Omnibuddy Custom LED Grow

[omnibuddy]

Hi everybody! I greatly appreciate your stopping by to enjoy my grow log!

Everything in this log is fictional and meant just for fun! All photos are from the internet! I just like roll playing and such. Oh the fun we will all have together!

Lights:
Flower
(3) Tri-Band Custom Built 120w Flowering LEDs
(6) UVB Reptile Lights

Veg
(1) Tri-Band Custom Built 120w Vegitative LED
(2) Ballasts With (2) 20w 6500k Bulbs in Each

Nursery
(1) Tri-Band Custom Built 90w Vegitative LED

Air:
12 inch Vortex inline fan on a two foot carbon filter

Water:
Stealth RO 100 by HydroLogic
50 gallon tub
1/2hp sump pump with hose and sprayer

Medium:
Soiless Mix in 3 gallon and 5 gallon pots

Nutes:
GHFlora Duo Nutes

Other:
Hanna HI 98129 pH ppm EC meter
Turbo Temp and Humidity meter
Carbon Monoxide Alarm
Fire Extinguisher
Clone Container
Spray Bottles
Hydrofarm Digital Heat Mat Thermometer
TotalPond Pond Liner
Panda Plastic
White Duct Tape
Flexible Ducting
A Door
AF100 ShurTape
iPhone 3GS and Pandora for 24/7 Music
Ties etc... for bending
A nice pair of scissors
rock wool for the little ones
timers
12 gague extension cords
Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor to load balance
- power balanced on three breakers
sound proofing

[omnibuddy]

I want to post a picture of my Seedlings, but cant figure out how... Any suggestions? I put one into my Cannabis.com albums but don't know how to link it to here now... :(

Planted 1/31/2011; not separately germinated. Instead I just let them grow in the rock wool. Temperature is about 80 degrees; as low as 78 and high as 85.

10 of 12 germinated. Some Extra Effort was required for several of them in that I carefully assisted the plant in shedding their seed shell on a couple that were not able to break off the shell entirely.

I applied clone rooting mix to the base of the small plants to encourage root growth. I also fed them clone nutes.

:thumbsup:

Well here is a link for now...

Photo :: My Little Seedlings (http://www.cannabis.com/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9674&title=My_Little_Seedlings#)

[omnibuddy]

Since this is my first grow using my new system I wanted to make sure that I got a head start with one plant. I figured this would give me a chance to work out the kinks and to finish up construction.

This is OG Larry. She is a wonderful little plant I got from a local Medical Dispensary. Sadly all of the clones, etc... suck balls around here... But OG Larry has been babied!

This is a series of photos showing her progression from a sparse little twig into a bushy goddess! Notice how I used bending in order to shape her into a short plant with lots of density.

I carefully tied, wrapped and even wove branches and leaves into directions I felt were optimal for the plant. You might also be able to notice one or more of my FIMs. There are three in total on this plan; however they do not make up the majority of the plant mass.

I FIMed three lower branches to try and bush out the plant towards the less dense side.

I have also been using all of my lights since they are not otherwise occupied. That means Larry has been under 480 watts of LED and 80 watts of 6500k. Now I am growing her upwards so I have set (1) 120w veg and (1) 120 flower above, removed the other two LED, and set the 6500k lights on the sides.

I hear the 6500k lights encourage root growth?

Enjoy the pics. Please let me know if you can tell me how to put them on my page directly with thumbnails and such! (Thanks!)

Baby OG Larry 01 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

Baby OG Larry 02 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

Baby OG Larry 03 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

Baby OG Larry 04 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

Baby OG Larry 05 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

Unfortunately Cannabis.com has a fun little code glitch on their gallery that made all my links the same... IT also wont let me edit my post even though I just posted... I suppose since it took me more than 10 minutes to input it? <sigh>

Not off to a great start here.

Here is another pass at linking Larry's Pics.

OG Larry 01 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9675&title=Baby_OG_Larry_In_LED&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 02 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9677&title=Baby_OG_Larry_2&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 03 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9678&title=Baby_OG_Larry_3&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 04 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9679&title=Baby_OG_Larry_4&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 05 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9680&title=Baby_OG_Larry_5&album_id=5460#)

[Shovelhandle]

Welcome and thanks for putting up the effort to post a log. I'm sure it's going to be good. It seems that new members have to post a certain number of posts and then the photo tools work. Meanwhile you can put the photos in an album and somehow get them onto the grow log thread. :jointsmile:

Shov

[bigsby]

You need 20 posts b/f your can post pics and you can only edit within 10 minutes of posting the original. Mods should make it 24 hours if they have to limit it at all...

[omnibuddy]

That helps a lot! I was trying to figure this out and I guess I will have to spend some time soon posting on threads. I will add some more details soon.

Larry is growing very nicely. I unbound her yesterday and things are responding already.

[omnibuddy]

OK, we all know cats are both cute and curious!

Here is my kitten exploring during construction while I was testing the lights.

It's crazy how she looks! lol

She is orange and white.

(=

My Kitty - 001 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9692&title=Orange_Kitten_In_LED_#)

[omnibuddy]

I was talking to a friend about his plants and he pointed out to me how sturdy and thick his stems were. I had not thought about looking at the stem size for health, but I guess that makes sense.

I measured Larry's stem today.
Photo = Larry's Stem Photo (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9693&title=Larry_s_Phat_Stem#)
c = 4.5cm or 1.75in
d = 1.43cm or 0.557in

I guess this is pretty good since it looks a little thicker than his stems were and he seemed pretty happy with them.

(=

[energyefficient]

always cool to see an LED grow! i'll be checkin in on you...stem is pretty insane there!

:rastasmoke:

[rattlingdags]

LED grow - I'm subscribed for sure :thumbsup:
Watch your kitten around your plants - some of them seem to see it like catnip ;)

[bigsby]

Would you please tell us more about your LED build - specs, how they are constructed, etc? There are a number of LED wizards here who will want to know plus quite a few LED growers. We'll all be interested so you'll have a ready made audience.

[energyefficient]

Would you please tell us more about your LED build - specs, how they are constructed, etc? There are a number of LED wizards here who will want to know plus quite a few LED growers. We'll all be interested so you'll have a ready made audience.

+1 I think there are more engineers on this forum than any of us would expect...

[omnibuddy]

Hi again,

The LEDs were made to my friend's specs. He is trying to start up a grow LED business. I inquired about the exact frequencies however he understandably explained to me that he couldn't share those specifics.

What I do know after our conversation is:

a proprietary blend of light
1 watt diodes
90 degree viewing angles
american made LEDs

The reason the flowering lights are only duo-band is because they are intended to be used with UVB cfls.

The veg lights use 4 bands of light because they need more of that spectrum in the veg state.

:thumbsup:

[omnibuddy]

So I guess my first note is that I originally thought these were both three band as seen in my first log post so thanks for encouraging me to find out more!

If OG Larry is any indication of how well the rest of my seedlings will do, then I'm *very* impressed. :D

I will post some more pics so you can see the progression.

[omnibuddy]

So I transplanted OG Larry today from a 3 gallon to a 5 gallon. I made the pot out of a standard 5 gallon bucket and some drill holes.

I figured it would be a good idea to drill those holes vertically so that I can see how wet the soil is as I water the plant.

I also did some more bending today, but just a couple of basic ties to increase the amount of light the canopy is taking in.

OG Larry 07 - Portrait (http://www.cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9701&title=OG_Larry_07&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 08 - My Bucket (http://www.cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9702&title=OG_Larry_08)

OG Larry 09 - Gotta Make Sure To Wash Off The Dirt! (http://www.cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9703&title=OG_Larry_09_Dirty&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry 10 - Current Light Setup (http://www.cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9704&title=OG_Larry_10&album_id=5460#)

[rattlingdags]

Your Larry is turning into a monster :)

[omnibuddy]

I am amazed at how fast this Algae grew! It literally popped up overnight on me. I did some reading and it sounds like it will not be a problem, but I wanted to kill it anyways. It stinks!

I decided to put a panda paper over the blocks of rockwool and cut holes for the seedling stems to come out. This way the algae cant get light and will die.

Here is a pic:

Seedlings Grow Algae on Rockwool (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9714&title=Seedlings_Grow_Algae_on_Rockwool&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

So some good friends of mine are moving and needed a babysitter. Everything is legit as far as paperwork goes and there are no signs of pests or PM.

There are several varieties here, sorry I can't name them right now. If anyone is particularly interested let me know and I'll ask.

Here are some pics. They like to make little plants and flower them.

Photo of The Plant's Setup (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9715&title=Babysitting_001&album_id=5460#)

This plant was neat just because it's leaves are so broad. This was was an unknown seed.

Unknown Species - Fat Leaves 1 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9716&title=Babysitting_2&album_id=5460#)

Unknown Species - Fat Leaves 2 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9717&title=Babysitting_3&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

:postexcuseme:

Am I the only one that thinks she is stakin' a claim on my grow room? lol (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9719&title=Kitten_02&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

So I went by the local Nursery and bought myself a Three Way Meter. It is made to provide the PH of the soil, the moisture level of the soil, and the lumens available.

This is a really great little tool! :thumbsup:

It cost me $11 and I probably over-paid?

Three Way Meter (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9722&title=Three_Way_Meter#)

[omnibuddy]

Your Larry is turning into a monster :)

Thanks! She should be able to triple in size in this 5 gallon. As soon as I am done babysitting in my flowering space I will consider starting to flower. I am going to take some clones too of course.

Here are some Larry updates.
OG Larry Full View (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9727&title=OG_Larry#)

OG Larry Top Canopy (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9729&title=OG_Larry_Canopy_Top#)

OG Larry Side Canopy (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9728&title=OG_Larry_Canopy_Side#)

Edit:

I forgot to mention, I also got a couple of plant bases with wheels. You can see on the first image that the base holds my 5 gallon just fine. It sure makes it easier to move the plant around and work on it! $6 at Big Lots. :D

[omnibuddy]

Still waiting for these sprouts to get out of the germination stage.

Two of them show their third set of leaves; waiting sucks! :mad:

I moved my 90w LED closer to the sprouts. It is now 8 inches above the canopy level. The intensity could still be stronger though. I kind of wish I had bought a 120 instead.

Sprouts 01 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9725&title=Sproute_Chamber_01&album_id=5460#)

Sprouts 02 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9726&title=Sprout_Chamber_02&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

I am getting closer to decision time about Larry every day. I decided to count up his main branches today to see exactly how Large she is.

OG Larry - Marking Branches (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9731&title=OG_Larry_Branches&album_id=5460#)

As you can see I just used twist ties to mark all branch tips. The twist tie with two screws on it is the apex, not a branch. In addition to the apex there are 14 distinct main branches. All are large enough to become their own plant via cloning.

I am also trying to decide on a method for growing a mother and grafting on several varieties of bud as a Bonzai Mother. I have to decide if I want to use OG Larry as a mother host or grow a new mother with a better design.

[khyberkitsune]

Still waiting for these sprouts to get out of the germination stage.

Two of them show their third set of leaves; waiting sucks! :mad:

I moved my 90w LED closer to the sprouts. It is now 8 inches above the canopy level. The intensity could still be stronger though. I kind of wish I had bought a 120 instead.

Sprouts 01 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9725&title=Sproute_Chamber_01&album_id=5460#)

Sprouts 02 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9726&title=Sprout_Chamber_02&album_id=5460#)

Just as a heads up, the 90w UFO style panels using 1w diodes can typically be put about 3 inches from the plant canopy. Typical 2000+umol intensity happens around that level, and the plants will love it as long as you keep them cool.

Also, if you ever look into upgrading, there are true single-chip 3w diodes out there now with much higher efficiencies.

[omnibuddy]

Check out those sexy pre-flowers... I didn't want to be rude so I took a picture; it'll last longer. :S2:

OG Larry - Sexy 01 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9732&title=OG_Larry_Sex&album_id=5460#)

OG Larry - Sexy 02 (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9733&title=OG_Larry_Sex_2&album_id=5460#)

[omnibuddy]

Just as a heads up, the 90w UFO style panels using 1w diodes can typically be put about 3 inches from the plant canopy.

Thats a good idea. I messed with my light a bit more today and got it another two inches closer. At six inches from canopy I am now reading 800 to 1000 lumens depending on where I test on the canopy level.

All of this light stuff gets pretty detailed. Does anyone know the answers to these types of questions?

Approximately how much more usuable light does 1000 lumens of LED have vs 1000 lumens of wide-spectrum HID?

Approximately how much more usuable light does 1000 lumens of LED have vs 1000 lumens of 6500k?

Is plant stretching affected by total lumens or by total usable lumens?

[omnibuddy]

I wanted to try this technique out. Many people use it as a method of causing a branch or apex to split into two branches.

When I cut the leaves I cut about 1/3 of the leaves off. They were so small at the time it was hard to see. Now in the photo you can see the leaf that was cut when a baby. These are the two tops that resulted.

OG Larry FIM (http://cannabis.com/members/viewPhoto.php?photo_id=9734&title=Larry_FIM&album_id=5460#)

[khyberkitsune]

Thats a good idea. I messed with my light a bit more today and got it another two inches closer. At six inches from canopy I am now reading 800 to 1000 lumens depending on where I test on the canopy level.

All of this light stuff gets pretty detailed. Does anyone know the answers to these types of questions?

Approximately how much more usuable light does 1000 lumens of LED have vs 1000 lumens of wide-spectrum HID?

Approximately how much more usuable light does 1000 lumens of LED have vs 1000 lumens of 6500k?

Is plant stretching affected by total lumens or by total usable lumens?

You cannot measure an LED panel by lumens unless it is all white or all green. It's impossible. 1w 40% efficient red diode will show 30+ lumens whereas a 1w green diode at 40% efficiency will register 100+ lumens, assuming all other factors like emission angle and power consumption/conversion are equal. Lumens is weighted at green light, specifically 550-555nm. Trying to measure a panel loaded with red and blue diodes by the lumen is therefore improper, and makes no sense.

What you're looking for intensity-wise is photon flux density, and at the proper wavelength ranges to determine photosynthetic photon flux density.

PROTIP: ALMOST NO LED MANUFACTURER CAN PROVIDE YOU THAT PHOTON FLUX DENSITY MEASUREMENT. Most of them aren't even aware that a proper measurement for photosynthetic photon flux density even exists.

So if you don't see that measurement, you might not get the results you've been advertised/promised.

[omnibuddy]

1w 40% efficient red diode will show 30+ lumens whereas a 1w green diode at 40% efficiency will register 100+ lumens, assuming all other factors like emission angle and power consumption/conversion are equal.

Is this because lumen measurements are based on human visual spectrum?

[khyberkitsune]

Is this because lumen measurements are based on human visual spectrum?

Human visual sensitivity, but yes.

[omnibuddy]

PROTIP: ALMOST NO LED MANUFACTURER CAN PROVIDE YOU THAT PHOTON FLUX DENSITY MEASUREMENT. Most of them aren't even aware that a proper measurement for photosynthetic photon flux density even exists.

It sounds like I need to get a "Quantum Sensor" or "Quantum Meter". I see they measure Photon Flux in the photosynthetic spectrum.

Does anybody use on of these currently? Are there any recommendations on brand etc... I found them starting at $140 on this site: Apogee Instruments Quantum Sensor - Measuring PPF (http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/quantum/)

[khyberkitsune]

It sounds like I need to get a "Quantum Sensor" or "Quantum Meter". I see they measure Photon Flux in the photosynthetic spectrum.

Does anybody use on of these currently? Are there any recommendations on brand etc... I found them starting at $140 on this site: Apogee Instruments Quantum Sensor - Measuring PPF (http://www.apogeeinstruments.com/quantum/)

I would prefer the Spectrum Technologies Field Scout (it's what I use in my research facilities,) but yes that is what you need. Focus only on PPFD, ignore ones with additional lux or foot candle readings - you only want/need PPFD.

[omnibuddy]

Can someone point me to a good thread on this forum that will teach me how to make a clone?

If possible I would like to clone it into my soil less mix and i have clonex cloning gel as well as clone and seedling nutrients.


Thanks (=

[khyberkitsune]

Can someone point me to a good thread on this forum that will teach me how to make a clone?

If possible I would like to clone it into my soil less mix and i have clonex cloning gel as well as clone and seedling nutrients.


Thanks (=

Dont bother with nutes. Take a cutting, cut it off even, stick it under water, cut the end off at a 45 degree angle, dip in rooting gel, dip in wet rockwool cube. Put under gentle light for a couple of weeks and make sure the tray has some water for the rockwool.

It's that simple, my man! :)

[omnibuddy]

Dont bother with nutes. Take a cutting, cut it off even, stick it under water, cut the end off at a 45 degree angle, dip in rooting gel, dip in wet rockwool cube. Put under gentle light for a couple of weeks and make sure the tray has some water for the rockwool.

It's that simple, my man! :)

Thanks!

I went ahead and took a cutting as suggested with a couple of differences. I cut it and put it into the gel in under a second to avoid a bubble. I planted it with the gel in my soilless mix. I presoaked the soil with a mix of clonex clone nutes, super thrive, and 1 tsp of clonex rooting gel.

I didn't want to try rockwool because my seed cubes grew algae last time.

I will let you know how it goes.

[khyberkitsune]

I've noticed that rockwool tends to get algae, even if you use pH'd RO water. I think the stuff is just dormant in the rockwool itself and activates with water.

It's not a problem once they get under the good lights, because they grow so fast the algae gets no light within a couple of weeks.

[omnibuddy]

So my friend needed to top the baby plants I am sitting and was kind enough to give me the tops. I went ahead and did the same process with them. These plants are:

1. Vortex, 1st gen clone (top)
2. OG Larry, 1st gen clone (top), from seed/mom #3
3. Unknown Seed, Nicknamed "Lemongranite", 1st gen clone (top)

[omnibuddy]

Time to get medicated!
:rasta:

[omnibuddy]

Now im down to 9 of 12 original seedlings. Most are doing well, and about three are really starting to grow.

None of the bluetooth made the cut. the seeds were small and i was worried about them. looks like for good reason. ill have to try this strain again another time with my remaining seeds.

Tomorrow through the weekend is going to be busy. I need to start on a new light proofing technique so i can begin flowering larry. once that is set i have to move all of the lights into place, set the timers, and start the big stretch.

[omnibuddy]

So my friend needed to top the baby plants I am sitting and was kind enough to give me the tops. I went ahead and did the same process with them. These plants are:

1. Vortex, 1st gen clone (top)
2. OG Larry, 1st gen clone (top), from seed/mom #3
3. Unknown Seed, Nicknamed "Lemongranite", 1st gen clone (top)

corrections
1. Vortex, 1st gen clone (top), from seed/mom #3
2. OG Larry, 1st gen clone (top)
3. Unknown Seed, Nicknamed "Lemagranite", 1st gen clone (top)

:jointsmile:

[omnibuddy]

OG Larry is growing very fast. I spent several hours with two friends today work on the space. Completely covered floors in Panda Plastic, nearly finished light proofing, and rearranged the plants.

OG Larry is now in position to begin Flowering. Hopefully this weekend I will finish the light veg box ventilation so I can close it up and switch Larry's light.

Here are her newest photos:

OG Larry Update 1 of 2 (http://cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9765&title=OG_Larry_Update_1_of_2)

OG Larry Update 2 of 2 (http://cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9766&title=OG_Larry_Update_2_of_2)

[omnibuddy]

Here are a couple of shots of the 9 seedlings. I have moved them out of the humidity dome and into the newly redone veg room. They are looking great!

Using plastic bags for pots was cheap, and I'm worried because they don't allow the soil to dry enough. I hope they do not get root rot or anything...

Seedling Update 001 (http://cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9768&title=Seedling_Update_1_of_2)

Seedling Update 002 (http://cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9769&title=Seedling_Update_2_of_2)

:thumbsup:

[omnibuddy]

Here is a shot of the new layout. There are actually three or four plants you cant see in there too.

Veg Room Update (http://cannabis.com/members/photoPreview.php?photo_id=9767&title=Veg_Space_New_Setup)

[khyberkitsune]

You should be able to attach pictures to your posts in the advanced mode by now.

[bigsby]

Are you running those UVB lights 18/6? How are those working out?

[omnibuddy]

Are you running those UVB lights 18/6? How are those working out?

Hi,

Thanks for the question. I run my UVB 24/7 at the veg stage. One of the benefits of these lights is at they provide a broad spectrum white along with the UVB. Because I am using 4 band veg lights and 2 band flower litd, the white is very important filler spectrum.

The UVB light a supposed to make the plant my hardy. Larry is extremely healthy but i have not run ctrols yet.

The fact is the greatest benefit is supposed to be during the floweering cycle because UVB is dictly involved into the THC production process. I don't yet fully understand how.

The main problem is that physical contact between e UVB bulb and plant causes severe burns and complete destruction of that portion of the plant. With how fast the plants grow it I have burned several leaves, so caution is required.

[omnibuddy]

You should be able to attach pictures to your posts in the advanced mode by now.

Any link to how to do this or brief description would be rep-tacular! I spent another 30 minutes trying and gave up.

Honestly I think my login may have issues; I even had to ask the admin to authenticate me manually, and it may have had less than optimal results.

[khyberkitsune]

Any link to how to do this or brief description would be rep-tacular! I spent another 30 minutes trying and gave up.

Honestly I think my login may have issues; I even had to ask the admin to authenticate me manually, and it may have had less than optimal results.

Click on quote on my post and it should bring you to an advanced text editing field.

Scroll down below the smileys and you should see something that says manage attachments (it's a button.) Click on that (make sure pop-up blockers and script blockers are disabled for this site,) and you should get a pop-up window with 5 uploading slots.

You only get 5 uploaded attachment pics per post.

[omnibuddy]

OG Larry is growing very fast... Hopefully this weekend I will finish the light veg box ventilation so I can close it up and switch Larry's light.

Got all of the light proofing done and put in an exhaust fan today. Midnight tonight OG Larry see's her first nightfall. (=

yay!

[khyberkitsune]

Let's hope you can upload pics now.

[rattlingdags]

Hope she's not scared of the dark lol.
Good to read things are going well there.

[TheCheese]

Good job so far with your grow. Who is the manufacture of your lights?

[omnibuddy]

Good job so far with your grow. Who is the manufacture of your lights?

Hi TheCheese,

The lights I have were designed by a friend of mine. He orders them from overseas based on the schematic. We still believe that the best use of LED also involves support lights. Specifically I use 6500k florescent lights in veg for better root growth and broad spectrum white overlay. I then use a combination of quad-band Veg led lights and dual-band flower led lights. Lastly I use 156 watts of UVB in flowering to encourage higher THC production.

[omnibuddy]

So as OG Larry continues to flower it is nice to be able to note that my clone has rooted and is showing new growth. I am very happy because this is my first attempt to make clones in order to continue the strain. I hope to continue learning quickly and move directly towards a long term bonsai-mother type of scheme in order to maintain my strains.

The main reason for the bonsai-mother is of course to keep the plant count down. The limits are pretty strict here. I hope to have five strains available on this plant. Whenever I am ready to start a new clone, I will just take a cutting of the strain of my choice.

I also picked up a new plant. This is a 707 Headband clone, 4th gen, that was about 12 to 16 inches and in flowering. I am immediately reverting it into veg and have begun training it into a spiral. I will post some pics at some point so you can see how I am training this sativa. The goal is to create a small bushed sativa instead of a tall one. I have given it about 6 gallons of soilless mix in a pot as I intend to grow this plant fairly large.

[omnibuddy]

OG Larry is truly a beast! I have transplanted from a 5 gallon to a 15 gallon last Sunday. The plant is so large already; I can only imagine what the next 45 days of flower will bring!

The stem is insanely thick. All of the little bud points are covered in white hairs and I see trichomes appearing on the bud leaves and all around the flowers themselves.

:thumbsup:

[rattlingdags]

2 words *pictures please!* lol wow 15 gallon pot he must be a beast now :)
I had a go at bonsai- ing my girl a couple of weeks ago. It was quite nerve wracking making the first cuts on her roots but afterwards she never looked back and now looks better than ever. Its a very handy method to learn I think when keeping a mum/mum's.

[khyberkitsune]

2 words *pictures please!* lol wow 15 gallon pot he must be a beast now :)
I had a go at bonsai- ing my girl a couple of weeks ago. It was quite nerve wracking making the first cuts on her roots but afterwards she never looked back and now looks better than ever. Its a very handy method to learn I think when keeping a mum/mum's.

Root trimming is almost a necessary skill to pick up when dealing with small potted plants. The ability to control the overall plant size is quite helpful.

[omnibuddy]

2 words *pictures please!* lol wow 15 gallon pot he must be a beast now :)

I had posted several posts that got lost in the forum update. Been to lazy to repost.

These are all photos coving a period of time before the transplant to 15 gallons.

All OG Larry Flowering In 5 Gallon Shots:

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[omnibuddy]

This is not my plant, but I thought I would share. The plant has been transplanted to the outdoors and is mite infested. Makes me so sad! I gave her AzaMax so hopefully that helps.

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[omnibuddy]

2 words *pictures please!* lol wow 15 gallon pot he must be a beast now :)


Here we go, the first 15 gallon pics of OG Larry 1. Let me know what you all think! This is my first plant actually; but I'm a fast learner. (=

If you look closely you will also notice the lights changed from the 5 gallon to the 15 gallon. She is now under:

12/12
(6) 26 watt UVB
(2) 2-band 120 watt Flower LEDs
(1) 4-band 90 watt Veg LED

I have ordered another 120 watt Flower and another 120 watt Veg. This will allow me to re-situate the lights soon as:

Flower 12/12:
(6) 26 watt UVB
(4) 2-band 120 watt Flower LEDs

Veg 24/0:
(4) 20 watt 6500 K T15
(2) 4-band 120 watt Veg LED

Clones 18/6:
(1) 4-band 90 watt Veg LED

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[khyberkitsune]

Here we go, the first 15 gallon pics of OG Larry 1. Let me know what you all think! This is my first plant actually; but I'm a fast learner. (=

If you look closely you will also notice the lights changed from the 5 gallon to the 15 gallon. She is now under:

12/12
(6) 26 watt UVB
(2) 2-band 120 watt Flower LEDs
(1) 4-band 90 watt Veg LED

I have ordered another 120 watt Flower and another 120 watt Veg. This will allow me to re-situate the lights soon as:

Flower 12/12:
(6) 26 watt UVB
(4) 2-band 120 watt Flower LEDs

Veg 24/0:
(4) 20 watt 6500 K T15
(2) 4-band 120 watt Veg LED

Clones 18/6:
(1) 4-band 90 watt Veg LED

273446 273447

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Looking pretty good!

Now go find yourself a Kill-A-Watt meter and find out how much your lights are really drawing.

Turns out a HUGE amount of panels sold by the Chinese are NEVER pulling the power they claim. I've just found out that a large majority of my new 3w stock never gets within 50% of it's rated power draw, and that ticks me off to no end. I've stopped my store until those sneaky SOBs fix this, and I'm currently in the process of kissing a LOT of customer ass because I let this slip by.

Watch your 120w pull around 80-90w and your 90w pull around 60-70.

Apparently this is business as usual in China.

[omnibuddy]

Looking pretty good!

Now go find yourself a Kill-A-Watt meter and find out how much your lights are really drawing.

Turns out a HUGE amount of panels sold by the Chinese are NEVER pulling the power they claim. I've just found out that a large majority of my new 3w stock never gets within 50% of it's rated power draw, and that ticks me off to no end. I've stopped my store until those sneaky SOBs fix this, and I'm currently in the process of kissing a LOT of customer ass because I let this slip by.

Watch your 120w pull around 80-90w and your 90w pull around 60-70.

Apparently this is business as usual in China.

I tested one, it pulls 83 watts and says 120 watts. I will have to begin research into this as it is not my area of knowledge. Of course we also know that the integrated fan system takes watts too, though I do not know how many.

More to come as I learn more about this. Please post anything helpful you may know about this khyber.

[khyberkitsune]

I tested one, it pulls 83 watts and says 120 watts. I will have to begin research into this as it is not my area of knowledge. Of course we also know that the integrated fan system takes watts too, though I do not know how many.

More to come as I learn more about this. Please post anything helpful you may know about this khyber.


Basically you just got sold a lie. ANSI and IEC standards pretty much state that a light's wattage must be advertised to within 10% accuracy of the actual power draw. 83 watts out of 120 watts means 30% off.

And the Chinese aren't going to stop this until people call them out and they lose major face. That's just the way of doing business in Asia.

[omnibuddy]

Basically you just got sold a lie. ANSI and IEC standards pretty much state that a light's wattage must be advertised to within 10% accuracy of the actual power draw. 83 watts out of 120 watts means 30% off.

And the Chinese aren't going to stop this until people call them out and they lose major face. That's just the way of doing business in Asia.

These are the same people that made toxic baby formula and sold it. If they are willing to kill babies for a dime, then this is a drop in the bucket. At least the lights work well, but it always sucks to be lied to.

[omnibuddy]

Got my first boy yesterday. I destroyed the plant. So far only 1 in 5 was a boy! 4 more to go...

[khyberkitsune]

Here's hoping no more males show!

And so far they're working well. Let's see the end results before we come to a conclusion, but I'm still pretty unhappy about the wattage issue. The fans shouldn't be taking more than a few/several watts each (typically 12V@200-300mA) so I'd bet more on your panel diodes getting about 70-75w total.

Of course, this DOES mean that your (hate using this term) grams per watt jumps up! Also, this means your grams per kilowatt-hour goes up as well! Either way, this does mean a performance increase, but it's still dishonest advertising.

[omnibuddy]

Here's hoping no more males show!

And so far they're working well. Let's see the end results before we come to a conclusion, but I'm still pretty unhappy about the wattage issue. The fans shouldn't be taking more than a few/several watts each (typically 12V@200-300mA) so I'd bet more on your panel diodes getting about 70-75w total.

Of course, this DOES mean that your (hate using this term) grams per watt jumps up! Also, this means your grams per kilowatt-hour goes up as well! Either way, this does mean a performance increase, but it's still dishonest advertising.

Do you know of any good companies to order custom LED panels from? Maybe a US one or something? It looks like I will have to find a new source.

[omnibuddy]

Hi Again!

Here are some Photos from today showing OG Larry 01. They are a bit Blurry but you should be able to see as much detail as you need. The flowers are becoming powered with crystals and they are growing like mad!

OG Larry 01 Time Line
About 7 Weeks In Veg:
01/07/2011: Hypothesized Veg Start Date
01/23/2011: Date I Took Ownership Of Plant

About 5 Weeks In Flower
02/21/2011: Date Lights Move To Flower
03/26/2011: Today's Date

Here are some photos for you to enjoy:

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[omnibuddy]

So all I really know about this plant is that it was a seedling and that it was called Larry OG.

I found this information on Google from High Times that seems to be about my plant:
273879

The information they are providing is 9 to 10 weeks flowering.

[omnibuddy]

I am still waiting on another light for my flowering system, but unfortunately I ran out of time and had to move these three beasts into flowering. There are two driving factors behind this decision. First my Veg space is full, so I really needed to clear up room in there. Second, I am working towards a revolving harvest on a 30 day cycle.

I first transplanted these plants to their 5 gallon flowering pots. All of them are looking happy and healthy.

Links
I found these links which were helpful to me in understanding more about my strains:
1. Pineapple Punch: Pineapple Punch Marijuana Strain (http://www.cannabissearch.com/strains/pineapple-punch-/)
2. Lavender: Lavender Marijuana Strain (http://www.cannabissearch.com/strains/lavender/)
3. Vortex: Vortex Marijuana Strain (http://www.cannabissearch.com/strains/vortex/)

Vortex Photos: (pre-transplant, shown in 3 gallon pots)
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[omnibuddy]

Of course, this DOES mean that your (hate using this term) grams per watt jumps up! Also, this means your grams per kilowatt-hour goes up as well! Either way, this does mean a performance increase, but it's still dishonest advertising.

Sure it induces some mathematical changes in your calculations and predictions. It also hurts the image of LED technology; folks will buy a 120watt and wonder why it works poorly while unbeknownst to them it is really 70 watts of LED light not 120... The primary affect of their trickery is the bottom line: higher hardware costs per watt. Including more lights needed to reach the required watts, including additional power bars, extension cords, timers, etc... needed when adding additional lights.

Sure as shit adds up fast! Can easily require another $150 in electrical setup on top of additional lights. This is about $750 hardware cost to me total to get the watts up...

[omnibuddy]

Lavender 001:
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Pineapple Punch 002:
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[omnibuddy]

I tested one, it pulls 83 watts and says 120 watts. I will have to begin research into this as it is not my area of knowledge. Of course we also know that the integrated fan system takes watts too, though I do not know how many.

More to come as I learn more about this. Please post anything helpful you may know about this khyber.

Tested my "90 watt" and it pulls 65 watts.
Interestingly, my 40 watt T15 ballast runs 30.5 watts.

It sounds like the lesson is to test all of your lights, fans, etc... I bet some of that other stuff doesn't pull what it says.

[rattlingdags]

Thats very interesting regarding testing wattage. I've been very happy with my leds to date so haven't considered testing what their true wattage is, but might do just for interests sake. Its not terribly surprising to me though that Chinese made appliances are not what they seem - its a shame all the same yeah.

Can I ask Omni what distance you have your young plants from your leds? I have a low height vege area and occassionally the taller ones get a touch of light bleaching, and I don't think its the PL-L thats in there with them. Just curious.

[omnibuddy]

Thats very interesting regarding testing wattage. I've been very happy with my leds to date so haven't considered testing what their true wattage is, but might do just for interests sake. Its not terribly surprising to me though that Chinese made appliances are not what they seem - its a shame all the same yeah.

Can I ask Omni what distance you have your young plants from your leds? I have a low height vege area and occassionally the taller ones get a touch of light bleaching, and I don't think its the PL-L thats in there with them. Just curious.


In general I keep them about a foot away, but I have kept them as close as three inches. I don't seem to get any bleaching issues except when I put my UVB bulbs too close.

On a side note, my friend does get burning with high higher watt LEDs. I think these 120 watt (80 actual...) are low enough wattage to avoid burning.

Personally I would prefer several low wattage lights compared to fewer high wattage lights. This allows a better spread of the light over the canopy area, helps avoid burning, and such... Of course it also means more power bars, timers, extension cords, etc... so it costs a bit more.

[omnibuddy]

Well my LED guy fell through on some used LEDs that I was supposed to get, so I decided instead of waiting another month for a new order, I would get some more lighting diversity!

I picked up two ballasts with 108 watts of 3000k lights in each for flowering. These should make a nice addition.

I got one today, and the other will arrive tomorrow.

I will post some pics soon!

[omnibuddy]

LED grow - I'm subscribed for sure :thumbsup:
Watch your kitten around your plants - some of them seem to see it like catnip ;)

I finally had to make my space off limits for the lil' cats. My older cat decided that he did indeed think it was fun to chew on fan leaves on the flowering plants only... Odd, but hey, thats a cat with some damned good taste in chronic! Maybe cats can predict bud ripeness in addition to earthquakes? lol

Honestly, I could handle the eyes on the cats when they were in there, but the hair was the final straw!

Turns out those sticky icky buds and bud leaves keep catching little cat hairs. I clean the entire space once every one to two weeks, so after the last cleaning it became off limits to em.

[rattlingdags]

Oh dear I'm not too surprised about the cat hair sticking. They probably think your growing the plants specially as a treat for them. Dogs have owners, cats have servants type of deal lol.
I find I have to tie my hair up before going into the girls now as on a couple of occasions I spotted hair draped around the tops. My husband even finds my hair in his tabacco and grumps thats its the worst tasting s**t ever, and has threatened to make me wear a hair net (!) in case it gets into the harvest.

[truepunk87]

Oh dear I'm not too surprised about the cat hair sticking. They probably think your growing the plants specially as a treat for them. Dogs have owners, cats have servants type of deal lol.
I find I have to tie my hair up before going into the girls now as on a couple of occasions I spotted hair draped around the tops. My husband even finds my hair in his tabacco and grumps thats its the worst tasting s**t ever, and has threatened to make me wear a hair net (!) in case it gets into the harvest. LMFAO......... hair in the tobacco/on the buds....... sounds like me with my wife. Roll up a cigarette, got a damn wife hair in it. I pull her hair off the plants everyday!!!!! My dog don't even shed that bad Lmao

[omnibuddy]

I picked up two ballasts with 108 watts of 3000k lights in each for flowering. These should make a nice addition.

I got one today, and the other will arrive tomorrow.

I will post some pics soon!

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[rattlingdags]

Thats a happy group of girls there - they've really come along well and look good under the lights. Loving those rollers under the buckets.

[omnibuddy]

Today I worked on the three younger flowering plants. I am working towards a monthly harvest so that have enough medicine to last without it getting old.

These three are scheduled to come to ripeness about a month behind OG Larry Kush.

Today I decided to bend them significantly. This new structure will enlarge the canopy by 100% to 200%. It will take a little time for the plants to infill, however I expect a massive amount of growth to occur during this first month of flowering.

Essentially I am taking the techniques I used while bending OG Larry Kush 1, and I am making some adjustments. Specifically I topped this plant to make four branches and I am now bending the four branches out like an elongated X. This will allow me to pot the plant in the center of the 15 gallon.

[stjr2k]

I wasn't able to access your pics until a couple days ago. You really have a great looking set-up and the plants look great. Right now, it's almost 90 degrees in my closet. I look forward to being able to convert to the LED's. I'll be following your grow (for educational purposes :) ).

[omnibuddy]

Right now, it's almost 90 degrees in my closet. I look forward to being able to convert to the LED's.

There are quite a few benefits to LED. Temperature for one is easier to manage without a portable AC. I also do not have to worry about burning the leaves which means I can mist as often as the plants need. I also like being able to move my lights anywhere from a couple of feet away to a few inches away. I still think the greatest advantage is the real financial savings that comes from using much less power.

I also have support lights that are not LED, however they are all fairly cool.

[omnibuddy]

I have been working towards a better cloning solution that would ensure near 100% survival rate. At first I was very unhappy with the little seedling humidity chamber I had. The thing was warped and made of cheap plastic. I then tried to use some little pots and grow clones in my veg room. I filled the soil with xs water like a bog. This worked, but the pots would dry when i was gone for more than 24 hours thus leading to death.

So I decided on aeroponics. With a bit of effort I have put together an aeroponics cloning chamber. The footprint of the space I had available was limiting, and thus i dedcided to build one inside a 5 gallon bucket. The system is setup with 10 sprinklers that ensure an excellent mist inside the unit.

The water temp. seems to be around 84 degrees. I would like to bring this down a bit, but a friend of mine says that this is an ok temperature. Any confirmation or disagreement about this topic would be great. I am still not 100% sure.

I made the unit to hold about 3 gallons of water, and I also built an overflow bucket so that any malfunction or failure would end with all of the water being contained by the unit itself.

Ther are still several improvements needed in the design. Since I made it in a 5 gallon bucket, i also bought 6 lids. This makes the cost of each revisioin less than two dollars! I will post some photos soon, but want to wait until I do a bit more work on it.

[drudown11]

Im really impressed with the growth your getting out of those LEDs. :thumbsup:

the only thing that concerns me is that it looks like you have at least a 1000$ worth of led lighting, when you could probably have the same growth with one 400 watt HID. Leds intrigue me, but with their initial cost they seem like a ripoff.

[khyberkitsune]

Im really impressed with the growth your getting out of those LEDs. :thumbsup:

the only thing that concerns me is that it looks like you have at least a 1000$ worth of led lighting, when you could probably have the same growth with one 400 watt HID. Leds intrigue me, but with their initial cost they seem like a ripoff.

LEDs are a fairly long-term investment, with a typical expected repeat customer turnaround time of 5-10 years with the expected lifespan of the product. That's why they're so expensive, 5-10 years is a LONG time to wait for repeat business.

[omnibuddy]

Im really impressed with the growth your getting out of those LEDs. :thumbsup:

the only thing that concerns me is that it looks like you have at least a 1000$ worth of led lighting, when you could probably have the same growth with one 400 watt HID. Leds intrigue me, but with their initial cost they seem like a ripoff.

LED lighting is also much more energy efficient leading to lower monthly energy costs; this can definitely add up fast. I've probably spent close to $2000 on lighting by now. I went into it knowing that the upfront is high and the technology is not 100% proven, but I am loving this setup!

[omnibuddy]

Hi,

Thanks for reviewing my post and photos. Today I have decided to provide some information about some of the most unique mutations that I have come across so far.

If you know of a good way to preserve leaves etc... I would be greatly appreciative for the guidance. I am interested in preserving all three of these mutant leaves.

10 Blade Mutant MMJ Leaf: Features one additional blade growing on the vertical axis!
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11 Blade Mutant MMJ Leaf: Features two additional blades growing on the vertical axis.
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MMJ Leaf Growing a Flower: An obvious flower grows from the leaf, not the plant!
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Thanks!

[khyberkitsune]

The mutant leaves, press between two sheets of wax paper and iron.

The one with the flower coming straight from the center of the leaf, let that baby go and go until there's a fat nug on it! Take pictures, drop that sucker inside a batch of acrylic resin and make yourself the world's most awesome paperweight out of it.

[omnibuddy]

Some Stuff I Found Interesting

Gravitropic: A gravitropic cell can sense gravity and then grow either towards or away from it.
Phototropic: A phototropic cell can sense light and then grow either towards or away from it.

It sounds like Marijuana is both. I wonder what percent of the plants "movement" is determined by each individual factor. I would assume the light signal overrides the gravity sense.

[omnibuddy]

HaRvEsTiNgMyOgLaRrYlAtErToDaYyAy!

[khyberkitsune]

Some Stuff I Found Interesting

Gravitropic: A gravitropic cell can sense gravity and then grow either towards or away from it.
Phototropic: A phototropic cell can sense light and then grow either towards or away from it.

It sounds like Marijuana is both. I wonder what percent of the plants "movement" is determined by each individual factor. I would assume the light signal overrides the gravity sense.

Most plants are both, actually, with the major exception being algae or cyanobacteria, and multiple types of vine plants.

[omnibuddy]

More updates; more lost posts...

[rattlingdags]

Yeah thats frustrating :( but on a brighter note how did your OG Larry turn out??

[omnibuddy]

Yeah thats frustrating :( but on a brighter note how did your OG Larry turn out??

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[khyberkitsune]

Nice! Shame about the lost posts but this happens often, even on my own forums. Problems with hardware, (or in the case of many sites the Amazon EC2 cloud or other cloud services screwing up) and other stuff just makes this inevitable, despite how well you try to maintain backups.

[rattlingdags]

:clap: well done thats a good haul

[omnibuddy]

:clap: well done thats a good haul

I am very happy with OG Larry. I compared it up close to 4 top shelf California MMJ strains that run $385/oz.

The amount of crystals is impressive, although it is important to note that this strain is also known for this feature. I felt that the nugs look equal to and/or better than the nugs I compared it to.

In total i cropped:
18 grams of shake (weighed)
- Includes some popcorn
- Includes all leaves with lots of crystals
- Includes all trimmings from the buds
- Does not include kief which was removed before weighing

4 grams of kief (estimated)
- This is kief from the shake only. It is green kief, not golden.
- The kief smokes deliciously potent. I am a regular kief smoker and really enjoy adding the OG Larry kief to some GDP or other indica dominant strain to get a nice mix of effects.

5 ounces of buds (estimated)
- I am confident that the final weigh in will be from 4 to 6 ounces; most likely to be near 5 ounces. This is a nice yield, although I am confident that it can be increased more as I learn more and improve my techniques.
- This was estimated by eye. I simply took into account that my density is within normal parameters and counted the nugs. I made sure to estimate conservatively so as not to go over in my estimate.

YAY!

Next month I crop three plants and I hope to get 10 oz total from the three since one is smaller.

YAY!

[omnibuddy]

Since my system has gone through many stages of upgrades over the last few months, I thought I would post a bit more information about the setup.

This is a diagram I made to represent my flowering area. As you can see it is a heavily LED dominant setup with T5 and UVB support.

I am currently growing bushy plants in a dense area of about 4ft by 5ft.

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LED units are only putting out 80W to 90W, so the breakdown is:

(3) 120W Purple Dual Band LEDs @ No Less Than 240W Realized Light
(1) 120W Blue Quad Band LED @ No Less Than 80W Realized Light
(6) 24W UVB @ 144W Realized Light
(2) 4ft T5s with (2) 54W 3000K T5 Bulbs In Each @ 216W Realized Light
(4) 2ft T5s with (1) 24W 300K T5 In Each @ 96W Realized Light

Totals Realized Watts for Flower Lighting: 776
Running Flowering Time of 12/12

[omnibuddy]

OG Larry Curing

Today I cut the stems out and began curing. I am going to try to cure in pint size canning jars.

I plant to cure for four weeks.

The weigh-in today was 2.9 oz.

[omnibuddy]

I've been trying to decide what plants to continue growing. Right now there are some clear losers and clear winners.

OG Larry (Yes)
Turned out very nicely and I will definitely keep this one going.

Jillybean (Yes)
female (I keep checking for herm) but is growing with amazing vigor compared to it's five neighbors.

Pineapple Punch (Yes)
One of these plants is pretty pitiful. It is puny in size and will definitely not be grown again. The second Pineapple Punch was doing very well. It had an amazingly thick and strong stem and nice growth. Unfortunately this one hermed due to mite poisons. I have a non-hermed clone taken earlier on and will give this strain one more chance.

707 Headband (No)
Just isn't my style so I won't continue this strain.

Sage OG (Probably Not)
seems to have short dense nugs. I guess the weigh in will be more telling.

Lavender (Undecided)
Undecided

Vortex (Yes)
A very fast grower and nice looking plant. This one has some potential.

[omnibuddy]

I am setting up some new T5 lighting in the flowering room.

I have 10 of the 24w 3000k 2ft T5 lights. I have decided to wall mount them as a ring around the sides of the grow space. This should allow for larger buds on the lower portions of the plant.

[rattlingdags]

Its great to read how well OG Larry turned out, you'll have to give us a smoke report after she's done curing :) You've really grown some different strains there and I always find it interesting to see which ones suit different people and why.
I'm trying to decide a similar thing too at the moment. I love my Kandahar but there's 2 distinct phenotypes - tall and leggy or short and stocky - and its a matter of which one to carry on with that suits our grow space (both smoke great).
Are you able to post up some pics of your flower room upgrade? I'm curious to see how much difference adding the T5's will make, its not something I've done yet and its always interesting to see if its worthwhile trying.

[omnibuddy]

Are you able to post up some pics of your flower room upgrade? I'm curious to see how much difference adding the T5's will make, its not something I've done yet and its always interesting to see if its worthwhile trying.

Hi Rattlingdags,

Here is a photo of my Flowering setup. As you can see there are (10) 24w T5 lights wrapping the chamber.

Good stuff!

275620

[khyberkitsune]

IMHO my friend you need to drop those LED lights closer. You are not getting much penetration from what looks like 18 inches away, considering my big panels are only as intense as the sun from 9-10 inches.

[omnibuddy]

IMHO my friend you need to drop those LED lights closer. You are not getting much penetration from what looks like 18 inches away, considering my big panels are only as intense as the sun from 9-10 inches.

I definitely agree. I am struggling with this issue because it is hard and time consuming to raise and lower my lights. Unfortunately, because of the tight space, I found I needed the height so I can lean over and squeeze in there to manage the plants.

I think creating a new system to hang the lights would help. I have been considering PVC piping. Then I can support the lights from a PVC structure instead of from the ceiling.

I also saw some pulley cords made to hang lights. I have a friend that is using some from the hydro shop, and it was a simple and convenient design. It would possibly make raising and lowering lights daily an easier process...

Any recommendations to better automate raising and lowering a large number of lights?

[khyberkitsune]

Over at a friend's house I built a multi-light rack from some cedar, then put it on those light yo-yo pulleys. Picture included.

[Edward82]

Wow thats some set up you put tpgether for your freind Khyberkitsune,Its always interesting to see the difference in knowledge that some of you americans have compared to us Irish when setting up grow rooms.