Shaded420
Well-Known Member
If you read the entire thread you would see that we've determined he was severely underpowered in the light department
Second grow - help me avoid my first mistakes
- Thread starter GastroBoy
- Start date
If you read the entire thread you would see that we've determined he was severely underpowered in the light department
con1ey
Well-Known Member
Don't let these guys shit talk you and tell you you've got a bad light. That is a pretty good light and I've been using Viparspectra's V600's and V900's for three years since before 301b's hit the market. You want light to hit the canopy at 1000 PAR and that light will do that under 18". Thing is your footprint is a little smaller that close and have a little space on the edges of the tent not getting as much light. 1 V900 at 386w would be about perfect. I have 2 4x4 tents and use 2 V600's when I want to veg and 2 V900's for flower. Check out my grow journal I just started using 2 V900's.
Lights is just part of it. You want a harmonious balance between rhizome all the way to the lights. Make sure you pH balance your nutes. Fox Farm Tiger Bloom is stored very acidic and you will need pH up to bring it back to 6.3 or whatever as an example. Keep ppm at 700-1300 depending on plant stage. A build up of nutes in the soil will cause lockout and a buildup of acid. Check runoff ppm's to make sure it is up taking nutes and not overdoing it. Adding a little Fox Farm Kangaroots or Micron Brew helps the rhizosphere by introducing mycorrhizae. A soil like Fox Farm Ocean Forest has enough nutrients to last up to a month. I get run off of 2000 ppm the first month and don't even add anything until run off drops to 1000ppm a month later.
Lights is just part of it. You want a harmonious balance between rhizome all the way to the lights. Make sure you pH balance your nutes. Fox Farm Tiger Bloom is stored very acidic and you will need pH up to bring it back to 6.3 or whatever as an example. Keep ppm at 700-1300 depending on plant stage. A build up of nutes in the soil will cause lockout and a buildup of acid. Check runoff ppm's to make sure it is up taking nutes and not overdoing it. Adding a little Fox Farm Kangaroots or Micron Brew helps the rhizosphere by introducing mycorrhizae. A soil like Fox Farm Ocean Forest has enough nutrients to last up to a month. I get run off of 2000 ppm the first month and don't even add anything until run off drops to 1000ppm a month later.
budbeauty
Well-Known Member
Autoflowers don't grow for six months, that's double the length it should take. You should either grow photoperiods or get some better autoflower genetics. The canopy coverage is garbage with that blurple light too, it's all focused right in the middle. You should throw that in the trash and buy a better grow light with a full white spectrum, more like the sun. Your buds are airy because that light is way too weak.
con1ey
Well-Known Member
There ya'll go again with the latest and greatest but then will recommend a HID. It ain't all about the lights. He's got a 3x3. Pretty small in most cases. Even if he got the new Spider Farmer or whatever doesn't mean he will have a great grow.
Autos are suppose to be for newbies. Why recommend photos when they require more control and knowledge to grow?
Lenin1917
Well-Known Member
nonsense. Photos are way easier than autos because you have that control. Something goes wrong in veg you can fix it before flipping to flower. The only “complicated” thing with photos is changing the timer. And if that’s to hard for ya… well shit
budbeauty
Well-Known Member
Where did I say buy the latest and greatest light? I said buy something full sprectrum, not some dumbass blurple light. My first ever grow was with a very similar blurple light to this guy's light, and it was so weak.
Autos aren't for newbies, newbies just think autos are for them.
crimsonecho
Well-Known Member
i dont think 250w in a 0,64 m2 is insufficient i use 450w in a 1,44m2 tent and grow 9-10 plants under it
must be shitty leds or something other than lights must be in effect if youre seeing less than optimal growth
must be shitty leds or something other than lights must be in effect if youre seeing less than optimal growth
con1ey
Well-Known Member
Heheh. That's a good one. I never grew autos.
con1ey
Well-Known Member
Eh. Autos will be a certain height. Photos can be vegetated out indefinitely then the fact they double in size when you switch to flower is what I meant by getting out of control. Never said anything about one or the other being more "complicated". I said you would need more control and knowledge of the plant growing photos. low stress training, topping, etc. Photos can grow strait through the roof of your 7' tall tent. Just saying whatever it is you grow, make the plant grow for you.
Lenin1917
Well-Known Member
Autos can be unexpectedly tall, I just grew out two fogdogs indoors that were damn near 6ft
Thanks for all the extra info everyone. I am 1000% certain I was making a multitude of mistakes and it probably wasn't just the lights. I am here to learn and I got until I croak to get this right, so I appreciate all the information your providing me, i read like 15 guides multiple times but nothing beats just experience so I just went for it. Ive got a second LED (same brand same model) on its way, so I will get a better coverage of lighting. I had a couple failed grows at the start, so once I got a grow that was actually doing well I just left it (almost like a baseline test, but more based on fear), so the plant most definitely could have been refined.
Other things I noted:
So probably a bunch of things I could have improved. I've now got smaller 3 Gal grow bags. Questions;
Again thanks for all the help
loving every second and developing a proper green thumb.
Other things I noted:
- I could see that the light was not as good at the edges, the central cola was a beast, and denser but it was pretty much tapping on the LEDs towards the end so i had to bend it away and tie it down, but it still sucumbed to the start of bud rot (small wispy white hairs found when cutting down), so i didnt really get to sample it and mostly had the lighter edge buds.
- I most definitely left it in veg too long, I misunderstood auto's a little, I thought that the plant was going to basically go into flower itself and that I had to switch the lights simply to bolster it. So I most definitely vegged too long.
- I also had it in a big bucket, thinking that would simply allow me to water less frequently, but this probably contributed to its end size.
- I didn't trim or keep the canopy a set height, so I got the classic Xmas tree grow shape which obviously didn't help.
- Humidity control was a bit of a problem, as we were closing in on Dec. which I hadn't anticipated.
- I also have no way to directly control the humidity. I have an electric heater for the temp that will dry the air some, but not enough for the wetter seasons.
- I was PHing my water with nutes, but I wasn't checking the run off. I will be trying that this time.
So probably a bunch of things I could have improved. I've now got smaller 3 Gal grow bags. Questions;
- What do you use to control humidity? I have an electric heater, 2 fans (1 large office fan and 1 smaller fan), and an extractor unit connected to a carbon filter, but the tent is in a room that is not as well insulated to the external world conditions so requires greater control.
- With autos (as thats whats on grow now), when should I be switching the lights to bloom? Next time i will try photoperiod as I have control of the light cycles.
- Should I be checking the run-off for anything other than pH? I have a pH meter and strips
- When should I be passing enough water for run-off tests? at the moment little Lady is on 3rd set of leaves and i've only given pH'd water and transferred from cup I seeded in to 3 gal grow bag.
Again thanks for all the help
loving every second and developing a proper green thumb.