6x90W UFO LED - 2x600W HPS Soil Grow - Medibud - Super Silver Haze - WW

A solid three weeks into flowering, an update seems in order. The girls are doing fine, but I may have been underfeeding them, judging by a few larger fan leaves showing signs of N and Mg deficiency. Still, they are doing what they're best at - growing! I had to severely LST the SSHs to keep them from reaching into the lights. Using strings, I bent down the highest shoots below canopy level.

Some pix:
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I also got my automated watering system fully functional; my planned vacation made that investment necessary. I'm using a Gardena Microdrip system with two watering circuits (flower/veg), a C1060 plus programmable watering computer and a fully automatic pump designed for 4000 L/h throughput. The main lines are 13 mm in diameter and split into 4 mm lines that end in adjustable drippers so each plant's water supply can be fine-tuned.

I tend to over-engineer... ;)

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Getting everything watertight was a pain in he ass, but the time spent was well worth it; all the plants are getting approximately the same amount of water, and different programs for each room make sure the flower room gets longer waterings than the veg room.

As you can see, the 36 veg plants have grown quite a lot, there's no stopping them. I am thinking about taking clones off them, putting these into a seperate 18/6 tent (but where?!?) and sending the veg plants into 12/12 a little earlier than planned.

In eight weeks or so, I could harvest the flower room and then move the already budding plants from the veg room into the flower room, making place for another huge batch of clones. Of course, the veg room only offers LED & CFL illumination, but that's not too bad for the first weeks of flowering, I guess, when the final weeks before harvest are spent under HID light.
 
That's quite a high tech set-up you have going. How much (percentage-wise) did you see your utility bill increase with all that extra wattage hooked in?

Looking great, how much longer do you anticipate for the flowering?
 
Hey Mac, I have no idea. :)

The reason behind this is that I only get a yearly bill with the final amount of power used during the last year and a monthly prepayment plan that is calculated accordingly.

So, basically, I'll get the shock in a couple of months when there will hopefully be enough harvest to calm my nerves... ;)

Regarding the flowering, SSH takes longer than MediBud, according to many sources. I guess that's due to the haze heritage which makes for an "interesting" growing experience. I reckon my MediBuds will be finished in about 8 weeks, while SSH may take anything between 2-4 weeks longer, cloggin up my flower room.

My basic problem is this: I now have 13 big plants in flowering for two more months and 36 in veg, which are already about 30 cm tall. If I let these grow for another two months in veg, they'll be monsters - not an option! So I guess my only route is the one described above: Take a bunch of clones from the strongest veg plants and send the mother generation into flowering under CFL and LED - and when the flower room is empty again, move them there to finish up under HID.

Also, I'm thinking about getting a third 600W HID for the flowering room to cope with the invreased amount of foliage...
 
Hmmm...could you maybe move the plants that are in veg into the flower room and just put them on the perimeter? They won't need too much light at first and as the others finish, you could move the younger ones closer to the light.
 
@Vaporeyes: Thanks man! I'm very much looking forward to the SSH experience, anything to watch out for during flowering? I have noticed they tend to react quicker to changes in their nute schedule than the MediBuds.

@MacMota: I might follow your advice and just move as many plants as I'm able to reasonably cram into the flower room there, maybe install a third light for additional coverage. I won't be able to move through that room anymore (or at least without getting the grandest smell all over my body and clothes ;)), but hopefully the automatic watering will take a lot of work out of my hands anyway.

Phew, I never guessed what dimensions my project would take on when I started... ^^
 
Yeah, it's been a while! I was on vacation and was expecting the very worst when I came back - after all, the automatic watering could have failed and my harvest destroyed.

Yet... everything went better than expected - if you disregard the spider mites that have befallen my flowering SSH. I have been combatting them since my return using a pyrethrum-based pesticide and the little buggers are being kept at bay. I'll order some SNS miticide anyway to be on the safe side.

I have put the plants in my veg room into flowering as well, so they can develop the first buds until the flowering room is empty again. Then, I'll move the 36 plants from the veg room there (after of course the liberal application of bleach, pesticides and more pesticides to kill any stragglers...).

Some pix to illustrate:

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Here's a badly photographed close-up of a mite-affected plant - luckily, the infestation isn't that big (yet) and the mites seem to love ONLY the SSH... which smells deliciously, by the way. :)
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And finally, the veg room turned flowering room.
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I'll take a couple of clones from these plants and use these as mothers for future generations. I've been keeping the veg cycle too long, I really need to put future clones into flowering much earlier - these babies are already well over one meter tall...

Well, thanks for listening - I'll be back with updates in the next days. As for the flower room, I expect a nice harvest about a month from now... the stalks are already bending under the buds' weight!
 
Lol, I know you can't grow with LEDs! I'm using them for decorative purposes only, of course. :D

Those UFOs are using 1W chips, so penetration really is an issue, but for the first month of flowering, that's probably not the biggest problem. After that, I'll simply shimmy the babies over to the flowering room and let the HPS take care of the rest. When I can afford it, I'll definitely buy some high-wattage LEDs for more goodness...
 
Hey GodsTrichome, kudos to your grow, you seem to be doing nicely! If I were you, though, I'd wait some more and then (when prices have dropped significantly) go for high-powered lights running 3W LEDs.

I have two major issues with my UFOs, namely their penetration and footprint, both of which aren't that great. I sincerely doubt the final product would be worth my time and energy if I didn't have the HPS to finish the budding cycle. Still, for veg, they do pretty well and I am content with their performance here.

Anyhow, a little update seems in order. I spent a total of five hours today repotting the 36 plants in the veg room. While doing so, I defoliated a little and removed dead leaves (a while ago, I had an unplanned dry period that really got to my babies). Some of the plants were badly overwatered, as it turned out - I have misadjusted parts of the automatic watering system leading to uneven distribution.

Especially some plants in the back row (where I couldn't look that well) were affected and literally soaked, so I used the occasion to squeeze some water out of their rootballs and repot them in plenty of fresh, unwatered soil. Unfortunately, all help came too late for one straggling plant, whose roots simply snapped off while trying to pry it from its pot. Too much root rot, so we're down to 35 in the "veg" (now flowering as well) room.

Have a look at the little buds forming... sweet!
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Of course, that is not all that's happened in five hours. I can't just send all plants into flowering without taking clones, right? Okay, I couldn't do that earlier, so I did it today. I took 4 SSH and 2 MediBud clones and set them up in the aeroponic cloner with a 24/7 lighting schedule to re-veg them if need be...

This time, I won't make the mistake of taking 36 clones and then having no space in the flowering room... ;) Instead, I'll select a couple of mothers from the clones and be done with the horrors of running out of walking space.

Well, that's all for today. In the next days, I'll post some pictures to illustrate the feeling of claustrophobia that's been plaguing me of late, trying to navigate the thinning path between the water supply and my working area.
 
Yeah, I am gonna wait, just know that the LEDs are gonna be added!! Looking great my friend!!
 
LEDs are definitely capable of producing some great buds. I think once they get a little more cost-effective they will be the preferred method of growing. Some companies are putting out lights with some crazy output, just need the price to come down. Think about how much you paid for a flat screen TV 5 years ago, now they are giving them away when you buy a room of furniture (bedroom set and TV for $800).

If California legalizes MJ (not just MMJ) in 2012, I think that will be the tipping point for a lot of this technology to get cheaper based on economy of scale.
 
stevehman said:
If California legalizes MJ (not just MMJ) in 2012, I think that will be the tipping point for a lot of this technology to get cheaper based on economy of scale.
Click to expand...

I'm with you there. Economies of scale would mean a lot for LED growlight technology - and also a more reputable industry from a buyer's perspective. Right now, I always ask myself who's getting paid how much by whom to write something about the different products out there... ;)

Anyhow, off to some updates: As you may recall, I have some problems with spider mites. Can't say I beat them yet, even though I go through a concise routine of spraying two times a week. In the picture below, you can see some of the spotted damage caused on the leaves in the center background.
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I am going to order some SNS 217 and see how that pans out; right now, I'm continuing to spray and pray and remove the most affected leaves for population control. Again, only the SSH have been affected at all by the mites, who seem to prefer them to the medibud...

Some nutrient burn in the medibud, didn't grow worse after I flushed with quarter-strength nutes:
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What really worries me though, is this: As I wrote earlier, the plants went un-watered for a couple of days weeks ago - all the plants were incredibly droopy and I had to remove lots of wilted leaves. It seems that one of the SSH's buds was affected by this dry period as well, as a part of said bud is brown and dried-out. Should I remove this part or let nature take its course? Would that invite mold or worse? Any input is greatly appreciated!
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In the former veg room, the budding is coming along nicely, even though the plants have reached monstrous heights and have to be bent back repeatedly to prevent the lights from burning them. Man, what have I gotten myself into?!
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Last but not least, behind this humble screen of plastic, some clones I took have rooted and are now slowly growing into the mothers for the next generation.
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Okay folks, that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed reading and happy growing to y'all!
 
Today, I'm gonna whip out the old microscope camera and have a look at the trichomes. Last time I checked, most were still clear.

My question is: when should I start flushing? I plan on flushing 2 weeks before harvest, but have no idea how long it takes for cloudy trichomes to turn amber (I plan to harvest when there are about 40% amber trichomes), so timing is a bit sketchy right now.

Again, any input will result in sincere gratitude! :)
 

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