Hey all, First post! Actually it's been forever since I was on GC, so new username. This is my first LED grow and I wanted to start a journal to get some suggestions, here's the setup 2'x2'x5'4" Secret Jardin DR60 2.5 grow tent 1 x 300w TopLED panel (150-180w actual) : http://www.ebay.com/itm/291003115391 VenTech 4" inline fan/carbon filter combo 2 x 3gal GroPro smart pots FFOF with FF line of soil nutes 2 x Heavyweight Fast & Vast Autoflowering Feminised Seeds Just dropped seeds into 3gal pots today. The light is about 16-18" from soil line on a 20/4 schedule. Average temps with lights on are 79-81F and relative humidity is around 35-41% Still just waiting on germination, general concensus on light distance seems to be anywhere between 16-20". Hopefully they pop in a few days so roll one up and enjoy!
This looks very interesting, I'll be watching how this one turns out! What is your goal for yield? It will be interesting to see the over under on the final harvest! I have a few questions on stealth: How much noise do the LED back panel fans and inline fan make? Does the carbon scrubber help muffle some of the sound? Do yo need/have an intake fan? Your tent looks like it could be very light tight, do you have any issues with light leaks? I'm looking to grow up from a PC case to a larger setup and this is something I've been tossing around in my head for months. I priced the tent, lights, and fan and came up with around $400, is that what you paid if I may ask?
Your PC cab looks slick bro, that was an impressive read. I honestly have no clue what to expect, I'm stoked to see how the yield will compare to HID. One of the reasons for a journal is to give an honest review of this LED panel and see if it lives up to my expectations. The breeders notes for Heavyweight Fast and Vast say around 600-800gr/m2 so in a perfect world that would come to around 300-400gr. Realistically though I'd be happy to pull at least 2oz off each plant seeing as this is my first LED grow. The LED fans are on about the same level as computer fans and the inline fan can be noisy as hell, I actually ran it without a controller for about a min and the negative pressure was so crazy, the tent started to collapse in on itself lol.. I have a Hydrofarm controller at 30% now, no idea how that translates to CFM, but it keeps the noise to a minimum, probably as loud as your fridge. No intake fan yet, I've had luck in the past with negative pressure from the exhaust recycling air via passive intakes so I'm going to wait and see if I'll need a booster fan or something. Surprisingly there aren't many leaks, just a few around the zippers, I haven't found any around seams or pinholes yet (fingers crossed). I couldn't say exactly what I paid, the fan and filter were from an old setup of mine that were second hand from a friend, I think he paid around 100 for it. The tent and LED were around 150 each plus odds and ends you can expect to tack on another 75-100. I'd say expect to spend around $500 depending on what kind of lighting your going with and proper ventilation for HID etc..
Is your light advertised as a 300 watt or does it have an actual power draw of 300 watts? This will make the world of difference for instance I have a 1200 watt light that only actually draws a bit over 500 watts. So your 300 watt light might really be only using maybe 100 and you wont get the kind of plants your looking to get I'm sure. Hopefully it is.Good luck man
It's advertised as 300w with an actual output of 180w +/- 3%. If you don't mind my asking, what's your square footage with 1200w? I'm interested to know whether the lumens per watt your LED gives off is sufficient for the space you have. I was thinking about running two 300w, but the manufacturer's notes say one 300w can cover up to 4sq ft so I bought one for my 2x2ft tent. Thanks man, hope they pop soon!
I'm still working out the noob kinks but I should be able to grow four 2-3 oz plants If heat isn't an issue I would without a doubt
Day 5 So day 5 and seedlings have sprouted, lady #2 is looking pretty good, still hasn't completely shed her casing yet and lady #1 is still looking a little weak, not entirely above soil line yet. Lady #1 Lady #2 Lady #1 is a little behind and looking kinda sick, not sure if that's normal, any suggestions? I just lowered the light from 16" to 6" until veg starts.
Thanks man! I'm going to wait and see what happens, I'll probably wind up getting another in a month before flowering. 2 would be better, I've seen grows with multiple panels on 45 degree angles for better penetration.
Ya you should be alright with one during veg but I would invest in another for flower. That little one is sick and yellow already... not good man if it doesn't grow new green shoots in the next few days its needs to go and you might sprout another if you have it now just in case.
Yep, I'll give it another day or two at most.. I'm also ordering another panel tonight, figure autos have such a short life, more light now the better. I have another I can throw in if this one doesnt make it.. it's just a test case anyway to see how these panels perform, and to fill my jars
Day 8 Little girls are looking good, the yellow one recovered with some help. I'm thinking the panel wasn't penetrating the soil at 16" so I moved it down to 6" 3 days ago which seemed to help a lot with the seedlings. It's at 10" now, just trying to find the sweet spot with these 3w diodes.
Day 16 So I got some plant problems The one that is showing signs of nute burn is the one that popped first, the other one is fine as far as I can tell. I'm thinking it has to do with a hot bag of FFOF but idk.. I was hoping it would recover, but it seems to be spreading. Any suggestions? Should I flush or try to neutralize the soil somehow, or is it some other deficiency? Second pic is the problem plant, any suggestions welcome!
Its working well so far, shorter distance then advertised with 3w diodes and the actual draw is more like 150w. I'm ordering another for flower so each plant gets at least 150w. Can't wait to see what the yields gonna be like, I'm expecting at least 2oz per, hoping for 5
Subbed man, got a very similar size space myself and am lookin to switch to led after my current grow so very curious to see how they preform, looking good mate, but I would say, start in smaller tubs and let the roots fill them then transplant bigger a couple of times, let's the plant focus more on growing rather than filling a massive space with roots.