LED Grow update no.7, October 20th, 2011

(N.B. PICTURES WERE TAKEN ON 24TH OF OCTOBER 2011)

It’s been 10 days since I re-potted the 9 plants into the 2.5 gallon buckets. One was looking very weak so I placed it in the centre directly under the Pro-Grow 260 LED. It has made a fine recovery. The leaves were folding upward so I may have over watered. Vegetative growth has exploded in the past week. I already see 9-fingered leaves! It is truly outstanding and very shocking. I even burned one of the plants as it grew to meet one of the 20w CFL bulbs. It’s only a small burn on one of the leaves.

I had to increase the airflow through the extractor to pull the air through the carbon filter. The plants are already starting to stink a bit and I still have them in 18/6. My flatmate got a stench walking in through the front door. I have to be very careful with scent as I live in a block of flats. I might buy some ONA gel soon enough to help combat that issue but so far the carbon filter is working fine. I have heard a mixed review on ONA gel. Does anyone have any experience using ONA ? Would be great if you could let me know. Thanks

The plants are coming up on 6-8 inches tall now so bloom will be coming in the next 2 weeks or so. As I said, growth is explosive right now. I bought a digital light meter off eBay, which arrived today. The Pro-Grow 260 is giving off 700 x 100 Lux ! But that is at only 3 inches from the Pro-Grow 260. Further down, about 14 – 18 inches, it still gives 200 x 100 = 20,000 Lux (LED!). There is a difference between Lux and Lumen. A good explanation is found on this site:
www.brillianz.co.uk/data/documents/Lumen.pdf

OK, to be fair, I do have 4 x 20w CFL bulbs running simply for heating purposes but I’m still not complaining (why not heat with light!). I am running on 80w CFL + 180w on the Pro-Grow 260. I don’t think a 250w CFL could give me this sort of result! Not a chance! I had to RAISE the Pro-Grow today as the plants were getting too close and I wanted some more coverage. But to be honest, the plants on the edges are doing fantastic. I don’t even need a light rail as I thought I would. I haven’t had to move any plants around to give them more light, only the weak one I placed directly under the LED.

Temperature is 21 degrees Celsius and the humidity is 51%. But since I increased the fan speed and duration the temperature and humidity will certainly go down. My outside room temperature is about 15 – 18 degrees now as it’s late October in Western Europe I can’t wait to see how this light performs during bloom. I must also say that many factors do influence the outcome such as; soil, fertilisers, heat, humidity, ventilation, watering schedules, pot sizes, etc. The only problem I foresee is the amount or nutrients I give the plants. The soil is very good and many soil types have been added, including 15KG of worm castings.

I have done my best to describe, in detail, what I have done and will be doing. If you have any advise/feedback, during or after, my grow I would appreciate it. By the way, I grew 1 small outdoor (in pot) and one small indoor grow before (which was a disaster). This is my third grow in my entire life so I will make mistakes. My indoor grow was shockingly bad but the outdoor gave high yields. I have done my best to study what people explain on-line and I have utilised that information as best I can. The only thing I changed was the light source and the nutrients I will be feeding my plants. It’s all about experimentation and getting it right, even if you deviate from the norm. I would like to thank everyone for sharing his or her knowledge and experience with me.

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silent leprechaun Reviewed by silent leprechaun on . LED grow testing the Pro-Grow 260. Hey guys. Just to let ye all know, this isn't spam. I took the plunge with and LED light. Its my third grow in my entire life but I wanted to see if LED could do it. I did an indoor and an outdoor when I lived away foreign. The ourdoor turned out great, the indoor was under a 600w high-pressure sodium and turned out crap. I am running 4 x 20w CFLs too just for heating purposes. Those LED sure run cool. I made a blog of my grow last night. I was keeping track of the grow with photos and I Rating: 5