Bud's Does A SIP Featuring The ViparSpectra KS5000

[Buds Buddy]

Can I ask what the other hole in the wood is for?Another intake maybe? CL

I had 2 - 4x4 tents in the past & had separate exhaust for each tent. I've thought about using it for intake air in the winter months during flower instead of an AC. I think it would work with the intake hooked to a T-Stat.

 

[CaptainLucky]

I had 2 - 4x4 tents in the past & had separate exhaust for each tent. I've thought about using it for intake air in the winter months during flower instead of an AC. I think it would work with the intake hooked to a T-Stat.

Sounds logical to me but I’m still new to this and I’m getting ready to start my first indoors grow. CL

 

[Buds Buddy]

Time to shine some light on the subject. I'm going to do my own unboxing & light hanging before I post some pics from the Viparspectra website. Always better to see the real thing if you ask me. But the website info is always way better on details. They should be.... Right ? They invented it.

Ok, first off, I have to say I was extremely impressed with the shipping time. I got a message saying it was shipped that day & 2 days later it was at the door. Almost like they drove it here their selves.
So I unbox the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 & find that it's packaged very, very well. Another plus in my books. I've had lights arrive damaged before because the companies didn't packaged them good enough. Kudo's to Vipar for the great packaging. The light has each of the Light Strip Bars held good & snug in thick Styrofoam. The other light parts are boxed separately & also protected with Styrofoam. A delivery service would have to run this box over with a truck to damaged it.
When I pulled the KS5000 out of the box I expected it to be heavy like most lights are. This bad boy I can lift with one finger. Gotta love that !
Here's a few pics of the Viparspectra KS5000

And here we have the contents of the other box. It contains the Driver, Power Cord, Ethernet Cord for Daisy Chaining Lights, a 240 Volt Adapter, Hanging Wires with Clips & Ratchet Rope Hangers for raising the light. Everything you need for easy installation. It just doesn't get any easier than this. I think it took me all of 10 minutes to hang the light, by myself.

Continued in next post..............

 

[Buds Buddy]

I really like the fact that this light is so lightweight. It only weighs 12.8 lbs. & it being foldable sure makes it easy to carry to the tent, unfold & install in just minutes.
Here's a few pics of the KS5000 hanging & ready for take off.

In the next 4 pics I'll show the light at different brightness levels. If you look at the bottom of each pic it makes it easy to see the light differences.
Here it is at just 25% power. I should mention the KS5000 draws 500 True Watts from the wall. So at 25% it's only 125 watts which works well for germinating seeds.

At 50% it gets a little brighter & pulls 250 watts which is great for seedlings & Early Veg.

At 75% I feel like the cops just shined a spotlight in my face. This baby is really bright so I should get some great penetration. Damned, that made me laugh. Sounds like sex with a light.... lol. Hope you all have a sense of humor.

100%.... Oh Holy Chit.... I think there's a whole swat team out there lighting up the whole house. Yes, this light is Super Bright. Much brighter than most lights I've used.
Should make some excellent buds with this much light.

There's also an EXT position on the Dimmer, which I never use. I consider it Overdrive Mode. I don't really feel I need to push my lights or plants that hard to accomplish my goals so I wont be using it this grow.
The KS5000 is equipped with Samsung LM301H Diodes (792 pcs. of 3000K & 432 pcs. of 5000K) & OSRAM 660nm Diodes (86 pcs.).
It has a 4x4 Flowering Footprint, but could also be used in a 5x5 tent as well.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here are some pics with some of the technical information on the KS5000. There's much more info on the Viparspectra website about this light & all their other lights for that matter. They have lights in all different price ranges that can fit anyone's budget. Please visit their website for more detailed info @ ViparSpectra KS5000 500W LED Grow Light .
Should you find a light you like & decide to purchase..... Just tell them, Buds Buddy sent you. Just kidding. I doubt they know who I am....lol.
So here's a few pics from the website to pique your interest.

Hmmm, this last pic has got me thinking. I have an IV pole I could use to hang the driver. I also have post like the one pictured for holding up photography backgrounds. I might move my driver outside the tent if it starts getting too hot.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Sooooo......, here is the Gorilla Glue Auto I've been talking about. I started this girl about 5-6 weeks ago. Haven't kept good track as my wife's recent passing messed with my head for a while. Accurate time doesn't really matter anyway since it's done when the Trichomes say it's done. I've been growing this gal in a 2x4 tent under a 300 watt LED.

Sure hope @ViparSpectra doesn't mind me finishing this Auto up while we veg the "RUNTZ PUNCH" for this journal.
I figure it's just an added bonus for them & keeps the interest of growers tagging along. Waiting for a seedling to get big enough for up-pot can get a little boring at times. But watching Buds form & a seedling starting out at the same time keeps the interest flowing.

So here she is... Miss GG Auto under the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 LED. It's running at 100% at approximately 24" - 26" above the canopy. This is my first auto in a SIP Bucket. Actually, it's my first Auto in about 3 years. She's in a Store bought 5 gal. SIP. I'm feeding her with 2 ml. of Cal-Mag & 5 gr. per gal. of Maxi-Bloom. She's currently emptying the reservoir about 3 times every 2 days. I try to keep my res. topped off or I should say refilled every time I see the float stick say it's empty. I like to let it empty before refilling to give it plenty of air in between to dry the soil some & provide needed oxygen to the roots.

Next post (later today) I'll be dropping the seed !

 

[StoneOtter]

Brilliant!

 

[CaptainLucky]

Time to shine some light on the subject. I'm going to do my own unboxing & light hanging before I post some pics from the Viparspectra website. Always better to see the real thing if you ask me. But the website info is always way better on details. They should be.... Right ? They invented it.

Ok, first off, I have to say I was extremely impressed with the shipping time. I got a message saying it was shipped that day & 2 days later it was at the door. Almost like they drove it here their selves.
So I unbox the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 & find that it's packaged very, very well. Another plus in my books. I've had lights arrive damaged before because the companies didn't packaged them good enough. Kudo's to Vipar for the great packaging. The light has each of the Light Strip Bars held good & snug in thick Styrofoam. The other light parts are boxed separately & also protected with Styrofoam. A delivery service would have to run this box over with a truck to damaged it.
When I pulled the KS5000 out of the box I expected it to be heavy like most lights are. This bad boy I can lift with one finger. Gotta love that !
Here's a few pics of the Viparspectra KS5000

And here we have the contents of the other box. It contains the Driver, Power Cord, Ethernet Cord for Daisy Chaining Lights, a 240 Volt Adapter, Hanging Wires with Clips & Ratchet Rope Hangers for raising the light. Everything you need for easy installation. It just doesn't get any easier than this. I think it took me all of 10 minutes to hang the light, by myself.

Continued in next post..............

That’s a good looking light Buds, can’t wait to see your results with it. CL

 

[HashGirl]

Thanks for the tag, Buds! I've never followed one of your grows before so I'll stay and see if I can learn anything.

I have a question about SIPs. Are there any other benefits than increased size? I don't need a big yielding plant as it's just me that uses what I grow.

 

[StoneOtter]

She sure looks nice in there! I like the side rails! How did you fasten them?

 

[GratefulBud]

Thanks for the tag Buds!
Your tutorial and setup is excellent. I am intrigued by the SIP method and will definitely follow you on this journey.

Hope the new year brings you peace and tranquility.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Thanks for the tag, Buds! I've never followed one of your grows before so I'll stay and see if I can learn anything.

I have a question about SIPs. Are there any other benefits than increased size? I don't need a big yielding plant as it's just me that uses what I grow.

It seems overall that the biggest gain in using SIP's is for size & yield. But, I think it also speeds up Veg time once the roots hit the res. It probably cuts a week or two off your grow time from start to harvest. You say you don't need a big yield. But consider the fact that you only have to do 1/2 as many grows to keep you in supply which cuts down on your overall cost. I can do 1 grow of 3 plants a year & be supplied all year long if I choose to. That would yield me 3-4 lbs. so that's an oz. per week to smoke. Way more than enough.

 

[Buds Buddy]

She sure looks nice in there! I like the side rails! How did you fasten them?

Are you talking about the closet wire shelves I use on the sides of my tent ? I just get them in position with ratchet rope hangers & then Zip Tie them to the poles. They make the tent really sturdy & help with places to hang things.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Thanks for the tag Buds!
Your tutorial and setup is excellent. I am intrigued by the SIP method and will definitely follow you on this journey.

Hope the new year brings you peace and tranquility.

Thanks GB. Glad to see you join in. Hope you have a Great New Year also !

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here's a link to the VIPARSPECTRA KS5000 thread I just came across. I myself need to check it out as I haven't yet.

ViparSpectra KS5000 Perfect for a 4x4 or 5x5 Tent?

The KS series KS5000 is the largest light among of the ViparSpectra LED grow lights. It is designed to fully cover a 4ft x 4ft grow space with its large frame size of 40x40x1.5 inches. With such a big light, you can also apply the KS5000 in a 5x5 tent. Now you can preview the KS5000 in a 4ft x...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Stunger]

Are you talking about the closet wire shelves I use on the sides of my tent ? I just get them in position with ratchet rope hangers & then Zip Tie them to the poles. They make the tent really sturdy & help with places to hang things.

They do look great for that purpose.

 

[stardawg17]

Hey buds thanks for the tag

Love the setup tutorial! Already learning

I hope 2023 brings you peace and joy

 

[Buds Buddy]

Well I said I'd start my seed tonight.... but almost missed it. Smoked a Fatty & sat down to watch some TV. Next thing you know..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Boom, Boom.... Out goes the lights !
I did get up in time to drop my seed though. I really wanted this journal to start on New Years day to make things easy to keep track of. So to no more avail..... Here's the way I start my plants from seed. I don't do any of that Fancy Dancy stuff like Soaking or paper towels, etc.
First of all I always use Fox Farms Ocean Forest straight from the bag. No added Perlite or Happy Frog. Just straight Ocean Forest.

I prefer to start my seeds in 1 gal. pots over solo cups for 2 reasons. First it's much harder to over water. Second, I only have to up-pot once into my SIP container when it's ready.
Obviously, I fill my 1 gal. pot with FFOF next.

Next I drop my seed. I won these seeds in a contest from @Herbies Seeds so I'm tagging them in case they want to check things out.

So when I drop my seed I use my little finger & poke a hole in the soil finger nail deep. That's plenty deep enough.

Then just cover the seed with soil, pat down lightly & give it about 12 oz. of water ..... mostly around the outer edges & let the moisture seep into the center where the seed is. I may or may not need to water again before the seed pops. Most my seeds pop in 2-4 days. I have had some that took a week.
I have about a 95% success rate starting my seeds this way. I have about a 50% success rate soaking or paper towel method. Nothing against the other methods. If it works for you.... Go For It ! I just do better my way.

Now we just sit back & wait for the Grow Show to begin.

OK, so let's take a sneak Peak at my 12 gal. SIP Plans. Just going to show what I'll be using now as the build will be next weekend. But it should give you a good idea of where I'm going with this anyway.

I'm using 2 - 12 gal. Totes for this project. One will be the SIP Grow Pot & the other will be the External 12-Gal. Reservoir. The internal reservoir is a 12 qt. Storage Container.

The 12 qt. Storage Container is damned near a perfect fit inside the 12 gal. tote.

Continued to other components.....

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here's a pic of all components for the build.

This 3/8" Hose & Barbed Fittings is for my Overflow Hole.

Here are the Float Components to determine my water height in the Internal Reservoir.

My Fill Tube parts... just in case the Floats mess up.

Yes, I plan to use Ping Pong Balls & a Wooden Stick for my Dip Stick.

So far this is the best I've come up with for a Drain Pan.... but have other ideas.

I had this old 70's Show nightstand in my shed so thought it would be perfect for my Gravity Fed External Res.

Also, building a rolling cart for my 12 Gal. SIP to sit on. Not sure how well it will roll, but going to try it out anyway.
Hate to see this 1/2" Plywood Shelving go to waste.

That's all for now. Adios All !

 

[Buds Buddy]

Hey buds thanks for the tag

Love the setup tutorial! Already learning

I hope 2023 brings you peace and joy

I try to just show the way I do things. Everybody, finds what works best for them at some point. So far this has been the best for me. Hope it helps someone out along the way.