Scarfinger68 - Aurora Indica - Soil - 600W Dimmable HPS - Indoor Closet Grow

[Scarfinger68]

Any chance you can mount your exhaust as high as possible in the room? Hot air rises, so if you can exhaust that air first, you should have much cooler temps. Mine dropped 4* by moving the exhaust and filter to the ceiling.

Good point UltraDan. Currently waiting for my new filter. Once I get it I will see how high I can install it.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Scarfinger68]

Foliar spray 1/2 tsp. Grow Big/per gallon

Well I have been reading a lot of journals and HighBrix growing. One thing missing in my tool box of growing skills is foliar sprays I was reading "Dr Atomic's" history and he mentioned

The underside of the leaves received a good foliar spray at least once a week.

Also realized that FoxFarms Grow Big can be used as a foliar spray and it has trace elements including copper. So I gave my plants a foliar spay today (PH 6.0), top and bottom of the leaves. I moved my light as high as I could to ensure I didn't get any mist up in the light.

Day 6 Flowering:

The best looking plant of the bunch

last pic was a little blurry.

out

 

[Scarfinger68]

Did some very light defoliation. Basically just pull a couple fan leaves that were blocking light to lower buds. Also did some light HST to open up the plant a little.

HST

Group. Temps are a little high. Working on it

 

[Tree Guy]

Loikin good is it ur first time with hps

 

[Scarfinger68]

Loikin good is it ur first time with hps

Yep. Very first run with HSP. My first couple of grows were CFL in a DIY set up pictured in the first post of this journal.

Currently using a 600w set up dimmed to 75% for roughly 450 watts. Mainly because my temps keep running into the 95 degrees range when running at full power of 600w.

The only changes to this grow are the new HPS light/600w ballast. Insulated 4" ducting. Increased the passive intake to 6" hole (made it active now by hooking up a fan to it). Purchased a 6" can-fan and a 6 inch carbon filter. Potential changes: may increase the exhaust from 4" to 6" one day.

So far I am enjoying it. For one I like the ability to dim the ballast. Also like the fact that I can lower and raise the lights. And now without the CFL box I will have a larger/higher grow area.

Thanks for stopping by

 

[Big Budha]

Your plants are gonna fill that room Scar!!

 

[Scarfinger68]

Loikin good is it ur first time with hps

Your plants are gonna fill that room Scar!!

Hey guys. I see you have the http address as your signature. Watch UltraDans video. Makes updating your Sig very easy.
Update Your Signature - A Video Tutorial

 

[Scarfinger68]

Day 11 of 12/12 watered and

5/24 (5 days since last watering) Runoff is in the 7+. Plant look unhappy, slight yellowing at new growth. PH’d (6/6.5’ish) FF week 1 flower nutes at ½ strength (big bloom, grow big, tiger bloom) +1/2 tsp. of Cal/Mag. Plain water with runoff to check PH first, then nutes added. PH runoff with nutes is 6.5’ish.

5/28 (F day 9) Watered with PH 6/6.5 (1/8th Grow Big). Run off PH 6.5, temps 93 F

5/30 (F day 11) Watered with PH 6.0 (½ Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom) + Epson Salt. Runoff 6.8’ish. Epson salt given secondary to my perceived yellowing at the back end of the leaves. Maybe a Sulphur deficiency? Sometimes yellowing shows at beginning of flowering?

Not sure if the perceived yellowing is my imagination, a deficiency, or normal as the plant pushes out more pistols. So, Epson salt added to nutes. Also did a foliar spray of Grow Big. Will watch for nute burn.

Took filter off intake fan because it allows more air and better temps so far.

 

[Cruizer]

Plants are looking good and the temps are down,

I'm curious why you went from Cfl's to HPS and why not make the jump to L.E.D?

 

[Scarfinger68]

Plants are looking good and the temps are down,

I'm curious why you went from Cfl's to HPS and why not make the jump to L.E.D?

That's a very good question.

I did consider LED's. To me there seemed to be too much variation concerning them.
:LED power ranges from 1w, 2w, 3w and 5w
:Reflector angles from No reflector to 45, 70, 90, 120, 160 degrees
:Bands of 3, 5, 6, 11 or 12 band LEDs from flowering to full spectrum.

-Also I read that some growers were still having heat issues using LED's.
-And there seemed to be a lot of variation to light distance from the canopy.

I asked myself what LED light is worth my money? Can I buy a cheap one? or do I need to get an expensive one to match HID lighting. If I buy an expensive one, will it produce any better than a cheap inexpensive LED light?

I concluded that LED was more in the experimental phase and that there was no "standard" when it came to LED lighting.

This is from an article that connected with me:

Yields & Potency

When it comes to improving your yields, the most efficient grow light is an HPS. When I say "efficient," I mean the amount of usable light produced for the amount of electricity needed. Because HPS lights are so efficient, using an HPS light during your cannabis flowering/budding phase is the fastest way to improve your yields.

When it comes to improving your potency, LED grow lights seem to help the plant produce more trichomes and bring out the natural odor of the plant, and many growers believe the overall quality and potency of buds is increased when using LED lights during the flowering stage.

A combination of HPS and LEDs seems to provide some of the best benefits of both - big yields plus high quality and potency. This may be because a combination of HPS plus LEDs more closely mimics the autumn sunlight that cannabis plants are exposed to in the wild.

My decision may be slightly biased also. When I started growing with CFL's everyone was saying HID was the "golden standard".

In conclusion, I decided to go with HID because it is a very well known way of growing. But, I did purchase a supplemental LED light to increase the red spectrum.

 

[GhettoGro]

Your plants are looking great, Scar! I think the HPS suits your growing style best IMHO. Your plants are about the size/style I grow. Vegged taller with less training required than most of the LED grows I see. I like the "less fuss" method (I'm lazy ) I tie mine over once and toss them into 12/12. The HPS penetrates from top to bottom of the plant without having to play with them so much.

Keep up the good work! Those will make a jungle when they blow up!

 

[closetorganic]

They Look Even Greater responding to your training some days ago
I see a yellowing look of new growth tips looking yellow and hungry in the fast growth or stretch of early flower for me. It might be common thing,I figured it was too fast of growth because they did seem to green up as they grew up.

 

[Scarfinger68]

Your plants are looking great, Scar! I think the HPS suits your growing style best IMHO. Your plants are about the size/style I grow. Vegged taller with less training required than most of the LED grows I see. I like the "less fuss" method (I'm lazy ) I tie mine over once and toss them into 12/12. The HPS penetrates from top to bottom of the plant without having to play with them so much.

Keep up the good work! Those will make a jungle when they blow up!

Thanks Ghetto.

They Look Even Greater responding to your training some days ago
I see a yellowing look of new growth tips looking yellow and hungry in the fast growth or stretch of early flower for me. It might be common thing,I figured it was too fast of growth because they did seem to green up as they grew up.

I just checked on them before lights off. I swear the yellowing is practically gone now. Nutes and foliar must of taking care of it? which seems too fast to be taken care of by nutes. I do think they enjoyed the watering because they are standing tall and vigorous reaching for the light.

Probably more the new growth just maturing and greening up like you said.

 

[Cruizer]

Nice answer, thanks. I didn't know about the Yield and Potency thing. Interesting. When I foliar spray I only do the underside, some may get on top, but it's minimal.

 

[MaxYields]

You definitely have to drop the money on more "quality" brands of LED lights if you want to match your HPS yields. PlatinumLED seems to have their lights pretty dialed in, as they have shown everyone that par is what's important, not total watt draw. Several members have testified to the P450 being a replacement for a 600w HPS system and there is only room for improvement in LED tech, HPS is basically as good as it's going to get.

But it is still very much in then experimental stage. I entirely agree with that. I think you made a good decision going with the tried and true growing method, you seem to do very well with it!

I think it's more of a personal preference, as long as it grows weed thst what's matters

 

[Scarfinger68]

You definitely have to drop the money on more "quality" brands of LED lights if you want to match your HPS yields. PlatinumLED seems to have their lights pretty dialed in, as they have shown everyone that par is what's important, not total watt draw. Several members have testified to the P450 being a replacement for a 600w HPS system and there is only room for improvement in LED tech, HPS is basically as good as it's going to get.

But it is still very much in then experimental stage. I entirely agree with that. I think you made a good decision going with the tried and true growing method, you seem to do very well with it!

I think it's more of a personal preference, as long as it grows weed thst what's matters

Very well put Max. I would never tell another grower that his way of growing CFL/HID/LED was wrong. I believe you have to do what works for you and your situation.

If I had more upfront disposable cash I think I may have tried LED. But then again I am a little old school and I don't come around to new things very easy. I actually almost bought an LED light. I just couldn't make my finger hit the "accept" tab.

Thanks for your comments and compliments

 

[MaxYields]

Very well put Max. I would never tell another grower that his way of growing CFL/HID/LED was wrong. I believe you have to do what works for you and your situation.

If I had more upfront disposable cash I think I may have tried LED. But then again I am a little old school and I don't come around to new things very easy. I actually almost bought an LED light. I just couldn't make my finger hit the "accept" tab.

Thanks for your comments and compliments

We seem to be on the same page, I went back and forth between LED and HID about a million times in the months before I made my decision. In the end I figured I preferred potency over yield, I also was enameled with that pretty purple light and the fact I only had to have one piece of equipment, not a hood, bulbs, and a ballast. I don't have a permanent growing house so I have to be ready to move with ease

Always happy to give my two cents

 

[Scarfinger68]

I did some moderate defoliation last night and gave them some

6/02 (F day 14) FF week 2 flower schedule ½ str. (Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom) + ½ tsp Cal/Mag, ½ tsp silicon and ½ tsp Tomato Thrive (PH 6.5) Did some moderate defoliation. Removed almost all fan leaves blocking light to the center of the plant. Removed a few sucker branches at the lower levels too. Plant looks nice and healthy and forming buds.

Temps 84

Forming buds nicely

Defoliation top down, pulled fan leaves that blocked light to the inside of the plant

Looks like I have 6 to 7 tops on most plants. It would be nice if I could get 6 to 7 grams per branch/top. But the last time I grew AI I got 20 to 25 grams per plant in a 1 gallon pot. I think 30 may be achievable. Or maybe I am just dreaming

 

[Kriaze]

Nice update Scarfinger. Those plants are looking good

 

[cannilingus]

i grew this potent strein. my pheno, was more afphi, and tended twards one central cola, surrounded by a crown of buds. it was great smoke. i dont have smoke that good anymore.....