Emmie's 6 Plant, True Living Organic, LED Grow Journal

Emilya said:
not worth the extra cost... I like the rust. It is an iron supplement. :)
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The tie wire for steel is a real soft fiexiable wire when wiped off with alcohol will frost right up with rust I learned the hard way on this grow was hoping it wouldn’t but you raised a good cause needless to say I took them off , Thank You
 
West Hippie said:
The tie wire for steel is a real soft fiexiable wire when wiped off with alcohol will frost right up with rust I learned the hard way on this grow was hoping it wouldn’t but you raised a good cause needless to say I took them off , Thank You
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Not thank you for taking it off but thank you for making sure that was a good idea . Med up with the wrong meds need a joint:ganjamon:
 
Alright, it is 3:13am and I couldn't sleep because I had an important task to do. We all just got notified who won the Mars light contest, and congratulations go out to Dutchman1990! I won a runner up prize too!

But, sleep is eluding me... I have a flower tent to get ready to go and I need some more light.

I have been watching these new name lights, and all marketing hype aside, here is what I have just purchased. I got 2 of these so to be sure that there is going to be abundant LED light in this tent and between the two LED arrays I will be running a total of 600w of actual power from the wall.
Each light is as follows:
Specifications:
LEDs Watt：3000W​
LED Chip: 370pcs main LEDs , 8pcs UVA LEDs, 6pcs assisted LEDs​
LEDs Beam Angle: 120 degree​
Main LED Chip Spectrum: 410nm-800nm full spectrum​
Main LED Chip Peak Wavelength: 450nm and 660nm​
UVA LEDs Spectrum: 380nm-405nm​
Assisted LED Chip Spectrum: 500nm-700nm​
Assisted LED Chip Peak Wavelength: 550nm​
Power Consumption：3A120VAC/1.5A240VAC ​
Input power: 100-240VAC 50/60Hz​
Power Factor: >0.9​
Light total photon flux: 480 μmol/S​
Light PPF(efficiency): 1.60μmol/J​
Light Spectrum: 380nm~800nm full spectrum including 450nm/660nm/730nm​
Light Blue-Purple/Orange-Red Rate at Vegetative : 1:4​
Light Blue-Purple/Orange-Red Rate at Flower : 1:6​
Light Mounting Height: 5-12in above canopy​
Light PPFD (μmol/ m²/s ) (stage: h=mounting height A=canopy coverage ):​
320 μmol/m²/s (Vegetative: h=20in A=4X4ft)​
500 μmol /m²/s (Flower: h=20in A=3X3ft)​

Each light will draw about 360w and will be the light equivalent of about 700W of HID. Two of them in the 2.5x4 tent will be overkill as one would probably be sufficient. These two lights will provide full coverage of every corner of the tent with no shadows and there should be full penetration of the canopy. This will be a true comparison of LED vs HID, watt for watt... Is LED superior? We are going to find out.

The best thing about this... I have bought 600w Hortilux bulbs that were more expensive than these lights!

The lights will show up on Jan 2 and they promise to make it an interesting 2019 around here!
Happy New Year!
Be well everyone!
Em
 
Today I want to explain some of the advanced training techniques that allow me to create a plant that will veg for a month to a month and a half, will grow in a 3 gallon container, and will produce close to 3oz dry. Every day I am in the tent working toward this goal and it is my constant tinkering that makes this happen.
Up until the last few days all I have been able to do was to spread the 4 main growth tips toward the edges of the container. By keeping them low with LST techniques I have taken dominance away from the 4 main kolas, which has caused many of the secondary and tertiary buds to rise up to the canopy. Depending on where the plant is in relation to the lights and which growth tips due to leaves being in the way that can see that light, some of these growth tips try to take early dominance and become the top bud. In a long veg grow, as each of these became the tallest tips, they would also be bent over, in turn causing their 2nd and 3rd nodes try to rise up to the top, but in a short veg like this one, there is another quicker option.
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Each time one of these middle buds rises up above all the rest and becomes dominant, it gets topped.
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This not only creates 2 buds where there was just one, it also removes dominance which then induces even more lower buds to try to rise up. At this point, it is sort of like playing wack-a-mole, wacking off the head of each one that takes dominance. In just a short time, you can create a monster plant while keeping the canopy low and even.
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Each main limb now has 2 hoops holding it in place and I have been waiting till now when they are mostly in their final positions before waiting this last week or so before up-potting. Today I added a thick layer of bark mulch to the tops of the containers. There are many good reasons to use mulch in your indoor containers. Having a top layer that protects the surface of the soil from the light and also retains a moisture layer, greatly enhances the microbiologic activity of the soil. I know some growers like @SweetSue who even grows companion plants in the containers to provide a natural living mulch. I am a big fan of bringing the good bacteria and microlife out of the forest and into our indoor gardens. One of the easiest ways to do this is with bark mulch, and as long as you stay away from cedar and walnut, our plants love it.
Combining organic science with advanced container management, bark mulch protects from burrowing and egg laying pests, practically eliminates evaporation, makes watering evenly much easier, and provides a natural forest like protection to a living organic soil. The benefits abound, whether you are an organic living soil gardener or you grow in FoxFarms Ocean Forest.
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Not a lot going on in the tent today. 4 out of the 6 needed water this morning, putting two of them on a 4 day wet/dry cycle and two of them have achieved a 3 day wet/dry cycle. This visible acceleration is a good sign that the plants have gotten over the intense LST torture of last week and each day there is a good growth on the lower nodes seeking to achieve dominance.
I, like anyone else, has to deal with complaints from the girls from time to time... but the key is understanding what they are calling for or objecting to. Not every little complaint needs an action from me. A couple of the plants are more magnesium hungry than the others and have developed a few of the classic burn spots, and I have been giving a heavy dose of calmag with each watering in response, halting the progression of that common problem, and for those not showing symptoms, we will call this a preventative measure.
Significant to note is the yellow on the fan leaf on TrainWreck there on the front right. Note the color, and the difference in this presentation as compared to the brown dead zone look that a magnesium deficiency would typically cause. This is something else... any guesses?
This is an example of a complaint that really doesn't need to be addressed, because I know it is simply a complaint. This presentation is not happening anywhere else on the plant, just on this lowest leaf. Actually around the room, I have lost several lower leaves and all of the cotyledons are now shriveled up. The point is, I know why... and I am not reacting to it, because I am causing it.
I insist on building massive rootballs and do not up-pot until the water uptake demands it. I am ruthless, and refuse to budge, much like some politicians that I admire. I am not going to up-pot until they can use all that water in those containers in 24 hours or less... just one time, and I am carefully monitoring each plant to look for this moment. I am waiting for the roots to expand laterally throughout this container and become so dense that they can easily accomplish this task. I have set this goal out for them as a prerequisite to get new digs. I could easily up-pot at this point, and I imagine that most of my readers would do so at the first indication of root stress in the lower leaves... but I will not... not yet. That massive dense rootball is too important to me.
The leaves that you can see above the soil are a mirror of the conditions and the size of the roots. If the roots are in trouble, the leaves point that direction. If parts of the roots system get congested, hit an air barrier, drown, or any number of other bad things, you will see an indication up top that something has happened to some of the roots. Parts of these lower leaves being cannibalized at the margins shows me that some of the roots, as represented by some of the lower leaves, have also died out or gotten congested... and the percentage of those affected is exactly represented by the percentage of cannibalization that we can see up top, as compared to the rest of the rapid new growth and maintained overall green presentation. One or two yellow leaves, when you know why it is happening and it is not spreading, is not a crisis and does not demand reaction from the observant gardener.
So, the new lights get here on the 2nd. I should be uppotting next week sometime to 3 gallon standard containers. I plan to veg for 1 more week after transplant and then flip the switch. Each week that I continue to veg at that point will roughly double my eventual yield, but this time I don't need a lot, I need it fast instead.
The plants are 42-32 days old as of today. For those proof in the pudding folks, this should be all you need to see. The LED light seems to be doing a good job ... at least as good as anything else I have run in veg, from 560w of T5 purple light to 400w MH, and considering the short node lengths, these leds may be better. Running this LED is certainly cheaper and I have barely noticed the hit on my power bill.
 
Emilya said:
Thank you! The girls aren't quite sure what to make of it, but they are getting used to the idea. Someone has been whispering to them how pretty they will be when they grow up.
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It is amazing how they bounce back.
 
Following! Just started at page 1 and caught up. Good luck Em!
 
Reading, watching and learning :popcorn:
Thank you Emilya for your details. I hope I can get over my fear of LST training, will be on my third only grow this February, with additional LED lights added to my “keep my fingers crossed” type of grow that is going on in my basement LOL.
 
Rosie44 said:
Reading, watching and learning :popcorn:
Thank you Emilya for your details. I hope I can get over my fear of LST training, will be on my third only grow this February, with additional LED lights added to my “keep my fingers crossed” type of grow that is going on in my basement LOL.
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Thank you Rosie! I am going to join your journal so I can see how it goes! Crossing my fingers too!
 
Mark Gordan Smith said:
Methinks Em must have visited the UK!

Terrific journal....gives me the confidence to grow again and really put my heart and soul in it this time. No more failures.
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Thank you Mark and great to see you here! Em lived in Wales as a child and she has relatives all over the UK and Africa, and yes I do visit often. Every once in a while you might even catch me using the UK spelling on words. :)
 
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