1st LED GROW!

I once tried out an LED panel. I cant remember if it was a 14 watt or 45 watt. It didnt work out that great at all. I then bought leds on ebay and a circut board and rigged my own led lights and the plants actually grew better with the homeade ones. I would like to know though how the ufos do and the big panels. But for clones i think the small panel leds are efficient.

ANYWAYS here is a little info update just to keep things moving, i wont have pics till sunday or monday i dont think so:

So everything is going nicely in the "cab" so far considering a few things:

-i dont have ANY ventilation other then moving the front piece of bristol board that i put in front of it every so often.
-i dont have ANY air movement aswell, same idea just waving the piece of bristol board
-its not completely light tight
-there are probly still the od spider mite kickin around

i intend to upgrade everything obviously.. upgrade isnt even the word becuz it was the plan anyways just havent gotten to completeing the build yet. For now ive just bin making sure the temperature and humidity are in tune and progress seems to be ok considering the environment provided:

-nice root growth
-nice new shiny leaves
-about 2" vertical growth
-temperature 70-74 degrees F
-humidity 50-70% (obviously helps when the soil is moist from fresh feeding/watering)

so as i said things are doing ok but i clearly need to get some ventilation in there along with air movement, this will help AMAZINGLY.. the pots will dry out quicker and the cab will recieve new fresh air constantly allowing more exchange of CO2 aswell (growing in my bedroom where both me and my girlfriend sleep, so lots of CO2 to be taken in at night), plus the air movement will make my stems strong and cause the plant to have reason for more growth.

i will obviously take care of the spider mite issue so that doesnt need to be addressed here unless you have any kool ways to get rid of them that you want to mention.

2" of vertical growth isnt bad but its bin 10 days since the transplant and im thinking i should of had more, these are the things i did that may have resulted in less growth:

-i did a shitty job of rooting them, i was moving the dome and light around alot aswell as turning on and off my heater that emits under it
-i didnt open the vents/take the dome off very often at all so there wasnt an often exchange of fresh air once they did root
-when they did root the ones that rooted first i let get root bound
-there were spider mites, some had lots and i ended up tossing actually, out of the 17 ive kept 12
-when i transplanted i gave them the same nutrients as "cutting and seedlings" which i use to root them, im suppose to be uping to "week 1" of nutrients when i transplant
-no ventilation
-no air movement
-medium doesnt dry out quick enough

when i transplanted ive learnt on RIU its best to just use water and ease the transplant but i wanted more root growth becuz i was afraid i killed some of the roots by root bounding it.. i know that doesnt make sense but either way i figured it didnt matter they were VERY weak nutes so i thot it should work in my favor..

i have yellowing perlite:

i think this is due to no ventilation/air movement so the pots arent drying out quicker... ive only used a very weak nutrient solution during the transplant, then it dryed out nice after a week so i watered it with plain distilled water and that all sounds fine to me, i believe it would be from either:

-the salts in my water - which shouldnt happen becuz im using distilled water
-over feeding- which clearly i havent done
-not enough airation - which i suspect


ANY COMMENTS!?

Earths Widdler said:

I once tried out an LED panel. I cant remember if it was a 14 watt or 45 watt. It didnt work out that great at all. I then bought leds on ebay and a circut board and rigged my own led lights and the plants actually grew better with the homeade ones. I would like to know though how the ufos do and the big panels. But for clones i think the small panel leds are efficient.

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thanx for stoppin by man, me and my friend were wondering that outselves and buying a bunch of LEDs and rigging it up ourselves... and im pleased with my LED panel for small grows i dont expect it to do anything fancy but just curious as to exactly how well it works. im just hopeing it works pefect where i have it.. if i have to add a t5 tube here or there on the side i will but i think it should do ok, then i will make a seperate cab of equal size but with CFLs or T5s or both and compare my LED panel which is suppose to be like a 250watt HID so i will put 250watts of CFLs n T5s in.

oh ya and i forgot to add this in my update:

the plan didnt work out with my clones to compare 18/6 with 24/0.. i have those new 4 but the thing is only one out of the 4 are worthy, the other 3 had to get chopped down here and there becuz of spider mites they will have to recover for awhile.. i could continue the plan with the 1 worthy plant but id need to finish building my cab literally RIGHT NOW and i dont have the fans or tools. i have the worthy one that i transplanted yesterday under the t5 tubes.. the other 3 i didnt transplant yet they are still in the dome. i will have to try this experiment again in a little while when i take new clones or start seeds.

i also want to try a similar experiment with autogrowers.. i wanted to do the same veg test of 18/6 vs. 24/0 but ALSO i wanted to try the flowering stage with 12/12 vs. 18/6... later i will test the better of flowering results again against 24/0 flowering.

420 views!

does n e one know how many days i can last in these pots? 4.5"x6"x6"

it will be hard to transplant out of them we will c when the roots are well established if i can pull it out as a whole when its dryed out. either way itd be nice if i can flower in these just to keep these smaller then i can have more plants... my next grow i might mess with bigger pots and fewer plants but bigger and LST'd

LED has always interested me. I would like to supplement with it to start. Good quality sure, but yield?

I would say that the bigger pots/fewer plants would work best. LIGHT lst is my preference.

budlover13 said:

I would say that the bigger pots/fewer plants would work best. LIGHT lst is my preference.

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i am thinking the same thing, i am either going to build something or buy a 4x4' tent for my 400watt HID and use that to flower, if it isnt too hot mayb my 1000watt HPS for the last 4 weeks of flower... right now the LED is just for veg. purposes... but while everything is flowering in my tent i will be starting a couple autogrowers and flowering them in there while still using the other space to veg. normal plants to go in the tent next.. i want to do lots so its all hard to balance what i should do first, but ur right, for the next grow i will probably go with fewer plants, bigger pots, and LSTing.. i have always loved LSTing and big vegg'd plants going into flower, its sexy haha

first i have to get this cab all set up, then i have to get a tent or build something, then i can figure some things out from there... i am growing in my bedroom in the basement trying to keep everything hidden from my mother.. she was ok with everything before but now shes sketched out (long story about her ex. threatening to call the cops) so ive resulted in turning the room back into a bedroom for me and my girlfriend and growing in the corner.. the room is 12'x15'x7.5' so its pretty big, we have both our beds in here, a tv, a computer/desk, wardrobe etc.. but ive got enough space for what i said id like to do in the corner, so as soon as i have the funds to get started i'm on that shit like white on rice! lol

When LED lights go dull after a few grows you have to buy whole new panel?? instead of changing a bulb. you get what you pay for in LEDs i wouldnt flower with anything less than the 740w LED.. but thats a good 1k+

RawBudzski said:

When LED lights go dull after a few grows you have to buy whole new panel?? instead of changing a bulb. you get what you pay for in LEDs i wouldnt flower with anything less than the 740w LED.. but thats a good 1k+

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i dono they are suppose to last longer then HID lights apparently, when you replace them i would assume u buy all new bulbs, a new complete panel would be around $150 so it depends on which is cheaper, in the long standing its probably cheaper to just make your own complete panel but ive obviously already purchased one. I agree that i shouldnt be flowering with it, but im still going to try it just as a little side experiment im thinking with one autogrower while i use the rest of the space to veg. other plants before they go into the 400 HID

Did they make advances in LED lights in the last 2-3 years. Because when we tested them a few years back, they were not worth the time and effort. I hope the cost at least went down at least. They do have a cool glow to them.

Lord Dangly Bits said:

Did they make advances in LED lights in the last 2-3 years. Because when we tested them a few years back, they were not worth the time and effort. I hope the cost at least went down at least. They do have a cool glow to them.

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ya the light is pretty cool, mine is a 1'x1'x2" panel with 45 1watt LEDs.. it was $140 and i figured why not, at that point i thought i was moving into a new apartment so i purchased it think itd be nice for a little stealthy grow, then i moved back home and my mom didnt care so much, then she started getting paranoid about things so she said no more, she new i had clones left to keep the strain going and start a new grow, but she doesnt know its in my room again lol.. i feel like a little kid im 21 which is still very young but it just feels funny hiding it from my mom cuz i smoke weed down here and she knows that and doesnt care long as it isnt stinking up the house.. so why not a stealthy grow mom? lol its all good, this will allow for me to learn all the the tricks about being stealthy/not dumb lol.. if u click on my the first link in my signature it was my first grow before she started getting all paro.. but i dont blame her i had 42 plants going plus another batch of clones rooting.. a 1000watt MH on a light mover, a 400watt MH with a big dome reflector.. tragic ending to the story but n e ways this is a new beginning and i need another toke, i fuckin talk way too much on this website lol!

Well, I can understand why your mother is afraid to allow you to have plants growing in her house. Especially that amount. Unless you have a medical Card, you are putting her house in jeapordy of being taken away if you get busted.

Lord Dangly Bits said:

Well, I can understand why your mother is afraid to allow you to have plants growing in her house. Especially that amount. Unless you have a medical Card, you are putting her house in jeapordy of being taken away if you get busted.

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and that i totally agree with and understand.. however i rent here with my girlfriend, we rent the basment for $700 a month, we could move and get an appartment for cheaper but my mom needs the extra help with bills so we dont mind, but with that said i assume things would be blamed on me and she could just say "I had no idea".. we never have guests over or n e thing and the house doesnt stink so i think all should go fine, especially when i fix up this cab with ventilation and a carbon filter, i will do the same when i set the 400watt up..

IMHO 45W panels are for strictly supplemental lighting.I don't think that will produce any quantity of bud that will be worth the risk. I use a 500W LED along side my 1000W HPS and I only have 6 plants under that, then again I have a larger area. But still, the plants will grow, just not terribly quickly, and the yield will be mild at best. I would recommend a minimum of 45W per plant. They sell some sick 240W UFO LED lights for like 260 bucks on ebay, Blackstar is the name brand. I bought their 500W it works great, cheapest I could find without sacrificing quality. Blackstar LED Link. Maybe use some cfls, HID's, T5s, anything, just get more light on that. Again that is just my take.

Hudsonvalley82 said:

IMHO 45W panels are for strictly supplemental lighting.I don't think that will produce any quantity of bud that will be worth the risk. I use a 500W LED along side my 1000W HPS and I only have 6 plants under that, then again I have a larger area. But still, the plants will grow, just not terribly quickly, and the yield will be mild at best. I would recommend a minimum of 45W per plant. They sell some sick 240W UFO LED lights for like 260 bucks on ebay, Blackstar is the name brand. I bought their 500W it works great, cheapest I could find without sacrificing quality. Blackstar LED Link. Maybe use some cfls, HID's, T5s, anything, just get more light on that. Again that is just my take.

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i can appreciate your post becuz ive read alot and this seems to be the case. However, i intend to flower an autogrower under it just for shits and gigs. I'm testing it right now for veggitative growth, im going to post some pics soon they are doing pretty good considering i was gone for a few days and it was 65 degrees F the whole time.

raise the temp, they will grow quicker. If you can get them in the mid 70's that would help somewhat.

Hudsonvalley82 said:

raise the temp, they will grow quicker. If you can get them in the mid 70's that would help somewhat.

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oh ya for sure, i can get them up to 74 sometimes but its hard, this is with the bristol board infront, so the air becomes stale and there is no new air coming in.. but again, very hard to get it up to 74.. usually its around 68-70 with the bristol board there, if i keep the door to my room closed and all that so the room is warmer it def. helps a little... i usually like to keep everything around 80 at all times of course but not possible right now with the current set up or 75 lowest, 85 highest. im suppose to be buying some computer fans really soon and completeing the cab. i cant wait.. THEN i have to work on a tent for the 400watt.. which is ideal for the 8 plants i have.. going to add one more tho to make 9.. at the 45w per plant u suggested.

here is a picture of the last grow i did.. it was intense and everything went to shit, its a 17 page story in my first link "current grow"

i had 28 plants just under the 400watt LMAO