First LED Grow - Small Buds?

curbcheck

curbcheck

New Member
Hello! I am 40 days into flower and beginning to worry that my buds are really puny. :confused: I was hoping to get some feedback from fellow LED/Hydro/SCROG growers on how my plants look (given my specific setup). Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

- DS300w Advanced LED at 20"
- Suspended Planter Ebb&Flow - 15 minutes every 3.5 hours
- 2 x 2 Tray, 20gal Res
- BPN 3-Part
- Five plant SCROG
- Mystery clones (I've seen what this mother produces in other grows... fantastic)
- 77 degrees
- 40% humidity

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Thank you!
 
I appreciate it, dudes. Hopefully someone out there has experience with a single Advanced LED SCROG grow. Not sure what to do..

They almost seem too frosty! Where's the growth? :/
 
Have you checked the root mass? They could be rootbound with 5 plants in a 2x2 tray

How long is this strain supposed to flower for? 40 days is very early, my 100% indica LA Confidential is 45-56 days and that is almost as early as your gonna get. Most Indica Dominants take 7-10 weeks so give it some time, they are already frosty as hell bro. Those plants still look like they have some time and the buds bulk up the most during the last two weeks.

Do you check your ph? & Do you have any air stones in your Res?

SteveHman is very familiar with these LED's and has had fantastic results, I would try contacting him
 
Stoned4daze61 said:
Have you checked the root mass? They could be rootbound with 5 plants in a 2x2 tray

How long is this strain supposed to flower for? 40 days is very early, my 100% indica LA Confidential is 45-56 days and that is almost as early as your gonna get. Most Indica Dominants take 7-10 weeks so give it some time, they are already frosty as hell bro. Those plants still look like they have some time and the buds bulk up the most during the last two weeks.

Do you check your ph? & Do you have any air stones in your Res?

SteveHman is very familiar with these LED's and has had fantastic results, I would try contacting him
Click to expand...
Thanks, Stoned! My buddy flowers this strain for about 9 - 10 weeks, I'm just concerned that I'm behind the curve at this point. My pH is steady at 5.8, PPM ~1230 and I do have one air stone in the res. I'm also very anal about res changes - every 10 days no matter what.

I looked inside the tray yesterday, and beautiful white roots have definitely filled the entire bottom half of the space. The netpots are suspended about 2" from the bottom of the tray... Not sure how much room the roots need, or what rootbound looks like. Research time. :)
 
Well 23-30 days days is plenty of time to bulk up. The last 14 days you will really notice the increase in size.

Rootbound is when the roots simply fill the container they are in and are in need of more root space.

I've seen a single plant fill a 5 gallon bucket in a DWC hydroponic setup.

It's sitting on a 20 gallon Res so the tray can't be more then 10 gallons correct?

If so, with 5 plants each one has about 2 gallons of rootspace which isn't much. How long did you veg for?
 
Stoned4daze61 said:
Well 23-30 days days is plenty of time to bulk up. The last 14 days you will really notice the increase in size.

Rootbound is when the roots simply fill the container they are in and are in need of more root space.

I've seen a single plant fill a 5 gallon bucket in a DWC hydroponic setup.

It's sitting on a 20 gallon Res so the tray can't be more then 10 gallons correct?

If so, with 5 plants each one has about 2 gallons of rootspace which isn't much. How long did you veg for?
Click to expand...
I believe it's 2 x 2 x 4 = 16 gallons in the tray during floods (the res is 27 gallons total). I vegged small clones for 20 days until they reached the screen at 12". It took longer than expected, because I was being a sissy about nute strength and feeding schedules.:bitingnails:

You're making a good point. This is definitely something I will change next time around. Like I said, the tray is not completely filled to the brim with roots, just the lower half and well below the flood line. I guess the question is, if they are rootbound, is there anything I can do about it?

Thanks again for your help!
 
So that is a little over 3 gallons per plants. That should "work" but next round I would definitely designate more space for roots.

Is there much you can do about it at this point? That is hard to say! Are you willing to drill holes into the tray and into the reservoir lid so the roots can grow down into the aerated solution like a DWC grow?

I don't think you should necessarily do that because trays are expensive, your yield should be pretty decent so I would just stick it out this time.

Have you thought of replacing the tray with another tote for future grows? Buy a larger tote for a new res and place the one you are using now on top with the netpots filled with hydroton and just top feed until the roots reach far enough down into the tote for the ebb & flow. That will give you a lot more rootspace
 
I have the same l.e.d. light. You don't have enough light in your grow room. Add some cfl's and it will help A LOT! Try side lighting too. As well as adding cfl's up top. I made the same mistake and bought in to the led hype. Use your led for your clones/seedlings. I'm using all cfl's now and the results are a lot better. sorry, i spent the big money on the l.e.d.'s too! Oh and your lights look too high and this will make your plants stretch. Also how how many times did you top your plants? But they do look nice and frosty! Good luck to you my friend
 
kamaka said:
I have the same l.e.d. light. You don't have enough light in your grow room. Add some cfl's and it will help A LOT! Try side lighting too. As well as adding cfl's up top. I made the same mistake and bought in to the led hype. Use your led for your clones/seedlings. I'm using all cfl's now and the results are a lot better. sorry, i spent the big money on the l.e.d.'s too! Oh and your lights look too high and this will make your plants stretch. Also how how many times did you top your plants? But they do look nice and frosty! Good luck to you my friend
Click to expand...

I don't think that is his problem. Over a 2x2 tray he has about 68-69 watts/ sq. foot. SteveHman was hitting 1 Gram per watt using around 40 watts/ sq. foot. What makes you say these LED's don't perform well ? A Gram per watt is pretty impressive

You should have it around 18-22 inches from the canopy
 
Hey Stoned, 1 gram per watt in damn good. I wish i would have got that with my harvest! Once i added more light on my second harvest it really made a big difference. I'm just not sold on the L.E.D.s for all stages of growing. I used a light meter to get my height and it really got weak at 18" so i dropped it down. Maybe I need to pick up some newer growing books.Cuz i've always read that at that height it would make them stretch. And from personal experience ive found that to be true. But then again I am an Island boy and still willing to listen and learn more from people with more experience growing indoors.
 
Alot of bud growth comes at the end of the cycle, the last two or three weeks. You're just getting there now so don't worry. If you're going to lower the light, do it slowly in stages. Watch the leaves for a few days before lowering some more.
 
I like this thread, everyone puts in there two cents to help each other. But there does not seen to be any big egos or shit talking. Just good people helping one another. Glad i found this site
 

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