TBE Indoor LED Black Indica Nov 18

[thebigearl]

Thx Dutch!
The light build will be for a 4x4 area. The new grow hut is 8x4 so my plan is to use the new light for half and build another led for the other half, using a different approach.

For this first build im going to be using 4 foot led strips. I'm going to save the specifics/details till later

Second build will be also led but maybe cobs or panels... Yet to be determined!

 

[thebigearl]

I will still have the 3 light fixtures I'm using now in the meantime till second build is decided and done.
And I will keep the tent for when I grow regular seeds to quarantine the males and collect their pollen!

 

[Kongfuzi]

I try to water to runoff every time. It lets you know that it's wet through and through with no dry spots.

Plants look great, dog face too!

I never water to runoff. I have water sensors from WirelessTag that lets me know what the moisture content in the soil is, so when it dips to the level that’s 24 hours before it’s dry, I can water and not have wet-dry cycles where you stunt the plant from overwatering (that’s what you’re doing when you water to runoff, overwatering) it’s just varying levels of moist, which is how you want it.

 

[InTheShed]

Love the new torture chamber Earl! Can wait to see it lined and lit

I can water and not have wet-dry cycles where you stunt the plant from overwatering (that’s what you’re doing when you water to runoff, overwatering) it’s just varying levels of moist, which is how you want it.

Isn't the wet/dry cycle (in soil) the way we encourage roots to grow? And not all watering to runoff is over-watering. That's an overly broad generalization. It completely depends on the size of the pot and the root mass.

 

[Kongfuzi]

Love the new torture chamber Earl! Can wait to see it lined and lit

Isn't the wet/dry cycle (in soil) the way we encourage roots to grow? And not all watering to runoff is over-watering. That's an overly broad generalization. It completely depends on the size of the pot and the root mass.

Not according to research. Dry pot stops growth as it senses the lack of water and triggers conservation mode. Like most plants and animals, a steady diet is what’s best. You want to keep optimal conditions as much as possible, and letting your soil go dry is not optimal. Same with too much water. Not only are you washing out beneficial microbes around the root zone when you do so, you’re removing nutes already processed by the rhizosphere and all sorts of bad things.

But that’s my .02

 

[InTheShed]

I didn't mean desert dry!

 

[thebigearl]

Well I finally got some stuff done.
Tried to keep costs down as much as possible (little bit of aluminum ain't cheap). Found a darn near perfect piece for my frame at work so I yanked that.
Not the fanciest of builds but tried to keep it as neat as I could. Zip ties, dbl sides tape and some crazy glue! Just need to figure out my power switch wiring and add the eyelets at each corner for hanging and she'll be good to go!

I'll throw up a parts list anyways in case anyone interested. All prices would be in Canadian pesos.
From digikey;
1.) 12x bridgelux eb2 4ft strips, 3500k
2.) 1x meanwell hlg-480h-42a driver
$415

From Canadian Tire /home depot ;
1.) 6x 1/8" thick by 1" wide by 8 feet long aluminum strips
2.) 2x 8 ft 1/2" aluminum channel
3.) 18ga wire (stranded, isn't find solid core) 25ft roll
4.) 14ga wire 25ft roll
$150 ish

Amazon ;
1.) switch make IEC320 c14 plug
2.) drok ac multimeter
3.) thermal tape
4.) 12 ft power cord
5.) 20pc 5 way wago connectors
$85 ish

I basically followed a build for a 4x4 tent over on led gardener, so props to them for the ideas.

Ill continue in next post...

 

[thebigearl]

I Cut the aluminum strips to 45" as the strips are actually 44"long so I had half inch on either end, to which I drilled small holes for bolts, that was before I found the frame piece I ended up using. So a change of plans while building. Attached the strips to the aluminum strips with the thermal tape. Then cut the channel aluminum to 15"and attached to the flip side, centered, with the thermal tape. Then spaced out the 12 strips evenly across the frame, via dbl side tape and crazy glue. I wasn't 'crazy' about the attaching method but it proved to be quite strong.
The driver is an "A" model so it has built in volt /amp adjustments. Also has 2 leads for output. 6x strips per.
Parallel wiring, constant voltage.

Here are some photos

 

[thebigearl]

The meter shows lowest and highest with built in adjustment dialed.

 

[InTheShed]

Gorgeous build Earl! I dig the metal pegboard, I don't think I've seen that before. Can either of your kids still see? Must have been down at the 200w level then and not the 515w .

How tall is it? I put thirteen 22" Samsung strips on a 48" frame and it maxes out around 383w. Yours is really the sun!

 

[thebigearl]

Gorgeous build Earl! I dig the metal pegboard, I don't think I've seen that before. Can either of your kids still see? Must have been down at the 200w level then and not the 515w .

How tall is it? I put thirteen 22" Samsung strips on a 48" frame and it maxes out around 383w. Yours is really the sun!
[/QUOTE
It's bright! Lol
Kids haven't walked into the wall yet so I think they're good
The frame itself 28" Wide by 44" long
I'm tempted to get this in the current grow now but not sure it's a good idea at 6 weeks into flower? Thoughts?

Gorgeous build Earl! I dig the metal pegboard, I don't think I've seen that before. Can either of your kids still see? Must have been down at the 200w level then and not the 515w .

How tall is it? I put thirteen 22" Samsung strips on a 48" frame and it maxes out around 383w. Yours is really the sun!

Thanks!
It's bright! Lol
Kids haven't walked into the wall yet so I think they're good
The frame itself 28" Wide by 44" long
I'm tempted to get this in the current grow now but not sure it's a good idea at 6 weeks into flower? Thoughts

 

[InTheShed]

Well it ain't my grow, but when I put my Blue Treacle auto 2 under the new lights mid-flower it loved it! 6 ounces off an auto I don't think would have been close to that under the old light.

Keep in mind that with that kind of light, they need more food, so if you do it, bump them up the feeding before you change out the lights. More food and more cal-mag...

 

[InTheShed]

Just for fun, here is the 6 ounce auto:

20190105_100309.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jan 5, 2019
• 3

Blue Treacle Auto 2, day 93

And here is my light:

 

[thebigearl]

Decent shed!
I see your light wired in series, what is the volts on that puppy? What series Samsung strips did you go with? Looks good!

 

[thebigearl]

I'm at 8ml per gallon calmag and 2/3 the chart for Bloom (10ml per gallon) currently.
Gives me about 900ppm tds

 

[InTheShed]

I'm at 1000ppm TDS now and I'm only 16 days into flip. No tip burn on any of my three different strains. I expect to get to 1200 or so at the peak, but I'll watch the leaves as I go.

I went with the MW HLG-320H-C1050A and the SI-B8UZ91B20WW Samsung F-Series Gen3 100W FB24B double row led strip 3000K.

 

[thebigearl]

Those f series are nice! I considered them as well.
I've hit 1000+ppm once a couple weeks ago but my meter doesn't go any higher than 999 I found out, lol

 

[InTheShed]

LOL! It doesn't do a little flashing x10 in the corner? That's what mine says when it goes over. Today it said 120 x10 (which includes my 200PPM tap water).

 

[thebigearl]

Frig, maybe it did now you mention it I recall something flashing! I'll have to check that again.
Just getting some stuff for hanging and I'm gonna throw this bad boy in the tent tomorrow I'm thinking!
Got the switch figured out too...

 

[InTheShed]

Whoa...fancy switch! Let 'er rock