LED Grow Journal

[CaliKind72]

I am a first time LED grower, I had heard all the hype so I did my research and decided that the benefits of LEDs was worth giving them a try. I checked out some of the sponsors here - Advanced LED, Stealth Grow, Dorm Grow and a few others I found online like Penetrator and Sunshine Systems. I decided to go with Dorm Grow because their products seems to be good and their prices were great. Actually, I saw that all these companies pretty much carry the same shit. I bit the bullet and purchased the G8-450 450 watt LED grow light by Dorm Grow LED . I got the lights but then lagged on getting started. I finally got around to going to the store and got myself 3 - Blueberry clones and 3 Ruby Red clones.

 

[CaliPho3niX]

Sweetener, I'm growing Blueberry (DJ Short) as well, SUPER vigorous plant... I don't have any pics of the BB but she's just about the same size, # of colas, etc. as the Blue Dream pictured in my gallery (buds are just a *hair* smaller tho, but they're catching up & filling in nicely). Good luck, I'll be checking in on this grow to see how things progress with the LED.

- CP

 

[CaliKind72]

Ok, here are some pics of what I started with.

 

[CaliKind72]

Ok, here are some pics of what I started with. 3 - Blueberry BB clones and 3 Ruby Red RR clones

 

[CaliKind72]

I took a couple of the clones, put them in pots and put them in my grow tent. i hung my G8-450 watt LED grow light and it was that easy. I made one critical mistake...I hung the light too close. I figured the plants would benefit from the increased intensity of the LEDs being close to them - MISTAKE..I found over the next several days that my plants were not really growing tall, they had no incentive to grow and reach for the light source, as they would to the sun...my light was so close that it stunted the plants. It took me some research and time to figure this out and then I adjusted the light distance and my babies started to grow!

 

[CaliKind72]

In this picture you can see that the leaves had started to turn yellow after a few days because of the light being too close. My LED was a pretty powerful one, so it needed to be placed much higher. I guess with smaller LEDs you can put them much closer to the plants.

 

[CaliKind72]

This picture was taken about 10 days after I raised the light from about 1.5 feet to just over 3 feet above the top of the plants. You can see that the clones started to recover and really started to shoot up under the 450 watt LED from Dorm Grow. 450 Watt LED Grow Light | 450 Watt Full Spectrum G8LED Veg/Flower | Dorm Grow

 

[CaliKind72]

Now that I got the light the correct distance, my babies really started growing. I did not use any nutrients - only some potting soil from home Depot. I do not have any venting system. I put the tent in my garage so I get natural ventilation just by keeping the back door open for a few hours a day. I keep the tent open since I am not trying to hide the intense light from the LED. I am currently running the LED grow light for 16 hours a day. Growing in soil.

 

[CaliKind72]

i don't know if this is normal but my blueberry is growing some massive leaves, they don't even look like the typical 5-7 leave pattern...maybe its the soil environment??

Sweetener, I'm growing Blueberry (DJ Short) as well, SUPER vigorous plant... I don't have any pics of the BB but she's just about the same size, # of colas, etc. as the Blue Dream pictured in my gallery (buds are just a *hair* smaller tho, but they're catching up & filling in nicely). Good luck, I'll be checking in on this grow to see how things progress with the LED.

- CP

 

[Be0wulf]

+subbed

Wow those are some super-bushy plants! I can't even tell where the nodes are.

 

[Mixman812]

that is awsome!!! i am dying to see how this turns out as i really do wat to switch to led for my SOG and mothers....so far it looks positive...any negative issues that you have encountered yet? hows the elec bill monthly?

 

[CaliKind72]

that is awsome!!! i am dying to see how this turns out as i really do wat to switch to led for my SOG and mothers....so far it looks positive...any negative issues that you have encountered yet? hows the elec bill monthly?

so far so good, the only issue i had was in the beginning when i hung the light too close. as soon as i raised the light to the correct distance, it was all good. no heat to deal with and pretty simple plug and grow. my electric bill looked the same, i did not notice any difference, but it hasn't been that long and my bill comes every 2 months, so i will keep an eye on it to see how much the electricity costs to run this thing. its supposed to be 70% less than a traditional system.

 

[CaliPho3niX]

Oh yeah, CK, the large thick (and *sharp* looking) leaves are normal for the Blueberry, at least mine. They actually resemble more sativa/hybrid leaves but the plant stays nice and tight. The buds look kinda sativa-ish too, longer & spear-like but in tight indica-style colas. Weird plant but she's a beaut, gotta give it up to DJ...

EDIT: Y'know, I'm looking at your newer pics and it's hard to tell but a couple of those plants look damn similar to my Purple Kush, right down to the super-bushiness, impossibly tight internodes and the three-fingers at the top... those are 3, right?

Either way, lookin' good...

 

[Vapedogg223]

It's tough to tell from the pics...they look like single bladed leaves? I've seen that from clones taken during flowering...maybe some kind of stress? Do you have some way of monitoring your environment to see what's happening with temps and RH throughout he day?

 

[Mixman812]

so far so good, the only issue i had was in the beginning when i hung the light too close. as soon as i raised the light to the correct distance, it was all good. no heat to deal with and pretty simple plug and grow. my electric bill looked the same, i did not notice any difference, but it hasn't been that long and my bill comes every 2 months, so i will keep an eye on it to see how much the electricity costs to run this thing. its supposed to be 70% less than a traditional system.

Cool bro....you have an awsome setup going there....quality, yeild, etc are supposed to be top notch with those lights....im growing NL in soil but im still not sold on the SOG/hydro with led yet.....it seems that it would take longer to flower in that method with LED...but who knows....thats why im excited to see how it turns out for you...i dont mind the price for the lights as much...its just the quality im concerned about...thanks for being a guinea pig lol

 

[CaliPho3niX]

Vape, I was curious about that myself. I suspected my PK was mid-flower since about 3 days after I brought the clone home, just chalked it up as being 'retarded'. Eventually I managed to get 3 surviving cuts off of her, 2/3 ended up growing into prime examples of what a PK *should* look like, the third was similar to her mom (funky & stunted, stuck in mid-flower limbo).

I figured if it was a genetic problem I wouldn't have been able to 'revert' the babies like I did, looks like I might've been right.

And CaliK, I'll try and grab some pics of my BB tonite (just tucked the babies in for the day), I've been putting it off until the buds fill in a little but I think it's high time... (yes, pun intended )

 

[Vapedogg223]

That's cool bro! If they were taken from a flowering plant they can sometimes do all kinds of strange things...some people prefer them because the resulting plants can be extremely bushy with many more tips than usual!

 

[CaliKind72]

here are some new pics! i thought i had 2 ruby reds and 2 blueberry clones, but all 4 look the same to me now that they have grown, so either i made a mistake somewhere or the guy at the store just gave me all the same strain... either way, i am happy with what i have.
i am growing in soil, natural ventilation, watering once every 2-3 days and i have my g8-450 led light on 18 hours a day (i started at 16 hours/day, then took it up to 18 hours after a few weeks). i could switch to flowering now, but i want to let these guys get even bigger as i am not worried about the time it takes to grow. anyone have an idea why these leaves are getting so large and not in the typical 5-7 leave pattern?
peace,
calikind

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[CaliPho3niX]

They still look like they were cut from a flowering plant, my original Purple Kush was the same way. She never really branched out, just grew leaf upon leaf and the nodes were all probably 1/4"-1/2" apart, way tight.

It wasn't until I was able to get a clone off of her (3 actually) and fortunately 2 out of 3 grew out of that funk and turned into nice, normal looking plants. Maybe you could try the same thing and hope for a better 2nd generation.

And you're probably right, unless both strains came from the same grower and he has a nasty habit of taking all of his cuts from flowering plants, they do look like they're all the same. Only sucks that you didn't get what you paid for but hopefully it's all dank anyway...

 

[CaliKind72]

They still look like they were cut from a flowering plant, my original Purple Kush was the same way. She never really branched out, just grew leaf upon leaf and the nodes were all probably 1/4"-1/2" apart, way tight.

It wasn't until I was able to get a clone off of her (3 actually) and fortunately 2 out of 3 grew out of that funk and turned into nice, normal looking plants. Maybe you could try the same thing and hope for a better 2nd generation.

And you're probably right, unless both strains came from the same grower and he has a nasty habit of taking all of his cuts from flowering plants, they do look like they're all the same. Only sucks that you didn't get what you paid for but hopefully it's all dank anyway...

so are you saying that if i want to take clones of these plants i should do it before they start flowering?
do you know the science behind that?
thanks again for the help!
CK