Fluffy LED nugs - Any hope for density?

[Southerncough]

Hi everyone,
new grower here with a density dilemma...but first I'll fill you in with what I've done so far:

On my first grow I had low expectations, I put some bag seed in miracle grow mix under CFLs and pretty much kept them alive long enough in a closet to produce a little herb. Wound up harvesting a few ounces of fluffy nugs that smelled like hay, but they got me lit and I was happy with that (no intention to sell anyways). Again, was being realistic with myself and wanted to practice on some bag seed before moving on to reputable strains.

2nd grow underway with several nice strains (northern lights auto, purple haze, and a CBD strain called therapy) in 5 gal fabric pots full of coco, using GH 3 part nutes + Cal Mag under some Chinese LEDs off ebay (1x300W, 1x600W, & 1x800W) in a 2'x4' space. It's bright as f*ck in there! (or at least I thought).

The girls seemed quite happy with the lights during veg and early flower, however when I cut down the Auto Northern Lights last week and they felt very dense until I dried them out and they were quite airy and fluffy. Filled up 5 (jelly) jars but only weighed 1.5oz

After researching causes, I ruled out bad genetics, poor root health, and nutrient deficiencies.
Which leaves light and heat...and my dilemma...

I know I could get denser buds with HPS, but I live in year-round warm/humid weather and am
struggling with my temps as it is; my garden stays around 85 degrees with an oscillating fan, small dehumidifier and LEDs running, which I understand is really pushing it on temps.

So my question is...has anyone had any luck either with getting density out of an LED or have any luck running HPS in warm climate without heat stress or worse?

Any recommendations for an LED that wont break the bank?

Any tips from warm weather growers?

Thanks everyone for your advice and feedback!

-Southern Cough

 

[CaliBoy559]

Exhaust fan could help

 

[Kalimaki420]

SC

To much heat let the nuggs get fluffy.
I grow with LED for over 2 years now and don't think you could have denser nuggs with HPS.

You should have plenty off light for 4x2 at least 500W from wall.
For heat reason I grow at night.
Hey smell happens sometimes I think it is if rh is rising during drying.

Follow some coco journals like Cultivator could help.

Key is environment, air exchange and get the roots going.

 

[Southerncough]

Thanks guys!
I forgot to mention I'm running a charcoal filter (forgot the name, but it's about 10" dia x 24" long) with a 6" inline duct booster (from home depot) that pushes the hot, filtered air out through the top of my box (via corrugated 6" dryer hose). I have a series of small intake holes at the bottom of the box covered with filter fabric to allow fresh air to enter through the bottom. I don't know the CFM, but maybe upsizing the fan could move more hot air? The existing set up has definitely done it's job with odor control!

The cabinet is 2'Wx4'Lx6' high on 3" casters, so there's a cool dark gap underneath to draw cool air from.
The beauty of it being so stealthy is I can leave my garage door wide open day or night and it just looks like a benign wooden tool cabinet. It definitely won't be as stealthy with an AC hooked up to it!

My RH was really high (above 60%). I was using damprid buckets, but those get expensive when you're refilling several of them week in and week out, so I added a cheap dehumidifier off amazon last week and now it's stabilized around 45%.
As for temperature was planning to let this grow finish out on my remaining non-auto strains (purple haze and therapy) and then take a break until the fall as my garage temp will stay in triple digits from May-September. Figured it's be too much of a struggle to keep cool without investing $$$. There is a window in my garage that I could put an AC in, but then it kinda looks junky (faces street) and could raise questions or even catch the eye of a code inspector wondering if there's something going on/un-permitted remodeling etc etc...
Sounds paranoid, but there are a lot Jamaicans in my neighborhood that do all kinds of crazy shit to their homes...like illegal daycares, 15 people living in a 1500sf 3/2, etc etc. I can't be the only garden in the area!

Also, the roots have been rockin in the mesh bags. I can't even push my finger into the soil they're so thick!
Should I have gone with a bigger container? Thinking my next run will be fewer plants in larger pots. Maybe two SCROG trained in 10 gal pots? Been testing out different strains to see what I want to commit to on attempt #3.

Loving the roller coaster of troubleshooting, learning new stuff every day, improving techniques, and of course harvesting the fruits of your labor is the cherry on top!

 

[Southerncough]

SC
I grow with LED for over 2 years now and don't think you could have denser nuggs with HPS.

Hey Darkgrow,
which LEDs are you using?

 

[Kalimaki420]

I understand any security concerns.
The pot has to fit grow-time, every month is a gal so 1 month veg 2 month bloom is 3 gal roughly.
If anything is on par yield will be determined by light W no matter of plant count and pot size.

To much heat and over 60% rh get you fluffy buds, had this with my tent grow before I got dehumidifier.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

I have grown lots of rock hard buds under the Mars II Reflector series. They are a sponsor here. This is the light i use. Mars Hydro. Works great and not too expensive. 2 years of use with no issues yet. Smokesara is the rep. Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion.

The proof is in the pudding Thread: Mars Hydro 400w Mile High Club

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Take a read of this link - Possible to have too much light?

 

[bobrown14]

Fluffy nugs... not from too much light, not from LED.... not from heat or RH.

Fluffy buds only 2 reasons. Not proper nutrients/soil and/or genetics.

I grow strictly in soil organic so can't help with salts...

I've grown monsters with rock hard nugs in the summer with temps +100 and rh60-80%. Only thing to worry about with high temps and high RH is mold and bugs. Solution for that is spray VEG plants with a Horse Tail fern tea.

I would open up the intake (remove the filter material) to increase air exchange ... you probably have enough but do that in leau of AC. This has nothing to do wit airy buds tho... just an observation. You want a good bit of air flow, keeps PM/mold in check and plants happy.

 

[Southerncough]

How many of these mars lights are you running?

 

[Southerncough]

Fluffy nugs... not from too much light, not from LED.... not from heat or RH.

Fluffy buds only 2 reasons. Not proper nutrients/soil and/or genetics.

I grow strictly in soil organic so can't help with salts...

I've grown monsters with rock hard nugs in the summer with temps +100 and rh60-80%. Only thing to worry about with high temps and high RH is mold and bugs. Solution for that is spray VEG plants with a Horse Tail fern tea.

I would open up the intake (remove the filter material) to increase air exchange ... you probably have enough but do that in leau of AC. This has nothing to do wit airy buds tho... just an observation. You want a good bit of air flow, keeps PM/mold in check and plants happy.

Thanks man,
Looked through some of your GLOG and I'm really digging your living soil grow! I'm wrapping up my first round of coco and it has it's pros and cons. Now considering trying organic next as I'm setting up compost/organic for my outdoor vegetable garden. When you think about it as what you put unto your body/lungs do you want something natural or synthetic?
(That's one of the biggest arguments for medicating with herb in the first place! You want a pure natural flower verses a nasty pill from a lab? (that will wreak havoc on your body and will destroy your life)

My biggest concern where I live is that organic = bugs...LOTS of bugs (good and bad).
If you compost, expect everything from roaches, ants, millipedes, earwigs, rolly polies, etc etc.

Looks like my next move for this grow is some bigger intake holes and maybe upgrading my cheap (propeller) duct fan to an actual in-line blower style fan?

 

[pizzaguy]

My cab is the same size as yours and I run 2 Mars 300 and a Mars 600. The 600 replaced another Mars 300 which went in a new cab. I had some airy buds at first but now are firming up nice. I think better genetics made the difference. Check on ebay for the Mars Hydro LEDs. Great light for the price!

 

[pizzaguy]

Forgot to add that I also switched to organic soil...no bottled nutes! Best move I ever made...just add water and make sure your environment is under control and you are good to go!! Best tasting herb I ever smoked.

 

[bobrown14]

Thanks man,
Looked through some of your GLOG and I'm really digging your living soil grow! I'm wrapping up my first round of coco and it has it's pros and cons. Now considering trying organic next as I'm setting up compost/organic for my outdoor vegetable garden. When you think about it as what you put unto your body/lungs do you want something natural or synthetic?
(That's one of the biggest arguments for medicating with herb in the first place! You want a pure natural flower verses a nasty pill from a lab? (that will wreak havoc on your body and will destroy your life)

My biggest concern where I live is that organic = bugs...LOTS of bugs (good and bad).
If you compost, expect everything from roaches, ants, millipedes, earwigs, rolly polies, etc etc.

Looks like my next move for this grow is some bigger intake holes and maybe upgrading my cheap (propeller) duct fan to an actual in-line blower style fan?

Nailed it bro, on the health thing ... think of it this way. If you garden veggies organically why not do the exact same thing with Cannabis? It's going to be more natural for you since you garden outdoors .. the only difference is you're in containers... significant challenges long haul but doable.
I ran no-till 5-7 gal containers for 10-15 rounds used the soil over, just dug a hole where the old root ball was and plop in the next round.

I'm still doing that but I go from a #2 Nursery pot into 7gal and add amendments at transplant. I'm a lazy gardener so I'm always trying to cut down on my work load! hahaha. I'm retired after all so yeah.. gardening is hard work! So I'm still no-till but I'm replacing 1/3 of the soil with the new root ball and new soil then top dress in for extra nutrients and use compost teas and malted grain teas to do the same thing that the hydro guys do with salts but it's organic... like this .. difference between home grown tomatoes vs hydroponic tomatoes at the store... yeah... huge diff.


Organic bud is way better tasting.. I can't smoke and specially VAPE chem grown.. I can smell the difference before anything else. I got spoiled right quick after my first round. The organic meds will be stronger and the taste is much better ... what's not to like?

We compost all the time.... have several compost piles outdoors and 2 vermi-compost bins we put kitchen veggie scraps in.

Yes there's critters.. what we do is rotate the bins, next season we start using the 2nd bin. The first one (165gal) over wintered and is basically pest free and the only bugs left are good bugs ... the baddies leave or freeze or the worms get them. Once spring fires up here in a few weeks the worms hatch and then last seasons compost bin will get cleaned up. The worms make short work of just about everything. Then the food runs out and they go away or hibernate.

The inline fan is nice and then you can add a filter ... neighbors will not complain! Here where we are, I worry more about theft.


Start thinking about growing flowers that bloom at night and smell up the neighborhood.. covers the smell of canna.. There are several plants you can grow that do that. One is Nicotiana - it blooms at night and has a strong sweet smell. It will cover up the smell of a decently large grow. Only need a few plants. You will notice that the canna plants sometimes generate a strong smell at night at different times of growth.


GL with your project.. stealth box was were it all began for me... you do know bigger IS inevitable right?! hahaha!