My 2nd cheap af grow...thoughts please.

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by StocktonMfer, Jun 20, 2020.

  1. I grew some mj from bag seed about twenty years ago under 4ft white fluorescent tubes (400 watts total), harvested like 16 plants that produced about an 8th per plant of some very high quality bud, obviously didn't have the density of high grade commercial nug but the high was outstanding.
    Now I've had a buddy that's been growing cheaply af for a year or so, been trying to get me to get some going at my place and I finally caved in not quite two months ago. He hooked me up with 3 clones potted in 5gal buckets and a 300watt home depot type reddish pyrple led grow light. I have an 4'x8' walk in closet with a 6-8ft vaulted ceiling .The plan was to veg them for a week to ten days then go to 12/12 under a 1200watt similar type led grow light but the arrival of the 1200watt was delayed and ended up vegging for 4 weeks under the 300. The 300 was kept at roughly 24- 30" above the plant tops. Twenty days ago the 1200 arrived so I gave the 300 back and set up the 1200 and went to 12/12 with both veg and flower lights on. The instructions said to keep the 1200 12-18" above the tops but my buddy keeps pushing me to get it up to 24"min cuz he says that even tho it might not show signs of too much light it can degrade the thc with the very little bit of heat that it puts off. Ive had them at 14" since they stopped stretching in the first week to ten days of 12/12 and I see no negative signs in the top half of the plants. The pics were taken last night at the beginning of their 20th day of 12/12, they are about 5ft tall above soil.
    My biggest question is the light height, I want the most dense buds possible with what I have to work with but obviously want the thc quantity to be as high as possible too.
    I welcome all criticism regarding what I've done so far and what I could do better in the future.
     

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  2. I’ve had best results with blurple leds 12 inches away from top canopy. 24 will stretch them out to much plus if you have warm days and nights 24 will make them baby’s stretch bad asf! Look up SF4000 lights you’ll get best results for cheap grow! And won’t be disappointed. Plus you can have multiple plants under that bitch! You say 1200 watts but that light is really only pulling 160 watts or less! Those leds suck ballz! I stoped using them after I’ve advanced and got a 120x120x90 tent and have 4 SF4000 light figures in there and 60 plants! Hahah greatest shit alive!
     
  3. The light being closer will not degrade the THC, THC oxidizes to CBN partly due to temperature but it's much more complicated than that.

    What model/brand is your fixture? More than likely it's perfectly safe to have it at 12" as long as it still gives adequate footprint coverage for the plants.

    The rule of thumb I've always followed is if I can put my hand on top of the canopy under the lights and my skin doesn't get uncomfortably warm than they are fine. I still do watch for signs of heat stress such as foxtailing or light bleaching but in general I've found that to work well under all but the more powerful LED fixtures.

    I'd stick to the lower height if I were you unless they show signs of stress (As long as it isn't so low the light footprint shrinks and leaves some of your plants in semi-darkness)
     
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  4. Your friends an idiot

    simply lay your temp gauge at top most leaf height for 30 mins ADJUST to suit best temp of 77f/25c
    with me thats 8 inches under my 600w hps
    I tape a fish line 8 inches of my bulb as a parking indicator
    my lights on a counter weight easy to move up and down

    my fish line also has an inkbird sensor on the end to control the temp controller...another story

    next you post pics ensure the blurple is off ...for better replies

    good luck
     
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  5. Thank you for your reply...since my buddy gave me the light and it was an improvement over the fluorescents I used 20+ years ago I was pretty amped (to my eye it certainly is bright af) but after viewing this website I realized that type of light isn't the best...I have more space than I'm using atm so maybe next batch I'll upgrade and get more light on the closet...Thanks again!
     
  6. Thank you for your reply...at 12" from the light I can barely feel any heat on the back of my hand, not even close to uncomfortable...at 14" pretty much the entire top half of the plants appear to be getting full light...I'll lower the light to 12" tonight and see how that looks...Thanks again!
     
  7. Lol, that probably makes me an idiot by association.
    I don't have any temp or light gauges so I just have to go by look and feel and error on the safe side.
    I thought about the purple pics after I posted them, I'll see if i can get some better ones tonight...not that my girls are super spectacular by real growers standard but those pics don't do them justice as there are way more buds than you can see in those pics.
    Thank you for your reply!
     
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  8. Here's a little better view of what I have going on.
    3 plants about 5ft tall under one 1200watt purple led.
    Dropped light down to 12" above canopy tonight.
    Will flush with 3tsp of molasses/gal of water/plant tonight (they were given some tiger bloom nutes with last two waterings).
    Temps at canopy probably average 75 degrees and have never gone over 80 degrees.
    Should I remove the branches on the lower half of the plant that aren't getting much light?
    Will the buds fill out in the next 5 weeks?
    Was originally told I should expect about 2oz/plant but after vegging longer that planned was told I should expect 4oz/plant...what do you think I'll harvest if I keep the light 12" above the canopy?
     

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