All COB Users - Lettuce Grow Challenge!!

SSGrower

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
This is the end of my indoor LED veggie garden for now:spew:The End.JPG

Aphids got too thick to manage the risk, ladybugs worked well on romaine and other plants with smooth leaves but not so well on the salad bowl lettuce or greens like broccoli, cauliflower and seemed like the brussels sprouts were less desirable to both the aphids and ladybugs. The peppers were last to be attacked (at this point), I still have a few outside though.

In summary the lettuce I got from inside was generally more mushy in the mouth with a minor exception being those leaves that were allowed to be "damaged" by the led were crispier. so bummed about the peppers not finishing because my outside ones got hit with hail and have few set fruit. I'll bring the strawberries in before frost but right now just got the first couple of them, the f'n birds, squirrels, and bugs could give a more complete review of what my garden tastes like :finger:.

Carrots and onions are good, next time they start in the container they will finish in though, transplanting root veggies is whole nuther ball o wax, seemed like they kept trying to commit suicide by pushing their way up and out.

Anybody know what to do with Kale?
 
Uberknot

Uberknot

Well-Known Member
LOL! there is no way unless someone else is paying my electric bill somehow through profits or whatever I am going to try that.

But it is interesting! :D
 
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
robincnn

robincnn

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
They appear Stunted/Mutated as with most of the other led grown lettuce we have seen so far.
That one in the back is going to seed :P
Click to expand...
Yes it is too small and bolting already. Don't need seeds.
Looks like even 4000k 90 cri no good. need green

OneHitDone said:
I have a "Secret Sauce" LED Recipe in mind but it is under wraps till I can actually test it
Click to expand...
Good luck. Let me know if you need help.
 
JorgeGonzales

JorgeGonzales

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
JorgeGonzales said:
I keep meaning to post this, but I thought this was interesting: http://illumitex.com/increased-growth-marketability-two-lettuce-varieties-due-led-vs-fluorescent-lighting-white-paper-772

I keep hearing 5000K, 6000K, etc for greens, but that F3 spectrum in particular is very red indeed. The X5 is almost sunlight like for relative red/blue/green ratios. Neither looks anything like a 5000K fluorescent.

@robincnn how much light were they getting? I wonder if it was too much.
Click to expand...
My theory is that it is the lack of the dip around 500nm in the X5 that most led's suffer from that is the improving factor.
Though I would love to have seen some more traditional larger leaf varieties to get a better picture of the formation characteristics
 
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
I will lay down the baseline of what needs to be achieved in performance from an LED to be considered relevant for growing quality greens as food crops in my opinion.
It must be able to provide growth of quality and quantity to this 600W Hortilux Blue MH lamp. Obviously it does not have to be 600W or be a single source but should provide what this light is giving even at a distance of 44" from the glass (not even the lamp) of a reflector. This lamp/reflector combo will easily cover a 4x4 for lettuce and probably more so that's only 37.5W sq/ft
I will post some follow up photo's of these lettuce plants as they progress right where they are sitting (which is where they were born in their oasis cubes)
Also note that I am running a test of my "Hand Water Hydroponics" in the solo cups so I can be ready for the "No External Res" rule @The Dawg had mentioned implementing in the next party cup comp. Yes, I will be back to take some more prizes from you LED Fan boys :P

IMG_9979.JPG IMG_9980.JPG IMG_9981.JPG

 
Johnnycannaseed1

Johnnycannaseed1

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
I would like to challenge any and all here on RIU that are growing with cobs to grow a few heads of lettuce under their lights.
Come on guys and gals, I know you have some extra rockwool cubes, rapid rooters, germination mix and all that laying around. Grab yourself a pack of bib or romaine lettuce on your way out of Wally World and sprout a few up so the rest of the growing word can see how well / if cobs are up to task for food production.
Let's just see if cob can do it start to finish :hump:
Click to expand...
I think this thread is a great idea and I really like where you are going with it.

In light of the current path this world is on I feel being self-sufficient and off the grid, away from system interference is becoming a more and more important issue as time goes on.

I have done some research on the effects of LED vs HID and I will post my findings here shortly:peace:
 
Johnnycannaseed1

Johnnycannaseed1

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
I have been playing around with some lettuce under HPS, Hortilux Blue MH, and a Cannabis tailored LED Panel (5K white, 630,660).
What I am noticing is massive root production under the led but stunted/mutated top growth that is very thick and leathery.
HPS seems to put on the most mass but the texture seems a bit off. The Horti Blue is beautiful all around.
I also noted a lot of that tip burn on the inner growth of the led that only shows up when the heads should be approaching finish time.
All lettuce is in coco and hand watered with the same hydroponic solution
My take away is that lettuce is very spectrum sensitive and I need to do more testing. I am hopeful to find an led solution that will work well in a stacked shelf system so I can crank out some lettuce indoors

I really appreciate you folks in this section of the site. Such great information being shared over here :hump:
Click to expand...

In that case try playing around with a 24 hour continuous light regime using burple (4:1 660nmRed/450nmBlue) spectrum.

Lettuce and leafy greens in general do not need high levels of light, hence some of the undesirable growth patterns being displayed in this thread.

I recommend you run/test the following daily light integral (DLI) on 7 sample groups (4 - 10 per group) to optimize light levels delivered and hopefully conserve energy;

Batch 1 - 10mols per 24hours
Batch 2 - 11mols per 24hours
Batch 3 - 12mols per 24hours
Batch 4 - 13mols per 24hours
Batch 5 - 14mols per 24hours
Batch 6 - 15mols per 24hours
Batch 7 - 16mols per 24hours

Also recommed you run a second test at the same Moles above, but on a shorter day with night interuption to see if there are any differences bolt or otherwise, compared to the test group above.

Batch 1 - 10 mols per 8 on... 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.0mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 2 - 9.9 mols per 8 on... 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.1mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 3 - 10.8 mols per 8 on. 7hours 5 hours off.. 1 hour on@1.2mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 4 - 11.7 mols per 8 on. 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.3mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 5 - 12.6 mols per 8 on. 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.4mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 6 - 13.5 mols per 8 on. 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.5mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period
Batch 7 - 14.4 mols per 8 on. 7hours 5 hours off... 1 hour on@1.6mol... 7.5 hours off per 24 hour period

Temperature and amount of light are important factors when growing lettuce especially as it has a tendancy to bolt in high light/warm temps and end up tasting bitter as a result.

Genetics and breeding are also factors with regards to the bitterness and bolt traits, so be selective and cull out undesirables.

To summarise lettuce grows best in:
- Cool enviroment 10 - 21 degrees celcius/50 - 70 farenheit... Optimum temps are around 16 - 18 deg/c or 60 - 65F
- Moist soil/hydro/dwc
- Short days/and try long days @low light levels
- Nitrogen rich nutes because N deficiency stunts plant growth and leaves will end up looking pale green...

Try a feed solution of... N 300ppm(mg/l) - P 60ppm(mg/l) - K 200ppm(mg/l) - Ca 250ppm(mg/l) - Mg 60ppm(mg/l) - S 70ppm(mg/l) - Fe around 5ppm(mg/l) - Mn around 5ppm(mg/l) - B around 2ppm(mg/l) - Cu 1ppm(mg/l) - Zn 0.2/0.4ppm(mg/l) - Mo 0.2ppm(mg/l)... Aim for an Ec of around 1.4 up to 2.2.

PH 5.8 - 6.8 hydro (for Molybdenum uptake) or PH 6 - 7 soil (and feed accordingly).
 
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
My theory is that it is the lack of the dip around 500nm in the X5 that most led's suffer from that is the improving factor.
Though I would love to have seen some more traditional larger leaf varieties to get a better picture of the formation characteristics
Click to expand...
I wanted to add one bit of observation to this Illumitex "test" - They are not specifying what T5 lamp that is. Is it a "Grow 6500K", $30 lamp?
It's interesting that a 4ft T5 that costs only $3.20 can deliver this spectrum:
Screen Shot 2016-08-28 at 11.58.00 AM.png

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/152904/GE-46763.html

http://illumitex.com/increased-growth-marketability-two-lettuce-varieties-due-led-vs-fluorescent-lighting-white-paper-772
 
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Evil-Mobo

Evil-Mobo

Well-Known Member
OneHitDone said:
I wanted to add one bit of observation to this Illumitex "test" - They are not specifying what T5 lamp that is. Is it a "Grow 6500K", $30 lamp?
It's interesting that a 4ft T5 that costs only $3.20 can deliver this spectrum:
View attachment 3767817

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/152904/GE-46763.html
Click to expand...
I still have not found a better veg light than my beloved T5 with the VERY affordable GE 6500K bulbs, but hopefully the DIY 5000K light I will put together soon for a test in VEG will show me something ..........
 
Johnnycannaseed1

Johnnycannaseed1

Well-Known Member
thetr33man said:
Here is some updated pictures, not sure why but some of the older leaves on this plant are having issues. New growth looks good tho.

Ive been using jacks and floranova cuz the floranova seems to have buffers that move my water into the range it should be PH wise, jacks is a cheaper alternative to using the expensive (relatively) flora nutes. Seem like a calmag issue?
Click to expand...
Definitely looks like a Magnesium deficiency due to the dead spots and the leaf tips bending and curling... Have you been feeding plant with Mg?

Also noticed your leaves seem to be twisting which suggests you have a Boron deficiency... Have you been feeding plant with Boron?

I can also see the onset of chlorosis and dead spots which seems to indicate a Copper/Manganese deficiency have you been feeding your plant with micros?

Do your plants leaves and stem lack flexibility and break easily also are the young leaves distorted and small? ...If so then you have got also got a Calcium deficiency.

As you have knocked the above out it also looks like you might possibly have an issue with potassium as well.

How much light are you running in your room and what is temp range?

First of all you will need to check soil PH to determine if there are any nutrient lockout issues.

Then pour water through plant pot, capture the run off and measure the Ec to see where it's at.

If you can give me all the answers to the questions above including PH and Ec I can help better determine an answer and remedy for you.
 
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