Tommy Trichrome
New member
Hi there,
Tommy Trichrome here, first time forum poster, but long time reader. By chance I came across the Suncloak vertical LED lighting system as it was being developed in the same building in which I was employed. I have been amazed by the results and felt it necessary share what I have learned. I have been in the cannabis industry for a while now, and while I wouldn't consider myself the leading expert, I would consider myself very knowledgeable with many years of trial and error under my belt.
Some of my history: I have been involved in California’s Medical Cannabis Industry going on 6 years now, working every nuanced niche from courier, budtender, vendor, inventory manager, analytics lab rep, medical delivery dispatch, to propagator.
⦁ Prior to my induction into the medical field, I had worked everything from hydroponic nurseries to residential grows for about 3-4 years. This means I have tried almost everything, from different growing techniques to the technology I was using.
⦁ Throughout my years growing, I have tried many manipulation techniques (topping, FIMing, super-cropping, monster-cropping LSTing).
⦁ As well as different propagation methods (drip systems, ebb n flow, hand watering, NFT, Deep Raft, integrated hydro techniques)
⦁ It's important to mention throughout all my years and experience, I have only been familiar with conventional HID lighting systems, by which I mean, either Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium systems, hung horizontally above the plant canopy. So any conventional propagation knowledge I have, I applied to my grow using the Suncloak LED system.
As stated it was by chance that I worked in same building that was in the processes of designing revolutionary vertical/surround LED panels for growing. Once I knew their purpose, I was interested because it the theory just made sense to me.
Here is what I knew going into this grow. The Suncloak system output about 84-112K lumens for a 4ft x 4ft grow table with an energy consumption of about 600-800 watts and substantially less heat generation than an HPS. I suspected that these features would lessen environmental adjustments (temp./humidity) and maintenance. And the vertical design would definitely penetrate upper canopy and possibly make the lower canopy a viable producer.
My Transition: All these pro's combined, not only sparked my intrigue into using LEDs, as opposed to my conventional HID lighting, but the reality of the facts presented was enough to make me want to try a transition to LEDs from the conventional lighting of which I am familiar.
A summary of what I have seen with 3 weeks before harvest
⦁ Faster plant growth and development during all stages.
⦁ A proportionate weight of buds dispersed throughout upper and lower canopy.
⦁ Less hassle, due to less environmental monitoring and adjusting.
⦁ lower energy costs.
⦁ Currently trending toward better yields (though harvest is still 3 weeks)
Follow Along:If you would like to learn of the possibilities offered by Sun Cloak's LEDs and how to achieve similar results, while lowering your costs, please follow along on this thread. I have results throughout flower (up till week 5 of flower), along with pictures that chronicle my progress throughout the grow, using Sun Cloak Systems LED technology. The posts to come will show my progress throughout the vegetative and flowering stage till we come to real-time updates chronicling my results through weeks 5 of flower-Harvest.
Tommy Trichrome here, first time forum poster, but long time reader. By chance I came across the Suncloak vertical LED lighting system as it was being developed in the same building in which I was employed. I have been amazed by the results and felt it necessary share what I have learned. I have been in the cannabis industry for a while now, and while I wouldn't consider myself the leading expert, I would consider myself very knowledgeable with many years of trial and error under my belt.
Some of my history: I have been involved in California’s Medical Cannabis Industry going on 6 years now, working every nuanced niche from courier, budtender, vendor, inventory manager, analytics lab rep, medical delivery dispatch, to propagator.
⦁ Prior to my induction into the medical field, I had worked everything from hydroponic nurseries to residential grows for about 3-4 years. This means I have tried almost everything, from different growing techniques to the technology I was using.
⦁ Throughout my years growing, I have tried many manipulation techniques (topping, FIMing, super-cropping, monster-cropping LSTing).
⦁ As well as different propagation methods (drip systems, ebb n flow, hand watering, NFT, Deep Raft, integrated hydro techniques)
⦁ It's important to mention throughout all my years and experience, I have only been familiar with conventional HID lighting systems, by which I mean, either Metal Halide or High Pressure Sodium systems, hung horizontally above the plant canopy. So any conventional propagation knowledge I have, I applied to my grow using the Suncloak LED system.
As stated it was by chance that I worked in same building that was in the processes of designing revolutionary vertical/surround LED panels for growing. Once I knew their purpose, I was interested because it the theory just made sense to me.
Here is what I knew going into this grow. The Suncloak system output about 84-112K lumens for a 4ft x 4ft grow table with an energy consumption of about 600-800 watts and substantially less heat generation than an HPS. I suspected that these features would lessen environmental adjustments (temp./humidity) and maintenance. And the vertical design would definitely penetrate upper canopy and possibly make the lower canopy a viable producer.
My Transition: All these pro's combined, not only sparked my intrigue into using LEDs, as opposed to my conventional HID lighting, but the reality of the facts presented was enough to make me want to try a transition to LEDs from the conventional lighting of which I am familiar.
A summary of what I have seen with 3 weeks before harvest
⦁ Faster plant growth and development during all stages.
⦁ A proportionate weight of buds dispersed throughout upper and lower canopy.
⦁ Less hassle, due to less environmental monitoring and adjusting.
⦁ lower energy costs.
⦁ Currently trending toward better yields (though harvest is still 3 weeks)
Follow Along:If you would like to learn of the possibilities offered by Sun Cloak's LEDs and how to achieve similar results, while lowering your costs, please follow along on this thread. I have results throughout flower (up till week 5 of flower), along with pictures that chronicle my progress throughout the grow, using Sun Cloak Systems LED technology. The posts to come will show my progress throughout the vegetative and flowering stage till we come to real-time updates chronicling my results through weeks 5 of flower-Harvest.
