VerdantGreen's quarters - 205w LED Organic Mod. ScrOG

[VerdantGreen]

thanks guys,

here is a couple of macro attempts
first the herijuana - nice smoke this, not the smoke that was going to help me sleep like i hoped, but an awesome powerful smoke anyways - perhaps i'll ripen it more next time.

and the Sharksbreath

VG

p.s. having put the hps back in the cab it is running 5-10 degrees hotter! a little too hot but the weather is cooling all the time so hopefully it will be ok. i dont want to have to run the lights overnight again as i got used to the convenience of being able to run them during the day, even in summer, with the LED's

 

[Scrogerman]

Thanks for the info Verd,
Yeah im gonna have a go at proper bonsai i think, well the tec anyway. Cheers mate!
Lovin you Bud pics bro, exellent, they look soo cacked in trichs, looks yummy, always wanted to try the herijuana & now you got me interested in the Sharksbreath too, like some of DNA's stuff too. Who does the Heri man, cant quite remember, dont matter if you wont mention the bank/breeder etc.
How did you get on with the Greenlight's in the end? sorry if i missed your analysis on those. i been eyeing up the new 'Phillips Green', a Growlux with added/adjusted green spectrum if im not mistaken. Would you recommend supplimenting with Green striplights or similar or something like the new Phillips Green? Where are you going on that one from here?
Cheers Bro!

 

[maree]

Cool work Verdy. Be good to see the next installment.

 

[VerdantGreen]

hey scroger i was lucky enough to be gifted a few heri seeds from someone.
the green light, well its hard to draw any conlusions as i was using both green and UV tubes and swapping green for UV halfway through flowering. the SB and heri yielded well under it and perhaps they had better bud development further down the colas compared to without the supplemental but it would take more runs to be sure.

now im having to use hps again then green wouldnt be necessary as hps has loads of yellow/green anyway - but i plan to keep the UV tubes going. they also look fairly blue/daylight so would complement the hps which lacks blue as we know.

cool maree - i need to dig up my old thread shortly.

gonna have a blast on the UV sharksbreath later to see if i can tell some difference. certainly the heri is strong but ive never had it before so cant compare using that.

VG

 

[schwagg]

very nice VG! i cant wait to watch you run the hps through winter.

 

[yesum]

Hard to believe you do all this and keep it from the kids and the bobbies. You are very organized for a pothead. They still call the police bobbies or bobbys over your way?

If green light is the missing link, maybe we just need to add some blue or white to hps and we have it made? Your bud shots are always stellar, growing or dry.

 

[VerdantGreen]

schwagg - thanks

yesum - bobby is a term for the police in the UK, but a bit too polite for everyday use the kids is tough - basically i only get to see my plants every 2 days, i make the missus take them out for a walk sunday morning to go up (i try not to go up the loft when they are in the house) in the week it's easier because of school and the fact i only work part time. school holidays are tough
as i mentioned above, yeah i agree that if we were to supplement hps colour-wise then blue would be the ticket. they do make the narva tubes in both blue and red as well as green - i need to move the fixtures down before i can switch on the tubes again. maybe i'll send for some blues as well, maybe some red too then i have the full set

VG

 

[smokinweedgi]

hi verdant , im setting up a very similar grow myself couple of question, the veg plants you put under screen at the start were they vegged under led?( clones?)

the led lights promote very tight nodes
would i encounter any problems growing from seed under led all the way
problem being the plants dont fill screens well as nodes are so tight ?

" The problem with using standard LEDs to scrog grow is the lack of penetrating power to the lower parts of the plant. When we scrog, we like to encourage plants to get bushy, to produce many branches. While an LED is great for a completed screen, it lacks the penetration needed to encourage the new lower branching "

another grower is telling me this but i dont really believe it, i would like your opinion as i see you as more experienced with this method and would like to be reassured before starting my new set up

thanks for your help verdant

 

[VerdantGreen]

hi mate, i dont really agree with what your friend says, what encourages the lower branches to develop is the fact that you are keeping the upper branches under the screen and this diverts the hormones and makes the lower branches grow. perhaps your friend has his screen too high. the other thing that encourages vigorous growth to fill the screen is repotting and the stretch associated with flipping to 12/12.

personally i love LED's for veg and they beat the sh1t out of cfl's for this purpose. im now using my 1st gen panel for veg and it's great.

most sativas and hybrids will stretch quite a bit so as long as a few branches are at screen level when you flip them, they should stretch plenty enough to fill the screen and then some (or at least fill a little screen like mine). pure indicas and some hybrids stretch very little and it's these that may need vegging onto the screen a bit.

remember there are LED's and LED's . the type we have are amongst the best on the market. perhaps with cheepo ones your friend may be right.

cheers

VG

 

[redspaghetti]

wow those buds looks amazing VG! amazing job m8! cheers,

 

[smokinweedgi]

thank you verdant ,just had to make sure ,cant believe evrything you read on these forums

cheers m8 good luck with your grows

 

[cosmik debris]

Awesome thread.

Awesome thread.

Verd' you're one of many to whom I owe a debt for the unique contributions that you share here.

Have a 30" x 50" spot I was thinking of throwing two of your 205w. LED's into for a SOG. Now you've got me thinking to add a UV and Green T-5 high on each side as well. What do you think of running one 48" tube of each on either side?

Also was curious about the effects of the UV long term on the plants' DNA. If the UV is introduced suddenly to either a clone or a seed grown plant that may be several generations removed from an outdoor grown variety, what chance do you think there would be that the UV could actually cause damage or mutate the DNA for future cloning, etc?

If the UV has the effect of essentially toughening up the plant if you will, why not run it through the veg stage as well? Using your sun grown analogy wouldn't it make sense that the plants' natural environs would also expose them to UV radiation while in the vegetative stage? Not being trite, I honestly have no clue and have been formulating a truck load of questions while reading this grow journal. Wonderful work and very much appreciated.

LED's are all new to me but I was also wondering about your recommendations for their use in a re-veg cabinet, mums cab, and over my vermiculite rooting clones in place of the T-5's, CFL's & PLL's that I've accumulated for those uses?

Lastly, I can't recall the page but I believe your assumption about the difficulties that you experienced with your SOG were spot on. The book of Exodus in the Dr. Bud Micro-grow Bible asserts that the point of using the smaller root constraining containers was to prevent the explosive growth that you seem to come by so effortlessly.

Thanks again, your diligence and patience is admirable.

 

[Bobbo4200]

Has anyone heard that you shouldnt use a growing soil with peat-moss, if you are using an LED? I talked to someone @ Prosource, where I bought my LEDs, & thats what they said. I guess it causes a nutrient lockout. Just wondering if anyone has heard of this?

 

[VerdantGreen]

cant say ive heard anything like that bobbo, i would love to hear why.
my soil has 30% peat. peat has it's good and bad points, but properly amended it is great imo.

 

[Strainbrain]

I imagine the thinking is that LED lights don't produce much heat, which means the soil evaporates much more slowly compared to the HID grows many are used to. Too much water retention in the soil mix - i.e. a lot of peat - can then lead to overwatering issues?

If that's it, don't worry about the peat content - simply adjust your watering procedure to accommodate your environmental conditions.

 

[Bobbo4200]

Yeah, I actually talked to the owner of the company. He told me a mix I could use, but that too has peat-moss in it, only its sphagnum peat-moss(Sunshine Mix #4, I think). I will have to call him again today, & ask him some more. He said that growing with an LED is alittle different than an HPS. I guess they (Prosource) is supposed to be coming up with a growers guide that will be up on the website soon.
Prosource does a 90 day no risk trial, & my friend is going to be returning his because he wasnt satisfied with his results. The owner of the company was trying to figure out why it wasnt working as well as it should, so he asked if the soil we are using has peat-moss in it, which will lockout the nutrients.
Havent really seen too much of an issue with my garden, but it would be nice to see if it makes a difference. I am now using an HPS light system as well, in combination with my LED's.
Strain-I think you might be right about the heat, & overwatering. He was asking if we watered too much, & what are temps where. I guess with an LED, you can be in the mid-eighties for heat. Whats the highest temp, that you should run at? I heard over 81 or 82 stops bud production or something. Thanks for the input!

 

[VerdantGreen]

hmmm. peat is acidic and thats why it is usually buffered by dolomite lime or oysters shells or similar (they dont have sunshime mix in the uk but i wouldnt be surprised if it wasnt bufered - perhaps someone can chime in?), but i dont see there being any difference in using it with hps or LED.

strainbrain may be right but imo one of peat's problems is that it dries out too quickly rather than holds too much water.

ive done whole grows at 90 degree temps and its not ideal but came out just fine. i guess 70-80 is ideal, higher if you use co2.

he is right that LED is different and i would say the main difference is the lack of heat from LED's in comparison with hps.

but if he said 'peat moss locks out nutrients' then unless you are talking pure unamended peat moss then i call BS on that tbh.

here we go

Mix #4 is recommended where high air capacity and fast drainage are needed with water and salt sensitive crops, or where frequent leaching is required. Ingredients: Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coarse perlite, starter nutrient charge (with Gypsum), dolomitic limestone and long-lasting wetting agent. 3.8 cu ft.

VG

 

[Addicted2Grow]

I imagine the thinking is that LED lights don't produce much heat, which means the soil evaporates much more slowly compared to the HID grows many are used to. Too much water retention in the soil mix - i.e. a lot of peat - can then lead to overwatering issues?

If that's it, don't worry about the peat content - simply adjust your watering procedure to accommodate your environmental conditions.

You dont need to watering as much as under HPS...

I watering about 1/3 less under LED..

 

[unclefishstick]

i'm using metro mix 360 which is peat based under my LED with no problems,but i am using vegan organics which is a bit different than standard organics,but no problems so far..

 

[Bobbo4200]

StrainBrain-Yupp, you were right, because of the heat