First flowering with a LED - Any suggestions?

J

JBUptown

Well-Known Member
Hi 420 Folks!

I just started my first LED flowering experience with WW and a Mars Hydro 144x5w light in a 6 sq ft cabinet. I have bloomed several using HID 400watt with great success (but a heat problem in the summer), and a dozen or so 2700k CFLs with good results, but I never have flowered using an LED. Is their anything unique or different I should do regarding the LED bloom cycle? The grow is lightly LSTed since young and is generally the same height from diligent tie downs. Almost a Scrog, but without a net. All stems are very hardy and will likely support most any flower weight (I'm a regular gentle stem squeezer and twister!), but will support as needed.

Any input on flowering with the described LED and WW strain would be appreciated!
(Optimal Distance to LED, Nutes, ... whatever you may have to offer.)
Thanks to all the helpful folks around 420Magazine that have unknowingly helped a lurker the past few years. I didn't feel I knew enough to contribute to growing this species, but I have been a successful gardener and amateur horticultural freak for half a century. Damn! when did I get so old? :cough:

Thanks
JB
:420:
 
I have a few grows now with LED... I run 2 300w Mars in a cabinet that is roughly 3X5X7 tall. Should have built it bigger. I have had real good luck running my lights about 18" above the canopy. I do see where people have some problems with cal/mag deficiency, I haven't. Not the yields that HID give you but close. I think my buds are frostier with LED's..... I am really fighting a Blackberry that is sativa dominate right now, super healthy but taking forever to show flower. I keep wondering if HIP would get this girl going. She takes up that entire flower closet!
 
whtelk said:
I have a few grows now with LED... I run 2 300w Mars in a cabinet that is roughly 3X5X7 tall. Should have built it bigger. I have had real good luck running my lights about 18" above the canopy. I do see where people have some problems with cal/mag deficiency, I haven't. Not the yields that HID give you but close. I think my buds are frostier with LED's..... I am really fighting a Blackberry that is sativa dominate right now, super healthy but taking forever to show flower. I keep wondering if HIP would get this girl going. She takes up that entire flower closet!
Click to expand...

I was wondering and asked in another post about nutes with an LED Flower. I'm using GH trio this time around and wonder if the Cal/Mag in the trio is adequate for LED, or should I buy some Cal/Mag. Oh those Sativas, gotta love them but they are space hogs! Nice to hear your grows look frostier under LED, one of my criteria for success is Frosty! I have my plants at 17" right now and wondered how close I could get them, but don't want to burn and set them back. Maybe I'll try an inch every 5 days or so and see where that leads. I think they still might stretch a little (2-4 inches), but I'm totally a noob at LED Flowering.
 
I think LED lights are the future ,I have the Mars 900watt and needed to keep it 27" away in veg and it grew within 22" in flower then I moved in down to 18" and I'm on day 60 now,,I used cal mag as a precaution no issue's,,HOW is the Led preforming compared to the 400 watt HPS ,I would think the LED because its close to the actual watt draw of the hps??? give me your thoughts
 
4fingerlidday said:
I think LED lights are the future ,I have the Mars 900watt and needed to keep it 27" away in veg and it grew within 22" in flower then I moved in down to 18" and I'm on day 60 now,,I used cal mag as a precaution no issue's,,HOW is the Led preforming compared to the 400 watt HPS ,I would think the LED because its close to the actual watt draw of the hps??? give me your thoughts
Click to expand...

I agree with the future of indoor growing moving to LED in the next decade or so. So far (about a week) the LED is keeping pace with what the 400 watt HPS has delivered in the past. I am seeing a little more stretch in initial flowering, but maybe only 2" so far. The panel is now 15" from the tops and hope they don't stretch too much more, but if they do I'll lasso them into position. I did try to match wattage draw when I chose the LED panel to the 400watt HPS. It is so much cooler, about 8 degrees drop in cabinet.
:420:
 
Ottawabatch Green said:
Sounds like you allready are working on it but i will emphasize that I try to make a flat canopy that is only like a foot tall then bloom. Tall plants of uneven height make less yield with led imho.
Click to expand...

I do try to keep them even and need to get into the scrog netting. I've had such good luck at LST with speaker wire that I didn't want to tether the plants to the cabinet with a screen/net, but that's no reason to not use one. I just like to see them under natural light sometimes. I've had a bad grow when I got lazy and didn't train the girls early and often enough, learned my lesson on that one. Lost both top colas!
 
OttawaGreen said:
Sounds like you allready are working on it but i will emphasize that I try to make a flat canopy that is only like a foot tall then bloom. Tall plants of uneven height make less yield with led imho.
Click to expand...

Exactly! I topped my sativa twice and tied her down, still she is a big girl (about 3' X 3') tops galore! all pretty close to the same height.
 
JBUptown, how is your grow doing??I think the LED you have is the new sun series? How's it preforming compared to the HPS,and let me know how the White widow is growing does it like LST'ing or have you topped it allot/Femmed it ,I have a bean of WW and was thinking of growing it the next grow, so any info please, can we see some pic's..;)
 
4fingerlidday said:
JBUptown, how is your grow doing??I think the LED you have is the new sun series? How's it preforming compared to the HPS,and let me know how the White widow is growing does it like LST'ing or have you topped it allot/Femmed it ,I have a bean of WW and was thinking of growing it the next grow, so any info please, can we see some pic's..;)
Click to expand...

Hi 4FingerLidDay,
All is going/growing well! The WW haven't missed a beat switching to LED (Mars Hydro 144x5 Reflector Series). They are stretching more than I think they would have under the HPS, but since I LSTed the heck out of them since birth they will be OK. I'm surprised how close the tops can be to the LED though without any leaf burn. The temperature is just awesome, I can hold my hand just an inch from the panel for any length of time without it being hot. Temperature was my biggest problem with HPS, and LED has solved that problem admirably. I'll know more when Veg is done, but I think I'll be sticking with LED for future use. WW is a great strain for indoor tent or closet grow, not leggy or tall and it is very dense. I'm performing and experiment right now regarding the effect of defoliation on identical clones of WW. Interested to see the results. I'll post the whole thing as a new thread when completed. I have a lot of enjoyable hobbies, but photography has never been one of them. I dread when someone asks me to take their family picture on vacation, I suck at photography! I'll see if my wife might want to spend some time trying to get some pictures, she has a camera with all the bells and whistles.

Best Wishes
JB
 
Can't wait to see the differences with defoliation with ww ,I think when I did it at around day 35 of flower, I think it slowed it up for a couple weeks??tock some time to recuperate??but I felt I needed to because the fan leaves were blocking all the light from penetrating into the plant??but I think it makes since to remove some leaves to allow light into the plant instead of just the tops getting it,In sun light the light is way more intense so no need to, but indoors I would guess we need to help out JUST a little? that being said I see photo's of plants that growers went over board on removing leaves and that can't be healthy for the plant.. :passitleft:
 
I suggest never defoliate. I used to spend hours and hours doing that since defoliation "made sense" to me.
But it seemed every time I did it the growth stopped for a while. So I grew two plants (I used to only have two every grow).
They were identical clones and Similiar size. Defoliated one and not the other. Defiloliated one At the end was slightly smaller and slightly less yield but with hours more work. Never did it again and I recommend against defoliating. Don't believe me - test it yourself. Do one and don't do one and compare. I even chose the slightly larger one for defoliating since the two plants were only close in size not identical and the non defoliated one became the bigger after defoliation.
Defoliation is a waste of time in my opinion.
Best way to get highest yield from LED is not defoliation it is making the canopy as flat as you can.
 
So even though the light doesn't get down into the plant the cola's still develop under the canopy.. all I can say is it sure slowed down my plants growth,
 
Not really, bottom bud is too far away to look great no matter what. What I am saying is grow big FLAT plants with lots of colas and they will have more yield than defoliated slightly smaller plants with less tops.
Lots of FIM and HST has been key to my good yield with low powered led.
 
Example of my first grow with led - only two plants and only two 260w eshine lights at 7 out of ten weeks done
image17119.jpg


That was in my first online joirnal, been growing for 15 year or so but never joined a forum until recently:

Two Chocolope Plants Under Two Eshine LED Panels in Hydro
 
Oh and I agree with you on the scrog. It does work great but sometimes you want to tKe a plant out for various reasons. Check the roots, fix a problem with hydro system, etc.
I think i could have possibly even better results with one but afraid of being locked in then facing a problem that would be easier to solve of not locked in to a screen
 
OttawaGreen,

I hate to admit I had a preconceived notions of the results (most likely just as you describe), but by trade and by personality, I am a proof kinda guy in these matters. I absolutely believe your results. I've been performing a strict and scientifically controlled identical (as I can perform) side by side test since last September, and the test is almost complete. Just a few more weeks and the cured tallies and numbers will be available. Seeing what I have so far ... I'm now on the fence. Many final factors to consider ... as what is important to a grower is subjective. What to consider in the comparisons? Yield, Potency, Aroma, Taste, Eye Appeal, Flower Time etc. I can say with confidence that the results thus far do indicate a "difference" between the two clones.

Best Of Buds to you
:Namaste:

JB
 
Good for you man, do the test! I have heard people claim they tested it and got more yield with heavy defoliation too. Better to test for yourself. Good luck with it.

Also the smaller buds from my plants are still smokeable too. I take everything popcorn size and down and make hash, edibles, exteacts. Any bigger i smoke. I wood say weight for weight that the top bud is maybe only 10% stronger. So if you lie a .5 gram joint of cola then a .55 gram joint of small buds will do the same. Seems to taste the same and so on. Note that .55g of airy lower bud is likely twice as big before grinding up but still fits in the paper no problem after. Just my experience.
 

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