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Issues after switching to LED lights
- Thread starter DokMcPuffin
- Start date
Chuckeye
Well-known member
Okay, couldn't find any info on that particular brand of coco but let's assume it is washed and buffered ?
If it doesn't say it's buffered you may have to add Cal/Mag, at least at the beginning and preferably before starting a seed or transplant.
Then your nutrient brand should take over (check to see it contains Cal/Mag).
Maybe a watering issue ? Coco likes to be wetter than soilless...
Lift the pot and if it feels light you've waited too long to water.
Coco also likes a bit of run off. What I do is water to run off and pick the pot up. Do that until it feels like a little less than half, then water. Some just water coco to run off everyday ! Even multiple times
Rest assured it is not the light. That model does have a hot spot in the center But the outside edges still provide plenty of light for a successful grow !
Light is @30% but at what height ?
FYI > to fine tune the optimal amount of light for your plant you can download a free lux meter app. Then take a reading at plant top height and use the conversion factor of .015 to get a par value.
At 7 weeks I'm at 600 par @ 17".
There's lots of lists of optimal par values per stage of growth out there.....
Feed is the last thing I can think of, for now
I've tried three different nutrient brands and all of them got me into trouble at anything over 1000 ppm.
Right now at a week into 12/12 I'm feeding 640 ppm..
Hope you get it figured out, eh ?
Cheers
Hello, LEDs are a great thing and the developments are a blessing for us. As long as they aren't bad Chinese firecrackers. A lot of what you have already been told is correct.
As we progress, we tend to lose our footing.
Basis: PH value germination cloning cultivation PH 5.8 .... 5.6-5.8 Depending on the variety. 5.8 is most good depending on the protocol.
You grow on soil! Set the pH value to 6.1...5.8-7.2 depending on the sorter and protocol, but 6.1 is usually good.
A little tip on the side: many varieties have long been bred with quite high zinc levels. New pipes are made of PP pipes (polypropylene) or PVC pipes. Put a few galvanized nails or screws into the ground if that's your case.
As we progress, we tend to lose our footing.
Basis: PH value germination cloning cultivation PH 5.8 .... 5.6-5.8 Depending on the variety. 5.8 is most good depending on the protocol.
You grow on soil! Set the pH value to 6.1...5.8-7.2 depending on the sorter and protocol, but 6.1 is usually good.
A little tip on the side: many varieties have long been bred with quite high zinc levels. New pipes are made of PP pipes (polypropylene) or PVC pipes. Put a few galvanized nails or screws into the ground if that's your case.
chronosync
Well-known member
airflow :
air blowing on the leaves and all over the tent helps drive transpiration and prevents stagnation and dead air spots, micro-climates or otherwise uneven conditions in the space
air exchange:
fresh air in / old air out ensures the plants are getting enough co2 as well as also prevents stagnation
air blowing on the leaves and all over the tent helps drive transpiration and prevents stagnation and dead air spots, micro-climates or otherwise uneven conditions in the space
air exchange:
fresh air in / old air out ensures the plants are getting enough co2 as well as also prevents stagnation
You must be using tap water that has plenty already in the water.
Chuckeye
Well-known member
Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Please note how the plants look saggy, the saggier the more pale green: they are not transpiring. Achieve transpiration first; try vpdchart dot com with leaf temps -1 to -2 degrees(hope this ok with mods who dont like links, its just a vpd chart made easy and ajustable) for an idea of where climate should be. You defo need to run hotter temps than under any bulb, 79F is good as a floor, not a ceiling.
Once you see the plant transpiring: stiff leaf boners pointing outwards and not saggy leaves; then dial in nutes. In Coco, depending on buffer levels, you can use an extra strong feeding on transplant, and remove some of guess work of calmag.
Always water til runoff and measure ec in and out and make notes.
When adding calmag be careful to not add too much you can lockout K and get very weird looking defs. Transpiration first then dial in nutes. And then slowly up light levels, using more nutes as you go controlling and balancing runoff
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Nobody else does this, but it works for me. With no root activity in the soil I like to get the pH pretty high, almost to 8. I pH down the water to 6.3. When there are roots in the soil and the microbes are doing their thing the pH meter in the soil will read 4 or below. I call that sparking, and I think it is a sign of ions being transferred to the roots. Keep those microbes happy.
I get water right from the tap, but… the house has a carbon filter, I fill a carboy from the tub spigot with the water full hot. That way the chems they add can get burned off in the water heater. The carboy sits with the lid off for a day to cool.
I keep the water reservoir bubbled so there is oxygen. PH down and cal-mag is all the water gets. I’ll top feed depending on where the plants are in their life cycle.
Ca++
Well-known member
I'm not sure we were told the temperatures. I don't see any runoff opportunity though. It's fabric to lose water, but stood in trays that keep the bags wetter. No waste, or natural drainage. They need lifting a bit. So there can be waste, and they can drip more. I think it must be cold in there. Their may now be excess salts at the roots to. Probably so, as it's coco.
Just some heat might fix the transpiration issue, but what's at the root, they probably won't like. I would lift them, and pour through a nice feed, to displace what they have. Being so wet, and likely to stay that way while ill, would mean h202 in that feed. To keep it oxygenated longer. A fresh start at the root, with some environmental changes, and I don't see why these wouldn't bounce back
Rocket Soul
Well-known member
The way i see coco transpiration is what keeps your roots happy cause its what dries out the pot. The faster your dry/wet cycles the better for the roots. When you pour a watering thru you pull in new air and O2 for the roots, thats the other reason for always looking for runoff other than the coco getting nute hot and the real need of measuring ec of run off. Of course theres a huge amount of stuff that can be wrong downstairs, but its surprising how easy it is to get a plant back to health in coco if you can water/feed and then feed a dry pot again in two or 3 days. Transpiration is a rising tide that lifts all ships, this is why i say start with it. Also if you fix nute inbalance, but then change how fast the plant drinks, youre back in unbalance. My 2 cts
Once transpiration is fixed of course there should be other steps taken if need be but the real thing is getting a plant drinking and its grower to understand how to do this. With bulbs it was easy, with leds yiu have to coax it out.
phunkeeboodah
Active member
swap to hid the plants will rebound guaranteed
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Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Or just add like 20% watts incandescent light, on a dimmer. Thats like hid on tap. No need to fill that space with 400w of hid and see them fry.
I too had major issues after switchinng to led,my plants went to shit,did some reading,added more xalmag,raised temps,only had 700 watt at 50% after a few days.... plants almost died,another few days and that would have been it.i put my 600 watt hps in and plants ate now just coming back.im just too old to learn how to grow again,im just going to stick to my reliable hps,hurts wasting $650 bucks man..
chronosync
Well-known member
I got a small appliance bulb that fits a regular e27 household standard socket, I think its 25w and cost about $3
I use it to provide radiant heat and IR in my basement tent where I make seeds. Temps are around 72f during lights on. Having one of there plugged in makes a difference.
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Rocket Soul
Well-known member
They look really healthy, and its a good demo of what healthy transpiration looks like. How many watts of led? To get an idea of ratios
chronosync
Well-known member
Only about 120w
Its a 18 socket SIL rack with 12w bulbs plugged in. Only 10 are on right now. I will probably plug a few more bulbs in if it starts getting colder and it looks like the plants need it. It might be a good experiment to see if the incandescent is enough, even if daytime temps are lower. I also have a heat mat on the floor there so I can kick that on if necessary but the idea is to do it using minimal electricity.
When I first started using LED it was a learning curve but im glad I figured out how to make them work for me in my setup because it means the different between running one 400w tent or two 200-250w led tents (2 x 4 tent)
Its a 18 socket SIL rack with 12w bulbs plugged in. Only 10 are on right now. I will probably plug a few more bulbs in if it starts getting colder and it looks like the plants need it. It might be a good experiment to see if the incandescent is enough, even if daytime temps are lower. I also have a heat mat on the floor there so I can kick that on if necessary but the idea is to do it using minimal electricity.
When I first started using LED it was a learning curve but im glad I figured out how to make them work for me in my setup because it means the different between running one 400w tent or two 200-250w led tents (2 x 4 tent)
Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Be carefull and look out for stretch: incandescent has loooooots of far red which activate shade avoidance. Use the heat mat first but be careful as it can fry the roots. Maybe an on and off timer? If you see the plants green and transpiring i wouldnt worry too much about temps, its more in a only led environment.
chronosync
Well-known member
Yea definitely Ill stick with the one bulb incandescent. I might put a few more LED bulbs on for heat if they just need a few degrees otherwise it’ll have to be the heat mat. Ive done flower runs with this heat mat underneath and its fine if the plants are raised off it a bit and have a fan down near the bottom of the tent. Which I like running air under canopy anyhow
wisemadman
New member
you're probably growing with way lower temps than with a mh or hps light, i grow in living soil and never had cal/mag issues under cob leds so i really dont believe they need that much of mg in particular ( my water has plenty of Ca), check the VPD too
