First Grow - 400W Mars II LED

[Catman12]

Really enjoyed the LED conversation. The one thing I sunk my dollars into first was a quality LED from a non-420 sponsor. I think Advanced lighting used to be a sponsor actually. Their diamond series is full spectrum and seems to work really well - but what do I know. I figured I did pay too much - but a lot of grow stuff is over priced IMHO now that weed is legal for meds and rec use in2 US states, Including nutes and soil.

Great following your grow BuckSwope - looking forward to seeing more!

 

[BuckSwope]

Really enjoyed the LED conversation. The one thing I sunk my dollars into first was a quality LED from a non-420 sponsor. I think Advanced lighting used to be a sponsor actually. Their diamond series is full spectrum and seems to work really well - but what do I know. I figured I did pay too much - but a lot of grow stuff is over priced IMHO now that weed is legal for meds and rec use in2 US states, Including nutes and soil.

Great following your grow BuckSwope - looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks for sticking it out with me during the whole process. It's great to see strangers bond together to form a community of sorts to help one another out - love it. Ya, I totally agree man. But at least you didn't waste your cash on a shitty LED that ended up being totally useless like some horror stories I've read browsing around other forums (ie: Apollo comes to mind). Advanced has some sweet LEDS in their arsenal, even though I do agree they are overpriced compared to what else is out there now. It seems like a lot of companies in the industry are trying to capitalize while the demand is scorching hot right now so I can't blame them, but there's a difference between making a profit and highway robbery. What really pisses me off is seeing some companies just rebadge their brand onto existing lights and charging people 3-4x more (BlackDog LED highly resembles the Mars II almost to the T). That's why it's refreshing to see these sponsors on here offer a variety of options for everyone, regardless of budget. Anyway, I'm off my stoned rant

 

[Doozy]

Looking good mate, good luck with the rest of your grow. Subbed

 

[BuckSwope]

Looking good mate, good luck with the rest of your grow. Subbed

bud! Thanks for the good vibes!

 

[JakeWilde]

I finally watched the led video. It is making me take caution buying the led grow light because my wife keeps our house at 70 degrees F and it is like a cold cave. I would have to take efforts to up the temp somehow inside the tent.

 

[GroundControl]

Buck, Generally speaking how high did you keep your mars II above the plants ?

 

[PeytonManning]

Buck, Generally speaking how high did you keep your mars II above the plants ?

I've got the same light, and I keep it about 18 inches away in veg, and keep it 12 inches away in flower, and don't have any light bleaching or burning.

 

[BuckSwope]

I finally watched the led video. It is making me take caution buying the led grow light because my wife keeps our house at 70 degrees F and it is like a cold cave. I would have to take efforts to up the temp somehow inside the tent.

LEDs usually don't give off that much heat so if your wife prefers a cold cave, you might be in a little bit of trouble. You can always think about adding a small space heater to up the temp a little. What temps are you getting with your 150w HPS?

 

[BuckSwope]

Buck, Generally speaking how high did you keep your mars II above the plants ?

Peyton nailed it as usual. Thanks bro. I'm growing 3 different strains in the same tent which probably isn't the greatest idea considering how much height each plant has, but given my space, my plants are flourishing quite well. I'd say my light is approximately 12-16" inches from the tallest plant in my tent right now. I haven't noticed any negatives such as bleaching or light burn yet. Things are rolling quite well. I'm out of town for a wedding, but will be posting an update tomorrow or Monday so look out to see how much the girls have grown. I feel like a broken record, but I'm really satisfied with how awesome this light as perform thus far

 

[MaPilot]

You can never talk LEDs too much. I really enjoy mine, so do my girls! Keep up the good work!

 

[JakeWilde]

LEDs usually don't give off that much heat so if your wife prefers a cold cave, you might be in a little bit of trouble. You can always think about adding a small space heater to up the temp a little. What temps are you getting with your 150w HPS?

My low is 71 to 82 high. It heats the canopy well. I did order an led light yesterday from TopLED. I went with the inexpensive 100x3 due to it being such a small space and I'm new to the game. CFL's throw off some heat, but I didn't want to use boosters in this tent if I don't have to. I checked individual room temps and I have a room that sits @ 75 degrees F so I figured I would put the new tent in there instead. I will see how it works once all the equipment is here. I want a Mars II. A friend just bought a 1200W LED locally that cost him $1200. I about fell over.

 

[Catman12]

My low is 71 to 82 high. It heats the canopy well. I did order an led light yesterday from TopLED. I went with the inexpensive 100x3 due to it being such a small space and I'm new to the game.

I'm running the smallest size for my brand as well due to my small space. Have similar temps as you - everything is looking good heat/humidity wise. The one thing to consider is the plants do need a lot less watering. Reading other grow journals that don't use LEDs threw off my watering expectations.

 

[BuckSwope]

My low is 71 to 82 high. It heats the canopy well. I did order an led light yesterday from TopLED. I went with the inexpensive 100x3 due to it being such a small space and I'm new to the game. CFL's throw off some heat, but I didn't want to use boosters in this tent if I don't have to. I checked individual room temps and I have a room that sits @ 75 degrees F so I figured I would put the new tent in there instead. I will see how it works once all the equipment is here. I want a Mars II. A friend just bought a 1200W LED locally that cost him $1200. I about fell over.

Holy shit!! If you told him about the LEDs online here, did he damn near go into cardiac arrest that he could have saved $600-700? I think you'll be fine with your temps using that LED, but if you need a little heat, you can always keep the CFLs in there or tell the wife to knock it off and up that thermostat I'm hoping you add a grow journal for that LED to showcase how it can perform. These eyeballs will be stalking the Journals in Progress thread.

 

[BuckSwope]

- Day 62 / Day 22 of Flowering -

Just got back into town from CO for the holiday weekend. Gotta say, you CO peeps are some lucky sons of bitches! Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend thus far. Finally, I had a chance to check on the girls tonight to see where they're at. I defoliated some dying leaves and spots that where buds where being prevented from bathing in that glorious purple retina-scorching LED. Also, decided to clear out my grow tent and sanitize that whole tent with an iodine based solution to prevent any potential bacteria or mold from propagating as I had some overflow from my pots before I took off. Other than that, everything seems to be rolling well. Since I've finished 3 weeks of flowering, I thought it's time to experiment starting Week 4. Instead of keeping my light cycle on a steady dose of 12/12, I added 30 mins to the dark period, leaving my new cycle as the following: 11.5 on/12.5 off. I will slowly keep adding 30 mins of darkness every week. Not sure when I will decide to stop so I'm just going to play it by ear. I know this could potentially affect my yield, but my main concern is producing the best quality bud I can. Quality will always trump quantity in my book any day of the week. Also, from browsing various articles/forums, additional time to the dark period will speed up flowering to as much as a week earlier. People agree to disagree with each other on the topic, so I'm going to document my findings here so we can all find out once and for all.

Temps: 77-82
RH: 42-50%

After pulling them out, the only issue I found that some of my leaves look to have some light burn/bleaching from being too close due to a little more growth from stretching:

Buds are starting to fill in nicely. Keep packing on that weight. I don't judge on fatties:

And various shots of each individual lady:

Happy growing buds!

-Buck

 

[MaPilot]

Looking good in here Buck!

 

[Catman12]

Gotta say, you CO peeps are some lucky sons of bitches!

So True!

glorious purple retina-scorching LED.

Ha! Well Put!

Since I've finished 3 weeks of flowering, I thought it's time to experiment starting Week 4. Instead of keeping my light cycle on a steady dose of 12/12, I added 30 mins to the dark period, leaving my new cycle as the following: 11.5 on/12.5 off. I will slowly keep adding 30 mins of darkness every week. Not sure when I will decide to stop so I'm just going to play it by ear...People agree to disagree with each other on the topic, so I'm going to document my findings here so we can all find out once and for all.

Gotta say it's pretty cool to watch people experimenting with grows. Needless to say I'll be watching and learning from this one thanks

I see some sugary leaves there

Glad you had a good trip BuckSwope! Looks like you're keeping up with an excellent grow routine. All your girls look happy - Great pics thanks!

 

[JakeWilde]

Glad you had a good trip man. I guess you saw all our dispensaries in CO. hunh? It still seems strange to me because I remember the Head Shops in the 70's but now we have full blown stores. The only thing we lack is a good local source for seeds. Clones can go for $12 to $35.

The girls look yummy!

 

[BuckSwope]

Thanks Catman! I thought I'd go against the grain even for my first grow. I constantly keep reading new material that I want to incorporate into this grow. I might be in over my head, but it's fun to experiment.

 

[BuckSwope]

Glad you had a good trip man. I guess you saw all our dispensaries in CO. hunh? It still seems strange to me because I remember the Head Shops in the 70's but now we have full blown stores. The only thing we lack is a good local source for seeds. Clones can go for $12 to $35.

The girls look yummy!

Yessssir! I didn't get a chance to visit one, but every place I went by to had people lining up. Probably a good thing because I probably would have blown more cash than I wanted. Those clone prices seem pretty ridiculously high though

 

[lexblaze]

I wish I could visit one of those shops one day!