Complete beginner: no buds

[TorturedSoul]

I thought to put up also my old 600W HIDs.

^THIS^ - it's more powerful than any of those cheap LED panels you've mentioned. (Possibly more powerful than all of them at once, lol, but that might be a close race.) A 600-watt HPS is not perfect for a 4'x4' space, you'd probably want another 200 (*actual*, of course) watts or so across 16 square feet of garden space to approach "perfect." On the other hand, you're growing autoflowering plants at 18 hours of light (or more, but I wouldn't recommend over 20 (opinions vary, though)) per day, which means you can keep quite a high DLI (day light integral - how much light energy they're receiving per day) because you don't have to increase the number of uninterrupted hours of darkness per day to 12 in order to initiate/keep flowering.

And plenty of people use just a 600-watt HPS setup in a tent of that size for regular (photoperiodic) cannabis strains.

Does it have the perfect spectrum? No. Does it produce "hella" amounts of light? YES! In this instance, does quantity have a quality all on its own? Well, lol, people have been harvesting a pound (or more) from 600-watt HPS setups for years. That depends on strain selection, of course (and... <COUGH>a little bit of knowledge<COUGH> ), but they're fully capable of good production numbers. Your personal knowledge base will grow with experience. And even with killer head-stash bud (aka sativa ), you can get a fair bit of weight with that light.

IMHO, of course.

 

[CroQ]

Yes, you might be right, the "visible" light is surely more powerful on the HPS light.
But it comes with some (major) downsizes:
- my electric bill went through the roof the last 2 months
- it generates a lot of heat (so much in fact that I don't need to heat up the room and it's winter here now. Not only do I don't heat the room, but I keep a window semi-open to get the temperature in the tent to 26C. Otherwise it quickly goes to 34C.) I don't have big fans to cool everything down, so it's a big inconvenience.
In the summer, it will be practically impossible to use HPS, I will have 50 degrees in the room and all the plants will die.
- the plants developed quite good on LEDs so far.

Since now I have all of them, I'll try to find the perfect balance of light/temperature in my setup, since everyone's room/setup is different.

 

[Emilya Green]

Portable (battery powered), and about $35 600x magnification at 3.6 MP. It's out there at one of those places we can't link.

 

[FelipeBlu]

I would say that none of this looks done yet and I would guess that you are in about the 5th-6th week of actual bloom and that you have approximately 3 weeks left to go. You really have to be able to see the trichomes to know for sure when to harvest.

^AGREE^

 

[TorturedSoul]

But it comes with some (major) downsizes:
- my electric bill went through the roof the last 2 months

That is a toughie. Been there, doing that (and I'm trying to end up with a setup that's a little less than 600 watts, total, counting a cheap extraction fan, timer, pump(s) if I partially go back to DWC grow, etc.). Sometimes reality has a way of making "perfect" solutions rather imperfect. Still, if you can manage it, you'll likely get significantly more benefit from the 600-watt HPS. But if you can't, you can't.

- it generates a lot of heat (so much in fact that I don't need to heat up the room and it's winter here now. Not only do I don't heat the room, but I keep a window semi-open to get the temperature in the tent to 26C. Otherwise it quickly goes to 34C.) I don't have big fans to cool everything down, so it's a big inconvenience.

Yikes. Gets way too hot here in the Summer, but right now it's 5°F (-15°C) outside and I never even gave the heat issue a thought. Hey... If you shut the window, but opened the door to the room and put a simple box fan in the doorway, lol, might there be other rooms you wouldn't have to heat? (And, by moving major air around your house, maybe get your grow tent temperature down and keep it that way through the end of the grow?)

I bought a little 10" fan, the kind that you sit on the floor and aim towards you on a hot day. I was using that for a while (eh... it's a fan, I guess). But I've finally decided after too many years without one to buy a carbon filter and "extraction fan." Money is tight here, too, so I'm looking under the bottom of the barrel. I have pretty much decided on either an iPower or Vivosun combo kit. I can go as cheap as humanly possible and get the two items (in 4" size) for just under $70, just "cheap - but for a cheap price, too " for just under $100 delivered, or "cheap - but for a cheap price" in a 6" (more airflow, larger filter capacity, but slightly more power consumption) for about $130. I don't like any of those prices. I'd like to get a little 3'x3' tent, probably one from our sponsor Mars-Hydro since I'll be growing under a pair of their newest lights - but what I end up having to pay for the fan/filter setup will ultimately determine whether I can buy the tent. So... Yeah, not being wealthy kind of sucks, doesn't it? I've only been trying to save up for this stuff for about a year and a half .

I don't know what your local laws (and neighbors) are like, but IF you are not concerned about removing the odor, then any fan you get will flow more air due to not having to work against the restriction of the filter. That might mean you could go a little cheaper on a fan and not "get overly penalized" for the choice, IDK.

I have seen do-it-yourself setups that used a Stanley brand fan/blower, just a little one that is made to sit on the floor and be aimed upwards to suit. Apparently, they actually flow a lot of air (and have three speeds). Again, I suppose it depends on your specific needs and your budget.

I guess, at the end of the day, we each of us can only do the best we can with what we've got (can get / can afford to run / et cetera). Good luck with the rest of your grow (and the next, and the next, and...), regardless of the setup you end up with.
In the summer, it will be practically impossible to use HPS, I will have 50 degrees in the room and all the plants will die.
- the plants developed quite good on LEDs so far.

Since now I have all of them, I'll try to find the perfect balance of light/temperature in my setup, since everyone's room/setup is different.[/QUOTE]

 

[CroQ]

Now that's an idea, to open the door and put a fan in there so the nice smell goes everywhere )
The smell is pretty strong in that room, I wouldn't want the entire house to smell like that (not that I don't like it...)

 

[NOOOBIENOT]

I like that microscope Emilya posted gonna hunt that one down like the portable and no cords idea , gotta see if it works on my android tablet this way I can post pics directly from my tent - grow room and not have to connect to my main computer upstairs

 

[CroQ]

More updates: the buds look more juicer every day . Finally got the 2nd LED so we're back on track.
I'm checking the buds as much as I can with my 40x jeweler lens and they look... white/clear.
The leaf started to turn a bit yellow, some I had to tear down.

What do you guys think ? I watered them with nutrients one day ago, should i keep going 1-2 weeks or maybe start 1 week of Flora Kleen?

Also, buds are kinda uniform but there are some visible younger ones that will not have time to be ready in time. I checked some YT videos with people that start cutting out the "done" buds and hang them to dry out, while leaving the plant with the little buds so they grow a bit more. Is that OK ?

Thanks a lot, hopefully I'll get my first harvest soon and light one for all of you who helped me!

 

[FelipeBlu]

Looks closer. Perhaps start taking some tester buds at different states of maturity. Then you’ll know what you prefer next time.