[MeanBean]

Hello all,

OK there are a million choices to make when setting up your garden. If your going to us LED for lighting there's tons of things you can do to get the most out of your light.

Maybe I don't mind the challenge; maybe I just don't have a choice. But I grow with LED and ALWAYS will, that is until they find a way to replace LEDS and all thier benefits.

Here's a good place to ask questions or REVIEW the ones already asked. This Thread is in LEDGirls Forum, please don’t burn her expert help up with stupid questions/COMMENTS about the LED units themselves here.

HEY AND I GOT THE FIRST QUESTION TOO!!

LEDGirl, when we last spoke you had told me some growers pull of the largest light blocking fan leaves off the plant around 3 weeks into flowering to allow more light to reach the buds. Well I did that then did it again about the 7th week of flowering.
It seems like it really helps ripen the buds under it and colors in the foliage greener.

QUESTION: How many fan leaves should I be leaving on their towards the end of the bloom cycle? Can I basically work my way down to just a few by harvest day?
Is there a point where big fan leaves are kinda not as efficient as the newer smaller leaves?

[LEDGirl]

To answer your question on pruning, there are a lot of different methods you can use. When my plants finish they tend to have quite a few fan leaves left on them, they simply aren't huge like the size of my face or anything. Around week 3 in bloom, I tend to cut off the upper/inner leaves to allow more light to pass downwards through the plants. I do a few leaves every couple of days as I see fit. Within a week, most of the leaves I've chopped will have grown back, and I tend to move a bit down the plant removing more large fan leaves every few days. After week 6, I tend to more or less leave my plants alone. Removing all of your fan leaves is not something I recommend, although I've seen people grow crazy huge plants like that. Ultimately it's something that you need to learn and pay attention to over time. Too many leaves being removed can stress out your plant and leave it open to disease at the cutting point. If you decide to prune (which not everyone does), try a basic search for a guide on it via the internet, as I am certainly not an expert on the subject. Growing is easier to teach by showing rather than telling, and even then it's something that requires time and repetition to get right. Sorry I couldn't answer you question better.

[MeanBean]

Thanks! Any Input and discussion is appreciated! Anyone with something good to contribute please BLOG AWAY!

Otherwise this will be good place to review some good old fashion Questions & Answers

I started this thread because I feel I'm beyond the basics of growing. I feel like I can read a plants health pretty well now.

Along with just gaining experience I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get a higher yield! My goal is 16oz.

Once I get there I figure that’s enough for me and my best bud, plus a little for storage.

Right now the only change I made from the last op you saw was adding a heaver nutrient schedule and adding the Liquid KoolBloom from general hydro.

BUT I think I made a mistake by not allowing the plants to veg long enough. I blew it there because my last plants were vegged using a different led panel. HTG Supply’s 120 Watt, for me it keeps the nodes soooo tight making it a great bush shape enducing VEG light lol. p.s. it can't be used for flower though, airy buds...

So I went by height and width kinda when I vegged these ones but the 126 penetrator had more node spacing so now my plants are a bit shorter and less stems coming up.

NEXT time around in Feb. I am

1. Expanding my flower area depth 4" to 28" by 24"
"This gives me room to add 2 more plants. Seems like the back of the cab was a bit unused."


2. Converting to 4 smaller plants instead of 2 bigger plants.
" it’s easier for me to veg 4 smaller plants than 2 big ones. The more head cola effect is not going to help me out here because I prune that right off during veg"

3. Adding another penetrator.
"I don’t feel like adding it up to you but I am trying to get my watts per foot up"


Had 126 watts in a 28" x 20" Watts/foot of floorspace = "will figure out later"

Going to
252 watts in a 28" x 24" Watts/foot of floorspace = "will figure out later"

Gain in Watts/foot of floorspace = "will figure out later"


4. Throwing away that stupid fish tank reservoir idea. The roots all grew together and I can’t spin my plants now like I could when they were in buckets! That something that really helps plants grown in a cab!!!

5. Back to the other LED pannel for vegging.LEDGIRL, we both know that led's could be used to seriously control the plants growing structure, ever consider a more advanced idea of controling indiviual spectrums? Like a better version of procyon knob thingy? you ever see that? you can turn the red or blue up n down...


THEN NEXT TIME AFTER THAT:

1. I will be using my new strain Dutch Passion - The Ultimate - Strain info below

2. I'm still bout to move but I will be done by then, so I will have a new grow cab/area setup "Soo much fun MYFAVORITE PART, DIY grow cabs lol!

PLUS anything I can learn from now tell April

Strain Type: Dutch Passion The Ultimate




Quote from the item description where I purchased my seeds:

Type : Indica / Sativa
Height : Short, Medium THC Level : High
Characteristics : heavy yields with genuine connoisseur quality

Dutch Passion The Ultimate is from careful breeding. We have created one of our most important strains, we call it The Ultimate as it combines some of the heaviest yields we have ever seen with genuine connoisseur quality.

It's cannabis seeds produce heights of 60-75cm, ideal for the indoor grow room. Flowering time is 8-10 weeks, with explosive bud growth in the last 2 weeks. The Ultimate (50% Indica, 50% Sativa) will take plenty of nutrients during the growth cycle and is resistant to moulds and bud rot making it a good greenhouse choice too.

Our growers have never seen a plant yield as heavily with this level of quality. This is a recession busting strain of epic proportions and is guaranteed not to disappoint. This strain is already setting new standards amongst the Dutch commercial growers and is set to become a Dutch Passion legend.

[VerdantGreen]

possibly a bit premature for me to comment as i am only 1 month into flower in my first LED grow but the thing is with these LED lamps is that the par rating is very high compared to the footprint - so if you are going to get the equivalent yield (to the same par in HPS ) you are going to have to squeeze a LOT of buds into a small space. i use scrog to do this - the same as i do to maximise yields in my 250 hps cab. i guess you could use sog as well.

on the subject of removing leaves i remove very few if any as i think it is largely counter productive - i may remove fingers off leaves rather than a whole leaf if a bud is getting totally shaded. opinion is very divided on this - but i get great yields with the buds squashed in without removing leaves.

cheers

V.

[Sleepy]

I am using one of LEDGirl's 126 LED light engines in my basement for a test grow...adjustments to my grow space have consisted of the following:

• added a small heater...(the unit produces barely any heat)...
• using less nutes...
• watering less frequently...
• less stress on the grower...

i am going to begin the flowering cycle and am very excited!

[GreenThumbBumb]

I have 18 lemon skunk under my 126w panel, they are in an 18gallon roughneck tote aero system. They are 1 week in, crowded and loving it, i figure there isnt any heat or humidty so im not worried about the crowding, like mentioned above, you have to oack in as much as possible.

[MeanBean]

yeah, well over the past week I prolly pulled like 25 leafs. I will quit tell maybe the last week now. Then I'll take all the big ones off over a few days. just so any buds in the shade can ripen up.

I guess a mix of a little pruning and some leaf tucking is going to be my method for now.

Once I get into my new strain I can start testing stuff.

Defiantly one day going to prune the heck outta one plant and very little on the other just to see if it’s a major difference.

GreenThumbBumb, VerdantGreen I get what yer saying bout cramming them in a tight space, I need to do that anyways.

I still think short bushy plants are better than a scrog grow because it’s a 3D canvas rather than 2D. Plus the plant can grow stress free.

When I veg I start to prune my plants, once right on top, then a few days later about 6 or seven nodes from the sides. this is giving me enough business to get a 14"-15" plant that doesn’t get much over 2 feet tall. I start bloom when the pruning is over and the plant reaches bout 8".

It also is just enough stems coming up to fill that 14-16" circle from top to bottom. Some light still hits the bottom buds too.

That's how I knew I needed 4 plants total to make my canvas match my lights optimal growing area: which is something like 2ft x 3ft and 2.5 foot tall.

gives me about 7-11 head colas per plant floating around the top, then progressively more buds but smaller as you get down to the last 4 inches, then there’s just some random lil nuggies but they still grow crystalz....

The reason I am asking about pruning is again, it's tight and if I can get rid of even 5 big fan leaves it gives allot of light to the next row of buds below them ya know??

I may be using a basement someday and might need some heat. I think I am just going to put some cfl tubes in there to heat it up if need be. Seeing CFL's don’t give much benefit IMO I would get the UV kind. That’s because LEDGirl says the proper spectrum UV LED isn’t going to be $ friendly right now, so this is a good chance to add that spectrum as well as get some heat.

Now if I could just remember one of the 5 places she told us what spectrum UV CFL bulb to get if interested in adding UV......

[VerdantGreen]

hi again MB a couple of things to consider in response to your response

scrog is also a 3d method - i like to have 6" colas above my screen i can get 9-12 in a square foot. rather than removing leaves to get the light down to the lower buds you get a canopy with all the colas at the same height .
topping a plant will cause it much more stress than training it (LST or scrog) - but neither should be a problem.

dont use lights as a heat source - use a heater lights have been designed to give out as much light but as little heat as possible.

cheers

heres an MMG grown under 250 hps modular scrog (organic). i am using exactly the same method to get the buds packed in under the LED.


VG.

[MeanBean]

NICE! Ya that is a reall nice grow! Did they grow through the screen like that? I thought the screen was for keeping all the plant below it?

I was bloggin last night and saw a really nice scrog grow. Not saying it can't be done.

For now I am gonna try the 4 small plants method, maybe someday once i get my new setup ill try throwing a screen in there for testing!

Originally Posted by VerdantGreen

dont use lights as a heat source - use a heater lights have been designed to give out as much light but as little heat as possible.

Well I consider that but I don't think I will need a ton of heat: requiring a heater, and why not get a spectral gain while adding the little heat I need? Guess if the CFL's aren't enough I have to get a heater.

I am thinking of an attic grow and where I live We got all four seasons. Going to be a challange to say the least! Maybe I will find a better place for my OP.

[VerdantGreen]

you train them under the screen for a bit and then let the colas grow above it

my cab is in my attic - hot in summer and cold in winter - but nice and stealthy

check out my diaries to see how i get round those limitations

good luck

V.