Mixing White & Multi Spectrum Chip LEDs to Grow MedMan Silver Skunk BX1

[OPM.]

625nm? Pretty much everything I read says 660nm, or was that a typo? plz explain. Ty

 

[PetFlora]

625nm? Pretty much everything I read says 660nm, or was that a typo? plz explain. Ty

Sadly, people are not taught to think, but to regurgitate what they have been 'taught', right or wrong

20 years ago, a few were saying the pyramids were 10,000+ years old, but the powers in charge of religions and control refuted it , saying they were only from the supposed time of christ

We know better now. Just like the earth is flat, chistopher columbus discovered america....

but here's the science

From IC mag 5/2012

Sadly, he stopped posting shortly after this, but it opened my eyes, and I was smart enough to copy and send to my regular inbox, AND REREAD IT OFTEN

In the beginning he is responding to another light smart grower (me, well not led smart then, but I was studying my ass off, and had added a reptile screw bulb to my grow...

Es verdad, amigo. And the best, most economical sources of IR for most growers are still simple, good ol' halogen lights, and Reptisun fluoros for UV-B, at present. (the dangers - and potential litigious nightmare - of incorporating expensive UV-B LEDs into a fixture notwithstanding)

Besides, without complete, independent control of the latter two (i.e. independent of the activity and photoperiod of the 'main' LED fixture), the grower's control over their desired photomorphological changes becomes rather tenuous at best.

If one is going to go that route, then both UV- and high-intensity, blue-mediated light damage (since that is what it is) should be adjustable - both in intensity, as well as photoperiodicity and duration.

As the higher-energy end of the spectrum isn't really a 'finishing/maturing' as much as it is a degradation (i.e. blue and UV pass through clear trichomes just fine; it's only when they become cloudy that they show any significant absorption of that energy, and quickly turn from cloudy to amber - at which point one should watch 'em like a hawk to keep your product from degrading too soon and ruining the desired effect), it should always be incorporated judiciously at first, and in small doses - until the effect on that particular cut is well-established, after which it can then be predicted with a 'fair' level of accuracy.

>

The spectrum of light the plant uses efficiently changes with the intensity.
At low light levels red is used most then blue, just like the chlorophyl charts.
As the light gets brighter more blue is used, and more. The break point is reached about 50% of max leaf capacity then green starts coming on. As the intensity continues up red and blue remain steady but green use continues to grow until at maximum it is almost half of all the light energy being used.
>

This is one reason why, even with the rather shitty, lopsided spectrum produced by HPS, one can still get good results with them:

(Picture of hps spectral graph)

I'm glad we've finally gotten some good studies on green light over the past several years, as has been mentioned previously (link) by a few of us.

While 'every lumen (or rather, PPFD) is sacred', I'm of the camp that would prefer a higher level of (adjustable) full-intensity, multi-spectrum (i.e. 'white') light incorporated into the main fixture, for that very reason.

And with the recent increases in the efficiency of neutral whites, there's no reason why you can't get perfectly good results with just a two-channel, adjustable led fixture (neutral white, and red), supplementing with the aforementioned only as needed.
>

As one can see, the CREE Neutral White (I call it 'Goldilocks', because it's almost 'just right' ) has a RSPD that still allows nearly ~25% of its total power in the blue range (and plants only really 'need' ~8-10%), and more that 1/3 of which (i.e. the area under the curve) is over ~580nm or so (which has a Photosynthetic RS of over 90%!) - which is much better than even your typical 'Enhanced HPS'.

Couple that with strong white light (green-response chlorophyll extending throughout and deep into leaf structures, with a net effect at or near that of the (mostly) surface-level blue and reds), which also takes care of most of the ~660nm+ you actually need for photomorphogenesis - and you can get by with 630nm reds just fine.

(i.e. 630nm red is ~95% of the PSR of 660nm, AND they currently still have ~20-30% greater radiometric efficiency - as well as being cheaper than the deep reds - so there's more 'bang for the buck'):

Something like that would probably meet the needs of ~95% of today's growers.

 

[PetFlora]

BBCC really taking off now that she's in a top feed quasi F & D

The 2 new bifurcated stems off the main stem are almost 1/2" (12mm) thick

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Will be moving her out of the SPYDR tent as soon as new seedlings need the space. Will be popping Silver Skunk Bx1s on the 30th

http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/moon_planting.asp

 

[Nuecoyote]

Anything beyond 625 in the monos is an inefficient use of a diode

Could you explain more about this? I've heard those upper spectrums and the Far Red are important for our plants....?

 

[PetFlora]

Could you explain more about this? I've heard those upper spectrums and the Far Red are important for our plants....?

Any explanation I write here would be a snippet of the whole reasoning/testing that has been done

But basically, 95% of the PPFD is gotten below ~ 650nms

FR diodes are best on separate bars and timer, ala IndaGro, but their light is ~ 4000K and so it benefits from adding DR & FR.

The question is cost v benefit

I get zero complaints but tons of compliments about the bud I harvested under my SPYDR

KISS

 

[Nuecoyote]

Thanks, got it...or working on getting it. I see that in most of the "full spectrum" LED sets I've come up with as long as I there is some of the "White" diodes there is probably that much far red anyway.

Thanks NC

 

[PetFlora]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It's a new day. It's a new dawn, and I'm feelin good

According to USPS 2 Solar Spec panels will be delivered today

I took a pic of the seedlings and clones which have been doing well under the 2 white ufos I was gifted last November. Together they are probably 100w

One of the SS panels is 150w. It will go into the seedling/clone tent. Depending on how much light it has I may disconnect the 2 ufos

The other panel is a SS260 which I will use over one of the seedlings once it is big enough to go into the 3 x 3 tent

I will probably keep the BBCC Reveg under the S600 for now. She is much fuller than when I first harvested her. Reveg seems to have agreed with her

I also took a close up of the magnets just above the rez. Nutes flow through and back every hour

BBCC reveg will move to the small tent as soon as new seedlings are ready for the big tents- 2-3 weeks before I can make a proper selection


[/FONT]

 

[PetFlora]

Reveg update

BML SPYDR 600

this plant (BBCC) was half the size of the bigger plant (Big Mex) that I harvested 2+ months ago (first time using the S600)

Due to the size of the larger plant blocking some of the light (and being > 1ft taller) this one did not get as many umoles to the canopy, and so did not reach her full pheno potential

As you can see, she is loaded with branches and bud sites now

Bumped nutes from ~ 650> ~ 850 2 days ago

Buds are setting up nicely



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[PetFlora]

Plants are doing great under the SS 100

May well be sufficient to go from it directly to the 260, making for an awesome tag team (perpetual) set up

The young plants will be ready to move under the big tents by Wednesday, or thereabout

While I would like to move the reveg under the anticipated arrival of 2 x 150s, to the 2 x 4 (thus freeing up the tent with the SPYDR 600), that tent lacks height- only 5ft tall

BE AWARE that F & D requires the tray drain to be higher than the rez when full in order to drain back fully, and the rez needs to be deep enough to not go dry throughout the feed cycle

I would need to raise the 2 x 4 up 2 feet which would require ~ 2 stacked concrete blocks per corner. Doable, but, I may just order a taller 2 x 4 tent

Pics tomorrow

 

[PetFlora]

I decided to stop posting in this thread

We pretty well know that the BML SPYDR 600 led does a fine job flowering, but without the ability to control the red spectrums the plants stretch too much when used before buds set.

I moved many long branches outside the cube and snapped several inside as I am running out of room in a 7ft tall tent!

I have a thread in LED section Insight: Amare Tech Solar Spec Panels where you can see what SS Bx1 can do under a more light controlled set up. The babies are literally jumping out of the net pots

Here's a couple goodbye pics of BBCC reveg taken today + the SS Bx 1 babies. The clones in the upper left are BBCC, my personal fav of the two as BM kicks my ass, but many amigos/amigas love it

MM what ever happened to the prizes?

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[PetFlora]

Changed my mind due to BBCC exploding with buds under the same light

The only difference is switching up from top feed to F & D

Prizes?

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[woolybear]

Looking great! Your continues r&d is very helpful/ And a fun setup to boot

 

[PetFlora]

Thanks Wooly

It's hard to believe that the last pics were only 3 days ago

Wait until you see the new pics tomorrow

 

[PetFlora]

BBCC Reveg in full bloom

I wouldn't doubt that she doubles the 110gms dry I got off her first go-round

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[LyryC]

BBCC Reveg in full bloom

I wouldn't doubt that she doubles the 110gms dry I got off her first go-round

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wuts with all that larf!!

 

[PetFlora]

LyryC, I don't get your meaning of '[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]wuts with all that larf!!

[/FONT]I been doing threads on IC for 4+ years. By far the most followed was when I was doing HPA

Update

Comin round the bend

Maybe 2 weeks left

Lowering nutes to ~ 800

She sucking more water than nutes these days, meaning I need to check rez ppms daily

This morning the rez as > 1500

I diluted with plain water to ~ 800.

I'm too short to see above the canopy, so the top shot were done with arm extended, guessing and shooting

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[LyryC]

the under canopy of that plant in the blue cage is to be polite, lazy.

like that budsite at the top of the main stem stalk...

Why? increase yield? Test grow?

Just curious cause seeing how clean and precise you grow I was surprised to see such an untamed plant.

Still man you did great should loosen up a bit

 

[PetFlora]

If I don't get your humor, chances are others won't either

The SPYDR 600 has no separate control over the reds, which causes a ton of stretch during veg/reveg, especially an issue with sats

The main stalk was at the base of the net pot when I started. It is stretched ~ 14"- a total waste

The Amare Technologies Solar Spec 260 I am using in a thread with that name, has separate red control. Those plants will be much shorter, which should equate to fuller buds below the canopy

Today's pics

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[PetFlora]

Here's an interesting observation

The dried larf from the BBCC reveg is much more potent than the previously harvested buds

Things that changed

1. I went from top feed to F & D in a small tote.

Unlike with top feed, where nutes stream down through the roots, each flood saturates the roots, then drains

2. She has the light to herself this go-round

3. I began adding HR +Size flowering amendment about a week ago

Of those 3 differences, I think the first one has the most impact

 

[med-man]

factors -

earlier harvest?

she is water sensitive, but does best in hydro with 50% nutes

that mean anything to your current grow findings?

med-man