Grow Journal - First Ever Grow - LED Lights | Feedback Wanted Please

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by Maretus, Jul 1, 2015.

  1. #1 Maretus, Jul 1, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 1, 2015
    Hey guys, new member but long time reader.


    I recently moved from Florida to Oregon and have decided to begin growing. I'm participating in California Light Works Grower Feedback program and will be documenting my grow here.


    A little bit about myself. I'm a 28 year old entrepreneur and long time pothead. I own a successful digital marketing agency and have always dreamed of one day owning a commercial cannabis operation. This grow is my first step towards that end. If I like this as much as I think I will, I'll be taking this full scale.


    Now, on to the setup. Below is my current setup not including items I plan to acquire/install soon.


    Current Equipment:
    4x4x7 Gorilla Grow Tent
    2 x Solar storm 440 LEDs
    4 inch inline exhaust fan sucking air through a 4x12 Phresh carbon filter
    Fan Speed Controller
    Apollo Timer
    2 x 6 inch clip on fans


    Planned Equipment:
    Portable electric air conditioner (My apartment has no central air and the room my tent is in has an ambient temperature of 80-85 with lights on). I plan to install a portable air conditioner to bring my temperatures down to 75-80.


    Medium:
    I'm planning to grow with soil for my first go as it's more forgiving. I do plan on learning how to develop an effective hydroponic system eventually but figured growing with soil in the beginning would be good for getting past some of the learning curve.


    (I need some help on this part.) For my soil mix, I'm going with a mix of Fox Farm Ocean's Forest, Roots Organic, Happy Frog, and 30% Perlite. Does this sound like a good soil mix for my first grow? I was a bit hesitant to buy a bunch of additives that I wasn't familiar with in the beginning. That said, if you guys think this mix could use anything, please let me know. I've read mixed things about FFOF, so I decided to mix it with the Roots Organic and Happy Frog to alleviate some of that concern.


    Currently, I have 18 seedlings all sprouted between 5 and 12 days ago. They are all in Black Gold seedling soil with 30-50% Perlite mixed in. They appear to be thriving so far so I'm happy at this point.


    On to my final question and a few pictures.



    I have 2 solar storm 440's but both of them have different LED light panels. I have one 440 with 5 watt diodes and one with 3 watt diodes. This happened because I bought a "renewed" unit thinking it was just a refurbished unit with the same specs. I was wrong, and the "renewed" solar storm 440 has 5 watt diodes. To clarify, I have 1 unit with 144 3 watt diodes and 1 unit with 88 5 watt diodes.


    According to California Light Works, they output the same PAR light so it will be fine to run them side by side. That said, I wanted to ask a non-biased source about this as well.



    So, what do you guys think? Will running these 2 440's side by side over the same plants create any problems for me? I've included photos of both LED panels for reference.



    My gut tells me that this won't be a problem at all but I'm not an expert. I definitely don't want half of my tent growing better than the other half. So, please anyone with some experience in this area, please let me know. - I have 90 days to return the "renewed" unit, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. I hate returning shit, especially online. Not to mention, I got a great deal on the light at $650, so if it's going to perform the same, I'll keep it.


    Thanks for any input you guys can offer. I look forward to being a part of the community and to my grow. Feel free to ask me any questions or make any suggestions that you see fit.


    Definitely looking for any help I can get.


    Thanks again everyone!
     

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  2. I forgot to add. I'm growing 3 different strains.
    Alaskan Thunderfuck (feminized)
    White Widow (feminized)
    Blueberry (normal seeds)


    In my excitement after the first few seeds germinated, I forgot to label the first few plants. So, I've currently got 8 of my 18 plants with ? for the strain. After I realized it, I was able to label most of the plants however, so I at least have a few specimens of each to watch grow. Any way to determine strain once they've started growing? I know it's unlikely but I thought it was worth asking. If it helps, the only two that got mixed up were the ATF and Blueberry. So with that said, is there possibly any difference between how a feminized seed and a normal seed grow that might indicate which plant is which?


     
  3. Hate to bump this on my first ever post, but I was really hoping someone could add some input regarding my soil mix and lighting situation.


    Appreciate any input and I'll avoid anymore bumps until my next update.


    Thanks in advance!
     
  4. I think you are good with the lights even if they don't have the same par it's ok on side will just do a lil better than the other. And I can't really help you with the soil as I have never used any of those I Use Promix hb sounds like a good setup though
     
  5. Thanks for the input. Much appreciated!


    I'm still trying to decide if I'll end up using my current soil mix or go with something else. The FFOF seems heavily recycled with lots of bark and dead roots from other plants in it which is concerning. Makes me think there may be a better solution to use for soil.


    Any tips for sterilizing soil?
     
  6. Nope I just use promix hp it works the best for me never any bugs or issues with it. The only thing that you can do is flush the hell out of the soil and let it dry out that all I know somebody else might have some input on that sorry I am not to much more help
     
  7. No worries man, thanks for the response! Much appreciated and I hope you'll check out my journal once in awhile and let me know what you think. I'm planning to update it once or twice per week, depending on necessity.


    Thanks again dude.


     
  8. Yea man gonna be checking in from time to time check mine out to the link is in my signature
     
  9. Maretus welcome to your new addiction buddy!!
    I'm not the most experienced at this I've only had 5 successful harvests but I feel I learned a lot so that being said I can say I am not a fan of FFOF soil I used it on two runs and dealt with fungus gnats it also didn't work well in my air pots. I also won't use their nute line anymore just not a fan.
    Now for what I use now and like I love the Nectar Of The Gods soil and a really like the Humbolt Nutrients natural line. I mix in about 40% perlite to my soil.

    As for the lighting I'm not much help there I use HID but I will say I have had my eye on those LED's just haven't pulled the trigger so I'm gonna have to sub this thread and see how they do.
     
  10. #10 Maretus, Jul 2, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 3, 2015
    Already have. I'll definitely check it out from time to time. Thanks again!


    Thanks Snackstick! Lol, it's already overtaken me. My girlfriend is getting jealous of how much time I spend upstairs with the plants. She'll be happy in about 3 months when it's time for harvest.


    Definitely appreciate the input on FFOF. You hit my concern right on the head basically. I am going to do everything in my power to present pests before they happen and I've read a lot of bad reviews of people getting root aphids and fungus gnats en masse with FFOF. I think I'll be avoiding FFOF or at least sterilizing it all before use. Luckily, my seedlings are only 1 week old so they are still in some clean seedling mix. Seriously, thanks for the input - I definitely want to avoid pests.


    It looks like there is a store nearby that sells Nectar of the Gods, so I'm gonna pick some up. I am also using Air pots, so good to know it works well in those.


    As for my Nute line. I went with Roots Organic Buddha line as I read a lot of positive reviews about it. I'll let you know how it goes with the Nectar of the Gods soil.


    Lastly, I'm very happy with the lights, regardless of the differences between the two. I have always appreciated good build quality and these Solar Storm 440's are top of the line with that regards. The housing is superb and I think I'll definitely get my money's worth out of them. They're working great so far.


    I've attached a few pictures of my best looking plant below. She's 7 days old now and growing fast!


    Thanks again for the heads up on FFOF.


     

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  11. No problem dude just a word of advice in regards to the air pots pack the soil in by hand and pack the sides of the pots well to avoid water washing soil out of the holes.

    Good looking plants so far man but quit calling it a he . That has to be bad luck lol
     
  12. Lol, thanks mate. Fixed. That one is from a fem seed, so no worries there. At least I hope!
     
  13. Hey man, another quick question about the air pots.


    My original plan was to transplant from solo cup to 2 gallon air pot and then from 2 gallon air pot to 5 gallon air pot.


    However, now that I've started looking at them, the 2 gallob and 5 gallon are nearly the same diameter. The 2 gallon will fit in the 5, but not by much. I'm not sure how to go about transplanting from the 2 to the 5 gallon because of this.


    What's you're experience been like?
     
  14. I use 7 gallon air pots as my final home but I start my seeds on 2" pots then I go to 6" pots. I probably do one to many transplants but my system works well for me
     
  15. I go solo cup to 2 gallon smart pot then to 7 gallon smart pot I thing the air pots are a good idea just way to messy
     


  16. So, two of my plants are showing weird discoloration in the new growth and I'm not entirely sure what the cause is.


    I think it may be some sort of deficiency, but I'm not sure why as the plants are 2 1/2 weeks old and were transplanted into 2 gallon air pots 3-4 days ago. Since the transplant, they've started growing much more quickly so I was pretty optimistic.


    However, this new growth has me a bit worried.


    Anyhow, please take a look at this new growth and let me know what you guys think. It looks reddish/brown to me but it's very hard to distinguish the color.


    I've tested my runoff PH to be 6.3. Is that too low? My water PH is going in at 7, so it's possible my soil mix is too low. What could I use to increase my soil PH if that is indeed the problem?


    1 plant appears to be having more trouble with this discoloration than the other. The other one is just slightly discolored.


    Anyway, thanks in advance and please let me know what you think. Btw, both plants with this issue are Alaskan Thunder Fuck Feminized if that helps.




     

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  17. Just keep a close eye for now if I were you I'd just do straight water for a while and let it play out a bit
     
  18. #18 Maretus, Jul 8, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 8, 2015
    I've been using distilled water to feed my plants so far and I'm starting to re-think that. I was concerned about my tap water having a 7.5 PH but I'm starting to think that the distilled water is causing more problems than it's helping.


    I've done a bit more research and think this may be related to boron deficiency? That's the closest thing I can find and it seems to match my scenario pretty closely.


    I'm going to start using tap water (that has sat out for 24 hours) with the plants and see if they do any better.


    Lastly, could it be related to the proximity to the LED lights? I had these plants about 10-12 inches below the lights. I thought maybe it could be light burn or something like that from being too close to the lights?


    To test this theory, I moved the lights 8 inches up, making it 18 inches away. Still very close so I don't think it will affect the growth rate.


    Thanks for your input, much appreciated!
     
  19. It's not light burn and do you adjust your ph at all
     
  20. #20 Maretus, Jul 10, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 10, 2015
    After all of the research I did to start this project, the one thing I thought I could get away with skimping on was a PH tester. I was wrong and I've since corrected my ways.


    I'm pretty sure my problems was a boron deficiency due to low PH. That or it was related to low humidity.


    I've been using distilled water up until now as my tap water contains Chloramine. However, I never tested the PH of the distilled water as I incorrectly assumed that it would be a perfect 7. After testing my distilled water for the first time, I realized it was a 5.5 PH and that was likely causing issues. My runoff was coming out at 5.5 as well so it appears as if my soil and water PH were both working against me.


    To test whether it was only a PH issue or also a boron deficiency, I treated 2 plants differently. 1 plant was foliar fed with PH'ed water with a few drop of boric acid added in. (to combat boron deficiency)


    The other plant was foliar fed only PH'ed water. I'm now waiting on results.


    No matter what - both plants look a lot better now. I can't tell if one is doing better than the other but I think the PH'ed water is definitely helping. I'm going to test my runoff again next time I water.


    Here are a few updated pics. Apologies but they are taken through my method 7 LED glasses as I didn't have time to remove the plants to a room with better lights.


    As you can see, they are looking better though!
     

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