Aloha ;-} - Nebie starting on my room...

[Swany]

Man - there is a lot to learn with growing. In high school I stuck some seeds in water, then planted them in cups of dirt and that's as far as I got. Always wished I could have at it for real but I was way too scared of getting caught. Now it's 30 years later and I just got my 'prescription' up here in beautiful WA! Not only am I legal, I have property and a well insulated shop to create a grow room - sweet ;-}

I'm going to start a thread in the Grow forum to post the build and my process in hopes I can get tips and share anything I learn from other sources or dream up in the process of building and growing. Just read Chillaxin's post so I know it's a bit crazy to go hydro for the first run but I'm going to try regardless. I have the aid of a 20 year veteran to get me started, though he's been out of it for a while and we're both digging for the latest solid tweaks and techniques. First big question - HID or LED...

It's good to have this space where I can hob nob with the masters - thx all!

 

[Papa]

welcome to the farm Swany!

HID all the way.

 

[CINDARELLA99]

Aloha & Welcome to The Farm Swany! IRIE Vibes!

 

[catdaddy]

welcome to the farm, and looking forward to the start and finish of your first grow.

 

[Swany]

welcome to the farm Swany!

HID all the way.

Thanks all ;-}

Papa - that's what I think so far, but I've read the string GreenGuyLED is posting about his first grow with LED's. He's pretty stoked on the progress and it looks good from here. I would love to cut power usage by 60% and run a propane heater instead of maxing fans to keep it cool. Have you checked into LED's? Why do you think HID is 'the way and the light'? Of everything I need to figure out to be successful at this, it seems like lighting is at or near the top of the list. I'm hoping to make my biggest gear purchase wisely... As an electrician I can tell you that LED tech has advance enough to make them the smart choice for lighting to see by. I kinda hope they're also good to grow by, but...

 

[Kebz]

For your consideration.


Firstly like yourself i'm here to learn and am master of very few things, certainly no exert and my experience is all i can go by, others with different experiences will disagree, (perhaps) but will neither be right or wrong just have a different perspective.

Good luck on what can only be described as an exciting journey of discovery. You sound like your in a fortunate position.

In terms of lighting I really don't think it matters. Master which ever method you choose. There are so many variable and factors, getting most of those as good as possible, all improve the medicine you produce. Genetics are a huge factor in what a plant can and will give you.

I have an led flower room and some other bits going on. I prefer multi point lighting above any other, i.e multiple light source's allowing the plant to stretch and grow in lots of directions and create new branching.

For veg Led's are fantastic, very hard to beat but look to mix spectrums and have different angles of lighting. Running low wattage Led's will only cover a very small space and is fine for veg but you'll need at least 500watts for them to be effective in flower and to give a good footprint, ignore the claims on coverage by manufacturers and the comparisons they give.

If you do go led, minimum of 3watt diodes, 5watt if you can afford them and ensure they have deep red 66nm (plants cannot properly flower without this particular spectrum of light) and u.v (turn lights off when working with or under u.v) for crystal production, included in the bands of light that they produce.

Led's don't stretch the plants as much in flower and generally result in a smaller more compact plants and buds (depending on veg time, genetics etc). They allow for a much cooler room - but a fan is still necessary to move air around the room and bring in fresh and remove stale air.
They are not all good and there are lots of rubbish, cheap, ineffective lights around. DONT go cheap. It would be equivalent to running a HID with a 3year old bulb - useless.

Ask lots of questions, make up your own mind, learn from experience. Very good luck and feel free to ignore everything i suggest, as this is your adventure. if you want to ask anything, ill try to help.

 

[Texas Kid]

I learned in hydro...I thought it was easier than soil by far

HID all the way for anything but sprouts and clones

 

[Kebz]

With hindsight - HID!

Why? The cost.
Setting up an Led grow room that produces 'on par with HID' is still going to run you 4 maybe 5 times the cost of a comparative HID setup.

LED's are still VERY expensive and the returns will take a 'while to see'. I'm a fan and love the dense nugs and insane crystal production but to buy in from scratch........

As your your an electrician, maybe look into building your own Led light array? It would be an inexpensive way to test and allow you to design a system specific to your own needs.

Have a look into it, their construction although beyond me seems straightforward enough.

 

[Swany]

Thanks Kebz, T.K. I am fortunate, I have enough capital to get 4 big LED lamps to start out with if that was the way to go. Though as you point out it's a load of cash. If the lamps will produce the weight and quality then they would pay off with reduced power usage. On the other hand since this is my first gig I might be wise to stick with the tried and true, which I will do. If I find success in this endeavor - easing my achy back and profitably providing the means to do so for others - I'll add two more prescriptions to the wall along with two more grow rooms and check out LEDs for those. Neat idea to build my own, I'll look into that. In my first set up I'm going to have just one area to veg and flower so I'll use the same lamps for both. If LED's work well for veg, would they keep the Mothers happy? My mentor here says 600w HPS for Mothers to develop strong stalks. I would really rather burn less power if I could get away with using LED's or maybe a mix of T5 and/or CFL's. And since I'll stick with HID for the grow room this would bring up the next question - adjust a wings or enclosed and vented fixtures? TTStick say's I'll need a/c so I guess vented hoods would be best to keep some of the bulb heat out of the room.

Sweet Texas Kid! I always hear hydro is scary but it seems simple to me. I say that now... ;-} I know there is a lot to this art, though in principal monitoring ph, ppm and temp sounds doable to keep the hydro set up working right. I really hope that I can learn how the plants eat and drink well enough to allow me to set the room up and take off for a weekend her and there without coming home to starving plants.

 

[Kebz]

Good thinking Swany, I started with HID lights and still run em! I really like the quality of bud LED's produce! I'm a best of both worlds kinda guy.

I think for vegging LED's are acknowledged to be useful, as they develop lots of branching and very tight internode spacing.

A lot less power is needed to veg as opposed to flowering under LED's, which makes them a realistic alternative. I've had plants grow to very big dimensions in a veg room lit with LED's with CFL supplemental lighting. The benefits of the lower heat output, lower power consumption etc are a strong positive for using LED's in veg.

Here's one I prepared earlier.

 

[Texas Kid]

Shit can screw up quick in hydro but by the same token you can fix it real quick also

 

[ttystikk]

I'm having really good results combining mh and led in my veg; freshly rooted clones and babies on the led side, bigger prebloom ladies under the mh side.

If you have plenty of startup cash, buy a 600w hps setup as well as a good high power led- and run both for bloom. It is my educated suspicion that both provide a better quality of light than either would alone.

 

[Swany]

I'm having really good results combining mh and led in my veg; freshly rooted clones and babies on the led side, bigger prebloom ladies under the mh side.

If you have plenty of startup cash, buy a 600w hps setup as well as a good high power led- and run both for bloom. It is my educated suspicion that both provide a better quality of light than either would alone.

Hmmmm - less heat with 600's and a few less watts with the combo vs. all 1000's. That sounds like a good idea. After thinking I should just go with HPS since I really am a noob with all this I kinda got set on that but I got a week or two before ordering the main light setup. I could still change my mind again.

If LED's are good for Veg since they produce small internodes and lots of branching - would they also be good to keep Mom happy? I would think that's exactly what I want a plant to do if I plan on taking clones from it and never letting it get to tall...

My sprouts should be coming over Wednesday - very exciting! I cut up some old t12 fixtures to make a 4 bulb t8 and put 5000k bulbs in. Hopefully that will work fine for sprouts. I think my local mentor said the strain was Ice Princess. Sound familiar? He says it's good and i have not been overly concerned about what my first crop is, just that I have a chance to grow one ;-}

 

[Swany]

Good thinking Swany, I started with HID lights and still run em! I really like the quality of bud LED's produce! I'm a best of both worlds kinda guy.

I think for vegging LED's are acknowledged to be useful, as they develop lots of branching and very tight internode spacing.

A lot less power is needed to veg as opposed to flowering under LED's, which makes them a realistic alternative. I've had plants grow to very big dimensions in a veg room lit with LED's with CFL supplemental lighting. The benefits of the lower heat output, lower power consumption etc are a strong positive for using LED's in veg.

Here's one I prepared earlier.
View attachment 306049 View attachment 306052

Those look like happy plants to me ;-} Seems like mix and match has the popular vote. Ima consider that.

 

[Swany]

Just for the record - I went with (4) 1000w ballasts and A-wings to start. I have reading/watching a lot on LED's though. High Times has a vid on YT showing some wild LED's at Rocky Mountain High in CO that produced better than HID. I think LED is just about ready. And like both the residential and commercial lighting markets, as soon as people start buying them the price will come down.

 

[shawnskush]

Just for the record - I went with (4) 1000w ballasts and A-wings to start. I have reading/watching a lot on LED's though. High Times has a vid on YT showing some wild LED's at Rocky Mountain High in CO that produced better than HID. I think LED is just about ready. And like both the residential and commercial lighting markets, as soon as people start buying them the price will come down.

Its all about the newer high watt diodes! totally changing the game.

 

[Swany]

I checked out the add up in the corner for Super Grow Leds - they don't appear to have the new 5w diodes, but they have smaller fixtures that are very affordable. I'm thinking about getting two to keep mom's lit (ha - it would have been funny to see -my- Mom lit ;-). I hear a lot about how a 400w min HID is needed to get good development and to support the plant through the stress of talking cuttings.