Ill Vibes' Micro-Gro - 388 Watt LED - 2 x Bubblelicious - ScroG - DWC

[illvibes]

Hey all and welcome to Ill Vibes' Micro-gro. Here's the essential setup to get you all started:

• Grow Tent: 3'x2'x3'
• Light: MARS II 900, ~388W LED Panel {claimed 450W HPS equivalence}
• Genetics: Bubblelicious (Big Bud x Skunk#1) (Indica dom.)
• Nutrients: Botanicare Kind synthetic nutrients
• Reservoir: 17 gal tub

This is a DWC/drip hydroponic grow just like my last one, only condensed to one reservoir. I also upgraded my light to a kick-ass (and probably overly large for my grow) LED, which I'm hoping will increase my yield. Also, this time around I'm planting 2 Bubblelicious seeds, rather than the 1 Chrystal and 1 Bubblelicious I had last time. This means equal growth patterns which I'm very stoked about!

Taking advice from my friend @Rifleman, I made the following reservoir easily and relatively cheaply:



Seeds are already germinated and planted. Here's the picture as of today, Day 1 of the grow! As you can see I painted the lid, 3 layers of black to absorb light and 2 layers of matte white to reflect that precious light. Doin a good job of it I think.



LED Panel Unboxed


SO! Please sub and follow as I try to push the limits of this tiny grow, and please feel free to comment!
More to come

 

[illvibes]

Been reading around the site and the interwebs, and I ran across the Gas Lantern Routine (GLR), which is essentially a light schedule of 12/5.5/1/5.5. So basically it's 12 hrs of light, followed by 5.5 hrs of dark, 1 more hour of light, and then 5.5 hrs of dark again.

I came across GLR while reading through @David Bowman's grows. Here's a blog entry describing Gas Lantern Routine.

Anyhow, I'm still on the fence about using GLR for this grow, because I've never used it before, and because there's no consensus on how well it works. It seems there are just as many people claiming GLR as the only way to grow, as people claiming that it's not worth it because more light is always better than less. The article I linked gets around this "more is better" light philosophy by claiming that 18-24 hrs of constant light can actually stress your plants out, and that GLR gives your plants more opportunity to heal and create new growth by giving it longer "resting" (dark) periods. Like I said though, there is no clear consensus.

I wish there was a study with a control group of 10 or so plants grown under an 18/6 schedule and a test group of 10 or so plants grown using GLR. If a few grows were done like this, we could observe definitive results as to the efficiency of GLR vs 18/6 or 24/0.

In any case, if anyone has more information on GLR, please feel free to post. Like I said I'm on the fence about it and I need more info to decide!

 

[illvibes]

I'm going for it, I've seen a lot of GLR grows with nice results around here so I'm gonna give it a shot. And save some electricity at the same time

 

[illvibes]

Just got back from a quick trip to Vegas Visiting my gf who's teaching over there.

Before I left I had to plant a new Bubblelicious seed for Bubs #2, because after germination the seedling just quit on me and sorta shriveled up... Hence Bubs #2 (or #3 I guess technically) is now about a week behind #1, which kind of blows, but I'm hoping they'll still want to flower close enough together.

Here's a pic of Bubs #1 from the 26th, just before I left for Vegas.


And #1 this morning, 4 days later. Some nice growth there, and the node distance is looking amazing - super close together. I can definitely already see the difference my light upgrade has made. I thought growth might be slower with the GLR, but it doesn't seem to have slowed it a bit.


And for comparison, bubs #2, which like I said was hastily germinated after the former #2 decided to call it quits (Still not super sure why, but I think it was just the seed, since bubs #1 is doing fine adn they share the same everyting). Anyway, you can see how behind she is.


Another update in a few days, until then, peace and happy harvests.

 

[Lazarus13]

I'll check in on your updates, if you don't mind. I'm always glad to follow along on any dwc grows. Top drip/DWC is my favorite and i am quite enjoying growing with it. The growth rates that can be achieved are just amazing to see. Interested in GLR too. Good luck and looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[Stinky Snid]

Hope you can keep us entertained with some good pics of some sticky nice buds.

KiG cheers.

 

[illvibes]

Hey, glad to have you guys here, lazarus and snidrajsed! I'll keep you guys posted, hopefully I can get some real sticky greens for you guys by the end of this.

 

[illvibes]

Alright guys, I need help;

My new light is amazing, but even though it's an LED it's heating up my tent much more than my low-watt cfl. My tent has been in the 80-88 F range during the day, and Bubs #1 is wilting. My tent is tiny which means less area for heat to disperse, but I paid a lot for it and I really don't want to shell out for a bigger one and make this one useless. Does anyone have any ideas for creative heat management? I'm not trying to have these plants die on me.

Here's a photo of the wilting progress. It started yesterday and has become progressively worse.

 

[Stinky Snid]

Your tent 36"x24"x36"H is tiny for all that LED power. Recommended distance is 30"+ for seedlings and a around 18" for mature flowering plants. It may not be the heat wilting her. Your only way to beat the heat is with fresh air, and have the oscillator fan over the canopy.

Hope this helps, KIG cheers

 

[illvibes]

I hate to admit it but you're right, snidrajsed, the light is just too intense for em... I should've known better but I really wanted this tent to work for me. I hate to think of buying a bigger one and trying to fit it in my cluttered room. I got the oscillator going, and my vent fan is doing a good job. We'll see where it is tomorrow, but I'm guessing a big change is going to be necessary...

 

[Stinky Snid]

Your tent is great for a cfl grow, or a slightly less awesome LED light. They're still small you can do cfl for a couple weeks weeks until they get tougher.. Lol there's nothing wrong with a new tent, I'm sure you can find the space. Anyways all the best to you and your ladies.

KiG cheers

 

[illvibes]

OK! So I had an idea a couple nights ago for a real easy temporary fix for the light stress issue. Just need a couple pieces of paper and you're good to go!

The paper blocks enough of the light to keep that light stress at bay, but lets enough through to get the plants enough to grow.
SO, I have time to decide on either 1) a new super amazing tent, or 2) see if the plants can handle the full force of the LED's once they enter full Veg. Just glad the situation is handled for the time being.

 

[illvibes]

HEY GUYS/GIRLS, got a little update and some pictures. Here's a short blow-by-blow:

• Paper treatment for the LED seems to have worked, but still debating the new tent scenario.
• Bubs #1 took a blow from the light stress before the paper treatment. Its new growth seems miniaturized, which I guess is from the stress. Otherwise she's doing a lot better.
• Bubs #2 wasn't around to see the great light stressing of two weeks ago, so she's growing perfectly with no signs of stress. Nodes are close together and new growth looks healthy.
• Added my oscillating fan back into the mix, my computer fan set-up wasn't doing the job I thought it'd do.
• Added about 2.5 gallons of water and some fresh nutes (Kind by Botanicare) and some hydroguard yesterday. I'm going to wait a few more weeks until I change out the res water completely.

*Sorry for out of focus photos. My phone seems to have trouble focusing in such intense light.

Full Grow. Ignore the two soil plants in the center. One is a miscellaneous cannabis seed that I'm prepping for an experimental outdoor grow. The other is just a kale seedling, I just wanted to see how this one grows under the LED vs its sister which is growing in natural light.


Bubs #2 Shown Below. Pretty solid growth for being about a week behind #1.


Bubs #1 Shown Below. You can see the burnt leaves and the comparatively small new growth.

 

[David Bowman]

Hope all is well in your world.

Is this grow still alive?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read our Photo Gallery Tutorial.

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Sending you lots of love and positive energy.

 

[illvibes]

Hey David! Sorry for the large gap in posts! Funny you posted this today, I was just getting ready to post an update.

This journal is indeed over. The height constraint turned out to be a fatal flaw in the grow, and the intensity of the light stunted the growth of both plants beyond reconciliation.

Since this realization, I saved some money and bought a new, deluxe tent from Apollo Horticulture. I've started a new grow with a new strain, which I'll have a journal set up for later today. I'm sorry for the lag-time, for anyone following the grow. Please do check out the new one, most of what I attempted here will be the same in the new grow, besides the strain and size of my tent.

Thanks again for following along, and sorry for the lack of posts!