TJ's First Grow - LED - Strawberry Cough

TJTrouble

Well-Known Member
This is my first grow; thanks a ton for following along and offering your guidance along the way!
I will do my best to keep this journal active and up to date on a weekly basis as I track the progress of the grow from seed to harvest.

Type of grow: Single plant

Materials & Setup
(links provided where possible)

Lighting
Viparspectra V300
MicMol BloomBee 240

Grow Space
Secret Jardin DS60 (24"x 24" x 60") Mylar Grow Tent

Pot Type
Air Pot [4" & 12"]

Substrate/Medium
Coco Fiber 100%

Fertilization
Ganja Brands [VEG A/B, BLOOM A/B, CAL/MAG]

Water Source
AquaFX Barracuda Glacier RODI [Output: 0 TDS]

Cannabis Strain(s)
Dutch Passion: Strawberry Cough

I will revisit this first post and update with photos shortly.
 
Just realized this forum only lets you edit posts for a period of time. I am used to forums that allow endless editing of posts; useful for keeping the first post up to date, and adding a table of contents with links for pinnacle posts throughout the thread. That is ok though! Just means I have to make sure I have everything (photos included) I need to complete a post before I make it.

One aspect of my grow that I wanted to touch on was the lighting; I wanted to keep my grow as cost effective as possible while still achieving best results for the budget. This is because this grow is a trial, and I intend to expand dramatically provided the first few grows go well.

When it comes to LED, I am seeing a lot of mixed reviews about the less expensive LED options. Given that I am using a small 24" x 24" tent, and that I am lighting a single plant, I felt confident that a cheaper LED option would work well. I did a lot of research and read plenty of reviews, finally settling on the Viparspectra as my light source. I intended to get the 600 model, but kept seeing repeated concerns from users regarding the blue end of the spectrum being dominant, and therefore under-performing during flowering. To combat that issue, I turned my attention to Micmol's 2017 entrance into Hydroponics LED lighting, the BloomBee. This fixture looks to be extremely heavy in reds, and less in the blue. The pair of fixtures should balance out nicely, and provide good growth through both veg, and flower phases. This kept my total spend on lighting at $270 CAD which was comfortably under my $300 budget.

Viparsectra_BloomBee_Spectrum.JPG


Currently, I have my first seed snuggled in between damp paper towel. It spent about 4 hours in pure RODI water before it sank, and I can already see the taproot starting to sneak out of the casing. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have it planted in the 4" air pot.
 
I actually, fir shits and giggles, ordered a cheap viporspectra 300w for my 3rd grow area. New to LED so figured I'd try it, for $75 what can I really loose

Viparspectra is priced low, and is certainly a budget fixture, but you will be impressed by the build quality. There is lots of ventilation, plenty of heat sink, and good reflectors. I've seen WAY worse looking fixtures in the price range.

I'd urge you to look at the BloomBee as well. It is a bit more expensive, but being familiar with Micmol, it is a quality fixture built to perform and last. I am really looking forward to it arrive [should be here Monday].

Where u buy the Bloombee ?

I got mine through Amazon, however, they also sell them directly on their website. Check the link to Micmol in my first post.
 
Awesome; let me know what you think of it.

Do you have a PAR meter? I've got one and will do par tests once both fixtures are mounted. I predict it's going to be pretty bright in there.
I don't....I probably should have one since I use T5, HPS and LED

I'll get one soon

I have a sound meter...will that work...lol
 
Oh absolutely; it's still in the paper towel. I figure by end of day today it should have a decent looking tap root.
Perfect. So far I think it's 3 or 4 of us who just started at the same time. Me. You. Themaddabber. Even the nukeheads sponsored grow is just about to get under way.
 
Looks like my BloomBee should be here tomorrow! Going to try and run the tent with both lights on full pop to get a feel for how hot it is going to get in there. I have a strong PC fan I am going to drop into one of the vent pouches, and a small fan for creating some air movement within the tent. With any luck I will keep stable temps and humidity. My room is naturally hovering around 74.6 F and 50% which sounds to be in the correct range (humidity could stand to be a touch higher, but I predict that standing water and damp substrate within the confines of the tent will likely result in higher humidity.

I am playing around with hanging the lighting. The suspension kits they come with are almost 18" long when hung, which really kills the real estate in the tent. I got some ratcheting hangers that should allow me to hang them higher. Aiming for 6" from the top of the tent. Enough space for air flow, while keeping them as high up as possible. I am more worried about burning plants in the tent than I am with under-lighting them.

Pics to come once I get it all sorted out!
 
Got the tent running with the Viparspectra for now since the Bloombee is past expected delivery date and has since been updated to "The Estimated Delivery Date is currently unavailable. Please try again later" which could mean anything really.

Did some PAR readings as well (key note that my PAR meter is designed for use in reef aquariums and favors the blue end of the spectrum and may undersell PAR from the red end of the spectrum (nearing or around 660nm).
So far it looks like at the floor of the tent (43" from the light) I am getting around 200 to 210 PAR. About 16" from the fixture I am getting numbers in the high 700s which is pretty fantastic for a single light. It is going to get pretty crazy in there with both fixtures going!

20170829_120148.jpg


The fixture produces less of a blurple color than I was expecting, and is almost a pinkish white.
Lots of venting on the sides of the fixture, and a fan moving quite a lot of air. It isn't the quietest fixture, but it does the job.

Here is a pretty good example of why folks are leaning towards COB lights. This is some color banding from light bleeding out of the tent when the zipper isn't fully closed. Pretty easy to see each led color. This is a typical drawback of individual diodes with their own optics or reflectors. It doesn't concern me too much since the light visually looks quite blended in the tent.

Fotor_150402645917259.jpg
 
I am using a nifty Mondi Temp/RH monitor; has a pair of probes that work much like a bulkhead to fasten in place and takes internal readings while the display is fastened neatly to the front of the tent.

Today I am at 81.5 F and 56% RH which is right around where I want it. The second light is likely to change that, but I currently am not using a fan, so bringing the temp down with a fan should be no issue. I will probably grab a temp controller so the fan only comes on when the tent approaches getting too hot, and hopefully save much of the humidity that way.
 
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