Latest grow with Fluence LEDs

cyberneticsteer · Dec 8, 2019

Last winter I had a few power outages which resulted in some stress induced hermies... saved the seeds and thought id see if they were any good. I couldnt be happier!!

About 8 weeks into flower first time using my Fluence LEDs, which also seem to be doing great. I did not top or prune at all because I wanted to see how the genetics expressed themselves. Obviously topping would have greatly improved yield, but now I can see exactly how each cross grows. I also was worried about light penetration with the LEDs and wanted to see how much the lower buds filled out compared to my 600 HPS. I was also pleasantly surprised at the performance, the buds are large and firm all the way down. I am now certain I can match and probably beat yield versus my 600.

In the tent now are 2 Barneys farm Red Diesel (front left), 4 Barneys farm Vanilla Kush (back right), 3 C99 crosses, 2 Vanilla Kush crosses, 1 Platnium Huckleberry Kush cross, and 1 Peyote Cookies cross.

coooper · Dec 10, 2019

Those look really nice. I'm looking to go from 1000w HPS to Fluence for flowering. What model are you running? I am most likely going to go Spydr.

cyberneticsteer · Dec 13, 2019

I have a Spydr 2x. Im excited to do my next run with it when I top some clones. Then I should have a good idea of what my max is in this space. Going to chop this weekend at 10 weeks, buds look bigger and smell better than anything Ive run before.

slimo · Dec 17, 2019

I have a 10'x10' room with 2 spydr These have been the key for me. I have the firmest flowers I've ever grown.

coooper · Dec 17, 2019

Well as if I wasn’t already sold on them, I am now. Time to just save up the pennies because I want 4 of them.

cyberneticsteer · Jan 5, 2020

Thought I would update after drying and a few weeks of cure!

When I was trimming I did notice a few of the lower buds were a little less dense then I first thought. I dont think the difference (compared to my 600 hps) was substantial, and Im not surprised the LED doesnt penetrate as well. Most of these buds would have been over 2 ft from the light. The top buds were nice and dense. From 14 plants I got 319 grams total, and the light uses about 350 watts. Keep in mind, I did no topping or training for most of the plants which was a very inefficient use of space.

I think I got a noticeably higher trichrome density though! Plants absolutely sparkle, and the amount of kief that I collected during trimming was immense. I am trying to come up with a way to scientifically measure trichrome density to prove this, as I still have Vanilla Kush buds from the hps to compare to. I havent smoked a lot yet because I like a nice long cure, but I believe my terpene levels are higher also. This could be partially due to being able to run at a lower temperature, but could also be because of a better spectrum.

I definitely saw major differences from having less heat in the room. This is going to substantially increase my yield and quality during the hotter months, but will require me to run a small heater in the cooler months, if I am not running my hps at the same time. I could see how in a commercial facility this could add up to a huge reduction in HVAC costs!

Overall I am very pleased with the Fluence LEDs. Lower power use, lower temps, better spectrum, and multi-point light source I think all add up to a better product and higher ROI. My next run (already 2 weeks into flower) is going to see what kind of yield I can get. Ive topped and trained more Vanilla Kush, Red Diesel, and G13 labs Purple Haze so im looking forward to seeing what this light can really do!

Mars Hydro Led · Jan 20, 2020

If your budget is limited. Check out this kind of QB design. :tiphat:

http://bit.ly/2T2HFWb

Douglas.Curtis · Jan 20, 2020

cyberneticsteer said:
I think I got a noticeably higher trichrome density though! Plants absolutely sparkle, and the amount of kief that I collected during trimming was immense.

I believe my terpene levels are higher also. This could be partially due to being able to run at a lower temperature, but could also be because of a better spectrum.

I definitely saw major differences from having less heat in the room.

I keep telling folks to grow cool and dry. Looks like you tested it by accident. Congrats :tiphat:

cyberneticsteer · Jan 25, 2020

Yeah Douglas.Curtis I agree. I see a lot of people saying low 80s, which might be ok for veg and early flower, but I think mid 70s and lower at night might be better for terpene development. Although molds and mildews love lower temps so I guess its whatever works for your system and plants!

cyberneticsteer · Jan 25, 2020

next round... yield!

next round... yield!

Trying to top out my yield this time! Vanilla Kush and Red Diesel from Barneys, and Purple Haze from G13. Loosely trained under mesh, mostly because the Vanilla gets quite stretchy. My last run was about 400 grams, Im betting this will be more than double!

Douglas.Curtis · Jan 25, 2020

cyberneticsteer said:
Although molds and mildews love lower temps so I guess its whatever works for your system and plants!

When your temps are low, your RH should also be low. At 70F canopy temp I prefer my incoming air to be in the mid 20's for RH values.

As for mold prevention through setup, I'm all about design and personal management practices. I've run HEPA filtered flowering areas for 15+ years, and only seen mold in 2 poorly ventilated veg areas. The HEPA filter eliminates fungi spores, pollen, cat dander, rug fibers, and all the floaties you find in the air everywhere.

cyberneticsteer · Feb 12, 2020

week 7

week 7

Week 7 Flower

Signs of finishing from Red Diesel and Purple Haze as more pistils turn brown and the RD starts to purple. Vanilla Kush still going strong, typically taking at least 10 weeks. Its going to be very annoying to be harvesting half of the plants while still keeping the Van K in the trellis!

The plants which have half reused soil are doing as well as the ones in brand new soil, so I gained some confidence in reusing soil.

Mom room is looking bushy, time for the next round of clones!

PetFlora · Feb 12, 2020

cyberneticsteer said:
Yeah Douglas.Curtis I agree. I see a lot of people saying low 80s, which might be ok for veg and early flower, but I think mid 70s and lower at night might be better for terpene development. Although molds and mildews love lower temps so I guess its whatever works for your system and plants!

Use of silica when watering/rezes will prevent most pests from attacking plants

MtnGanj · Feb 16, 2020

Douglas.Curtis said:
When your temps are low, your RH should also be low. At 70F canopy temp I prefer my incoming air to be in the mid 20's for RH values.

As for mold prevention through setup, I'm all about design and personal management practices. I've run HEPA filtered flowering areas for 15+ years, and only seen mold in 2 poorly ventilated veg areas. The HEPA filter eliminates fungi spores, pollen, cat dander, rug fibers, and all the floaties you find in the air everywhere.

Huge believer in the HEPA! Saves so much pain in the long run...

IronLionZion22 · Mar 15, 2020

Hey cyber nice work man. I just recently purchased the same light and am curious about 2 different thingsa. First being this...have seen many places suggesting rtunning higher temps when using leds. Have you any experience with this or any input on this topic. Also I have heard many people and even the company themselves suggest using CO2 when using the Fluence lights. Do you run CO2?

This description below i took directly off of Fluence website.

Description

"SPYDR 2p is a full-cycle top lighting solution for commercial cannabis cultivation, with the power to scale from vegetative growth to higher light intensities in bloom. For optimal results, we recommend SPYDR 2p deployed in environments with C02 supplementation between 800-1400 ppm in reproductive growth stage due to high PPFD levels. SPYDR 2p builds on the previous generation’s SPYDRx PLUS performance."

What do you say buddy? Whats your thoughts?

cyberneticsteer · Mar 15, 2020

Hey IronLionZion22, thanks!
I cant remember off the top of my head what exact model of Fluence Spydr I have, but it is not one in which they recommend CO2. Im sure it wouldnt be bad, but the ppfd is low enough that it doesnt require it, per say.
As for higher temps, I would guess a higher temp AND CO2 would be great, but the plant has its own limits as far as what it can handle, and I would stay within normal low 80s/ high 70s.
Right now I have a hard time keeping it warm enough as is, so I could definitely bump the temp up. I think having too low temps hurt my yield this time, or the fact that I had so many in there fighting for space. Buds were much smaller and looser this run, which resulted in way more work trimming then I like. Ive still got work to do fine tuning my setup so im more consistently turning out the same size buds, but hey, thats half the fun!

cyberneticsteer · Mar 21, 2020

finale

finale

Trimmed, two weeks of hanging and slow drying, then into jars. Relative humidity in the jars slowly crept up to 61% in a week, and today I dumped everything out of the jar to get a final weight.
Vanilla Kush : 165g
Red Diesel : 167g
Purple Haze : 121g
Pretty decent but way short of the 25+ oz I feel I can get if I really tune things in with this light. Temperature was way too low this time. Good news is my test of re-using soil went well. I got equal or better yields from all re-used soil, so I feel confident in going forward and doing that. Things have slowed down in the lab so I plan on submitting some soil samples from reused soil and really seeing whats left, and really tune in my re-amending.

IronLionZion22 · Mar 24, 2020

That is one nice looking canopy. Fine job and thanks for sharing and also for your input on my questions. Have you always ran the fluence at that height above canopy? Enjoy your smoke brother!

NEW ENGLAND · Mar 24, 2020

Very nice !!!

cyberneticsteer · Mar 25, 2020

IronLionZion22 said:
That is one nice looking canopy. Fine job and thanks for sharing and also for your input on my questions. Have you always ran the fluence at that height above canopy? Enjoy your smoke brother!

Hey in that final picture I raised the light way above where it normally is so I could get good pictures. Usually I am trying for 6 inches from the top of the canopy. This run I raised the light a little more towards the end of flower because I saw some leaf curling and thought too much light might be the reason. These LEDs are definitely strong and I have put them too close before!

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