Sponsored Grow: Krip Keepers Frost Fest Featuring Mars SP-250 In Mars 4' x 4' Tent

[Mr. Krip]

Hey krip are those lights saying they are 239.76 watts but the true watts is 180? Also glad to make the first page of one of ur journals finaly lol. Things sound to be in running order nice job on the new sponsored gear. Did u here my new sponsored journal from fast buds i just put up lastnight got deleted. Cause they arent a sponsor which i thought they were. I could have sworn ive seen journals in the past sponsored by them but i guess i was wrong lol. But yea nice job on landing ur new shiz. Ill prolly find out as i continue on but are u running new genetics this round or flowering out ur mothers i thought i seen u mention something about that. But yea man gud luck on another sponsored run man.

Lol i jus realized i started my response when i seen the lights to ask about them n i forgot to finish reading b4 i sent the post but now i see what ur doing with the girls lmao. An nice job keeping those as Bosnia's. How long did u have them as mothers b4 now?

Thanks, Brother!

The actual power draw should be about 245 w +/- 5%. I haven't hooked it up to a KillaWatt to test. Sorry about your journal but, yeah, you do need to make sure you're doing a sponsored grow for an actual sponsor.

Here are the approximate dates each of those mothers popped:

Blackwater - 9/1/2018
Dolato #1 - 9/20/2018
Dolato #2 - 11/20/2018
Platinum Kush Breath - 12/29/2018
Platinum Cake - 12/29/2018

 

[Mr. Krip]

I’m in! And I think I nailed my guess! Lol

Yeah, you nailed it!

 

[Doc Bud]

Que Onda?

 

[Mr. Krip]

Que Onda?

Nada mucho, amigo!

 

[Mr. Krip]

MARS SP-250 GROW LIGHTS

We're running two Mars SP-250 LED's in the 4' x 4' tent. At about 245w/each, two should be sufficient, although, I do think three would be "ideal" for the space and would also give some extra redundancy in case one failed.

Aside from running some CFL's for vegging when I first started growing, I haven't run anything that wasn't "blurple" and didn't have multiple fans. It is a real pleasure to be able to see the plants in what's very close to natural light and even better not having all the fans running when the flower tent is just a few feet from my bed!

It uses a large aluminum heat sync to regulate temperature and it doesn't seem to run any hotter than any of the other lights I've run that use multiple fans for cooling.

The coverage also appears to be excellent with no visible shaded areas in the corners or ends!

The SP-250 uses Epistar SMD chips which can take higher currents, put out more lumens, and have better thermal dissipation than their predecessors.

FWIW, when I was first researching the light, I did notice great reviews (like 100% at 5-stars!) on several third-party LED distributor sites.

Here's are some manufacturer's pics of the SP-250:

Here's the PPFD and coverage at various distances above the canopy:

And, here's the spectrum chart:

There are no separate modes for veg and bloom, so you run the full spectrum through the entire grow.

At only $249 from their website, it appears to be a lot of light for the money and I'm looking forward to seeing how they perform.

Happy Harvests!

K

 

[Graytail]

At just under 500 watts, the two should be ideal for a 4x4.

I'm running 670 watts and it's too much.

 

[Duggan]

"Too much"........bahh....lol.

 

[Seedlingmtl]

 

[John Wick]

I'm in, I can't miss this one.

 

[Virgin Ground]

 

[MrSauga]

But with ties at least they shouldn't wear out after a while.

I agree, and I got used to them fast enough. The door strap will fray at the loose end, I almost guarantee that. When you zip up the door, that loose end will get caught in the zipper the odd time, which causes the fraying. My solution was to melt the end with a lighter and the problem was solved.

 

[John Wick]

I agree, and I got used to them fast enough. The door strap will fray at the loose end, I almost guarantee that. When you zip up the door, that loose end will get caught in the zipper the odd time, which causes the fraying. My solution was to melt the end with a lighter and the problem was solved.

I like the door tie too, just twist a half hitch and your done, all tied back.

Pull on one tie and it's un-tied and close door, or what ever.

Easy Peasey

 

[dr.h00k]

...I almost pulled the trigger on one of these lights, but I'll hold off to next grow, as long as a couple of the cheapies keep going...I've been impressed with their T1000's so far...I have 4 in the big room now...cheerz... ...h00k......

 

[WankirA]

The sp250 is my favourite prospective light from MarsHydro range.
You have the same size space as mine so keen to see the job a pair of them will do.

 

[BakedARea]

Very cool to get sponsored for a grow like that! Congratulations on your sponsorship. I'm looking forward to following along and learning more about the MH products. Looking at the thread started by @SmokeSara back in 2013 and seeing that she is still active even today, speaks volumes about their commitment to this community, their products, and reputation. Thank you MarsHydro for giving people opportunities like this to use/test your products. I am getting a crazy itch to do an indoor grow too now!

Best of luck @Mr. Krip on this grow and great attention to detail.

 

[Mr. Krip]

THE STRAINS


So, let's get into some detail on these strains...


CALI CONNECTION BLACKWATER

Blackwater is a cross between Mendo Purps x Tahoe OG S1 (OR Mendo Purps x SFV OG for regular seeds) that took 3rd place for "Best Indica" at the 2014 High Times Medical Cup in Los Angeles. It averages 20% THC and is known for some dark purple buds. It has a flowering time of 8-9 weeks.

The goal, when breeding Blackwater, was to create one of the darkest OG Kush strains available. The buds from my grow didn't turn dark (I can probably get them to turn by lowering temps!), but they were huge, dense, and covered with trichomes and cured to a nice grape smell. The colas produced the biggest buds I've ever grown with some individual buds weighing over a half and ounce. This, to date, has been the preferred strain to help my Dad with pain.

Here are some of those huge colas & buds from my last Blackwater grow:

INHOUSE GENETICS DOLATO

Dolato is a 70% indica/30% sativa cross between Gelato #41 and the NorCal cut of Dosido that boasts an average 26% THC ratio (22%-29%). Flowering time is also 8-9 weeks. I've heard the flavors described as earthy, musky & piney, but my cured Dolato buds smell just like chocolate, to me! And, while I haven't had mine tested, judging by the trichomes from the last grow, I'm thinking it should be towards the HIGH end of the THC range!

Here's some Dolato colas at only 22 days of 12/12:

By Day #37 of 12/12, they looked like this:

And, on Day #60:

Dried & Cured Dolato Buds:

INHOUSE GENETICS PLATINUM KUSH BREATH

Platinum Kush Breath is a cross between OGKB V2.1 x Platinum with a 60-75 day flower time. These are also incredibly frosty buds and my cured buds smell like sour oranges. The branches on this one were pretty spindly and most had to be supported with yo-yo's to keep them from collapsing under the weight of the buds.

Here are some pics from the last Platinum Kush Breath grow on Day #26 of 12/12:

By Day #35 of 12/12, we had this:

Here's Day #59 of 12/12:

And, by Day #70, right before harvest, they turned a great color!:

This was the PKB sample/tester bud I took:

INHOUSE GENETICS PLATINUM CAKE

Platinum Cake is a cross between Wedding Cake x Platinum and also has a 60-75 day average flower time. As frosty and tasty as the other three strains are, I'd have to place this one as the top strain I've ever grown. The one PCake plant I harvested was put into the flower cabinet at the last minute to replace another plant that turned out to be male (from feminized seed!) so it didn't have much of a veg period. There was a lot of stretch and some wide internode distances, so she didn't yield as much as I would have liked and will need some good training to really produce. But, what she produces is just incredibly beautiful, dense buds completely covered in trichomes with just about every leaf on the plant also covered in trichomes. The buds are still curing on this one, so I don't have a great description of the smell or flavor yet, but it's a skunky/floral smell right now. The trichome coverage on these buds was ridiculous and I'm going to be growing a lot more of this strain and will be using her for some breeding.

Here are some pics from my last Platinum Cake Grow:

Day #30 of 12/12:

Day #53:

And dried buds (still curing):

DSCN0474.JPG

• Mr. Krip
• Jul 29, 2019

It's worth noting that all the buds above, with the exception of the Platinum Cake, were grown under Mars Reflector 144's and all were grown using @Doc Bud's High Brix kit.

Let's see how the SP-250's do!


Happy Harvests!

K

 

[Mr. Krip]

It took me quite a while to dig up all those pictures! It might just be my bud porn post of a lifetime!

 

[Duggan]

Bud porn at it's finest,..i must say...

 

[Mr. Magoo]

It took me quite a while to dig up all those pictures! It might just be my bud porn post of a lifetime!

Well we appreciate it brother! Very nice description of each strain as well. Since you said these are the moms.....you take clones to be the new moms?

 

[Mr. Krip]

you take clones to be the new moms?

Exactly! None of these strains are being culled, at least, not yet. Just getting some extra space in the veg cab while avoiding having to root prune some of the older plants. Also, the Blackwater and two Dolatos were rooted in Rapid Rooter cubes (before I started rooting directly in soil) and, using salt-based nutes, eventually the soil gets spent and really won't even flush thoroughly. All these issues are magnified when keeping the plants as Bonsais in the 4" containers since there's less soil to work with.