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Starke's Story: An LED Tale

starke

Well-known member
Weekly Update Flower Day 28

Weekly Update Flower Day 28

Completely missed the update due last Tuesday and for that I apologize. Took the misses back to the surgeon that day and got great news. Pathology report showed no spread. Still have to follow up with the Oncology folks for monitoring but it looks like no chemo.

Anyway...I defoliated the ladies at day 23 and did not cut them back quite as severely as the last time. Strung up a bunch of branches with yo-yos so the ladies are in position for good now. I plan on doing another slight defol around day 42. Have been keeping the feed around 1.0ec and the ladies seem happy with it.

I bought a new high bay 4 foot LED shop light to replace my 16 bulb homemade off the shelf LED fixture for veg. It's 42,000 lumens, 325W actual, compared to the 24,000 lumen homemade fixture. It is also 5500K so about perfect for veg.

The ladies two weeks ago:

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And today:

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The new veg light:

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Peace,
starke
 

Goats

Active member
Completely missed the update due last Tuesday and for that I apologize. Took the misses back to the surgeon that day and got great news. Pathology report showed no spread. Still have to follow up with the Oncology folks for monitoring but it looks like no chemo.

Anyway...I defoliated the ladies at day 23 and did not cut them back quite as severely as the last time. Strung up a bunch of branches with yo-yos so the ladies are in position for good now. I plan on doing another slight defol around day 42. Have been keeping the feed around 1.0ec and the ladies seem happy with it.

I bought a new high bay 4 foot LED shop light to replace my 16 bulb homemade off the shelf LED fixture for veg. It's 42,000 lumens, 325W actual, compared to the 24,000 lumen homemade fixture. It is also 5500K so about perfect for veg.

The ladies two weeks ago:

View Image

And today:

View Image

The new veg light:

View Image

Peace,
starke

super good to hear that things are looking on the up and up for your lady and you. that shit is terrible man, and i wish it on no one.

i hope dans is doing alright too.
 

caljim

I'm on the edge. Of what I'm not sure.
Veteran
Great news! Very uplifting to hear.

Flower is looking on point so you got that going for ya too.

Can you take the diffuser off of that veg fixture.....bet its brighter with that thing gone.

:tiphat:
 

starke

Well-known member
Great news! Very uplifting to hear.

Flower is looking on point so you got that going for ya too.

Can you take the diffuser off of that veg fixture.....bet its brighter with that thing gone.

:tiphat:

You and FrozenFire immediately picked up on the diffuser. It is coming off this morning. I was just too lazy to take the light down last night, especially since I had meant to take it off before I hung it. Guess that's why they call it dope. :biggrin:
 
We are just looking out for ya! You are a
Paying for the electricity and want to help ya get the most light possible for your babies! Them girls in bloom have the look of a bumper crop. I've got a feeling you will be having fun helping support those big colas before much longer :biggrin:
 

starke

Well-known member
Update Flower Day 35

Update Flower Day 35

Today marks the end of five weeks in flower and the ladies have begun to chunk up a little bit. I'm still running at 1.0ec with reduced Calnit but am seeing a little tip burn. Going to back it down to .8 this coming week and see how they do.

Here's the ladies as of this morning:

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Peace,
starke
 

starke

Well-known member
Update Flower Day 42

Update Flower Day 42

The tops have continued to chunk up on all the ladies this past week and it became obvious what buds were getting all the light they need. Trimmed three trays of popcorn and larf off today so the ladies are ready for the final run to the finish. Dropped the ec back to .8 and the ladies seem happy still. Parts of the BB x WW appears to have begun to fade so she may be winding down ahead of the others. Only about another week until the flush begins.

It is almost impossible to get a decent pic across the top of the canopy, but this first pic is an attempt. Following that are some random bud shots, one from each strain, but I did not label them as I took them so beats the shit out of me as to who is what.

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Peace,
starke
 

starke

Well-known member
Update Flower Day 49

Update Flower Day 49

The ladies have really chunked up this past week to the point that I am afraid of botrytis again. Am running max airflow and three fans but this is FL and my humidity is rarely below 60%. Since I have a tester grow of Sour Orange Diesel that needs to be put into flower soon, in addition to the humidity issue, I began flushing the ladies this past Friday and plan on harvesting them Thursday. I'll post a few pics after the chop and rough trim.

The ladies today:

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Peace,
starke
 
T

Tarus Bulbar

Looking fat now Starke!! Sometimes taking them down early is the best preventive measure to take!!

Cheers :biggrin:
 
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Palindrome

King of Schwag
Looking great, but also looks a little early to be chopping?

Totaly understand the issue with mold and high RH, but maybe its worth considering a dehumidifyer?

Im very happy with mine, thinking about maybe getting another one.
 

starke

Well-known member
Looking great, but also looks a little early to be chopping?

Totaly understand the issue with mold and high RH, but maybe its worth considering a dehumidifyer?

Im very happy with mine, thinking about maybe getting another one.

I have a large dehuey but there is no room for it in the flower or veg rooms. I have tried running it in my master bedroom which is the lung room for my grow space, but running that way only decreases my humidity about three percent and heats up everything by about five degrees.

Good news is I have harvested four of these strains at six weeks following hurricane Irma and they still produced decent smoke. I'm looking forward to our lower winter humidity where I'm at, that's for sure.
 

Itsmychoice

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
I am having good luck with an oscillating fan under the canopy. It dropped the humidity 10-20% from the 70s to the high 50s. It’s the way it dried everything underneath out that helped. Any dead leaves get crispy instead of slimey. I grow big plants in 3 gallon coco and cut the underbrush out so there is a decent amount of space under there. I am going to put one in every room.
 
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starke

Well-known member
I am having good luck with an oscillating fan under the canopy. It dropped the humidity 10-20% from the 70s to the high 50s. It’s the way it dried everything underneath out that helped. Any dead leaves get crispy instead of slimey. I grow big plants in 3 gallon coco and cut the underbrush out so there is a decent amount of space under there. I am going to put one in every room.

I'm running two 10 inch oscillating fans under the canopy in opposite corners and one blowing across the top. Exhausting with a 10" Hyperfan for a 5x8 room which is kind of overkill and still can't get the humidity below 60%. As I sit here typing this the humidity is reading 64%. I am probably going to have to buy a smaller dehuey that will fit in the room as a long term solution.
 

starke

Well-known member
Started the chop at about 7:00am and with the misses' help just hung the last rough trimmed branch.

Normally I dry in my flower room but I have a tester round of Sour Orange Diesel that I have to get under a scrog ASAP. Since my exhaust and carbon filter also encompass my master bedroom and bath the bath just became a drying room. Going to be kind of strange having to duck under buds to brush my teeth. :biggrin:

Anyway, although harvested two weeks early, the buds are dense and well covered in trichs. I discovered one small dime size spot of botrytis on one cola so I am glad I went ahead with the harvest.

Going to take a break from this diary for a minute since the Sour Orange Diesel tester grow is being documented under the Real Gorilla Seeds threads. Be back here when that is done. Link to that grow is in the signature for anyone interested.

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Peace,
starke
 

starke

Well-known member
Just a quick update to keep track. The BB x WW went into jars today at 64% RH. Weight was 6.73 oz.

Peace,
starke
 

starke

Well-known member
The rest of the harvest went into jars this morning, also at 64% RH.

The two Super Lemon Haze produced 9.49 oz.

The two Liberty Haze produced 17.92 oz.

Total for the run was 2.1 lbs. Still not what I know the room is capable of but will keep on refining my process. Trying my first SCROG screen on the current Sour Orange Diesel grow which I hope will improve yields. Link to that grow in the signature.

Back in a couple months.

Peace,
starke
 
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