spreading them out lets the light get down in there and increase productivity Good Move @MiracleGro
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Hello Folks!
Currently turning week #5 here and going into it I certainly have a couple questions on my mind 
Heres a look
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First i should ask this now, My light situation is a UFO 150W grow led, and recently just added two (2 *30W) gooseneck support leds. Ive been told that this should be sufficient to harvest for a single plant, but I should get a second opinion. After first grow i will want to continue trying with a bigger number of plants so i will need to get a stronger one eventually.
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Its week 5 already and the plant looks like it still has 2 more feet to grow⌠Ive seen that Bear Dance is a longer strain to grow so it looks like theres still plenty of âVeggingâ to do. Havnât started nutrients yet which im sure is a factor, the FFOF soil is providing plenty of energy still.
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Ive noticed a couple leaves on the plant are a little odd, possibly a mutation? maybe just normal but i really donât know a lot about growing yet
which im trying but i noticed a pair of leaves that are really large with still only 3 leaves. I see some that have only 4 as well. Is there anything i should know about those? -
Also was curious if there is anything i could be doing as far as selective pruning(or possibly more plant training) at this early of a stage of lower shoots and leaves to promote productive growth up top. The strain appears very leafy with shoots coming out all over the place. I assume i should just let it grow a while yet and see how it develops as its still hard to tell which ones will succeed. I will want to implement of SCROG in the near future so I suppose I can just wait to lollipop at that point. Anyway I know a lot of it is personal preference and i sound really nooby right now.
thats all I can really think of at the moment so I thank you all so much again for allowing me to post here and for all your thoughtful feedback. Its Awesome!!
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@MiracleGro is the ufo light 150 actual watts? I would recommend more lighting especially for flowering. If you give us a budget we can suggest the best light for your budget. Youâll need this especially if you plan on expanding your grow.
Mutated leaves happen more frequently than you think. If you have a fan nearby, it could be wind burn too.
Plant training, I see youâve bent it over, you can continue to bend it in a circle to maximize off shoots for future scrogging. I hope this helps. Happy growing.
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I believe it is an actual 150 anywayâŚi know marshydro had some good looking ones. I would certainly hope to keep it within another 150$ for one good Led that can harvest around 4 plants id say with the ones I currently have as well. .
Anything and everything you say helps @Covertgrower thanks a lot guys much appreciated.
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@MiracleGro @dbrn32 can help better with this subject for lighting. There a few choices for about $150 range. That UFO light is not 150W actual I donât think. I just want to point you the direction with the best help.
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Hello there! It appears @Covertgrower was correct, the ufo light is around 62 Watts actual consumption, see screenshot below.
No worries though, it should grow a relatively healthy plant. I believe the issue could potentially come with doing a lot of training. That light is going to need to be fairly low to produce good flowering intensity, and will have a pretty small effective footprint when itâs low. So doing a lot of training to create a large plant without providing enough light, is usually counter productive. Make sense so far?
Now the real kicker is going to be what you have for space, and what you would like to target for harvest. Bigger space, and bigger yields require more light. A lot of light actually. Thatâs not everyoneâs goal, but if youâre looking to grow multiple plants⌠the shoe probably fits haha! If youâre happy with where youâre at, a good grower would probably expect about an ounce of dried and cured weed out of that setup. If youâre aspiring for more, we can help.
Just say the word! Oh, and get your credit card handy lol!
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@dbrn32 Definately I follow ya! Bummer itâs not an actual 150 oh well beginners mistake however it should provide a solid secondary light in the future. My goal is to start with this single plant the first time and then hopefully get a little larger tent 4â x 4â or so to grow 4 plants⌠will a 1000w grow led be more what Iâm looking for for 4 plants. Do ya think.
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Maybe. Much like the light you bought, the model or description of the lights isnât always in line with the actual performance of the light. Some of the 1000w models will draw less than 200 Watts, others quite a bit more.
There are a lot of situations you could go with to do that successfully. None of them will be in the $150 range. It usually takes a few of those lights for a solid grow in a 4x4. A few of us are building our own leds. Hid may be a viable option as well, but brings other potential issues.
It doesnât take a million bucks to grow weed, but youâll definitely have some cash wrapped up into a serious grow that size. I would plan on a minimum of $3-400 up to maybe $1500 for lights if youâre going with led. With some solid options in the middle of that range.
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Gotcha. is there any particular brands that you have known to be more reliable than others or have any suggestions on any specific led lights on the mid to lower end of that price range?
Thanks!
Nate
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Horticulture lighting group is the current big buzz in led grow lights right now. Their flagship model is the hlg-550 designed specifically to meet 1000 watt hid performance in a 4x4. Cost is about $1000, but they run sales and discount codes sometimes for around $800. You can check out @MAXHeadRoom, he purchased parts from them and assembled replica to that fixture for around $600. If you donât mind stepping into the diy world, these quantum board lights are the easiest of easy to build. They also offer kits for building a single panel at a time if you like the light, but want to do one or two boards and possibly add more later.
There are also various cob fixtures out there. Some better than others. Built lights run about $1.50-$2 per watt. You can usually build them for about $1 per watt, sometimes less. These are a little more labor intensive builds, but most can do them. Youâll probably want 600 Watts or give or take.
The amazon fixtures will get you a reasonable amount of performance at a reasonable price. Youâre probably looking at four of the $80 ish lights, or two of the $150-$200 lights. Dollar for dollar, this is the cheapest way to get there. However watt for watt, going with some high quality cobs or quantum boards offers way more performance in terms of yield per watt.
I think cheap is the way most of us get started, and do fine. I can also say that most of us kick ourselves in the ass later. Itâs a big expense getting started, so we opt for a budget amazon light or two and plan to build on later. When later comes, we end up with average performance at not much less money than if we had bit the bullet Iâm the beginning. So take that for what it is. Weâll all help you out whichever way you decide to go.
In my opinion, youâll get the most for your money by building something with the quantum board kits for around $600. Thereâs a tutorial I can link if you feel that may be an option. If thatâs absolutely out, then I would look at trying to get that hlg-550 on sale or a plc-6 from pacific light concepts. Both should be in the neighborhood of $800. If you absolutely donât have that kind of money, and waiting a bit while you save isnât an option, then Iâd look at getting two of the mars 600 or meizhi equivalent.
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Another option may be to get a two board light from hlg and grow with it until you can buy another. Cost for built light is like $500, buying parts and assembling yourself around $300. I should also add that the quantum boards and kits sell out fast. So youâll pretty much have to gather the funds and then sit tight. They restock every few weeks usually. You can have them notify you when items come in stock.
Seems silly, but theyâre really that hot. Most sell out within the first day if not hours.
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I took a peak at all of the options you suggested. I do know this is all researchable on your own so thank you again for making it all much easier! I definitely can see now that the price ranges you gave to me are very accurate when looking for something with the correct âactual wattage.â I really wish i could bust out 1000$ right now for that hlg 550, which im pretty sure i may look into quite soon. Its sad though, Living in one of the most expensive cities right now in Denver, CO however lucky to be working in the legal industry out here as of recent! lots of advice i could receive from the people at work however i feel like you guys much more experienced with helping people! with that said this first plant is the very very beginning of a life long hobby that i intend to have and will be throwing down big money when time to get really serious rolls around. The quantum boards look like the best option for the price and if you know what your doing. They also look pretty fragile lol like i would break one on accident. this will be an option i will most certainly get into eventually one my experience is up and want even more than 4 plants⌠for my immediate needs i think those 2 mars 600s at 265 actual watts each for $139.99 each looks like a pretty solid choice without having to assemble parts and also have the ufo from before to add to them. I see how this could be slightly on the short side (~550 actual W) for preferred wattage as i see they suggest 50-60 watts per sq foot. for 16 sq ft thatd be 800-1000 W, and you are certainly right those are not running cheap⌠One thing iM definately going for as well is quality in the harvest. of course i want to focus on yield as well but if sacrificing a little yield to focus on quality is normal then that perfectly okay.
in any case, The 2 mars 600s will eventually also become the secondary backups anyway as i plan to continue improving equipment like you said most people do. Ive noticed the viparsprectra 1200 is a good looking light for a decent price for the future. Anywho i know i will continue to research and learn and will find the best options.
Thanks again helping the learning curve go quicker!
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No problem! You do whatâs best for you, I just wanted to give you a reasonable amount of information to move forward with. I always try to encourage going out and gathering your own information. Come back and question the information I supplied, or maybe something important I left out. It doesnât bother me one bit, Iâm human too lol.
Here is that video on assembly of the quantum boards I was talking about earlier. And theyâre actually quite robust. You wonât bend or break them on accident, especially once mounted to a heatsink. But they probably wouldnât survive being thrown across the garage either.
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@MiracleGro and @dbrn32 and this is why I tagged this awesome member about lighting. I couldâve said almost the same thing, but with far less information and fluid grace.
To add to the lighting subject, if you can jumpstart a vehicle, you can put together a DIY LED kit. I went with a kit by rapid led. It was spendy, but itâs efficient, and bright. They do make smaller ones, and worth saving for one day. I hope we at least informed you, so you at least know what to aim for in a high quality grow. Happy growing!
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Thanks for adding about the rapid kit! Thatâs another potential option
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All out of likes again as usual @dbrn32
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Week 5
Week 5 has begun and I must say was hoping it would be a little bigger by now. This is my first grow so I canât be very experienced and I want to know if vegging for well beyond a month is a common thing. On week 5 and feel as if it could veg for at least another month. Iâm sure the low stress training is obviously accountable for a part of it lack of growth.
Also starting to notice quite a good number of fan leaves with only 3 or 4 leaves I find it a little odd.
Anyway just wanted to keep updating the blog.
Thank you and happy growin!
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My first grow, I went two months. I may go a little longer than that the clone round. @MiracleGro
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So weâve been over the lights, that will keep them from growing a little. But youâve also transplanted a couple of times and youâre training them. All will have an impact on your growth rates. Also, @bob31 was going over the ph meters and ph adjustment solutions. Proper and accurate ph will help them feed properly and contribute to overall plant health.
More or less, your growth rates are a result of all of those. That being said, they donât look bad. Just a little slow is all. Plenty of people veg longer than 4 weeks, itâs normal. 4 weeks is roughly the amount of time it takes to mature enough to produce flowers. So you see that often on nutrient schedules, or grows that a fast turn around is desired. Running a longer veg is perfectly fine, just continue to apply veg nute schedule until youâre ready to flip.
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Day 39 observations :
Plant looks nice and healthy. Continueing to bend and LST as many shoots as I can. Noticed lots of inner fan leaves blocking light to newly forming inner tops and i was wondering how many of these fan leaves are âsafeâ to prune. I heard trimming fan leaves isnât preferable. Of course the largest ones Iâm not trimming.
Also applied my TDS meter today for the first time and was a little shocked to see that it read ~~ 300 Ă 10 = about 3000 ppm. After reading online that that is way above ideal for veg. No nutrient s or additives have yet been applied to the fox farm OF soil so Iâm not sure if this is normal or not.
And on a 3rd and last note ⌠having tied down the plant so much so promote horizontal growth, Iâm a little confused as to when would be an appropriate time to put up trellis netting since Iâm assuming the natural height of the plant is now compromised.
Anyway just getting into the fun stuff (of course all of it is) looking forward to the next couple weeks!
@bob31 @Covertgrower @dbrn32
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