Icemud's Far Red LED Journal - Flower Trigger Manipulation - Budmaster LED Lights

[Fuzzy Duck]

Interesting project at work Ice 1/2 lb more than HPS & 40% less energy well that tickles me in the right place


I'm fine Ice just been taking some chill time from the forums kind of get burnt out once in awhile & need a little rest to pep me up again also working on new ideas for next year as well with a slightly bigger tent to which i was thinking 600 w air cooled hood set up but with all that pro work led stuff ya mentioned...

It got me thinking again !

 

[Icemud]

Interesting project at work Ice 1/2 lb more than HPS & 40% less energy well that tickles me in the right place


I'm fine Ice just been taking some chill time from the forums kind of get burnt out once in awhile & need a little rest to pep me up again also working on new ideas for next year as well with a slightly bigger tent to which i was thinking 600 w air cooled hood set up but with all that pro work led stuff ya mentioned...

It got me thinking again !

Thats good you are well! Happy to hear that! I go through "phases" too where I need a break from the forums and then after a few weeks away or limiting my participation, then I come back with new energy.

I used air cooled and HPS and did very well with them, but the energy bills were killing me as they were always about $300-350 a month, now I actually have 3 tents instead of 2, and with LED my bill generally sits around $150 a month. Heat is still an issue for me, as it was with both LED and HPS, but I also have small grow tents, and no environmental controls either, no AC and some days when its hot, all I can do is turn down the lights and hope it cools down. Yield has gone down slightly with LED, but I also am not scrogging, using old soil and not being as precise with my feedings, ph'ing and other things so I imagine if I put as much care into my current grows as I did with my 1st 2 grow which yielded the highest, I'm sure the results would be very close if not better

The LED's we are developing at work eventually will be designed also for home grows, but that is probably at least 2 years out from being available. Right now they are being designed exclusively for our 6 acre facility.

 

[GrizzWald]

Just skipping through.. I thought legalisation is a good thing. What's the problem? I'm here in Aus jealous but you are bummed about it. Confused...

 

[Icemud]

Just skipping through.. I thought legalisation is a good thing. What's the problem? I'm here in Aus jealous but you are bummed about it. Confused...

Its not really the right legislature, that's why I have been so against it.

Its hardly legalization.


Some things I don't favor...

-Even though we can "legally" grow 6 plants now, it allows cities to ban outdoor growing even if you have acres to do so in and it also allows cities to require you purchase a license to grow your 6 "legal" plants. Some cities have already moved towards this requirement. Not true legalization IMO. Also, when you typically apply for a license, this generally is something that involves your information to be on a public list somewhere, and the legislation offers no protections to that information.. what if your medical insurance company gets it? or your school? or lenders? No protection.

- The taxes that are generated go to all the wrong places. None goes to k-12 education or schools, none to infrastructure, none to vets, none to medicare, none to the homeless, none to the general fund, none to transportation or water,.... but it makes sure to very hardilly pad the pockets of the highway patrol, drug counselors, and pay for marijuana dui program research, basically most of the money goes to those groups who have persecuted pot users for decdes.

-It destroys patient right in the way that now they must see a primary care doctor to get their medical rec, and most primary doctors are prohibited from perscribing none FDA approved meds... a big catch 22. Now instead of having a paper rec, you have to register with the state, and there is nothing allowing you to deny a request for your records... they only notify you of the request.

-It allowed for cities and counties to control their zoning, and approximately 90% of the cities in california have current bans on recreational business, many also ban dispensaries, cultivation, any commercial aspect, so there are only about 15 cities right now that even will allow for licenses to allow legal businesses... again its not legalization if most of california cant even have stores you can buy it from.

-Prop 64 does protect medical marijuana users kids from Child protective services, but offers no protection to recreational users... so yes.. there is a chance using MJ legally can also cost you your kids.

-You can't smoke MJ anywhere outdoors in public, only inside your private residence.

-No longer can businesses offer free promotions therefore all the cannabis cups, conferences etc will no longer have give aways and free bees.

The list goes on and on... this is why I tried to help push the truth to people that this was the true wool over the sheeps eyes legislation.. but I would guess that most people only read the little 5 line paragraph on their voting packet they recieved, which made it seem like everything would be rainbows and unicorns... so now we are stuck with it...


The kicker is that most retail stores, wont even be able to get licenses until 2018, and that is only if the cities they are in allow it, which right now its less than 20 out of 430 cities in Cali...

Also... it screws the little guy, the grass roots growers, and anyone without Millions to spend from getting in the business. Because most cities banned any commercial or retail stores, and most even ban medical cultivation, land in permissable zones is very limited, and the costs of real estate for even a 1/2 acre is up around $1M, undeveloped. So just to be able to get into the market you have to be legal and licensed from the city and county, and also be state licensed... well hardly any cities are going to give licenses, which drove up demand and costs... so now unless you have millions... chances are you will have to remain underground...

Its horrible legislation.. I'm ashamed that it passed, and really was a bunch of corporate takeover disguised as a wolf in sheep clothing.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

That's the way it worked in Washington too after full legalization. Last May I had 3 med dispensaries that carried products I needed. In July when our new law took full effect all 3 had to close, as did the producer that made the oil I used. Now we have 3 rec stores that don't carry anything I can use for cancer treatment. What they do have would take as much work to doctor into form I can use as does growing my own and would cost 2x what I paid before. My doctor prescribed 15 plants (max allowed) but to treat cancer I need to grow more than that. I'm happy for rec users, but law is completely focused on tax revenue and effectively eliminated MMJ system that was working well before rec was legalized. So passage of legalization is mixed blessing for MMJ users. It's a step forward with some huge growing pains.

 

[Shawnee]

Hiya Ice,

I feel for you with the prop passing, 1 step forward 2 steps back in laws made by those who have no clue: same happening in my neck of the woods and I mourn deeply....I just want you to know that your pics have really improved greatly....I especially enjoy the ones that are close up in early flower....my favorite time of the growing cycle...Rock on, chi native, from your biggest Michigan fan....and congrats on those Cubbies.....!

My little bro lives in Shy Town and works for Nike....he went to game 7 in Cleveland....and was at the celebration in the city when 5 million showed up for the parade....and he took his 13 year old son, who plays baseball.....how perfect can it get......

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Ye i understand about conditions bud but we all do what we can to grow our beloved herb with a tweak here 'n' their to tame the odd issue.

I was wondering if you was allowed to talk about the environmental conditions of that recent project between LED & DE HPS mainly temp lights on/off, RH that sort of stuff perhaps Co2 was used to which i suspect the facilities is a vastly controlled grow area

It is just one of those questions i ask once in awhile to those various formidable growers & the work one i'm interested in... another piece of info to fuzzys jigsaw puzzle of the perfect conditions, got a base line tho !


So that just leaves the lighting, i know ya way up their with the tec stuff & make my brain hurts with all off the knowledge ya know

After the thinking bit last night & checking the BM led panels out from their site i was thinking off the OD9 or HPS9 panels both run around 400w give or take a little with around more or less same sort of PFFD reading OD9 was slightly better but cost a tad more over the new model HPS9 surprise, surprise even tho a slight change of spectrum between the two but leaning to HPS9 at present.

Why i thought of those two models mentioned was wattage used about the same as my 400 w hps set up with larger area of coverage hence a slightly bigger tent required, now the PFFD, PAR, UMOL etc will be far greater than the little ol 400w HPS so that should be bang for bucks on the investment with an increased yield in theory & no extra electric cost to what i have running at present blowing out the 600 w air cooled idea with a more simple set up !


Not sure on operating temps of the panels tho ?

 

[Icemud]

Happy Veterans Day!!!

I know we have quite a few Veterans here at 420 Magazine, and I want to say thank you for your sacrifice and for allowing us to have the greatest country in the world! Much love, respect and appreciation for all those that have given their lives, their commitment, time, and everything else that you had to give up to serve our wonderful nation! You are appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Mmm Budmaster HPS ah ya doing a grow with that Ice ?

You must have a led panel for every day off the week by now bud

 

[Icemud]

Mmm Budmaster HPS ah ya doing a grow with that Ice ?

You must have a led panel for every day off the week by now bud

Yea I decided to put them in my seed project tent, however once my current flowering tent is done, I may put the cobs into the seed project tent, and use the new HPS for the next flowering project still deciding

 

[Icemud]

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I'm pretty pissed off at my current grow... as its just not growing how I expected, and the old recycled soil has been giving me problems through the whole grow.

Well one of my tangies decided to drop all of its leaves over the last week, and pretty much died on me so i decided to cut her down. There was very little chance of it actually bouncing back and so I am drying it to see if I can even get any bud off her, (very little and might luck out with a 1/2 oz if I'm lucky.

All the other plants with the exception of the 2 mystery bagseeds are also not looking very happy, and all lost a good amount of leaves since last feeding. I think my soil not only has the nutrients out of balance, but also with all the composting of leaves I have been doing into the soil, it has built up quite a bit of humus, which holds water exceptionally well. Even though I have only been giving the plants very little water, it takes forever for the soil to dry out, and this lead to me overwatering the plants, and killing off their roots which is a huge part of the issues I am seeing.

Therefor over the next few weeks while this grow finishes I will be getting all new soil, but not sure if I am going to do a soil, soilless, coco coir or a blend. I was thinking about using docbud's kit too, but I have so many nutrients around I would rather just use them up before getting onto a new "regiment" of technique and soil and nutrients and such, so most likely I will just replicate my blend from the past, with part promix, part happy frog, some humus and worm castings. So most likely will be picking these up soon and getting it cooking.

Seems like 3 years out of soil is very good, but really about 1 1/2 years into it should have been my max.. as it seems to after that point got worse. I also will be looking to add some biochar and possibly perlite and lava rock to help give more air to the soil and hopefully help prevent overwatering which has been my nemesis lately.

Didn't take any photos at the moment as I'm pretty embarrased by my grow, as I've done beautiful grows in the past and this one is really ugly, except for the 2 mystery bag seeds. So I won't be able to really get any good results off this grow in terms of the Far Red use or not, so will have to use it again in the next grow and see what happens

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Yea I decided to put them in my seed project tent, however once my current flowering tent is done, I may put the cobs into the seed project tent, and use the new HPS for the next flowering project still deciding

I'll have to keep an eye on your sig for new links bud

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Don't skip out off the perlite bud it will certainly improve aeration !

How ever you could always change pots perhaps those fabric smart pots or what ever they are called these days, i've not used em myself as a question of being durable for many grows bothers me ?

But air pots may tickle ya in the right way with plenty of aeration...

Been awhile since i last recycled the soil/compost back when i was all organic etc mind you but i'd bin 25% off it after a grow & mix in 25% new stuff to help keep a balance... you might get into that idea Ice ?

Kind of playing around with the same thought for pure coco coir tho or i may just go back to organic roots for next year, still lots of decisions to make & tons of thinking to do.



Sorry to hear about the sudden leaf drop issue, on an off chance you might of picked up another nasty surprise some where along the lines ??? i not total convinced over watering does that or such conditions...

High times for fresh soil ah & may suggest a good deep clean of growing pots etc just in case ah bud, might want to do some think with the old compost heap as well if ya gonna reuse it

 

[The Dealer]

Don't skip out off the perlite bud it will certainly improve aeration !

How ever you could always change pots perhaps those fabric smart pots or what ever they are called these days, i've not used em myself as a question of being durable for many grows bothers me ?

Hey fuzzy I can help with your doubt. I've been using the same 10 gallon smart pots for over a year now and they are still in perfect condition.

 

[Icemud]

Hey everyone!

So I picked up most of my soil makings today, and over the course of the next week I will be disposing of the old soil and mixing up the new stuff.

So I decided to keep it similar to what I was using when I was focused on high brix growing, but I am adding coco to the mix. My base soil mixture will be a majority pro mix hp, but I also will be mixing in Ocean Forest, Coco coir, worm castings and perlite. For the amendments I will be doing the 6-5-3 with CaCO3, SRP and Gypsum, adding the rest of my azomite that I have leftover. I also will be adding a premixed 4-6-2 preblended organic feeding mix to the soil which pretty much has all the other things I normally would add such as kelp meals, alfalfa meals, bone meals..etc... so it saved me a ton buying it all premixed. I also will be adding charcoal to the soil which will help with airation and also carbon content for the microlife too, should help with preventing overwatering also.

I don't really have a "goal" for mixing this soil other than to make it nice and fertile. In the past grows I had a focus of creating a highly mineralized soil, and even though I am basing my mix off what worked in the past, I won't be "going for" high brix, and if it happens cool, and if not.. i'm cool with that. I just want my plants to be healthy and grow again, and not be freaked out as soon as fresh roots hit soil

 

[Light Addict]

You might be shocked at the percentage of coco you can use mixed with soil and still run it as a live soil My recycled soil is easily 80% coco and thrives as a living environment

 

[Icemud]

You might be shocked at the percentage of coco you can use mixed with soil and still run it as a live soil My recycled soil is easily 80% coco and thrives as a living environment

I still talk with Curso and he does the same thing and did a side by side, one with coco and soil, and one without, and the coco side produced better and stronger meds So he's the main reason I decided to consider it, plus I've seen a ton of growers switching over to coco with hydro drippers or wick systems, so I figured might as well give it a try.. plus mixing it with what I already know should give me a good buffer to get used to any feeding or watering changes

I made it easy for myself and picked up some pre mixed organic fertilizer, and I picked up a bottle of Osmocote plus which is a time release fert. i want to try to get it going as easy as possible this run, and hopefully with the the OC plus I should be able to get through this grow without using much nutrients from bottles other than my few essentials and teas

 

[Icemud]

Anyone ever done a coco and promix blend? any idea of the ratio I should go for? I also will be using some Foxfarm Ocean forest.

I'm thinking if I do a 31 it should give me a good composition, the 3 being the perlite.

I'm open to suggestions if anyone has blended before?

 

[Icemud]

So the new soil is mixed... all 100 gallons of it.. well close to 100 gallons so here is my new soil breakdown...

Base Soil Mix
18 (3 gallon pots) of Promix HP
4 (3 gallon pots) of Ocean forest
approx 5 (3 gallon pots) of coco coir
2 (3 gallon pots) of worm gold worm castings (with kelp and lava rock)
1 1/2 (3 gallon pots) of perlite

Total Soil Base 90 gallons of above soil about a 4 : 1 : 1.25 ratio of Promix HP, Ocean Forest, Coco Coir.


The additives: each measurement is per 90 gallons of soil above.

1 1/2 cups EB Stone Sure Start: 4-6-2 Contains Blood Meal, Feather Meal, Bone Meal, Dried Chicken Manure, Bat Guano, Alfalfa Meal, Kelp Meal, Potassium Sulfate, Humic Acids and soil microbes including mycorrhizal fungi.

Sul Po Mag 0-0-22 (1 cup)

Azomite 2 cups

EB Stone Charcoal (2 quarts dry, 1 full bag)

gypsum 1 cup

Calcium Carbonate Powder: 2 cups



I didn't have the soft rock phosphate yet, as I am trying to research the sources of it before I buy any, and want to see if they have lab tests that I can see. If I don't manage to get it, there is plenty of phosphorus in the soil already which will be fine.

This mix will cook until I use it for transplanting my plants from 3 gallon pots to the 5 gallon ones... unfortunately those will have a little bit of my old soil in them too, but since most of the plants have already been rooted and put in 3 gallon pots, I will just have to work with it best I can... This won't happen though until my flowering tent is harvested and cleaned and ready for my next grow.

So it really won't be until the grow after that that we get to see this soil mix in action in its entirety, except for a couple plants that haven't rooted yet, like my GDP and candyland clones.

I also still have to clone my ogiesel, tangie 3 and 5, black cherry soda and harlequin which also will happen closer to harvest of my flowering tent which should be within the next 3 weeks at the latest.

 

[Icemud]

You might be shocked at the percentage of coco you can use mixed with soil and still run it as a live soil My recycled soil is easily 80% coco and thrives as a living environment

Thats really good to know. I've been hearing and reading good things about coco and even blending it with soil. I have a feeling it will really help give my plants a nice touch I only ended up doing about maybe 25% coco.