13.8 watt LED grow... No hate please, wish me luck and give advise...

[lucifer4weed]

This thread is not to turn into an argument over LEDs and weather or not I should use them.. I have them and will me using them for my own reasons... I may not have success, but in the end, hopefully I will...

I have to be extremely covert with this.. I live in an apartment, where bills are paid, so power bill is watched very closely... I also live next door to a cop (his living room will be like 12 feet from the plants)... Also, my apartment management does pest control once every other month.. A grow room is not in any way shape or form an option..

Keep in mind, im not trying to get the BEST results, the BEST results for me will to have some bud to smoke on... (The mexican shit is impossible to find around here, and isn't worth looking for, and I can't spend $60 an 1/8 for kind either, im poor)...

This is to have some personal shit to smoke on.. Thats all... The par of quality is mexican brick weed, surely i can top that if it grows... lol...

Im taking inspiration from loki777 (not sure if it was here or anutha forum)

Im growing these in "tote buckets"

This is where im at right now...

For the photo stage (im hoping to keep down to 2-3 weeks as height is an issue)
I took a tote bucket (18 gallon christmas storage edition )

I painted the inside a reflextive silver...
Attached 225 light all blue 13.8 watt to the lid

I plan on photoing 4-6 in the container...

For budding i hhavn't made the container yet... for starters, im only going to bud one plant per container, until i gain experience and start cloning some better stuff..

Same general idea will be used though...

Except 1 per container, and definately a taller container (by at least a foot im sure)
and will be using all red 13.8 wat leds....

So far.....

Im impressed to be honest with you... I just took a seedling that had a very rough infancy, that was struggling like hell under a 65watt "ge GRO spot light" with 3 other seedling (this was the runt of the group for sure)

Last night I took it away from the others, took a 32 oz cup w/ lid, turned it upside down, cut out the bottom (the new top) put the pathetic looking thing in there, fired up the 13.8 watt photo box and stuck it in roughly 5 inches from the leds...

It has made a 360 in just 12 hours.... So far I am impressed... It already looks better than its sister(fingers crossed) thats a week older...

This is my first grow attempt...
I will stay posting..

lol right now im using mirical grow garden soil... is this wise??? im open to suggestions (if they are cheap)

I'm looking for helpful suggestions as well as I know nothing about giving the plant its proper nutritions and all that... What suggestion would you have for someone that is broke on getting proper nutrients to add to water... (this is soil grow)...

As well I have a few questions about rooting...
can I grow with only 4-5 inch deep soil if its over a large square footage (will the roots adapt??)

there are holes in the handles for slight ventalation.. shoudl I add a small pc fan or something, or is just checking on em every day or so anough fresh air for it??? <<-- thats what loki777 who this was ganked from said anyways...

Any suggestions would be appreciated (as long as its still using the lights that I have and its cconsealed in a tub of some sorts)...

This should be interesting anyway...

wish me luck

peace....

[RedBullGotWings]

hell ya man good luck for real. and if you have time, once you get everything together get us some pictures up. LED grows are interesting

[lucifer4weed]

Originally Posted by RedBullGotWings

hell ya man good luck for real. and if you have time, once you get everything together get us some pictures up. LED grows are interesting

thanks...

I will definately post up some picks after i get past this 2 leave seedling stage... (nothing much to see yet)

lmao, I have a 2 1-2 week old seedling under the 65watt grow light that still just has two leaves and is hella stretched (its 8 inches tall and still just has two leaves) so that clearly is not working...
i hear nothing but bad news about the leds, but im trying to be real optimitic, and the only real good news I have heard about has been in hella small containers like this (less cubic feet for light to fill)...
If it works Im sure I will end up having to have at least 6 containers going just to keep up with personal use... Im not expecting huge yields, a half oz dried per plant would be hella nice though... Im going to set my goal at 10 grams though.. <--- and this may not be that acchivable in such a small space,,,,

Im also using 24 hour light for the veg cycle... Im not sure if this is a good idea or not, but then again, its all about experimentation and playing god... In this case I am god.. HEHEHEHE.... and I say let there be light..

I am also planning on experimenting with budding light patterns (i.e. 6 on 6 off)... Im just curious... I know that will impact the yield greatly, but im hoping maybe it will speed up flowering.. (won't do this on the first one, but will eventually experiement)...

sounds good all except with the budding light experiments.... everythings been tried at least once. some tricks work, some dont, but i can tell you with certainty that 6-on and 6-off "dont"

stick to 12/12 and post some dam pics

[adajam4]

i am intruiged although i would have put this in the grow journal section...

[germ4321]

i only got a tub fixture fluro bout 20 watts and my plants are rlly healthy and growin quite fast

[stonerish]

let no part of the plant go to waste.... perform as many extractions as you can... qwiso your usable stuff, cook with the rest of the plant after harvest... even males if your plants are good strains... i had a little 6 inch plant outside flowering so they are pretty strong lol, leds do work, i had some experience with them on small scale so no comment on larger lol... good luck

[lucifer4weed]

Originally Posted by Mr. Stinky

sounds good all except with the budding light experiments.... everythings been tried at least once. some tricks work, some dont, but i can tell you with certainty that 6-on and 6-off "dont"

stick to 12/12 and post some dam pics

i figured it had been tried, couldn't find info on it though... ill stick to 12 12 then...

[lucifer4weed]

here is plant #2 going into the tote...



I know it looks bad and is stretched (started its life with really bad lighting)... I hope it will start looking better...



Here is it with the one that went over last night....


Here is another one that has germinated from a seed I found in some kind bud....
Its badly lit and had bad stretching as well...
The light bulb is for scale...
I will transplant it next...


and......
the lights.........

[Stroomz]

heres my suggestion...take that little seedling AFTER a few more days of it adjusting to the lights and replant it down in the soil so only an inch or two of stem is showing...

[lucifer4weed]

Originally Posted by Jstromz

heres my suggestion...take that little seedling AFTER a few more days of it adjusting to the lights and replant it down in the soil so only an inch or two of stem is showing...

i was wondering if that was a possiblity...

will definately replant friday....

i just transplanted the other seedling about 30 minutes ago, and planted it 3 inches deeper (it ccan't even pretend to stand on its own its so over stretched)..

[lucifer4weed]

Originally Posted by Jstromz

heres my suggestion...take that little seedling AFTER a few more days of it adjusting to the lights and replant it down in the soil so only an inch or two of stem is showing...

i was worried about one of the plants, so instead of waiting 2 days and replanting, im making current container larger via pringles container... lmao...

[metalmark]

just to let you know, if i'm not mistaken, red is a bit better for vegging, and blue for flowering. i could be wrong here, but, i'd say its a 60/40 red/blue vegging, and 60/20/20 blue/red/uv for flowering... alot of people are hating on led's, but, not everyone wants to have hot glowing beacons in their closets...


oh, and loki is on the cannabis culture forums, along with rebeldawg, another friendly guy...


good luck dude, just so you know, i'm hoping to do the same thing, almost that is...


i plan on giving details, flicks, and a grow journal soon after i move on jan 1st...

[Version 2]

I'm not bashing your grow, these are just some suggestions, and you can take them or leave them as you desire:

Paint the inside flat white, not silver. flat white reflects light better, silver absorbs it. Or better yet, you can get a security blanket/space blanket (whatever they are called in your neck of the woods, it's one of those blankets that folds really tiny and is stored in first aid kits). Cut that to fit your box and use some spray adhesive to keep it in place.

Get your plants as close to the LEDs as possible. I keep CFLs 2-3 inches away from plants and don't get burn unless a leaf actually touches the bulb, I'm sure you can get your plants at least that close to LEDs.

I know you want low wattage grow, but think of this: 5x20watt floro tubes is the same as a 100w incadescent bulb. 2 grow boxes = 2 new reading lamps on your electric bill. I only say this because I have seen the results of quite a few LED grows on this, and other forums, and every plant I've seen has been majorly stretched and many haven't produced even as much as a cfl grow using the same wattage would have. It's an exciting technology for sure, and one day we may all be growing with it, but that day is not here yet.

With a COP (OMG! why are you growing?) right next door you will really have to control odors. Do a search for Carbon Scrubbers. They are very easy to make, it's pretty much taking a charcoal filter and making air flow thru that before it flows outside the box. If you control the air in your box, you also control the odor.

I would throw some red LEDs into your vegging box, and some blue LEDs into your flowering box if you still plan on using just LEDs. Just because a plant uses more blue when it's vegging doesn't mean that it doesn't need any red at all, and vice versa.

If you have a seedling that is falling over, take a length of clear plastic straw (size of the stem) and cut it length wise down one side. Open it up, and wrap it around the stem, then push the straw gently into the ground until the straw can prop up the plant on it's own. I've always used this trick for seedlings because it's much easier to put on and remove than tieing them to a stick.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, I'll come back and post if I can think of anything else that you could use.

Oh! I did think of one thing! Miracle grow is horrible stuff! The soil I use is Black Gold. This comes in a variety of styles, most of which are nutrient free. They even have a coconut mix that is most excellent

And another! If you can't find a security blanket, or you want something better, go to your nearest party store and buy a couple of the big mylar balloons. Separate them at the seams and glue them to the sides of the box shiny side out. It sounds ghetto but mylar is one of the best things you can use for reflecting light, plus it would look sick with your LEDs

I wish you luck with your grow! Start a grow journal, I'll be sure to suscribe!

[Stroomz]

Originally Posted by metalmark

just to let you know, if i'm not mistaken, red is a bit better for vegging, and blue for flowering. i could be wrong here, but, i'd say its a 60/40 red/blue vegging, and 60/20/20 blue/red/uv for flowering... alot of people are hating on led's, but, not everyone wants to have hot glowing beacons in their closets...


oh, and loki is on the cannabis culture forums, along with rebeldawg, another friendly guy...


good luck dude, just so you know, i'm hoping to do the same thing, almost that is...


i plan on giving details, flicks, and a grow journal soon after i move on jan 1st...

almost positive your wrong...red is for flowering like HPS is for flowering, more of a redish/amber tint to replicate early nights at the end of summer..and blue to replicate MH bulbs..