LED+Blumats(Canna) Vs. LED+T5+Autopots(AN)

[Phychotron]

I had some extra clones and figured since I had the autopots as well I could get both tents going.

the 4x8 (using 4x6) tent:
(6) Grapegod, 5 gallon rootpots, 100% coco.
Canna nutrients, full line + Silica
(4) Blackstar-240UV
(1) Advanced LED 400w Diamond Series (between the blackstars)
2 Blumats per plant
Continuous 8" fan on low, temps 64-80, 40-60%rh

4x4 tent:
(8) Grapegod, Sunshine #4
--four in Autopot Singles (4gal)
--4 in 1.5gal airpots, in the double base.
Advanced Nutrients: Connisuer, voodoo, bud candy, factor x, overdrive (when needed)... no big bud, but this is to burn off the rest of the AN stuff I have. + silica
(1) Advanced LED 180 Extreme Flower and a fixture with half the lights out, pulling about 150w. And a T5 HO 4x4 (blue bulbs for the first two weeks)
No exhaust fan right now. I just open the tent in the day time.

Total of 1420 Watts

I was wondering about the best way to hang the lights in the 4x4. I have the t5 in the back over the smaller 1.5gal doubles, and the 150generic and 180EF over the 2x2 singles. i was thinking about putting the T5 in the center, would anyone recommend that instead of one side?

The plants in the 4x6 did not transfer very well. I forgot to let the coco sit a day before reusing it, as well as not using any nutrients to moisten the coco at first. So the plants in the 4x4 tent were looking much better for awhile. I foliar sprayed some nutrients and they got back on track but still have some lower leaf discoloration. They are noticeably less stretched out when compared to the 4x4 tent as well.

 

[Desert Hydro]

i have a couple dozen blumats and love them! had some troubles last run but it was all my own damn fault. im running full active hydro at the moment but i may set up the blumats again in the near future. plants look great man

 

[BrownThumb]

These are going to come out great with all that light. I'll be checking back for sure!

 

[Phychotron]

I was originally going to invest more in autopots, but then a valve broke and it was a huge pain in the ass; going to cost at least $25 for one valve replacement. Plus I had a faulty valve from the factory (they eventually replaced it). But by this time blumats had gained popularity, and a friend of mine was even using them. So he said they worked fine (using all coco like I was going towards). plus they're much easier to use than the autopots. Although they are kind of a bitch to set up at first. $75 for 12 (plus hardware) is actually a pretty good deal, I can replace the whole set from time to time and not feel like Its a huge expense.

Most people who use pure coco do a drip to waste which is suppose to run till there's 20-30% run off, but the plants are doing great without the overflow. I just flush them once or twice and they're fine. Letting the plant feed when it's thirsty is great.

I'm going to give the double autopots to my brother and keep the singles and just grow 4 sativa's in the 4x4 and use the other tent for indica, to keep a good variety.

 

[Desert Hydro]

One of the ways I messed up was by adding hydroton to my coco. They couldn't get a proper reading and would mess up. Straight coco and kiss is the way to go with blumats

 

[Phychotron]

good to know. I was thinking about putting some hydroton at the bottom, but it seems like its just one more thing to wash and deal with...

 

[Phychotron]

Day 13

autopot

Blumat much tighter nodes.

just had almost all my valves clog on both systems when i added just a splash of this nitrogen supplement, Soul synthetics by aurora. I told the guy at the hydro store I needed some N to foliar spray with, but the bottle he grabbed didn't say anything about it, but he said it should be fine. I sent them a message and they said not to use it foliar, since it's hot. I hate hydro store employee's sometimes. They play this know it all attitude then turns out they sold you some shit you didn't want. Maybe that's just how they boost sales, but man it pisses me off.

 

[Phychotron]

Things are coming along Day 18. You can see the 4x4 tent is stretching out, but so is the other tent, mostly under the blackstars. I'd say about 3'.

Autopot

Blumat

 

[medmaker420]

those are some big girls

wowee

can't wait to see how those plump up

killer yields are soon ahead brother

 

[Desert Hydro]

hydroton in the bottom for drainage is fine. but i put a lot after reading a chow mix thread thinking it would be greal lol. i think it messes with the reading of the cone since its not surrounded by as much tightly packed coco giving it a good reading.

it works great in my hand water or timed water coco pots though

 

[Phychotron]

ya there getting tall. If i know this plant, they should plump up just fine. I'm thinking of chopping these on the early side. I'd really like to get some variety in there.

 

[Phychotron]

I wish I had a better macro lens, the 2 plants under the DS are showing the first sign of bleaching. It starts as a white tip at the very top. I just moved the lights up, they were 12-18" away. even the lower buds are showing the tip. In comparison to the one's that grew RIGHT up to the Blackstar a few days ago shows smaller buds, more stretch and no sign of bleaching.

Now I know there are some decent lights coming out, and Advanced isn't the only one's in the game, but I'll be damn'ed if I'm going to bother spending money even trying anyone else's lights attempting to save money. I know this light kicks a lot of ass, and two more would be a dream come true. I think the DS has it down--spectrum, power and even perfect shape. Even in the other tent the plant under the 180EF the plant is stretched out, of course it has considerably less side lighting.

 

[medmaker420]

one thing I keep realizing is that with LEDs they need FOOD and alot of it.

I think the efficient spectrum equals better yields which equals the need to feed them.

I want to get my organic soil or aqua/aero setup so the cost to run "nutes" under LEDs is less.

I don't think it is a big deal BUT something I have noticed compared to running under HPS. I think it is a POSITIVE for LEDs as far as the plants wanting MORE MORE MORE but still something to be noted.

 

[hempfield]

Maybe because the LEDs do not put so much stress on the plants as the HPS does with rich spectrum of infrared ?

What I noticed since growing with LEDs is the fact that the leaves remain fresh until late in flower, and they do not curl and you can barely notice signs of ageing on them.

 

[Phychotron]

I've never use HPS, but I've smoked from plenty. They do tend to have that aged effect to them sometimes. Like they've browned before harvest. I've been using canna full strength and they are doing great. No burn, no deficiency (except when I didn't use nutes for transplant into the coco)

My per ounce cost is $5-9 in nutrients($25/per when i was using rhizo and boost like a madman). I made a spreadsheet that tracks all my nutrient costs and calculates the total. I'm using the kill-o-watt to get my total KWH per grow and will factor in how much that costs. I'm also going to calculate every other costs, such as coco and other additives that might be used in small quantities. Its still fairly pimped.

If anyone wants a copy let me know, you can just change the headers/prices/size container/application rates/ and it will calculate nutrient cost for you. Just got to log the data.

 

[hempfield]

Can you post the spreadsheet somewhere ?

 

[Phychotron]

I'm trying to post it to yousendit.com but it will be a temporary link ~2 weeks. its being a bitch right now, but if anyone knows anywhere else i can post it for free that'd be great.

 

[medmaker420]

icmag should have a "library" or "resource center" where approved and virus free downloads can be found. I am sure this will cause more issues with the server BUT a thought that would help out plenty of growers and readers here at icmag

 

[Phychotron]

This website is pretty hard to navigate

 

[Phychotron]

http://www.yousendit.com/download/UW15b2VBdWNxRTFBSXRVag?cid=tx-02002207340200000000&s=19102

not sure how long that link will be good for.