LED SOIL SCROG: a prayer before tying

[mohammed romney]

I've done loads of research. Still, nothing replaces actual experience.

Could anyone please take a look and tell me how I might improve moving forward with this grow?

These 4-Nep Jams, 1-8miles high regulars broke soil on July 4. They were growing outdoors (40N) . During that time I topped, lst'd and super cropped them. When I brought them inside September 9, I potted them up from 2 gal to 4 gal using same organic soil mix. I placed them under the screen with a 480 actual watt LED 22 inches above screen, set at 12/12. They have been under the light and screen for 8 days.

I realize it probably wasn't wise to repot and move from sun to LED at the same time. I won't do that next time.

Are these where the should be as far as development. They have been fed very lightly with just a few soaking of tea. I don't notice any deficiencies. Those few beat up leaves and bits of yellow result from being held down by rocks while they were vegging.

I am an absolute beginner so any and all suggestions, advice or question is very much appreciated.

Mo

 

[mohammed romney]

Dang .... all those views and no one has a comment???

I went ahead and raised my lights up about 6 inches. I believe that my plants are stunted in their stretch by the LED's being too close. Any thoughts?

 

[Dream Time]

Hi mohammed,
Sorry your not getting any comments. I'm a newbie myself, so don't have any great wisdom to share, but we are running similar setups (I'm running a 4x4 tent, 650 watt LED, organic/soiless, scrog).

I can tell you that I kept my light about 6" from my girls during veg with no ill affects whatsoever, when I flipped to 12/12 and cranked up the red spectrum lighting, I got some leaf burn/bleaching. It's pretty obvious if your LED is burning your plant. Here's a pix of a leaf that's been bleached by my LED:

If you're not seeing any burning or bleaching then your light is probably positioned okay.

 

[mohammed romney]

Hey DT thanks for your thoughts. My leaves look fine but i thought that my nascent buds seemed bleached.

Is your lamp actual 650? Can you post a pic from a little further back so I can check out the fullness of your scrog? Also what strain are you growing and what was your veg time?

 

[Dream Time]

The bleaching on mine only occurred on older leaves that were close to the light. My light is a Lumigrow Pro 650 - Kill-a-Watt reads it at 605 watts.

Here's a pic of what my girls looked like earlier today:

(You can see the bleached out leaf in the upper left. There are a few more pix in my album)

The strains are (clockwise from upper left): GS Cookies, Obama OG, Super Lemon Haze, and Cannatonic.

They went into the tent on July 29th and I flipped to 12/12 on August 31st.

This grow was just a test of my setup. All the girls in the tent were originally candidates to become my mothers, but they lost the contest and ended up in my first grow. With the exception of the Cannatonic, they were all kept as Bonsai for 1 month before going into the tent.

BTW: Your girls are looking good!

 

[mohammed romney]

Thanks for those details. I checked the lumi getting started guide and in their coverage graph the lowest height shown is 2'. Are you certain that the light is blended properly when it is very close to the canopy?

Our plants seem to be about the same size and age. Do you think everything seems to be on schedule development wise? I was expecting a dramatic burst but so far just plenty of budding. Im still expecting a good amount of growth. What are you imagining as the final size of your girls?

 

[Dream Time]

Thanks for those details. I checked the lumi getting started guide and in their coverage graph the lowest height shown is 2'. Are you certain that the light is blended properly when it is very close to the canopy?

I honestly never thought about light blending before but off hand, I don't think it's a problem. All the girls did fine through veg. It was only with the addition of more red spectrum that I noticed the burning, and now that I've raised the light up a bit, I'm not seeing any new bleaching/burning.

I wasn't planning to raise my light more than 2 feet above the canopy as that would give complete coverage to my 4x4 tent. Any higher and I'd just be giving the girls less light.

Our plants seem to be about the same size and age. Do you think everything seems to be on schedule development wise? I was expecting a dramatic burst but so far just plenty of budding. Im still expecting a good amount of growth. What are you imagining as the final size of your girls?

I didn't get a dramatic burst in growth - more like steady increase along with some budding. Not having any previous grow to base things on, I would say that everything seems to be about where I would expect, but I didn't have much in the way of expectations going in - honestly, I'm just glad I haven't killed them yet . I'm using this grow to get a feel for each strain so I know what to expect next time.

I let them get 13 to 14 inches tall before I flipped them, so I would expect them to get to 3 maybe 4 feet.

 

[olddays]

Interesting thread. Looking forward to following the lumigrow progress. Don't hear much about them, I think a lot of people feel the LEDs are too concentrated and the footprint of strong light is too small. I know the build quality is good and the overall quality is good as well. I like the ability to independently vary the strength of the red, white, and blue. I'm rooting for you on this one. Curious to see what 650W of lumigrow quality can do in a 4X4 tent.

 

[mohammed romney]

i don't know about the light blending and bleaching but on the LED forums folks say that a certain height is needed to get the max benefit from the complimentary wavelengths depending on the lenses.

I heard so many cautions about how much stretch to expect with a sativa that I prepared for it from node 4/5 with lST, super cropping and topping. It's hardly stretched at all so far. Def not what I expected. These were about 10" tall and a bit bushy when flipped. According to the breeders they are about 9 week flowering. If they make it to 3' I'd be shocked.

Given your modest expectations you should be pleased your chicas.

Pic is from today.

 

[mohammed romney]

Hey DT,

How's things growing? post some updated photo's please? Very curious to compare the bud development with the differing LED's.


I haven't fed them anything other than rain water with some molasses mixed in. The buds look tasty but still way smaller than I expected. They still have about 5 weeks to go....wondering how much they can grow and if i ought to hit them with something like a 2-6-3???
2 pics from today

 

[ledbud]

I've done loads of research. Still, nothing replaces actual experience.

Could anyone please take a look and tell me how I might improve moving forward with this grow?

These 4-Nep Jams, 1-8miles high regulars broke soil on July 4. They were growing outdoors (40N) . During that time I topped, lst'd and super cropped them. When I brought them inside September 9, I potted them up from 2 gal to 4 gal using same organic soil mix. I placed them under the screen with a 480 actual watt LED 22 inches above screen, set at 12/12. They have been under the light and screen for 8 days.

I realize it probably wasn't wise to repot and move from sun to LED at the same time. I won't do that next time.

Are these where the should be as far as development. They have been fed very lightly with just a few soaking of tea. I don't notice any deficiencies. Those few beat up leaves and bits of yellow result from being held down by rocks while they were vegging.

I am an absolute beginner so any and all suggestions, advice or question is very much appreciated.

Mo

Hi mate
if you led are 3w best to have them 50 to 60 cm in veg.
when in flower i have my led at 30 to 40 cm.
when you grow with led you need add CALMAG.
CALMAG is a superb Calcium and Magnesium supplement and it will stop bleaching.

 

[jenery]

Hello, nice photos and hope your grows will do great, just from my own experience with my pro grow led 260. I kept it around 16 to 20 inches above the canopy, but it is a smaller light. Even my sativa plants were short after topping and lst during veg, stretching in flower but not too much. Good luck with your plants!

 

[ledbud]

Hello, nice photos and hope your grows will do great, just from my own experience with my pro grow led 260. I kept it around 16 to 20 inches above the canopy, but it is a smaller light. Even my sativa plants were short after topping and lst during veg, stretching in flower but not too much. Good luck with your plants!

thanks bro.
you led look nice.
i find when i have 20" plant dont grow tall. so i like to strach them in veg and they get fat in bloom when led are 14 to 17".
maybe every led not same.

 

[ledbud]

your girls are nice and fat,
good growing karma bro

 

[mohammed romney]

WOW appreciate all the good vibes..thanks

 

[Like a Glove]

First of all sorry. I just couldn't read the whole topic so if these facts are already covered shoot me.

1. Mohammed you flipped way too early. Next time fill the net ~60% before flipping. Train the strongest shoots to the most emptiest areas and try to get one strong shoot growing from each hole in the net. When you've got the net filled let em tops grow through the net. Taken even further: Train the strongest shoots to outer circle so that they do not shade other shoots in the middle.

2 (post number #3). Dream time you are far from light bleaching. Usually what is considered light bleaching is in a matter of a fact damage caused by over heat (crispy dried leaves). Phosphorus deficiency causes purple stems but i bet (and all purpling usually is) too low temperatures. It does not harm you if you're considering the quality but if you're worried about quantity you're way off. Cold (usually night) temps brings up all the wonderful colors that are hidden otherwise and might increase over all dankness but it also stalls the rate of growth. 26-28 degrees c during lights on and -2-4 during lights off is ideal. If you want to take it further lower your night time temperatures towards the end of flowering.

 

[Like a Glove]

Post #5 Dream Time: Also didn't bother to read it through but wanted to say that leaves that "reach" upwards want simply more light.

 

[Like a Glove]

Also to post #1. Never ever do any of the following when entering 12/12: Repot, supercrop, LST or...well in other words - anything. Do not stress a plant in any way before they're fully stretched (~2,5-6 weeks).

 

[mohammed romney]

L a G, thanks for taking a look. Because i had my plants vegging outdoors sincs early July they had begun to flower before i brought them inside in Sept. I was spooked to give them more veg time / screw around with the day periods. I expected they would stretch like crazy, filling out the screen, when flipped but i guess because they were gradually brought to 12 12 the stretch was minimal.

I think id have a way better handle on getting it right next time.

"Purple stems" was thinking that this is anthocyanin...not deficient P.

Thanks again for the scrog pointers.

Mo

 

[jenery]

I believe purple/red/pink stems are a genetical predisposition of some strains, not brought up by low temperatures. Looking forward to the buds getting fatty, good luck.