TAG Journal Featuring Dual 345W LED's & Sour60 Autoflowers

[LEDGirl]

The Room: 4' x 4' Mylar lined Grow Tent from eBay! The room includes a TAG system, (2) 345W LED Grow Lights (310W actual power draw each), and a CO2 Enrichment System (will turn on 02-07). A water chiller is being installed 02-06 to keep the reservoir temps at a constant 67-72 degrees, and an oxygenation pump will continuously enrich the nutrient solution. CO2 will be run at 1500ppm, the room temp will be maintained between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity will be maintained between 60-75%. A circulation fan will be installed next week as well to make for sturdier plants.

The TAG System: 4' x 2' x 1' TAG (true aeroponic gardening) tray made by Hydro-Grow. TAG is the most advanced form of aeroponics, utilizing high pressure pumps and fine mister/fogger nozzles to create a moisture and oxygen rich environment for explosive root growth. TAG systems generally run on a cycle timer, allowing the misters to turn on for 30-45 seconds, then off for 3-5 minutes depending on the gardener's preference and the number of misting nozzles you have. The cycle repeats continuously, creating a fog like environment inside the grow tray and allowing the roots to dry out partially between watering cycles. TAG systems use far less nutrients and water than other forms of hydroponics, making them the most economical for the gardener. A member on these forums by the name of PetFlora recommended that we build a TAG system several months ago, and provided us with quite a bit of information on the topic. This will be our first grow utilizing this exciting new form of aeroponics, and we hope it lives up to all the claims.

Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice Bloom, Bud Candy, Big Bud. We may also get some Bushmaster, Gravity, and PurpleMax as well, but it's currently undecided. We will be sure to post if we do use it

Strain: Sour 60 Autoflowers by MDanzig (fellow ICMag sponsor). The seeds were supplied free of charge, so a BIG THANK YOU to MDanzig This will be our first time EVER growing an autoflower strain, so this grow is certainly an experimental one for us on several levels. We chose the "Strong" phenotype as labeled by MDanzig, and planted 17 seeds on 01-26. All seeds popped their first root within 3 days (many within 24 hours), which is a testament to the quality of his seeds. We will weed out the males in a few weeks when sex begins to appera, and hopefully end up with 8-10 healthy females in the end. We look forward to seeing what they can do!

Grower: My wife will be performing this entire grow!!! I will be taking the photos and posting it on the forums, but this time it's her turn. It will be her FIRST time ever running a bloom room, as that has been my job primarily over the last several years. I will be running the 205W ScrOG grow that will be online shortly

ENJOY THE SHOW!
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[LEDGirl]

Seeds Started 01-26 (yep, he sent a LOT!):
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Grow Tent (on right) Started 01-30 with (1) 318W:
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This is what I consider Day 1, when the plants shed the shell from the seed and sprout their first leaves:
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[LEDGirl]

The 345W Units arrived today! Here they are on 02-03:

Some Up-Close shots of a few of the plants on Day 4 from Sprouting:

A bit of root porn

 

[WizeWizo]

How are these lil'ones doin?

 

[LEDGirl]

After the 345W's arrived, the lights were placed at approximately 9" from the plants. The temp in the tent got a bit warm (not to mention the timer malfunctioned several times leading to dry roots), so we have left the door to the tent partially open for the last few days and I've been checking the timer a LOT. When CO2 gets turned on that will change, but for now it'll be open. Hopefully we'll also get some new Sentinel timers soon, so we don't have any more of those issues. Anyhow some of the plants show some tip burn (likely due to the heat and dry roots), but just in case my wife will be adding magnesium from Humboldt Nutrients (still have some left over) to the reservoir tonight. She also raised the lights to 12". A few of the weaker plants have died, so she planted a few backups that should be ready in a couple of days. Anyhow, enjoy the pics!

These images were taken 02-09 (day 10 from sprout):

Some up-close shots of a few plants:

Some Root Shots:

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[kneehigh]

?

?

What happened to this grow? It should be done by now?

 

[kneehigh]

mine in soil cups are way ahead of those on day ten right now. I just switched to led from T5 four foot tubes yesterday, my led is the 345 watt unit.

I know soil is suppose to be slower but mine are about twice as big.

Do you think you burned them? I am using same Iguana grow right now in FFOF and I fed on day 10 for first time and I used about 30% the reg size dose and they are loving it.

I have no past experiences with sour 60 but I do with other Mdanzig autos. I have found that first 20 days is the key to getting quality and quantity.

Don't waste all those nice beans lets see what happened?

 

[LEDGirl]

The misting system and the timing frequency ultimately was the issue in this setup. The plants never made it much past what you saw in the photos, and we've since gone back to using standard aeroponics methods which also grow much faster. I was quite disappointed with what others are calling "TAG" or "True Aeroponic Gardening" and the on/off cycles they recommend for plants. It certainly wasn't an improvement here.

 

[kneehigh]

sorry

sorry

Sorry I haven't seen the 345 in action on here yet, and I just turned mine on for the first time on Sunday.

I am also growing sour 60 so I was thinking this grow was too perfect.


good luck next time. I Would love to see you blow up a tent with Mdanzig gear. That would sell some lights for sure. I bought mine specifically to use with sour 60s.

 

[LEDGirl]

We had some Sour 60's growing in one of our standard aero systems with multiple 126W lights, and they grew much faster than the ones displayed here. It's certainly a nice strain, and it does well with LED. I won't have another grow online for at least another month or so, but when I do you can rest assured I'll do my best to rock whatever I grow

 

[thatguynotspam]

LEDGirl did I read that right? The 345w led draws 310 watts of power? That doesn't make them all that efficient as compared to a hid set up with digital ballasts. I realize that they dont create as much heat, but a properly set up room will not require that much draw to properly regulate it. I am still educating myself on the LED tech, can you clear this up a bit for me? Thanks!

 

[hclip]

LEDGirl did I read that right? The 345w led draws 310 watts of power? That doesn't make them all that efficient as compared to a hid set up with digital ballasts. I realize that they dont create as much heat, but a properly set up room will not require that much draw to properly regulate it. I am still educating myself on the LED tech, can you clear this up a bit for me? Thanks!

Read this thread https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=170090
A digital ballast is gonna draw around what its labeled or more. WizeWizo tested his 600w lumatek and it was pulling 676 watts under super lumens and 646 watts under regular settings. If a LED is 345w but is pulling 310w how is that inefficient compared to HID?

 

[CareFreeLivin]

The 345w is pulling 290w not 310w. My understanding is that 280w power the lights while 10w power the fans. I bought one and it should arrive tomorrow (fingers crossed!) to replace my 400w. I will pull over 220w less with the LED, and after a grow or two I could conceivably pull a pound from that light if i observe similar gram/watt numbers other growers have had. For me it was a no brainer. Better yield, less heat, higher efficiency, stealthier, etc, etc. The only con is the price, but the money is easily recuperated in the first 3 months of operation.

I'll have a journal up detailing the grow once it gets past the seedling stage. I have 5 C99 BX1 going into 5 gal DWC buckets. I plan on taking clones then doing an ebb and flow scrog setup to maximize yield for my second run with the LED.

 

[thatguynotspam]

Read this thread https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=170090
A digital ballast is gonna draw around what its labeled or more. WizeWizo tested his 600w lumatek and it was pulling 676 watts under super lumens and 646 watts under regular settings. If a LED is 345w but is pulling 310w how is that inefficient compared to HID?

Ok, first I didn't say it was inefficient, I asked how it was all that more inefficient. I just tested my silverstar 600w hps and its drawing 651w to achieve the same results i would have to run 2 345w led panels (based on lighting footprint) which equalls 620w making the led 31w more efficiant, my vortex with speed controller is drawing 75w and you will have to run some exhaust for the led maybe 35w so that is roughly 726 for hps and 655 for led a 76 w difference, basicly one 75w incandecent bulbs use. To me that makes the led not all that eficient as compared to my setup. I am seriously looking at usuing two of the 345w led's I am just looking at all the angles here. So at this point I am a bit confused. this is all new to me as far as electricity use, as it was neve a concern. I dont use much power, lol in fact I was able to compensate by going to cfl's over incandecents in all my lamps and fixures through out my house, infact my bill actually went down by an avg of $8-$10 bucks! I still like the LED set up and think its going to be the future, expecially for stealth. Any input here will be appriciated as I am just looking to understand it better! Thanks!!

 

[LEDGirl]

LEDGirl did I read that right? The 345w led draws 310 watts of power? That doesn't make them all that efficient as compared to a hid set up with digital ballasts. I realize that they dont create as much heat, but a properly set up room will not require that much draw to properly regulate it. I am still educating myself on the LED tech, can you clear this up a bit for me? Thanks!

WizeWizo's 600W Digital Lumatek (one of the latest) draws 676W of power, while our 345W draws between 280-290W. So in what way would you be describing efficiency? The LED essentially has 345W worth of "bulbs" yet only uses 280-290W of power, whereas the HID has a 600W bulb and uses 676W of power. So the LED system is more efficient at creating light vs consuming energy, when compared to the HID. That's more or less undeniable.

Now a 600W HID should realistically be used within a 3x3 or 4x4 area. I certainly wouldn't use one over a 4x4, but I'm not all gardeners and I tend to concentrating on maximizing yields per square foot. With that being said, our 345W will cover a 3x3 area if you raise it up to 12-14" above your canopy, although they are recommended for a 30" x 30" area. The 345W will also give you comparable yields to the 600W HID, even though it uses a smaller overall footprint. So you'll get the same or more bud in less area using less watts. Having (2) 345W units will give you far more yield than a single 600W HID, and they'll also cover a larger area while drawing only 560-580W of power.