Heliospectra LX601C LED Grow Light Diary

Megaprop · Feb 14, 2017

Hi guys!

This is my first venture back onto ICMag after quite a long time away. Unfortunately, I've forgotten my original login password, and even my email account associated with it has long since fallen into disuse. Hence the brand new account.

I've been a grower for many years but I had to down tools for quite some time due to certain "living circumstances"! (i.e. the girlfriend wouldn't let me).....
Anyway, I'm relieved to say that situation's over!
I've moved into a new house now and I can finally do what the hell I want! So, after doing a hell of a lot of research into the new generation of LED grow lights I decided to really treat myself. I've just bitten the bullet and invested in some all-new shiny equipment to get set back with! :woohoo:

I know a lot of you guys on here are DIYers, and more power to you all. I'm afraid I just don't have the confidence or the know-how to go about building my own, so I've saved up and splashed out on a Heliospectra which seems to be pretty much the best off-the-peg one out there.
The technology sounds bang on, and there's a huuuuuuuge medical grow in America (called "the grove") that uses like 700 of them. There's a youtube vid about it if you do a search. Anyway, I'm dead excited to be getting back into growing again and I can't wait to see what results this beast kicks out!

There don't seem to be any grow diaries with one of these anywhere yet so I've decided to do my own one and share the experience with y'all.
Pictures of my new setup and more info to follow very soon!

(oh, by the way, I started this diary over on another forum, but I've decided I prefer it here!)

Cheers!

Kimura · Feb 14, 2017

i worked for Pink House in Colorado for a short time (good weed, shitty stuck up egotistical employees) they switched all of their HPS to Helopspectra LEDs a couple years back. those lights are amazing. i was thinking about getting the EC60 i think it is, but ended up ordering a Mars Hydro Epistar 320. i might go ahead and upgrade my Viparspectra 1200 to a Heliospectra after my first harvest. cant wait to see some pics from your garden!

Megaprop · Feb 15, 2017

Cheers Kimura!
I've heard and read loads of great stuff about the Helio's but it's still great to hear about other good experiences that people have had.
If you've got any good tips on how to get the best out of them I'd be really grateful!

My setting up is complete and the Helio is in, so pics will be coming very soon.

Megaprop · Feb 17, 2017

Hi guys

Here's some pics just after I got back from the shop with all my nice, new equipment. Dead excited to be getting going again!

Fan & controller:

Carbon filter:

Fan and a duffuseair circulation fan:

Tent:

......and the Helio!:

Megaprop · Feb 17, 2017

Now to start getting set up:

Nearly got the tent up:

and the tent is done:

In with the duffuseair circulation:

In with the extraction:

Megaprop · Feb 17, 2017

In with the Helio:

..and in with the Autopots system:

And we're done! :woohoo:

starke · Feb 17, 2017

Looking good so far. I'll follow along.

Kimura · Feb 17, 2017

ahhh shit you got some autopots?!?! sweet.. i'm fuckin excited to see how this grow goes. i was looking over the autopot system recently and thought about buying a 4 spot setup. once i figure out how to set this damn RO filter up i might give it a shot.

Megaprop · Feb 20, 2017

Hi Kimura
Yeah, autopots are totally sweet pieces of kit - I've grown in them before. They take all the worry and hassle out of watering. You can even go away on holiday!

More pics coming very soon!

Megaprop · Feb 22, 2017

My plants arrived yesterday!

I've got the Wi-Fi config set up for the Heliospectra now. I can control the individual colour intensity output via the app from the comfort of my own phone!

I've set up a GoPro camera in the tent for fun too!

This was last night, me playing about with the settings on the Heliospectra while I was lying in bed!

Just the white:

Just the blue:

Just the red:

Just the far-red:

And all-together now.......!:

Total fun!

B4URTIME · Feb 22, 2017

Nice post!!!

Megaprop · Feb 22, 2017

A few more shots of the young ones in their new home -

Now we're growin!

Megaprop · Feb 22, 2017

Thanks B4URTIME !

Megaprop · Mar 2, 2017

Ok, so thought I'd post a few pics from last week before showing where they're up to now.

They're growing fast. The combo of the autopots and the heliospectra is a winner:

Night temp:

Day temp:

Starting to look a bit overfed:

I backed the feed strength down a bit at this point

Megaprop · Mar 2, 2017

Here's a more recent pic:

As you can see, they're growing fast but the overfeeding problem is persisting.
As I'm trying out a new nutrient, I rang the shop to see if they could tell me what the hell was going on. The guy knew exactly what was going on.
He told me that plants need much less feed under LED lights.

I reduced the feed by A LOT after this.

Here's the healthy new growth after just 3 days:

I'm relieved to see they're recovering quickly and getting back on track! :biggrin:

SuperBudBros · Mar 3, 2017

Nice LED what's the footprint and actually wattage draw from the wall on that beauty.

Megaprop · Mar 6, 2017

Hiya SBB.

My mate came round last week with his par meter and I have to say the footprint is pretty darn impressive.
One of the big reasons I went for the Helio is because when I was researching I read the lens on it has been developed to give a really flat spread.
We set it up at the recommended 24 inches and we were getting about 650 umols directly underneath, about 450 at the sides of the tent, about 500 front and back, and about 400 right in the corners!

Megaprop · Mar 8, 2017

Got a few more recent pics for you guys:

Despite backing off the feed, the older growth is still looking overfed but the new growth is looking a-ok!

I'll be taking a few cuttings off them tonight so thought I'd log how they're looking before doing that. :dance013:

starke · Mar 8, 2017

Looking good!!

Cheesegez · Mar 8, 2017

Looking good man this thread will be interesting... is LED the way forward or not ... be interesting to find out

Colorado .... how's the tangerine haze miss that bitch

Heliospectra LX601C LED Grow Light Diary

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