300 Watt Led Cabinet Grow-Ww X Bb Ww X Skunk #1

View attachment 1519858 Alright guys. I have my first LED grow underway and thought I'd start a journal since there isnt much i can do with them right now and I'm a little obsessed I think. I'm actually already at the end of the first week of veg. The plants are 20 days since they sprouted. I have one each of White Widow x Big Bud and White Widow x Skunk #1. I started 4 (2 of each) seeds planning on selecting the 2 nicest. One of the Skunk X's never really sprouted correctly and I chose the nicer of the 2 Big Bud X's as you'll see in the pictures. So now and overview of the grow. It is a stealth grow but really only as I have family and friends over regularly. I am a medical patient and I only grow for myself. 2 Plants in a custom built 24x32x54 cabinet. Plants are in soil. It is a 50/50 mix of Fox Farms Ocean Forest (FFOF) and Fox Farms Happy Frog with a little exrta perlite mixed in. Plants were just transplanted into their final pots which are 4+ Gallons. Maybe 5. The pots are on top of bricks which are inside of a large storage container that is on a 25 degree angle leaning toward the door for easy drainage removal. All excess runoff from watering just drains to the front of the plastic container and I can just get it up with an old towel. the bricks allow air up inderneath the pots and help with drainage and keeping the pots from sitting in any runoff. The lighting being used is a 300 watt DS200 from Advanced Platinum Series lights. NOT the Advanced Diamond Series that many people say my light is ripping off. I was fully aware of these circumstances when i made my decision. I did a lot of research. Finally, I figured what the hell. I've talked to the customer service guys and they seemed eager to help and completely back up there unit. The light has 100 x 3watt LED's. They are Bridgelux. It is an 11 band light that has all the red and blues and UV's and infrareds. A few oranges, some greens, its all there. You really do need some type of eyewear. Really dark sunglasses help. You can change the light from veg only (blue spectrum) to full spectrum or bloom only (red sectrum) with two switches. The light runs really cool and was a necessary choice for this small cabinet. I have an inline fan pulling in room temp air(74 degrees) and a clip on fan agitating the plants. There is a 188 cfm exhaust fan with carbon filter attached but thus far havent really used it. Temps stay about 77-82. Humidity stays around 45% with a slight rise with the lights off. Here are a few pics to get up to date. Please tune in!

 

I sprouted my seeds in the soil. Just the method I have always used. I used (4) 42 watt CFL's while they were seedlings. I considered them seedlings for 14 days. I then put them under a 250 watt Metal Halide lamp for a couple days while my LED was being shipped. It actually wasnt that hot with the MH bulb in there. But the LED is cooler.

As i said earlier one of the Skunk X's never really sprouted fully so we took that out of there as i only have space for a MAX of 2 plants. I let the other 2 Big Bud X's battle it out.

The small one is one of the Big Bud x's. Probably gonna have to go. The LED came in and up it went.

 

Alright. One week of veg. 20 days. i decided on the 2 plants I'm going with. Easy choice. Lol. I transplanted into the bigger and final pots and gave a little straight water. The plants have only gotten one light nute dose 4 days ago. I am using Botanicare nutrients. Progrow, ProBloom, CalMag. Only the veg formula right now obviously and no cal/mag yet either. The FFOF and FFHF have some good organic nutes in it for at least a few waterings. I got my SCROG screen in place mainly because I am impatient and cant wait for the leaves to be touching it. It is 10 in. from the top of the pots right now but it is adjustable in case. Now some waiting...The one on the right is the WW x Skunk #1 and the left is WW x Big Bud

 

Thanks for checking in guys! And thanks for subbing up. I hope it's a nice ride. Lol. I appreciate the compliment on the cab Canadian Organics. I needed it to be exact dimensions and I'm kind of a control freak so I like to do things myself. I did it for around $200 with the fans and hooks and chains and ducting. Really wasn't too bad and I can say I did it and if it doesn't work out, nobody to blame but myself. This is also my first LED grow. It's only been in there one week ( the one week of true veg that my plants are currently at) since its been in there but so far so good. I'm going to water later today ( lights are off right now) but just straight water. I transplanted to these current pots just 5 days ago so the fresh FFOF and FFHF should be good this time I think. Anyone have experience with Botanicare. I always just use their recommended dosage and use it evey watering with no problems but like I said I just transplanted. Worst case... They lose one nute feeding. Straight water today and regularly scheduled feedings with Botanicare ProGrow thereafter until flowering. Another question... Anyone use cal mag on a regular basis or only as you see some deficiency? It is Botanicare Cal/Mag if that matters. I did some water testing today. My tap water is only 76 ppm with a pH of 7.3. I suppose not bad at all. With the nutes the ppm goes up to 810 and I pH it to 5.8-6.2. But today... Just straight water. Lol.

 

Hey maxheat. I just talked to Mark, one of the guys over at Platinum Lights. Awesome guy. Really friendly and helpful. Answered some questions I had about the light and you can tell that they are pretty passionate about their products. So far, I'm really happy with my purchase but after talking to them, I'm super stoked to have gone with this company. I recommend them highly. So ... Go ahead and get you a Platinum Series LED. You'll be glad! They said their website would be up in a couple days.

 

Day 22:
 
Alright I watered yesterday. Nothing too much going on. Today I checked on them and they are looking pretty good. I took a few pictures of them out of the cabinet for a little "better" light for photos. You can really see the greenness of them. No yellowing, but... I do see some signs of excess transpiration. if that is a thing. I know plants transpire but what i mean is a negative signs of transpiration. Too much or too little. Some of my fan leaves curl inward at their serrations. There is also a closeup pic of that. I know this can be cause by several factors. Namely heat. Second wind. And then low humidity. My humidity stays between 45-60. so probably not that. My temps are a strange beast. Different places in the cabinet obviously get different temps and I usually try to measure at the canopy. Well there has been a clipon fan blowing between the two plants on low and obviously effecting my temps. With the lights and fans off temps are 75-79 closed cabinet. When the lights kick on, and are on full power for a few hours it runs on an average 82 degrees with the fans (intake and circulation). It has gotten to 86 and I know that fan placement had a hand in that. So there is my situation and my question is:
 
Do you guys  think it's too much circulation or am I being fooled by my thermometer being across from the clipon fan? 
 
All in all, I think I'm okay. I backed the light off about 5-6 inches and moved the clipon to blow more "between" the canopy and the light. a few days will tell hopefully. But other than that they look great and seem to be loving the Platinum Series LED.
 
On another note that I waited to post. I topped The WW x SK1 4 days ago. I have a pic after 2 days and one today (4 days). WOW! I'm getting a lot of side growth now. Can't wait til it touches the screen! Milestones, man! Milestones! Please enjoy the pics.

WW x Big Bud
WW x Skunk #1
 
Leaf curl on the Skunk-What do you guys think Heat or Wind?
2 Days after topping
Today (4 Days after topping)
 
Peace guys! Stay tuned....

 

Day 25:
 
 Alright guys, i didnt plan on updating today as not much is going on. I thought... The transpiration problem seems to have ceased. I've gotten the temps to a max of 82 and most of the time it's 79. I was able to do this while moving the light back down to its previous height and given an inch or so of growth, its actually closer. The fan is blowing more "indirectly" on the plants. They both still look great and are doing fine but I noticed something yesterday. I FIM'ed the WW x Big Bud 2 days ago and was giving it a checkup. I topped the Skunk plant about a week ago and FIM'ed the Big Bud to see the difference first hand as I've only ever topped before. I think it's going to end up a topping anyway. Looks like it to me. But the bigger issue is... and I can't believe it took til yesterday to notice but the last 2 nodes and the new growth from the Fimming is all trifoliate growth. Each leaf has 9 blades but there are 3 leaves per node. I have never seen this before. All of the first 5 nodes are normal. I guess its a mutant rather than being trifoliate from the beginning. I've been reading as much as I can about this issue and I'm honestly still as mixed up as I was before. Some say it can be great (better yield due to 1/3 more bud sites). That would be great. Some say they all turn out male. Some say that MOST turn out male, and the ones that due turn out female are either better producers than average or lesser producers than average. Wow. BIg help. I can't seem to find a thread where someone has grown a plant that all of a sudden started doing this. I've seen some where they start from seed this way but most of the threads never resolved what sex they ended up being. So... has anyone ever experienced ANY kind of trifoliate growth and what were the results? I'm kind of scared to hear. This is a feminised seed from Herbies. Pics below
 
Just a pic from today to show some growth
 
A pic of the top of the Big Bud plant. Trifoliate growth.You can see the last set of sun leaves is a set of three. The set just below that too. Also the new shoots at the FIM site and you can see where I cut, there are three sections trying to heal rather than two. 
 
Any comments or feedback on this issue or this grow in general welcome! Thanks guys
 
 

 

Alright some guy's got back at me over on the sick plants forum about the trifoliate stuff. they put my mind at ease a little. I'm just going to grow it out and see what happens.

 

Day 26:
 
I did a little trimming. Just a few lower sites and leaves on a few branches. The plants grew a lot overnight. The Skunk plant is through the net! My scrog net is 12 in above the soil. Temps and humidity are good. 79 degrees with lights on and humidity between 45-60%. The FIM'ming on the Big Bud plant might have actually succeeded. I thought I chopped too much, but it seems to be healing now. Pics of the new growth on the FIM site.
 
1 Day After the FIM
 
4 Days After the FIM. I think it's growing back.

 

Day 28:
 
I watered last night. 1 gallon per plant with recommended dose of Botanicare Pure Grow and Cal/Mag. Plants look like they are happy and they are for sure growing a lot. I put up some pics of the last 12 days. The days under the LED. 1 picture every other day. Crazy growth! At the very bottom is a pic from the first day and today. Any comments welcome guys. I know it seems pretty healthy in here but it's lonely.Lol. I read once that a lonely thread can simply mean a healthy thread. Hopefully that's it. But any chatter is welcome. Thanks guys!
                 

 

 

 
             12 Days Ago                                    Today

 

Day 28 Still:
 
I took a few pics while I had them out of the cabinet. I cleaned out the cabinet (vacuumed and wiped surfaces down.) I might not be able to get them out easily much longer. Lol. Enjoy.
 

WW x BB
WW x SK1

 

If you'd like to talk to them first, the number is (321)800-8926. The guys name is Mark. And thanks for checking in and the compliments. I appreciate it!