on the buds. I use Sonlight g3 + and it looks great in the vegetative phase but not great in flowering. Indeed HPS in flo is great. This will be the first decent crop with Led and I will keep you posted, the previous cycle was half destroyed by my lady with a chemical bomb of cleaning products! :twisted: :mrgreen:
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AzLaker
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by AzLaker »

Darn it, ed. I wish you had ONE male plant, just so you could have called it Willy Wappa. :lol: :lol:

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Re: LED (the head)

Post by AzLaker »

TransApenninesCouple wrote: Sat 31st Oct 2020 10:59 am Hi ACD growers, I also switched to leds after quitting for a few years, before I used HPS 600w. I tried using a Nutriculture system but returned to the soil after two failures. Now the last cycle is going pretty well, two weeks to go, I have a magnesium deficiency problem and maybe too much light on the buds. I use Sonlight g3 + and it looks great in the vegetative phase but not great in flowering. Indeed HPS in flo is great. This will be the first decent crop with Led and I will keep you posted, the previous cycle was half destroyed by my lady with a chemical bomb of cleaning products! :twisted: :mrgreen:
What are you growing TAC? I like LED too, will incorporate it in my next grow, but for really TIGHT buds, I'll still use MH/HPS(400-600) lighting for now. Good luck on your harvest. :thumbup:

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ed the head
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

AzLaker wrote: Sat 31st Oct 2020 01:57 pm Darn it, ed. I wish you had ONE male plant, just so you could have called it Willy Wappa. :lol: :lol:

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ed the head
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

TransApenninesCouple wrote: Sat 31st Oct 2020 10:59 am Hi ACD growers, I also switched to leds after quitting for a few years, before I used HPS 600w. I tried using a Nutriculture system but returned to the soil after two failures. Now the last cycle is going pretty well, two weeks to go, I have a magnesium deficiency problem and maybe too much light on the buds. I use Sonlight g3 + and it looks great in the vegetative phase but not great in flowering. Indeed HPS in flo is great. This will be the first decent crop with Led and I will keep you posted, the previous cycle was half destroyed by my lady with a chemical bomb of cleaning products! :twisted: :mrgreen:
AZ turned me onto 420magazine, it may be worth checking out. Lots of information and helpful experienced growers. For example, I read about a similar problem the grower thought was a mag deficiency, turned out to be a fungus. A couple of close ups and details on your regimen will get you plenty of advice.

Good luck.
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TransApenninesCouple
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by TransApenninesCouple »

I'm growing 3 sweet gelato and 3 gorilla girl xl from sweetseeds all Autos. Gorilla is very tall...1,5m! Monsters auto 8) :mrgreen:
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ed the head
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

:D Watering Day :D

I could tell yesterday watering day was soon approaching by the weight of the pots. This morning, Wilhelmina had just started to droop a bit. I prepared our morning carbon augmentation unit, reconfirmed pH in the water and commenced our ritual. Just enough to top flood her and wait. Augment carbon, wait, whisper sweet nothings, wait some more, and repeat until she is leaving just a dribble in her catch plate. She's thirsty. I notice she's consumed almost half of what would previously feed the whole lot.

Onto sweet wee Wynnifred. She has some catching up to do. She's been the lightest drinker in the lot, but today she was also very thirsty. She is lightening up faster now, which I hope means more root growth, which I hope translates into catching up with her sisters! Come on Wynnie, you can do it!

Next we move onto Winterrose. She likes her new spot a lot and is well on her way to catching up with Wilhelmina and Winona. Also a thirsty girl! I notice now that Wilhelmina is already starting to stand tall, and by the time Winterrose is finished my water pot is empty. :D we are happy. :D Consuming more water is a good thing.

Last but never least we come to Wonderful Winona. She's made no complaints about her new digs, and now also drinks up about twice what she's been doing. Va bene mi Amore. Mo roots, mo roots! By the time Winona is finished, Wilhelmina is fully recovered. :D we are happy :D

:mrgreen: Carbon augmentation continues. :wtf: Oops. Winona's plate has some run off she's not sucking back up. I commence operation In Search Of Turkey Baster. Thankfully one is in my kitchen utensil drawer. It takes about 5 'sucks' to get it right. Thank you Turkey Baster.

Now I make sure my humidifier is full and go on to install the second curtain rod for the front trellis support. Yeah, that's right, nice and taught now. :3:

2 more tops over the trellis :D making 14 so far. Lights out in about 4 hours. Hoping the girls have a night full of root growth followed by a good day of growth.

:mrgreen:
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ed the head
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

:D We have pistils :D
:mrgreen: 12/12 :mrgreen:
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Re: LED (the head)

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:clap: :clap: :clap: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
It's all down hill from here. :lol:


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Re: LED (the head)

Post by Willjay »

Less time you get to look at them :lol:
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ed the head
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

Day 45 - 2nd day of 12/12
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Re: LED (the head)

Post by AzLaker »

They're looking real nice ed. :thumbup: :mrgreen:

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Re: LED (the head)

Post by ed the head »

AzLaker wrote: Fri 13th Nov 2020 11:01 pm They're looking real nice ed. :thumbup: :mrgreen:

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Thanks AZ :!:
Today is day 48 of life for the Wappa Sisters. I got a second timer for the ventilation fans and am now cycling every 30 minutes. This may have been inspired from the safety instructions of the fans which said to not run constantly, or more likely my frugal nature. :D Anyway, I am keeping a close eye on the ladies for any signs of distress. I also wasn't thrilled with the way my kit furnished fabric light pulley strings were supported by an abrasive flat edge clip on the light, so I improvised by adding 4 key rings. This was a cheap and easy fix, the pulley string slides with no abrasion now. :D

Wilhelmina and Wynnifred were due for plain water today, 72 hours since their last drink of Open Sesame. They were mostly light yesterday but I let them go one more day. They each drank up about 3 quarts. Looks to be about 1 quart per day each of the girls is consuming :D . Going to push Winona and Winterrose out 1 more day too so they will be 72 hours between drinks.

Today is also day 6 of 12/12 lighting. I see a few more pistils each day. Do they ever appear quickly enough?

Now the Sisters Wappa teach me a valuable lesson: patience
:mrgreen:
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