Chinese LED Grow – 75 (actual draw) Watts per plant veg/100W per plant flower

[nvhak49]

I've run one of these panels through a full run including flowering, but only once and I felt I didn't have enough power, a 300W (200 actual) on 3 plants. Plus I had a lot of environmental issues through flowering with a very cold snap and a couple of major power outages. Even with all those factors I still pulled 4.5 oz, but the buds weren't what I would consider nice buds and I should have pulled about 9 oz for how long I vegged them.

That's essentially why I posted this run on here, I have my environment dialled in and a couple of LED runs indoor (was new to indoor around this time last year, had grown outdoors for 30+ years though, so not a total newbie, just indoor) so I feel I can run a good consistent environment in this one to give the panels a fair shot at flowering.

What I noticed in the first 2 runs is they did very well at veg. But when it came to flowering, with the amount of light I had, they took forever to finish and the buds were good quality but small and not as dense as I expected. Those runs were with a very well known strain and one i had grown outdoor for a few years so I knew what they COULD produce outdoor, was very disappointed with the quality and yield indoor. BUT again, there were too many variables, screw ups etc so I blame myself, not the panels. In this run, if I give them 100W per plant to flower, keep the environment at optimum and they don't produce, then I'll move on and likely just use them for vegging...

Technically I feel these panels can do a nice grow, particularly for the money. We'll see if I've learned anything in 30 years of outdoor and a year indoor - lol

Oh I'm thanks for the advice I'm hoping they will do good in flowering if not I'll just get a small HID and go from there till the LEDs get better. I was just gunna get the 300w panel and use it with only two plants. But I won't purchase it till i see how it's turned out? Have you used hid lights b4?

 

[GroErr]

Oh I'm thanks for the advice I'm hoping they will do good in flowering if not I'll just get a small HID and go from there till the LEDs get better. I was just gunna get the 300w panel and use it with only two plants. But I won't purchase it till i see how it's turned out? Have you used hid lights b4?

The benefit here is you can do just that, "try before you buy" without the buy part Personally I've never used HID, I do have first hand knowledge of it though, my son has used HPS/HID for a few years. When I came indoor I pretty well had decided that it would be newer technology, have seen him fight with heat issues, replacing bulbs, ballasts, seemed somewhat old school and there has to be a better way. If it's not these panels for flowering long term, I'll still use them for vegging, and will be trying induction next for flowering either way. I personally like these panels and LED in general for vegging after a few runs, they not only veg well but control stretch and keep tight/close nodes, which I like because saliva dominant plants are my favourite and they respond well to the LED's in veg. I'll likely mix it up going forward using LED and Induction, will be trying out NFT in a couple of rounds, these can be used for vegging and flowering my NFT.

 

[hillbilly86]

Heat and higher electrical draw are the reasons why I've never touched HPS/mh/hid. Very simple duct work can counter the little bit of extra heat you may encounter with leds, though I will have a task on my hands once summer gets here since the place where I live has no AC and the windows open to where you can't stuff a window unit in em. Probably just invest in a portable AC unit and rig it up to work for what I need

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Rollitup mobile app

 

[GroErr]

Heat and higher electrical draw are the reasons why I've never touched HPS/mh/hid. Very simple duct work can counter the little bit of extra heat you may encounter with leds, though I will have a task on my hands once summer gets here since the place where I live has no AC and the windows open to where you can't stuff a window unit in em. Probably just invest in a portable AC unit and rig it up to work for what I need

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Rollitup mobile app

Yeah, know about summer, went through last summer and we have extreme temps so it was a bit of a pain, can't imagine the extra heat without LED's. I'm building my cold room into a 4x9.5x7' flowering room, the 2x4x5' veg cabinet I'm currently using will be outside of that. But I'm putting a T in the vent to pump air conditioning into that section so heat should be a lot easier to deal with this summer. This room will have central air from the house being sucked in by an inline fan, through a new vent, I tapped into the main plenum on my furnace/central air unit, cheapest form of air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter I won't be doing large scale grows like I used to outdoor but will be growing a couple (or 10) outdoor this year too, can't give up outdoor altogether, the lighting is too cheap

 

[hillbilly86]

Could just get water cooled duct flanges and a chiller but that's gonna cost a decent chunk of money, not sure if I'll have it together before summer but lord knows I'll get something figured out lol

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Rollitup mobile app

 

[nvhak49]

The benefit here is you can do just that, "try before you buy" without the buy part Personally I've never used HID, I do have first hand knowledge of it though, my son has used HPS/HID for a few years. When I came indoor I pretty well had decided that it would be newer technology, have seen him fight with heat issues, replacing bulbs, ballasts, seemed somewhat old school and there has to be a better way. If it's not these panels for flowering long term, I'll still use them for vegging, and will be trying induction next for flowering either way. I personally like these panels and LED in general for vegging after a few runs, they not only veg well but control stretch and keep tight/close nodes, which I like because saliva dominant plants are my favourite and they respond well to the LED's in veg. I'll likely mix it up going forward using LED and Induction, will be trying out NFT in a couple of rounds, these can be used for vegging and flowering my NFT.

Ya no joke huh haha, ya I'll probably just stick with LEDs cuz it's easier to add heat than to remove it so I'll see how ur guys flower and go from there. I bought some Cree 66w replacement bulbs cuz I hear they do good, do u guys know anything about them, should I keep them close like CFLs or should I back them away more since it's a actual led?

 

[GroErr]

Hey nvhak, can't help you with the LED bulbs, haven't used them. FYI though, found a guy called jteezymane doing a SCROG with 2x 150W of these panels, he's in flowering stage now if you want to check out his run as well. He's running one of my favourite strains too, scrogging sativa dominant strains with LED's would be a good combo, check him out.
https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/772856-300-watt-led-micro-scrog.html#post10283388

 

[nvhak49]

Oh no worries! Oh sweet thanks I'll check out his grow for sure! Thanks

 

[GroErr]

Hi all, weekly update. A day late, went away Sat night and got back this afternoon…

The babies are doing just fine ☺ They’ve had a busy week. Today is Day 40 from seed.

• I had Fimmed all of them 1 ½ weeks ago. Results show all of them developing 4 tops where I made the cuts, sweet ☺ All of them recovered and started repairing with new growth within 48 hours of Fimming. My preference is Fim vs. Topping, they recover faster, less stress I think.
• Made and installed the LST fixture in the 7Gal pot that the JTR Twins are in
• Did some light LST for JTR Twins (in the tent) and JTR2 (in the veg cabinet)
• Both JTR (sativa dominant) have developed into two main stalks. The twins came out of the soil that way. JTR2 just grew naturally as if it had been mainlined.
• Will LST the JTR’s but the indica dominant PBK’s will just be allowed to grow as-is, they look pretty happy with just the Fimming and keep shooting up, they’ll be tall (24”+) in a couple of weeks if they continue at this rate.
• The JTR sats are both starting to shoot up new growth from the center after tying them back. Will let this center shoot come up another 1-2” and Fim it late this week.
• No definite signs of sexing yet but they should start showing in the next week or so. PBK seeds were fem’s but JTR seeds were regular, getting a little anxious for them start showing off their (fem) legs ☺

Left to right: PBK2, PBK1, JTR2, filling those pots nicely...


JTR2, liking the shape this one is taking. Pic #3 shows the results of FIM:


PBK1, tallest of the 3 and continues growing strong, the main stalk is about pencil thickness now:


PBK2 nice and healthy and right on the tail of PBK1:


JTR Twins in the tent, 7 gal geopot, growing fast, spreading out nicely, new growth in center shooting up, potential FIM area by end of this week. Should be more than ready to produce some clones in 2 weeks. Node spacing on this plant is insanely close, like ½” to 1” node spacing:

 

[aphrodisia]

Hi GroErr, looking good man. That JTR on the right just looks amazing love it when they grow like that. Those JTR twins in the tent have a slightly yellowish look to the lower leaves though, or is it just the picture ? Could be a sign of a slight nitrogen deficiency.

 

[nvhak49]

Hi all, weekly update. A day late, went away Sat night and got back this afternoon…

The babies are doing just fine ☺ They’ve had a busy week. Today is Day 40 from seed.

• I had Fimmed all of them 1 ½ weeks ago. Results show all of them developing 4 tops where I made the cuts, sweet ☺ All of them recovered and started repairing with new growth within 48 hours of Fimming. My preference is Fim vs. Topping, they recover faster, less stress I think.
• Made and installed the LST fixture in the 7Gal pot that the JTR Twins are in
• Did some light LST for JTR Twins (in the tent) and JTR2 (in the veg cabinet)
• Both JTR (sativa dominant) have developed into two main stalks. The twins came out of the soil that way. JTR2 just grew naturally as if it had been mainlined.
• Will LST the JTR’s but the indica dominant PBK’s will just be allowed to grow as-is, they look pretty happy with just the Fimming and keep shooting up, they’ll be tall (24”+) in a couple of weeks if they continue at this rate.
• The JTR sats are both starting to shoot up new growth from the center after tying them back. Will let this center shoot come up another 1-2” and Fim it late this week.
• No definite signs of sexing yet but they should start showing in the next week or so. PBK seeds were fem’s but JTR seeds were regular, getting a little anxious for them start showing off their (fem) legs ☺

Left to right: PBK2, PBK1, JTR2, filling those pots nicely...
View attachment 3019245View attachment 3019251View attachment 3019253

JTR2, liking the shape this one is taking. Pic #3 shows the results of FIM:
View attachment 3019257View attachment 3019259View attachment 3019261

PBK1, tallest of the 3 and continues growing strong, the main stalk is about pencil thickness now:
View attachment 3019270View attachment 3019280View attachment 3019284

PBK2 nice and healthy and right on the tail of PBK1:
View attachment 3019289

JTR Twins in the tent, 7 gal geopot, growing fast, spreading out nicely, new growth in center shooting up, potential FIM area by end of this week. Should be more than ready to produce some clones in 2 weeks. Node spacing on this plant is insanely close, like ½” to 1” node spacing:
View attachment 3019295View attachment 3019297

your girls are looking awesome man, FIMing works awesome huh? So question do you think the 300w panel would work for two plants in a 4x2x4 tent thru flowering too? I know it draws only like 180w or so, gunna keep fill wrong it threads and a few other and see how they do b4 I purchase tho.

 

[GroErr]

Hi GroErr, looking good man. That JTR on the right just looks amazing love it when they grow like that. Those JTR twins in the tent have a slightly yellowish look to the lower leaves though, or is it just the picture ? Could be a sign of a slight nitrogen deficiency.

Hey thanks, love sativas and the different shapes they take on. Some of that JTR in the tent is colour from a shop light I put in there to take the pics, turned everything a bit more yellowish. But, the leaves on the one side are lighter, will be keeping an eye on it, seems to have lightened up just in the past week, nothing changed other than LST, gave them a feeding mid week which should have darkened vs. lightening them. Will be feeding them this week, may give that one a boost of nitro if it continues with lighter new leaf sets coming in....

 

[GroErr]

your girls are looking awesome man, FIMing works awesome huh? So question do you think the 300w panel would work for two plants in a 4x2x4 tent thru flowering too? I know it draws only like 180w or so, gunna keep fill wrong it threads and a few other and see how they do b4 I purchase tho.

Thanks, they're coming along nicely, as expected during veg state, these LED's veg quite well. I do prefer fim vs. topping, once you've practiced a bit you can usually get the same or better results than topping, but less damage, less stress, less recovery time, all are good in my view.

As far as lights and coverage, the 300W you'd be ok with 2 plants, keeping them close to each other, centered on the light, not too big though, or you won't have enough coverage in that area (2x4) if you fill the full width of the tent (same size as my veg cabinet except mine is 2x4x5.5' so I have more head room). The 450W would be perfect coverage for that area, the physical dimensions are 10.5"x33" so it fully covers a 2x4 area. With your limitation of 4ft on height though, you'll have to keep the height of the plants low, LST/scrog or something. One of the things I liked about these panels is the physical configuration, you could start with 1x300W and do a couple of plants, then add a 150W to fill the space and the full 2x4 area (1x300, 1x150) if you want to spread out the spend.

 

[GroErr]

Well, busy week for the girls. Last night was Day 42/Week 6. I figure I'll flip them at 8 weeks which gives me 2 more weekends to finish up the flower room, at least to a state I can put these babies in and begin the flower journey.

So, in prep for this timeline:
Fimmed all of them again, centre shoots on JTR's were ready, also Fimmed the PBK's again
Flipped the bloom switch on the 450, so now running 300W actual for the last 2 weeks, will prepare them and should kick in pre-flower to show me their (fem) legs
Flipped the bloom switch in the tent where the JTR Twins are. Wanted temps up a bit and JTR Twins are 6 weeks.
In the tent, where JTR Twins are, the 2x PBK's are now 4 weeks, want to see if there's any noticeable difference giving them reds (bloom switch) earlier in the cycle
They were all fed between Monday/Tuesday @ 375 ppm Sensi Grow A&B and at this point the growth is lush/nice green, they're liking it
Noticed this week, they're speeding up their intake, 3 - 4 days and the soil is drying up vs. 4-5 days until this week, adjusting their feed schedule accordingly
Should see a good amount of growth difference on Sunday's pic update

Nutes Note and Strains:
Looked into and monitored the JTR's closely. JTR Twins were looking a little light/yellowish last Sunday.
I've determined this is just s difference in strains, PBK's seem to like and take the nutes very well, both JTR's have some burn and discolouration of the first set of leaves which they showed early on when I tried to bump them from 250 ppm to 375 ppm. I think it was just too early for them (week 4), I flushed them at that time and they seem to have recovered fine.
Only show of burn/discolouration is on the older/lower leaves (although some are huge and close to the top). This will not go away, but all new growth looks nice/green/healthy
Both these strains are first go, shows you how they can behave so differently, will keep this in mind going forward, easy/low feeds on the JTR's
My soil is exactly the same for all and hot enough for the JTR's, will feed them accordingly going forward

Woot, woot, only 2 weeks to begin the flip

Teaser of the new flower room. Was able to finish the insulation and vapour barrier on the two outside walls. Temps are now 63F with no lights equipment, and I haven't screwed the sub-floor in yet, that should bring the minimum native temps to 65F with lights off, good to go (was 55F with no insulation). This weekend will finish the sub-floor and flooring installation, that should allow me to finish it well enough by the following weekend to get the girls in there

Note that the vapour barrier is just that, the final "walls" (DuroFoam, reflective side out) will go on top of that and end up looking like the shot of the ceiling insulation. When I bought the vapour barrier I bought the reflective stuff, it was like $10 more than regular vapour barrier and has reflective properties. Used it for this purpose and to line the 2x4 studs in the cabinet...

 

[WDIK]

Looks like a nice space.

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

 

[GroErr]

Looks like a nice space.

Thanks, a few months ago t was just another useless cold cellar, storing useless crap, I prefer this much better
Here's the before shot:

 

[GroErr]

Hi all, 6 days from the last pic update, we're at Day 46 from seed, they continue to stretch out and up. Fairly happy with the progress so far, they'll be ready to flip soon and show us if these lights can flower...

LST'd the JTR's a bit more, spread them out and let more shoots come through, both are responding well.
Fimmed all of them a second time and some of the new centre shoots on the JTR's
Turned on the Bloom switches and they're all responding well, no signs of stress
They are showing signs of early sexing, the JTR's are looking good, no balls, some pistils showing up, looking like ladies
All are drinking heavily now, the bloom switch raised the temps, adjusted the environment to 76-80F lights on, 62-65F lights off, humidity is 50/60 lights on/off

Worked on my room this weekend as well, still on plan to move them around the 26th at week 8 from seed and begin flipping them after taking some clones

All three in the cabinet:


PBK's in cabinet:



JTR2 in cabinet:


JTR Twins in tent:

 

[medicinehuman]

Those girls are looking pretty sexy now very good reporting. Hope they blossom nicely. Good work Bro.

 

[GroErr]

Hey thanks medicine, I'm happy with their progress so far. I really like PBK strain, they're just loving the LED's and feed, hoping it's a good smoke. Need to get them out of the cabinet quick though so my focus is now on finishing the new room to move these in there and the next round into the cabinet. I noticed last night and this morning that since flipping the reds on the panel on, the tent lighting is a bit too much for them and they're beginning to show some stress from the lights being too close in a confined space (2x2x4' tent), need to get them out of there soon. I may take them back to 125W veg-only in the tent, it may slow them down but I have no head room to move the lights up (they're now within 16" to the larger JTR) so it's really my best option.

One thing I didn't mention in my update but is important imo.
The cabinet lights are now at 18" above the canopy and will maintain them between 18-20" until late in flowering where I'll let them go between 14-16".
Instead of moving the lights I've been using 2x4 cut-off's from building the new room, placing them under the pots to maintain the canopy even and distance where I want it. This has been super easy in comparison to moving the lights, wish I had thought of that in my last round, super simple, cheap and effective way to maintain an even canopy.

 

[aphrodisia]

Hi all, 6 days from the last pic update, we're at Day 46 from seed, they continue to stretch out and up. Fairly happy with the progress so far, they'll be ready to flip soon and show us if these lights can flower...

LST'd the JTR's a bit more, spread them out and let more shoots come through, both are responding well.
Fimmed all of them a second time and some of the new centre shoots on the JTR's
Turned on the Bloom switches and they're all responding well, no signs of stress
They are showing signs of early sexing, the JTR's are looking good, no balls, some pistils showing up, looking like ladies
All are drinking heavily now, the bloom switch raised the temps, adjusted the environment to 76-80F lights on, 62-65F lights off, humidity is 50/60 lights on/off

Worked on my room this weekend as well, still on plan to move them around the 26th at week 8 from seed and begin flipping them after taking some clones

All three in the cabinet:
View attachment 3025320View attachment 3025322View attachment 3025323

PBK's in cabinet:
View attachment 3025324View attachment 3025328View attachment 3025329
View attachment 3025332View attachment 3025333

JTR2 in cabinet:
View attachment 3025336View attachment 3025338View attachment 3025341

JTR Twins in tent:
View attachment 3025343

Looking awesome GroErr. Looks like you really put some effort into the new flowering room, hope it all goes well. Love the way the PBKs are growing, really bushing out, you hopefully should get some nice yields from them.