Recirculating DWC - Custom LED Grow

Ok, after several requests I have decided to make a grow log. I'm pretty busy day to day so I will try to keep this as updated as possible.

Grow space is a Secret Jardin DR100 (3'x3'x6') I have three buckets set up with drip rings and each bucket has an airstone and a flexible air tube in them.

I planted the seeds from misc seeds I'd collected so I have no idea of the strain. They were planted in a bubble cloner in rapid rooter plugs on June 5th. They sprouted on June 8th. I was just giving them 5.8PH water with one drop of superthrive per gallon. I then transplanted them to the buckets with hydroton on the 11th due to RAPID root growth. They were starting to intertwine in the bubble cloner.

On June 18th, the fifth set of leaves showed so I drained the tap water and filled the system with 5.8PH using latewood's formula of 1-1-1 (1=8ml). Using the general hydroponics flora series.

I can't upload pics yet, but I will when the forum allows me to.

The light is a custom UFO for vegging. It has 56 453nm blue LED's and it has 34 430nm LED's. It's bright as could be and puts off no heat. The root growth on these plants is unbelievable. They are staying rather short..so I think.

Right now I'm running the light and the air bubblers 24/7. I'm only using the drip ring on for 30mins every two hours.

One plant is ahead of the other two. The very edges and tips of the first set of leaves looked a little dry/curled. I didn't have a recirculating fan in there until today....lets see if airflow makes a difference. Ambient temps stay between 78-80 with no exhaust fan.

My flower light is another custom light using 100 660nm LED's, 12 453nm LED's, and 7 430nm LED's.

Anything I've left out other than pics? Lemme know!:thumbsup:

:cool::weedpoke:
:clap:

Weezard

Hey Weezard,

Long time no talk. Quick question....These plants seem to be leaning slightly towards the center of the UFO light. The first set of big leaves ends are wilted/dry. Just the very very tip. The rest of everything else on those leaves and all the new ones seems to be ok. Is my light too close?

I just measured it at 8" from the top of the plants. If I get any closer it seems that the light doesn't reach the outside of the three plants.

They are arranged in an order similar to this .'. The apostrophe being a bucket of course. The light is hanging in the center of the three.

Just curious if I'm doing this right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ledtime

Hey Weezard,

Long time no talk. Quick question....These plants seem to be leaning slightly towards the center of the UFO light. The first set of big leaves ends are wilted/dry. Just the very very tip. The rest of everything else on those leaves and all the new ones seems to be ok. Is my light too close?

I just measured it at 8" from the top of the plants. If I get any closer it seems that the light doesn't reach the outside of the three plants.

They are arranged in an order similar to this .'. The apostrophe being a bucket of course. The light is hanging in the center of the three.

Just curious if I'm doing this right.

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Jus' fine, on the height and the lean.:thumbsup:

Blue light triggers phototropism.
I'm guessing they are pointing to the shortest wavelength leds.
If you have a room full of red lights and one tiny blue light, the plants will all point at the blue light.
That's why we put the blue lights in the center of an array.

Not sure about the early leaf tips.
Let's give it some thought.:detective1:

Too much energy applied to newlings will cause them to try to transpire more than their tiny roots and leaves can handle.
But, seedlings can tolerate more light as they grow larger.
Hmmm.
Might be it was too much light energy for the li'l crumbsnatchers but is now just right for ankle-biters and rug-rats, yah?:D

Suggestion;

Hit her with white light at least once a day to inspect for signs of discomfort or stress. There are several color clues that can't be seen on the purple sea.

I'm liking this setup more alla-time, brah.:cool:
Weeze

After having the light raised for a short while, two of the three are standing. (The light was 6" off the plants, now it's 8")

One is lacking, but that is the one that was not getting enough light to start as I had it in the back. I've since made sure the light is perfectly centered.

I mixed a quart of tap water with a tsp. of micro and misted the leaves. They look a little happier.

I'll hit them with the white light tomorrow and check them out. Interesting how they are bending to an all blue light. I showed you the layout of the 430 to the 453 in this veg light.

At first I thought the seedlings were slow to grow compared to other pics I've seen. Now, they seem to be FAR ahead.

This is going to be a fun experiment!

Day 13 from planting pictures by ledtime1 - Photobucket

Here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

Here are some pics from today. I topped off the reservoir with liquid karma sunday and the plants didn't seem to like it that much. I had some PH issues in the beginning which is why you can see some nute burn.

Today they looked overwatered so I backed off the drip rings to 30 mins every 2 hours rather than 1 hour on 1 hour off.

What do you think? Weezard?

subscribed! i'll be back later to read it all and catch up.


-shake

I just topped all three plants. Let's see how they do!

Aloha Ledtime,

Impressive for 13 days.:cool:

Them is some happy girls!:thumbsup:

Been lurking and learning for a while 'cause it's hard to type.

Aloha,
W.

Yes, very impressive for 13 days. Looks good man, love seeing good results w/LED's. Just started my own LED log, check it out. (shameless plug...sorry)

Well it's been a week since I've updated anything here. Changed the nutes today. PPM are now 1150 from 960 on the last change.

I was topping off with Liquid Karma in between changes. The plants didn't like it however and dropped pretty badly each time I've done it. I've been changing the solution every week for a fresh batch.

I've finally got the PH staying quite nicely at 5.8. Here are some pics from today. Tallest two standing at 16" tall.

things are looking great here..healthy plants:thumbsup::rasta:

Hey,

I'm having some trouble from this weekend. I didn't do anything that I think is different, but the plants aren't happy. Please see the pictures below.

PPM around 960. I lowered it to 820 with some PH 5.8 tap water. My tap water is 160PPM.

I can't tell if this is Magnesium, Potassium, or a Chlorine problem. Over nute in general??

Any help to get these back on track would be appreciated.

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Here are the pics