2nd Grow - Mega Jackpot under DS XML 650 (LED) using DWC

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Grow Journals' started by efarley, Jun 9, 2015.

  1. #1 efarley, Jun 9, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 12, 2015
    This will be my second grow, after numerous failures I finally managed to get a plant into flower that's happy and healthy even though it had less than ideal condition. On the coat tails of this success I have started my second grow [​IMG]

    I wanted to go LED over HID for a number of reasons I won't detail, but mainly I'm an early adopter and I think LED are the future and HID are outdated. It took a while of searching and reading reviews to find an LED light that didn't seem to be all hype or only had enough penetration for clones/veg however finally I found the AdvancedLED XML series of lights. I want the best bugs I can grow so I bought the brightest one, the 650.

    To go with the light I purchased a 40x40x80 tent from Apollo Horticulture which comes in at 110 cubic feet so I paired it with a 160CFM exhaust fan. I'm running four 5 gallon DWC buckets with a 1096GPH air pump feeding 4 inch air discs.

    For nutrients I decided on the Advanced Nutrients line mostly for the PH Perfect and having read a number of posts from other growers using this line.
    View attachment 157758


    The plants are all Mega Jackpot Feminized from Amsterdam Marijuana Seeds growing in hydroton. They're currently 3 weeks from germination but the first 2.5 weeks were under very poor lighting due to a lack of room for them...

    Since they were transplant into the new tent they're doing pretty good. I had some issues with heat from the light that I think caused a little yellowing on the edges of the leafs but I've gotten that resolved now. It turns out that light is a bit big for my tent as it pushed the temps inside the tent over 90 degrees in an air conditioned house in no time.
    The new setup:
    View attachment 157732

    The light was putting out a ton of heat and even though I have central air set to 68 the inside of the tent was hitting 90+ *ouch!* To fix this I hooked up my old window A/C unit and pointed the intake duct directly in the cold airs path. This has dropped the tent temp significantly! So much so I'm going to have to turn the a/c down I think.
    View attachment 157733

    Here's a close up of two of the plants, you'll also in the bottom right I've placed my air pump directly in front of the intake to pump cold air into the water so I can try to turn the a/c down a bit and let the box temp go back into the mid 70's
    View attachment 157734
    I still need to get a humidifier to raise the humidity a bit for veg but overall I'm feeling excited for this grow and can't wait to see how this light I've heard so much about performs!
    Stay tuned
     
  2. #2 efarley, Jun 10, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 10, 2015
    I gave the ladies some new coats tonight to keep the water cool while I raise the room temp up to 75-76
    View attachment 157759
     
    They are looking great and have been growing much faster under the new XML 650 than my Mars UFO, no surprise there.. You can see the yellowing from the high heat, new growth looks green though.
    View attachment 157760
     
  3. Well I've decided the plants are done being seedlings and so today marks Week 1 - Day 1 of veg! Exciting day! I've gotten the room temp to stay between 73 and 77 degrees and the nutrient solution is sitting around 66-67 degrees. The humidity is still a bit lower than I'd like sitting between 45 and 55% RH, I'll have to buy a small humidifier to keep it between 50-60% RH. I have significant negative pressure in the room so the exhaust is doing it's job, if I end up with a carbon filter in flower this should equalize the pressure more, but I'm happy with where it's at now. That all said I'm very happy with the current environment, I think I should get some really nice buds outta this run, can't wait.
     
    I did have some issues with a brown slim in my water, which I hope was caused by the temps getting in the 90's and two buckets losing air for an unknown length of time. Both issues happened early in the week and have been resolved so I cleaned everything out really good and hopefully I won't see any issues this week. I've also had an issue with the PH climbing to 6.6 consistently every day even with PH perfect so I keep having to use PH down nightly to get it back to 5.8, this issue is on going.
     
    The plants are loving this light are are growing quite a bit faster than I remember the last grow moving.
    View attachment 157956
     
    This is the big girl, she's growing quite a bit faster than the rest. I hope everyone else catches up! Oddly this is the only plant showing rot on it's roots.
    View attachment 157957
     
    Here's the runt of the liter, she's quite a bit smaller than the biggest so hopefully she catches up here soon. She was also the one with the worst yellowing early last week from the temp/ph/air problems but she's growing healthy now.
    View attachment 157958
     
  4. subbed! nice this is going to be fun :) I have not been here on gc as often as i would like lately but i will def come in and say hello when i can. 
     
  5. #5 efarley, Jun 28, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 28, 2015
    Haven't had any updates lately because in my battle with root rot I raised the water level too high and nearly killed the plants.


    Here they were on Veg week 2 day 3, looking sickly and sad [​IMG]
    View attachment 158244


    Luckily they are finally recovering! They took a big hit, a couple lost the first two nodes, the other two just needed some trimming but overall they are growing quickly again. I also FIMed two of the plants, the other two I'll FIM in a day or two when they're ready.


    Here they are on Week 3 Day 1
    View attachment 158457


    View attachment 158458

    View attachment 158459

    Stay tuned!
     
  6. Another week goes by and man are these girls growing fast! I got a humidifier this week and have been keeping the humidity between 45-60% RH which is pretty much where I wanted it. I also seem have have nipped the rot rot on 3 out of 4 of the plants. The 4th is still showing some root issues but I think she's starting to bounce back finally. I FIMed all four plants as well, two of them it looks like I cut too high as they continued to grow normally only with deformed leafs so I FIMed them again.


    Pics from veg week 3


    Group shot, they have at least doubled in size this week.
    View attachment 158675


    She is the biggest of the bunch and has been the whole time. The others are catching up to her but she's still looking the best.
    View attachment 158676

    I messed up the FIM on this one and so now she looks like she's got a weird hair cut lol
    View attachment 158677

    Another one that I fucked up on, this one has even more deformed leafs so I FIMed her again.
    View attachment 158678

    This is the runt, she's always been the runt and is currently the only plant still having issues with her roots. She also seems to have started dropping today, hopefully she perks up and the roots recover, she's got some catching up to do.
    View attachment 158679

    Here's a root shot of one of the 3 that has been recovering from the rot. I didn't take any pics before but the roots were covered in a dark brown substance, especially in the dense root ball. They are now white and healthy and growing like crazy!
    View attachment 158680

     
  7. #7 efarley, Jul 12, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 12, 2015
    Man I can't believe how fast these girls are growing, they have easily tripled in size this week! They really love this light, so far I highly recommend it, can't wait to see how it works for flower.


    The two plants in the front are clearly growing much better than the two in the back, I'm not sure why but the back two have been having more root issues, the one on the left just finally started to recover late in week 4. They water temps have also been about 1-2 degrees warmer in the back two buckets, most likely because they are further from the cool air intake. I think all of the root issues are resolved now, as long as my latest reservoir change didn't introduce more rot.


    Veg Week 4 - Day 7


    Took a quick picture before I pruned the ladies
    View attachment 158952


    Another picture after I finished pruning the 3 larger ones, I'll do the runt when it get's a little bigger.
    View attachment 158953

    Veg Week 5 - Day 1
    24 hours after the last picture and look how much they've gown!!
    View attachment 158944


    Couple close ups of one of the bigger plants, I can't believe how fast these girls are growing.
    View attachment 158945
    View attachment 158946


    Finally here's some pics of the roots from the front two plants, looking great!
    View attachment 158947
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    Stay tuned and let me know you're thoughts, I love to hear them [​IMG]
     
  8. Looks amazing, makes me even more eager to start my indoor grow.
     
  9. Hey Farley,


    This is an incrdeible journal you have going here. I will be dropping your link to one of my friends who is getting ready to do some Hydro as well. Unlike me, he actually has experience growing herb (just not in Hydro). I am actually amazed at the job you are doing. Your setup looks very similar to mine. I like the way have thought everything through and the way that you laid it all out. I will definitely keep following along on your journal.


    I have a few questions here which I would like you expand upon. Many of the other people in here will find this elementary, but it may in fact help others. So, I too will be growing in Hydro (RDWC) and HAD planned on germinating beans via paper towel method, but after numerous readings of posts (and yes I've read all the arguments), have decided for now that the best way for me to germinate the beans would be using rockwool cubes. Yestereday I purchased 200 1"x1" cubes. They should be arriving later next weeks. My understanding is that I will soak the cubes for an hour whilst using the PhDown to around 5.5, and then place the bean into the cube using my fingernail to cover the hole. This is where it gets even more cloudy for me. As my growing medium is Hydroton, it correct that once I see the roots at the bottom of the rockwool cube I place the cubes into mesh pots. From what I gather, I layer the bottom of the mesh pot with the hydroton (an inch or so) add the cube and then support the rest of the cube with more hydroton. As the seedling grows bigger I add more hydroton.


    This is what I have learned so far. Would you mind describing the process that you favor as it looks like everything has worked fantastically for you. I hope you don't mind helping out.


    Regards,
    Linux
     
  10. Hey Linux,


    On my first grow I used rockwool, what I did was germinated in a paper towel until the tap root's were about 1/8-1/4 inch long, then I dropped them into the rockwool, used the tip of a pen to brush some rockwool loosely over the hole to cover the seed. Then I filled the net pot with hydroton up to about 2 inches from the top, added the cube and then filled the rest of the net with hydroton to the top of the cube. I never added more hydroton after that or waited for the roots to show from the cubes before adding them to the hydroton.


    On this grow I decided not to mess with rockwool as it really just causes problems such as. 1) PH can be way high, which is why you have to soak it in 5.5 water. 2) it can easily hold too much water and drown you plants, I lost a few early attempts to this. 3) Remove the plastic around the cube, they don't mention this in the instructions but you need to do it or it'll cause the cube to hold too much water and kill your plants. What I did for this grow is germinate the seeds in a paper towel until the first little leaves come out of the seed, then I place the seedling directly into the hydroton holding it as I fill the net pot so that the top is about 1/4 above the surface..
     
  11. Sub'd up for the ride! Great light you have there, and awesome recovery and pull with the plants. When do you plan to flip to flowering?
     
  12. Thanks guesswhat! I'm going to flip them to 12/12 when they are around 15 inches tall. This morning they were around 11 inches, so I'm thinking another week, two at the most.
     
  13. I bet you'll get that 4 inches in a week. I'm hoping so anyway. At least the bigger ones. You plan to have them all at least 15 inches before flip I assume?
     
  14. Farley,


    Thanks for the insight on the cubes. Makes me wanna ditch the cubes all together now. Hmm, maybe I'll try it your way and just save the cubes for some other time.


    I like your light too. What are your reviews of the light? Nothing but positive reviews was what my compadre ~Poke had to say. I was recently ready to grab 2 DS XML 350s, but I am now into the Platinum brand. I figure I will go ahead and give them a try. If that doesn't do it for me I can just go back to my original plan. The shit part is that I'm currently waiting like (3 more weeks?) for Platinum to release their new line of lights. It's my understanding that they will be having square lights for 3x3 & 4x4 tents. This would suit my needs better however, I grow more and more patient as each day goes by, LoL


    You know, if you have any good advice or things which you would like to disclose to me before I get started on my maiden Hydro endeavor, I have nothing but time (hint) :). Was it hard for you to figure out the nutes using the meters and what not or did it all just kinda fall into place?


    Interesting that you have a preselected height at which you have decided to flip to flower. Mind me asking where you came up with that. Is that because thats what is recommended for your strain? I have plans of doing a scrog as a first grow. I also thought it was interesting that you are doing "prunning" I still have to learn some more about that. Looks like your girls are responding well to it though.


    Thanks for the info and keep us all up to date.


    L8,
    Linux
     
  15. Linux, one reason for flipping at a certain height is due to height restrictions. Knowing that a plant can up to triple in size you need to keep that in mind. Most strains I've done grow about 50-150% larger once flipped to flower. If you can find others with the same genetics or have grown it before yourself, this will also give you insight as to what the plant may grow to height wise.
     
  16. I want the 3 bigger ones at 15 inches, I'll let the runt catch up in flower. I like having my weeks start on a Saturday so as long as at least two are 15 inches by next Saturday I'll switch it then. I'm a bit worried about humidity as it's been high the last week (it was 90% around my area this week, wtf?!) but I'll figure that over the next couple weeks.


    Yeah I have around 25 cubes sitting around waiting for me to find a use for them, I'm thinking clones someday when I start doing clones.


    As far as my review of the light goes so far it's great, it makes my old 180w UFO LED seem like a key chain flashlight [​IMG]. My only complaint would be it puts out significant heat, enough so that I had to put an a/c unit into the room to keep it around 66-68 degrees outside the tent, sucking air into the tent from the a/c unit. Being LED I expected I wouldn't have to deal with heat issues, but that wasn't the case, although I'm sure I'd be way worse with an HID light. I knew this light would be fantastic for veg, the real question is going to be how well does it preform in flower? All reviews point to fantastic, possibly better than HID but unfortunately I've never grown under HID to compare the performance. I'm hoping you folks can tell me how it did once I have died yields.


    The only advice I can really think of is watch your temps, when I was learning I read you need to keep your water at 68 degrees or lower and I thought that was just a guideline for best conditions, but now I consider it a hard limit. Anything above that and you WILL have root rot and that's a major pain in the ass. Set up your system and let it run under the lights for a day or so without nutes and watch the temps before you plant anything. If I had done that this time I would have been able to fix the temps and prevent the rot that nearly killed the crop. I'd also make sure you're running a beneficial bacteria from the start, this will help fight rot if it becomes a problem and creates a cleaner healthier environment in general. I'm using a combo of Voodoo Juice, Hydroguard and Dutchmasters Zone currently. I also have some Bush Doctor Microbe brew that I'm not currently using. I've seen a lot of people recommend brewing your own microbe tea but I haven't tried this yet.


    The plant is supposed to reach 28 inches in height and I hear they double to triple in size during flower so I figure 15 inches is around half way to 28. Yes I know 14 inches is half is but my OCD likes 15 better, just like it likes starting on a Saturday. Really I'll start it on this Saturday as long as the two biggest plants are above 14 inches.
     
  17. RIght on.


    I would totally be quoting things here, but my tablet is failing when I hit the "QUOTE" button. It like literally does nuffin. Erm, so lets do it like this...


    Guess:
    Thanks for lookin' out. Makes sense what you are saying about the size limitations. I guess most of that won't apply to me as of yet since I will be swingin' at the scrog grow. I kinda figure Im just gonna VEG till that Bish fills up the squares (grid) then flip it. I told you what I wanted to swing at first. Sour D & Super Lemon Haze. Those are gonna be muh Cherry Poppin' beans. <3


    Fartley:
    Yeah, Good advice and believe me, I will be paying attention to it. I have a wish list on my Amazon Prime that has some Hydroguard in it already. Standby (few minutes*) this is the chit that I am gonna get.


    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IGFH25M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=21DWX3WGC6JWE&coliid=I2KRF8HN9PBAEG&psc=1



    I saw one too many posts about the root rot and knew wiff my bad ass luck I might as well just go ahead and stalk (lol @ pun) up now.
    Clones? Oh yeah. Muh girl is like I like this one... Hang on I got that link too.


    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KB2CEAQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=21DWX3WGC6JWE&coliid=I3ADJ1XJ49JITL&psc=1



    Think that is the one that I will be getting.


    What do you think of Chillers? Me and GuessWho (era GuessWhat) were talking about those earlier. Do you think I should just go ahead and get one of those now? or is it more of a luxury kind of thing, What are your thoughts?


    Ok Fellas, ima stop ramblin' on here and give some others a chance to add their thoughts/comments. But hey, Nice to see that we have another Wingman in the Hydro. I've been lookin' and I don't see that there are a whole bunch of us out there. I dun know what the hell Snoop has been up to. I haven't seen him in awhile.


    Peace.
    Linux
     
  18. I'd like a chiller but at this point I'm able to keep temps at around 66-68 degrees depending on the location in the tent so it hasn't seemed like a necessary investment. If you're having trouble getting the water temps below 68 and the air temps are right (75) then I'd look into a cooler, if you can get the environment right without it save the money for something else.
     
  19. Linux, you'll have more control using a scrog. If you fill the screen out 100% then flip to flower, they'll still grow upward above the canopy. Could be a foot or so of growth even! If you want to leave your canopy a little lower you can fill it 75-90% and flip to flower, then have some extra room to tuck. That's up to you really, but even having a foot of canopy above the screen would be better than an untrained plant.


    efarley, any advice on a good chiller? My reservoir is at a steady 71 degrees now. All chillers I see are $250+ and that just seems excessive for a first time hydro like myself.

     
  20. #20 efarley, Jul 13, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 13, 2015
    Nope sorry I've never used one. By running my intake ducting so it's in the path of the cold air from my AC directly to the air intake on my air pump did the trick for me. That way the air being pumped into the reservoirs is cold, I'd guess around 65-68 degrees, but I've never measured it. I also wrapped my buckets in the bubble wrap mylar stuff to insulate them from the warmer air in the tent. You can buy it at home depo or lowes for like $12 for 25 feet if I recall.


    I've been thinking about using a scrog for this grow, maybe it's too late now. I hadn't really put a lot of thought into it to be honest. I'm gonna read up on the pros/cons and how to set it up I guess since they're growing so much faster than I planned. I didn't expect things to go this fast.
     

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