In April I was watching as NASA presented to the world the first HD images from their Solar Dynamics Observatory module that they shot off towards the sun on February 11 of this year. The module is equipped to "see" the sun in all it's glory, capturing images from the complete electromagnetic spectrum. These images and the fact that people have been getting decent results with LED + Fluo got me thinking that the biggest trouble with LED was how specific their waves are. If the sun is sending all sorts of waves our way chances are plants probably need all of them to work correctly. Manufacturers even pride on how precise their LEDs are in nm, when in reality we probably don't even want to be so exact and have LEDs "bleed" into each others area of the spectrum to cover it all. So I'm giving LED a try behind a false wall in my office's closet. The space can't handle the heat of a 450 HPS for sure and even 250 might be too hot; plus the electrical bill can't all of a sudden jump in 700+ watts of power consumption (between HID, cooling, fans, Fluo for vegging, etc...) I'm building a rig with 292 watts of power that breaks down as follows: 1 x LED UFO = 90 watts www.LEDwholesalers.com - 90 WATTS LED Quad BAND UFO HYDROPONIC GROW LIGHT 90W 4 x LED Screw Ins 4x15 watts = 60 watts Still choosing them, will make final decision when the rest are assembled, don't know wether to get just Red or mixed, spot or flood, PAR38 or Mini Screw In??? 2 x FLUO Full Spectrum 2 x 45 watts = 90 watts Full Spectrum Light Bulbs from ALZO digital 2 x FLUO UVB 10.0 2 x 26 watts = 52 watts Exo Terra : Products : Compact Fluorescent Bulbs 2 x Timers 24 Hour Outdoor Timer HB31R | Intermatic, Inc. Materials for the array will cost somewhere in this range: LED UFO $175 LED Bulbs $120 ??? Full Spectrum CFL $30 UV CFL $30 Cords w/sockets $32 Cords w/reflectors $40 Plastic ties, chains, etc... $23 Cables $15 Timers $30 TOTAL: $495 The 9 lights were ordered from eBay to get rock bottom prices (4 are yet to be chosen though) The frame I built with some cheap square metal tubing with a coat of matte white heat resistant paint I had left over from painting a home made reflector for my mother box. 4 hooks with threaded ends with washers and nuts for the corners and 4 screws with washers and nuts for the cross beams. From the 4 hooks at the corners 4 chains going to 4 hooks in the ceiling, the height can be adjusted easily by going up or down the chain in 1" increments, takes 10 seconds. All the cables are gonna be held in place with plastic ties so they can be slid and the length adjusted at any time. The 90 watt UFO is going to a heavy duty 1800 watt Intermatic mechanical timer and the other 202 combined watts to another equal timer and heavy gauge cable is being used through out; it may be overkill but safety first, no sense in risking a fire. The walls are built out of Super Diamond Mylar stretched over PVC tubbing. The frames are 4 corners and 4 tubes with just a little glue. The Mylar is stretched over the frame with plastic ties in the corners and some tape over the sides. The idea is to grow 4 strains on a perpetual 10 week schedule; it will be 1 plant of each strain at a time so 4 plants in each crop. Durban Poison for a pure Sativa, Purple Skunk for a mixed strain good for all around smoking and entertaining friends, Red Cherry Berry for a late evening high CBD relaxant and anti inflammatory and a fourth strain yet to be defined. The Red Cherry and Purple will probably go 8 to 9 weeks under and the Durban Poison the full 10 weeks, clean up and accept 4 new clones from a mother and cloning box. The Durban already has 5 weeks of growing in my mother box, check it out here: http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/607386-first-indoor-grow-durban-poison-under-led-fluo.html Purple seeds are in my drawer waiting for some space to clear in my box and the Red Cherry is yet to be ordered (I want the seeds really fresh for sprouting and there won't be space for 2 to 4 more months until I stabilize my Durban and Purple moms). Before putting the Durban in for flowering I will be running some trials for the LED with a batch of 8 bagseed that I have to screen for males and then try to re-veg 1 for the possible fourth mom. Have no idea what they are and if they are any good at all but it was some good stuff that provided them. According to UPS my UFO is being delivered today as well as the 45 watt fuos and the rig was left hanging in the closet yesterday waiting for them.
My UFO is here and looks excellent for the price, got it on one of LED Wholesalers' eBay auctions for $175 shipped. The LEDs are supposed to be from trusted quality manufacturers and it's a Quad Band with this configuration: 70 x 1 watt RED: 660 nm 10 x 1 watt Blue: 455 nm 5 x 1 watt Orange: 610 nm 5 x 1 watt White: Wide Kelvin (Full Spectrum) Seems bright and I really like the distribution of the blue and orange LEDs all around the UFO instead of just the center like other brands. The orange are hard to tell apart from the red because of how bright they are, only with sunglasses can you tell each one. I guess the White LEDs could be more spaced apart but the FLUOs will do that job around the UFO anyway so it serves my purpose that they are all in the center. Even though the distribution of LEDs is one of the more even I've seen you still have uneven waves hitting the plant; when you put objects in front of the light they disrupt the light path and "break it apart" if you will, sending rays of just blue or just red light below the canopy. Hopefully the Fluos will fill in all those problem areas were LED can't cut it yet, they are coming in later today, they are in the truck as I write : )
I'm back, work got the best of me for a couple of days but the project continues today. All CFLs are here and it's starting to take shape. Mylar and PVC panel walls are up and I installed door hinges on 2 corners so they can be opened to work at the plants. Wind will be provided in the way of computer fans built directly into the walls. It's just a piece of 1"x4" board cut to the same length as the width of the PVC frames, with a 3" hole sawed in the middle with the fan screwed in the back. The board is screwed directly to the PVC frame in the 2 sides. After looking at the plants under the rig this friday I will decided which screw base LEDs to buy. Probably it will be mixed red/blue with more red than blue, in a PAR38 type bulb. Those have to be here in 4 weeks when my Durban Poison will be 10 weeks into vegging and ready for flowering.
Awesome looking build you have going. Im pulling up a chair for this one. I think your going to be impressed with that ufo and going LED. I have seen a lot of great results coming from them.
That would be fun "no sir, it's not pot it's a new aromatherapy oil" jejeje "for relaxation... you know?" I'm putting a carbon filter straight on top of the plants and attaching it to a vent on the corner of the gypsum wall, venting to the part of the closet that still is. It's coming in a few weeks.
Here we go.. yesterday I plugged the timers in and synchronized. Putting the 8 bagseed that I'm screening for females to experiment a little before my Durban Poison in 3 weeks. UFO will be at 6", Full Spectrum CFLs at 3" and UV at 6" first then closer. Here's with just the UFO: UFO and UV: All of them: I started with the UV a little high to get them used to it, figure they have never seen UV so maybe keep it far first and then bring it closer and closer during the first 2 weeks till I reach 3"
After 1 week of 12/12 light my bagseed experiments showed some pre-flowers last saturday, barely visible thru the magnifying glass. This morning they were full of pods all over. At the very least I know the rig is good for inducing flowering, we'll see how good it works for the actual flowering during the next 7 weeks. My Durban Poison are gonna be ready for flowering 2 weeks early (this friday) and the LED bulbs won't be here by then so tonight I'll go and buy 4 more CFLs. I'm getting 4 x 26watts 2700K for the corners while the 4 screw base LEDs get here. Temperature is averaging 80º during the day and it goes down to about of 70º at night. Humidity has been on average at 50%. Yesterday humidity dropped to 40% and the pots were totally dry today, temperature climbed to 83º. I'll water the experimental plants today and see how humidity and temperature get affected.
Got the 4 extra CFLs, 26 watts each in 2700K to fill in the corners next to the plants while the other LEDs arrive. Lowered the UV to around 6 inches like the UFO, the Full Spectrum CFLs are about 2" to 3" now, I'll see how they take the heat today. Tomorrow the Durban Poison go under the rig for flowering.
Got the 3 Durban Poison plants to flowering today, they were LST'ed heavily so maybe I'll prop them up on some wood pieces because they are farther away from the lights than the 3 bagseed that were already there.
If any of you have been following my bagseed experiments journal you know that 2 of the 3 plants self pollinated, the 2 that got curled up in a heat wave one afternoon. Apparently enough CFLs without fans will make the closet reach temperatures of 85º, who knew But that was still part of the learning process and what the bagseed were there for, to test the whole process through before the big guns arrive. Durban Poison are looking good and 1 of the 3 showed pistils today, I'm stoked I lowered the height of the makeshift "table" under the plants and the light rig as well to keep the same distance. Now the air from the fan flows between the plants and the lights, tomorrow I'll add the second fan. The plants are really starting to smell and I mean A LOT. I have the windows open all day, incense burning all day (already used to anyway) and still stinks of pot. Don't have the money yet for the filter and fan combo I want so I made one to hold me a couple of months. Basic DIY 4" Carbon Filter and 4" computer fan: 1. Found this Carbon Filter in a local Air Conditioning and fan store (2 velcro straps included) 2. Cut the filter in half and cut a square piece of mesh the same size 3. Roll the mesh over a 4" cap of whatever you find (could be the bottom of a soda bottle or a 4" pot) and zip-tie it 4. Wrap the whole mesh in the Carbon filter and duct tape everything really tight. The computer fan will only pull air thru 1 layer of filter but if you have a more powerful fan you can double roll it for maximum odor filtration. 5. 2 pieces of 4" gutter downspout pieces, cut the gutter parts out off one to fit inside the other. Drill 4 holes in each part and screw the fan between them. 7. Finally took 2 extra long zip ties and tied the filter around like dividing it in three equal parts because the duct tape alone didn't seem to hold the seal along the middle, the filter tried to open up little cracks in the tape soon after assembly. I'll tell you tomorrow how well it did it's job. Wish I had a bigger fan to use double layer wrapping of filter. But soon...