First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

[timhdr]

Been a crazy week but finally found some time to post an update. Plants are doing great. I have been continuing to lower the light and I have been running it on full power since day 13. Quick recap of the week:

Day 10: moved humidifier into tent.
Day 12: ordered seeds for the outdoor grow (Skywalker kush, pineapple chunk, some more autos and a variety of cbd strains)
Day 13: lowered light, set humidifier on timer to shutoff one hour into dark cycle. Turned light on full power
Day 15: Topdressed with wormcastings and fed Neptunes Harvest Tomato and Veg
Day 16: Began some early lst on 2 of the 3 healthier plants.
Day 17: And here they are as of 3/22

Black Cream 1

Black Cream 2

(It looks wilted but I just tied down two leaves)

Jack 47

White Widow (back from the dead)

I would love any feedback or questions on the grow. Also some advice when it comes to lst. Im really shocked at how short these plants grow under LED. I am used to my outdoor girls who are already twice the height of these by two weeks old due to stretching and are easy to tie around the pot. What are some other good lst techniques for autoflowers?


First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

 

[CannaKitty]

Heyaa... seems everything is growing fine. Glad your girl came back to life. Its funny you mention parking lot lights because I stare at these brand new LEDs they have put in the street lamps down my drag as it serves for a major parking street in my little beach resort town. I wonder what/how well/ would they produce... If only I could train a monkey to climb to the top and help me get one down. Going to check out the thread on your build after this.

So, Do you feel your plants aren't getting enough from the 1200? If I understand correctly, you want to add in 400 more led watts?? I ask because I just 2 days ago took my girls out from under the Mars 300w+CFL closet and put them in the tent with JUST the Mars2 1200. I have a little under 3 feet of distance between my plants and the lamp right now as they adjust to it... but need to purchase a hanging kit because the OE hanging cords and carbiner while fine for my dinky 300 ... just don't feel solid enough for the weight of the 1200. Looking at how you hung yours for help so thank you I am barely 5'3 so getting that thing hung in the top of my 6'5 tent all by myself is pretty interesting.
Back to my question about the 1200. So the reason I ask whether you feel it is not enough... is while I have been told that the 1200 is a bit overkill for my tent (100cmx100cmx200cm) I am still thinking about adding in about 300 watts of cfls... (already have 2 150watts in the in the flowering temp range). If not for the plants, the extra white light would be helpful for my own eyes... the blurple makes it hard to spot out issues early on. I just like the idea of mixing a little white light in with my blurple...

Sorry to blabber... just curious how others feel on the idea of mixing white light with their LED panels.

xxKitty

 

[timhdr]

Heyaa... seems everything is growing fine. Glad your girl came back to life. Its funny you mention parking lot lights because I stare at these brand new LEDs they have put in the street lamps down my drag as it serves for a major parking street in my little beach resort town. I wonder what/how well/ would they produce... If only I could train a monkey to climb to the top and help me get one down. Going to check out the thread on your build after this.

So, Do you feel your plants aren't getting enough from the 1200? If I understand correctly, you want to add in 400 more led watts?? I ask because I just 2 days ago took my girls out from under the Mars 300w+CFL closet and put them in the tent with JUST the Mars2 1200. I have a little under 3 feet of distance between my plants and the lamp right now as they adjust to it... but need to purchase a hanging kit because the OE hanging cords and carbiner while fine for my dinky 300 ... just don't feel solid enough for the weight of the 1200. Looking at how you hung yours for help so thank you I am barely 5'3 so getting that thing hung in the top of my 6'5 tent all by myself is pretty interesting.
Back to my question about the 1200. So the reason I ask whether you feel it is not enough... is while I have been told that the 1200 is a bit overkill for my tent (100cmx100cmx200cm) I am still thinking about adding in about 300 watts of cfls... (already have 2 150watts in the in the flowering temp range). If not for the plants, the extra white light would be helpful for my own eyes... the blurple makes it hard to spot out issues early on. I just like the idea of mixing a little white light in with my blurple...

Sorry to blabber... just curious how others feel on the idea of mixing white light with their LED panels.

xxKitty

Cannakitty, I am actually very satisfied with my purchase of the mars 2 1200. It's a great great value I think. That bloom switch really makes a difference. I actually have 2 switches on my control box, one for the mars led on a timer, one for a 43w cfl so I can go into the tent without blinding myself. I originally was going to hang 4 of these cfls and run them with the led as supplemental, but the heat generated by them does not outweigh the wattage they pull. In my opinion CFL is dead, or if not dead it should be. So the reason I wanted to repurpose the parking lot lights was 1. I love projects like this. 2. I am totally satisfied with the mars hydro, but it only pulls about 460w at full load and you can never have too many watts. 3. I plan on running dual tents next year so I will not have to worry about purchasing another light.

First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

 

[timhdr]

Just a quick update. Plants are looking super healthy but I'm really hoping they stretch more soon. I'm considering raising the light again. LST is such a bitch when they're short. I'm going to get inventive tomorrow afternoon and try something after I water. Here they are tonight:

Black Cream 1:

Black Cream 2:

Jack 47:

Retard Plant 1 (white widow)

First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

 

[timhdr]

So day 22 and I've done some LST to the two black creams then watered with a dilluted Neptunes Harvest Tomato & Veg mixture. Will post more once they bounce back from the training but here they are


Black Cream 1

Black Cream 2

First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

 

[VexGrows]

Sub'd.

I'm a closet grower as well. Lol

 

[timhdr]

So the girls absolutely took off this week. I've been pulling alot of leaves to the side and tieing branches down and it appears to have paid off. Noticed some yellowing tips on the biggest black cream on the new growth of the main cola. Besides that, everyone is happy.

 

[HiddenGrow]

Hey Tim They are all looking good , Lost your journal for a sec. I am surprised to see the runt still hanging around. I personally have a soft heart for WW so I would have done the same. How big are you planning on getting them? and were you still gonna get those clones? It all sounds too fun

 

[CannaKitty]

Looking good! Absolutely great! If you don't mind me asking...How far do you have the front of the 1200 from the top of your plants??? I ask because I am having trouble settling on what is the ideal distance for veg. I still feel I could get it closer than the 75-80 cm I am keeping mine at right now. Sorry to bother... your plants look very happy .

 

[EBnFLO]

Hi kitty,

My experience has shown that 40-60 cm is the perfect distance for my Mars LED lights.

 

[timhdr]

Hey Tim They are all looking good , Lost your journal for a sec. I am surprised to see the runt still hanging around. I personally have a soft heart for WW so I would have done the same. How big are you planning on getting them? and were you still gonna get those clones? It all sounds too fun

Yeah my original donor's clones didn't take so I'm still looking. I also have a soft spot for ww. I've grown it twice now and loved it both times. I figured there's space in the tent til I get clones so why kill them off. I did start 12 seeds for my outdoor grow this weekend. And an additional 4 for the tent (two autos and two photos).

 

[timhdr]

Looking good! Absolutely great! If you don't mind me asking...How far do you have the front of the 1200 from the top of your plants??? I ask because I am having trouble settling on what is the ideal distance for veg. I still feel I could get it closer than the 75-80 cm I am keeping mine at right now. Sorry to bother... your plants look very happy .

Yeah I have mine at about 30-35 inches currently. I experienced some burn week two when I lowered it below 30" So I've been playing it safe.

 

[Buckshot317]

Looking good! Absolutely great! If you don't mind me asking...How far do you have the front of the 1200 from the top of your plants??? I ask because I am having trouble settling on what is the ideal distance for veg. I still feel I could get it closer than the 75-80 cm I am keeping mine at right now. Sorry to bother... your plants look very happy .

Used the 1200 for 2 years, I keep it around 24 to 30 in for veg, seems to keep a good internode spacing.

 

[Buckshot317]

Plus each strain is different, some you can get closer and others more sensitive

 

[CannaKitty]

First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

Used the 1200 for 2 years, I keep it around 24 to 30 in for veg, seems to keep a good internode spacing.

For clarity... you quoted my post in centimeters and then said 24 to 30... but you meant inches right??? 24-30 cm is really close... I can get my little mars close but with my 1200.... I'd be scared of irradiating my plants if that's centimeters!!

Glad to know the 1200 is light I can work with for 2+ years though!!!
Thanks

 

[CannaKitty]

First Indoor Grow With Mars II 1200W & The McGrow

Yeah I have mine at about 30-35 inches currently. I experienced some burn week two when I lowered it below 30" So I've been playing it safe.

Thanks! When the plants grow into it they seem to not like when it (the 1200) to get any closer than 75 cm (30inches) I can get my small mars pretty close so I was just curious if you had found a diff 'sweet spot' but sounds as if your about the same distance
Thanks!

 

[HiddenGrow]

Yeah my original donor's clones didn't take so I'm still looking. I also have a soft spot for ww. I've grown it twice now and loved it both times. I figured there's space in the tent til I get clones so why kill them off. I did start 12 seeds for my outdoor grow this weekend. And an additional 4 for the tent (two autos and two photos).

Nice, It sounds like you're going to have a full garden. Are you sure the tent will fit 4 extra roommates?

 

[timhdr]

Nice, It sounds like you're going to have a full garden. Are you sure the tent will fit 4 extra roommates?

I think so. I'm removing one if not both of the white widows and the photos won't be in 5 gallon pots right away. Plus i should be getting the drivers for the two LED boards im building to supplement my mars. If all else fails I'll just start the photos in the greenhouse and move them to the tent in a month when I cut the current autos.

 

[HiddenGrow]

Cool Whats your outdoor season like? In Cali the light schedule gets good enough for photo plants around May. I wanted to compare a fall crop grown from seed starting meow vs clones I put out in May. Well see who wins

 

[timhdr]

Cool Whats your outdoor season like? In Cali the light schedule gets good enough for photo plants around May. I wanted to compare a fall crop grown from seed starting meow vs clones I put out in May. Well see who wins

The outdoor season is...unpredictable. I have a greenhouse so I'll start the hulk of my photos between mid March and April and try to have them outside sometime in the first week in may. The summers are hot and humid. August/September is always tough fighting off mold.