KCMP Fall 2015 Grow! - All LED - Coco/Perlite - Ebb & Flow

[Camo420Grow]

Wow! That's gonna be awesome to see all those tops growing!! but time will tell about the bud igniter, I am also anxious to see this grow thru myself cause I want to have setup exactly like this one day. Full hydro with ebb&flow

 

[KCMP]

Thanks Camo! I just got back into town and will post an update sometime today. Left the ladies alone for 3 days with no issues to report.

I did notice that my res somehow jumped from 5.8 to 7.2 (NO IDEA HOW!) but the plants seem like they are loving it.

They have drank almost 10 gallons of water in the last 4 days.

 

[Camo420Grow]

See that's why I want thus system! Just in case I need to leave for a couple of days so tat my girls can still get fed! But that is one thing that scares me about reservoirs in general is the pH swing. If your gone and it swings to high then it could mess your ladies up. I'm glad yours liked the swing tho!

 

[KCMP]

Yeah in an ideal world (next round) I want the entire system to be connected to a computer control system. My roommate is currently in the process of helping to design it.

The idea would be electronic PH, PPM, and EC meters in the res that constantly send data back to the computer so I can view my current res ph from the internet as well as take a look at the girls through the webcam. Ideally I would like to also have a very small computer controlled pump that would allow me to add PH up or PH down to adjust my reservoir remotely. This system would also control lights, fans, heaters, essentially the entire grow.

I could also make it really swank and create a mobile app for it.

Speaking of technology I am considering adding open webcam access to this thread so anyone can check out the current status of my grow room (the camera has IR night vision!). Wondering if this would violate any forum rules?

 

[KCMP]

Okay here is a quite update on day 6 of flower. I will get some shots of budsites tomorrow with a better camera, my cell phone is awful at taking close up shots.

The reservoir has dropped about 7 gallons (looked like 10 but I measured) so the plants are definitely drinking quite a bit as they continue to stretch. I am currently running my lights at 16" and am happy with the node spacing on most of the plants. I may move the lights down for 12" for a few days to keep them nice and tight.

My res somehow shot up to 6.8 (after a meter calibration) but I see no new signs of nutrient deficiencies on any leaves and the extremely minor issues I saw last week have not progressed. My res was still sitting at 950ppm.

Now on to some tent shots

SCROGGGGGGG!

I am really loving this grow method. Here is a shot of my plants entering flower during my last grow.

As you can see the were much larger (and in 5g pots), but I am thinking that the better structure and increased lighting will get me a better yield with the new setup. I am also avoiding the salt issues I had when running drip lines.

 

[cogreen]

Your plants are looking impressive my friend... Hats off!

+100 for an automated grow system. I was looking into doing that myself by writing some code for a micro-board (raspberry pi or parallella), but after looking at the potential for something like this, IMO there's not a big enough market... Sure would be fun though. A member on here ("ScienceGrow") and I were actually discussing writing an app a few weeks ago, but again I just don't see the market for it to justify my time... I think he's working on coding something up though.

If you do get something automated booted, please let me know... I'm very interested.

Have a good one and drive safe in this crazy storm!

 

[Camo420Grow]

Any form of the things you guys speak of would just be mind blowing! Best of luck yall's adventures!

 

[Subnoise]

Looking great KC!

 

[KCMP]

Looking great KC!��

Thanks glad to see you around again!

 

[KCMP]

Anyone ever used a product called Mammoth P? I was given a free sample at the hydro shop today that should last me 3 weeks. It is another beneficial microbe product designed and manufactured in Fort Collins Colorado. I always like to buy local so I am going to give it a try. There is absolutely no list of what is in the stuff.

I figured it is hard to go overboard on the bennies so I added it to the reservoir today in addition to another top feeding of Great White.

I am struggling to get good photos, but the Grape Stomper OG roots have blown through the bottom of the pot in force and filled the channel with a rather dense root mat. Guess I need to watch out for root rot more than I thought. (was hoping the coco would protect them)

 

[KCMP]

Time for an update!

Flower Day 10

Everything is going well in the grow tent. Upped the PPM to about 1100 with the last reservoir change. I also gave the ladies a top feeding of Great White / Molasses and added a new product called Mammoth P to the res. I am not sure exactly what microbes are in it, but so far it has kept my res water clear for the past few days. I am noticing a PH upswing which I attributing the the rather insane microbe colony I have going on right now.

Stretch is under control although the plants have taken over every last bit of space rather quickly, but they are still essentially within a 4x4 footprint on the net. I noticed that the new Galaxyhydro fixtures with a higher red spectrum caused the Amnesia Haze and Grape Stomper OG to stretch a bit more than their neighbors, so I rotated them today to account for that.

I want some honest opinions regarding the effects of the Bud Igniter. I have some shots of the preflowers forming below. Please compare these to your grows and let me know if you feel it has accelerated bud development.

Now on to the photos.

You can see in that last picture I have angled 4 of my lights for better coverage. It is also the first photo I have posted with the flood table on! I think I will get a video of the table flooding later today and upload it.

Happy Growing!

 

[Camo420Grow]

Looks awesome KMCP ! Man those things are bout to explode on you! I've never heard of mammothP but never heard having to many microbes lol. I'm sure you have covered this earlier but would you mind telling me what all leds you have? Reason I'm asking is I'm seriously considering getting the galaxyhydro for my first grow and wanted your opinion on it. Although looks like you have 5 leds lol

Edit sorry KMCP went back to the first page and read, 3x apollo 300w. Now a galaxyhydro 300w aswell? I'm just trying to get the best lights I can for my girls!

 

[KCMP]

Total I have 3 Apollo 300w (I think it is discontinued) and 2 of the GalaxyHydro 300w full spectrums. I think the light quality on the Apollos is better but it is to early to tell.

I do have a bad power supply in one of the Apollo's so a bank of LED's is out (its the center unit). I am currently trying to track down another supply to repair it with.

its a 100v DC out, which is strange.


The Mammoth P smells really foul. They are claiming an 18% increase in yield and much stronger stems. Based on the scent I am wondering if I should just make my own microbial tea by steeping my running shoes for a few days.

 

[KCMP]

Looks awesome KMCP ! Man those things are bout to explode on you! I've never heard of mammothP but never heard having to many microbes lol. I'm sure you have covered this earlier but would you mind telling me what all leds you have? Reason I'm asking is I'm seriously considering getting the galaxyhydro for my first grow and wanted your opinion on it. Although looks like you have 5 leds lol

Edit sorry KMCP went back to the first page and read, 3x apollo 300w. Now a galaxyhydro 300w aswell? I'm just trying to get the best lights I can for my girls!

Also what size space are you running? That would help with selecting the best LED setup.

 

[cogreen]

I think I may have the same GalaxyHydro 300 you have... I also noticed more stretch in my flowers under the galaxy (vs Marshydro). However I'm also seeing bigger flowers under it as well.

Your plants / setup are looking amazing! I can't wait to see what you pull of out this grow.
+rep

Question if you get time -- do you have any estimate as to how much time you spend weekly "weaving" your plants into the net/screen? Just trying to get my head around just how much work that is.

Thanks

 

[Camo420Grow]

Haha dang it's that bad huh!?? We'll let me know if the yield is improved by that much and I may consider it !
Ok my setup now is a 3x3x5'3 tent. Although someday, in the very near future i will up the space to either 4x4 or 5x5. The only reason I'm running the 3x3 now is cause I got an awesome deal on the tent($50) and it's a nice tent. So I didn't know if it would be best to get 1 600w galaxyhydro now and then when I move to the bigger space get 2 600w. Orrrrrrrr get 2 300w galaxyhydro now and when I upgrade my spot get 2 more for a total of 4 300w!
So you think the galaxyhydro isn't all that superior of a light ?

 

[KCMP]

I think I may have the same GalaxyHydro 300 you have... I also noticed more stretch in my flowers under the galaxy (vs Marshydro). However I'm also seeing bigger flowers under it as well.

Your plants / setup are looking amazing! I can't wait to see what you pull of out this grow.
+rep

Question if you get time -- do you have any estimate as to how much time you spend weekly "weaving" your plants into the net/screen? Just trying to get my head around just how much work that is.

Thanks

Thanks for the compliments!

Honestly I think I spent quite a bit of time weaving the plants during the 5 weeks of veg. The last 3 were probably the worst and I was in there at least 45 minutes a day making sure everything was tied down and growing the way I wanted.

I was going to continue to tuck for the first week of flower, but they grew so fast and the stems became so strong I lost the battle and gave up. I have been doing a very light defol (no more than 3 - 4 leaves per plant every few days) to make sure all the budsites are exposed since I can no longer pull them into the net.

I am glad to hear the galaxyhydro produced bigger buds. I was hoping that the higher red spectrum would be better for flower, but I think it can also promote stretching the first few weeks. I plan on continuing to rotate my lights to give each plants all the benefits.

Essentially I have 300w LED fixture per plant in a 4x4 space with a 5th 300w led to fill the middle. If I can pull 1GPW (which is a very HIGH goal) I will get around 850g of bud. I am not sure how GPW is calculated, but my lights pull 850w, and my entire grow right around 1000w when everything is on.

My last round I had salt buildup issues, and what I now think was a phosphorous and potassium deficiency, and just managed to hit .6GPW.

I am hoping that: More light + Smaller Grow Area + Better Nutrient Schedule + Trained Plants = Higher Yield Efficiency.

I know it looks like a rather simple equation, but unless I can beat .6 GPW all of the AN products and additional lighting are just a waste of $.

It is looking very optimistic at this point though!

 

[KCMP]

Haha dang it's that bad huh!?? We'll let me know if the yield is improved by that much and I may consider it !
Ok my setup now is a 3x3x5'3 tent. Although someday, in the very near future i will up the space to either 4x4 or 5x5. The only reason I'm running the 3x3 now is cause I got an awesome deal on the tent($50) and it's a nice tent. So I didn't know if it would be best to get 1 600w galaxyhydro now and then when I move to the bigger space get 2 600w. Orrrrrrrr get 2 300w galaxyhydro now and when I upgrade my spot get 2 more for a total of 4 300w!
So you think the galaxyhydro isn't all that superior of a light ?

I have only had it in the tent for 2 weeks so unfortunately I really can't comment about the GalaxyHydro yet. It seems like cogreen probably has more experience with it than I do so he may be a better person to ask.

In the 3x3 I think that 2 300w's or a 600w would serve you well. I usually don't go into the grow light market looking to spend a ton, and am finding that having multiple smaller wattage fixtures gives me the ability to have more control over the light distribution and better spread.

On the other hand having 10 yoyo hangers in the tent sucks.

 

[Camo420Grow]

Haha yeah that would suck but ease of customizing how you want your lights instead of one big light. Thank you for your time and thoughts KCMP. I hope you hit your goal of 850g! That shit would be awesome, I'll be around to see the outcome of this grow and then get your 2 cents on the galaxyhydro

 

[KCMP]

Thanks! 850g would be an absolutely insane yield. Most of these plants are supposed to yield 600 in 1m^2 which is roughly the space I am working in. I will be happy if I can hit that. 850g is just me shooting for the moon!