Expert Seeds "Sweet Zombie" under 2 Gavita Pro 1700e LED's..............

[Aqua Man]

I’m seeing reports of people using UVB after harvest, while the buds are drying and not while they are growing. Anyone else see these reports? I’m imagining since the resin acts as a defense mechanism to diffuse the UVB light, and the buds are still “living”, anything is still possible.

Haven't looking into it but will be tomorrow.

 

[sshz]

It seems more CBD growers are using it....... not necessarily for high THC growers. I saw some references about some videos detailing it.

 

[Seb]

Hi sshz,

Thanks a lot for your detailed threads, they def convinced me to go with the Gavita 1700e!

As both threads are pretty big, could you please make a recap with the distances led-apex’s and % light power you’ve been using (or would be advising) for the different stages of veg and bloom please?
That would very helpful, and sorry if this has already been posted, will have a better look at your threads.

Thanks!
Seb

 

[sshz]

I did a thorough watering this morning and am a big more encouraged by what I’m seeing.......... but I still see some underneath stuff that’s far behind. On Tuesday at week 8 done In Flowering I’ll start slowly removing some additional larger leaves to continue to let some light reach further down into the canopy. Basically, I haven’t removed much of anything since the week 3 defoliation. It’s needed now to get some light lower down the plants.

I’m thinking 9.5 or 10 weeks for chopping, I really don’t want to go past that point. About 20% of the room are earlier phenos and could be taken at 8 1/2 weeks but no harm in letting these indicas turn more amber.

I forgot to stock up on pro mix at the end of the summer and no one has stock locally so I’ll be forced to pay $100+ a bale on eBay or amazon to get a couple delivered. Not happy that UPS is bringing obvious grow medium to the house but I have no choice. I’ll be going to Home Depot this weekend just to make sure nothing else is available in early January.

 

[sshz]

Hi sshz,

Thanks a lot for your detailed threads, they def convinced me to go with the Gavita 1700e!

As both threads are pretty big, could you please make a recap with the distances led-apex’s and % light power you’ve been using (or would be advising) for the different stages of veg and bloom please?
That would very helpful, and sorry if this has already been posted, will have a better look at your threads.

Answer: In the first two grows, I started the lights at about 36 inches above the top of the pots and moved then down to 18-20 inches in flowering. This led to incredibly short plants, most around 2 ft. high. The Orange Gasm, a sativa, I topped once. The Sweet Zombie, an indica, I did not touch. Although the yields appear to be fine, and having shorter plants sure makes for a much easier grow to handle- I'd still like another foot or two stretch and slightly larger plants in the end.

So, the next grow in January, I'll be starting the grow with the lights about 5 ft. high. After discussions in the thread-we expect this will stretch the plants more, as they reach for more light. When they get close to where I want them in flowering, I'll lower the lights back down since the plants seem to only want to stretch about 6 inches in flowering when the lights are close (hung at 18-20 inches).

I'll again recommend not to take the shortcut and ask questions before reading the threads. If you need to ask, then you most likely don't know what you are doing and these threads should answer most of the questions that pop up. I have people tell me it's takes a while to get thru them, watch the videos, etc.......... but it's a great learning tool and worth the time, especially for newbies to LED like myself.

 

[sshz]

Not sure what's going on, as my answer showed up in the quote above. Just expand the quote to read the answer.

 

[Aqua Man]

Not sure what's going on, as my answer showed up in the quote above. Just expand the quote to read the answer.

Fixed it

 

[MIMedGrower]

Answer: In the first two grows, I started the lights at about 36 inches above the top of the pots and moved then down to 18-20 inches in flowering. This led to incredibly short plants, most around 2 ft. high. The Orange Gasm, a sativa, I topped once. The Sweet Zombie, an indica, I did not touch. Although the yields appear to be fine, and having shorter plants sure makes for a much easier grow to handle- I'd still like another foot or two stretch and slightly larger plants in the end.

So, the next grow in January, I'll be starting the grow with the lights about 5 ft. high. After discussions in the thread-we expect this will stretch the plants more, as they reach for more light. When they get close to where I want them in flowering, I'll lower the lights back down since the plants seem to only want to stretch about 6 inches in flowering when the lights are close (hung at 18-20 inches).

I'll again recommend not to take the shortcut and ask questions before reading the threads. If you need to ask, then you most likely don't know what you are doing and these threads should answer most of the questions that pop up. I have people tell me it's takes a while to get thru them, watch the videos, etc.......... but it's a great learning tool and worth the time, especially for newbies to LED like myself.

i found the heights you need different than most bar lights advertise. They usually recommend 6”-12”. They were designed for multi level shelf growing according to a lot of sites.

what height did gavita recommend?


i ask because i want lights like your configuration for a gorilla shorty tent. With the extension its only 5’8” high.

Maybe i need to stay with a lower wattage set up. 400watt range?

 

[sshz]

Gavita recommends 36-48 inches in veg and 18 inches in flowering.......... this is a fact straight from my customer service buddy at Gavita. I do think the 18 inches in flowering is a bit low and some plants have reacted poorly, especially to the center of the room. 20 inches is where I'm at and maintaining.

What's important to me is controlling the height and stretch in flowering. We don't want them too short or too tall. Just keep in mind that at 18 inches in flowering, it changes the growth pattern of the plant and no main cola is formed- they act like they were pinched and just branch/bush out from there. And, the stretch is only 6-8 inches max if the lights are kept this low.

I think after the first 2 grows, I pretty much have a handle on the plant growth......and how to manipulate it to our advantage. What's coming next though is, adding the adapters and master controller to control light intensity. The Master EL2 can dim up to 50% and anywhere between 50-100%. So do I raise and lower the LED's (which I now have a feel for) OR just dim and strengthen the LED intensity as need be. LOL

A new toy to play with and I'm already figuring out where to place everything for convenience and ease. The system also comes with temperature probes to be place under each LED, so I'll have a more accurate reading and control over each LED for optimum performance under them. Slowly but surely things are getting figured out and fine tuned.

I've already told friends I'm hoping for a 10% increase in yield over the Orange Gasm- 106 oz + 10 oz (10%) = 116 oz for 2.5 GPW but it's probably a bit unrealistic. The Bebop strain may actually be a heavily yielder than the Orange Gasm though. Stay tuned...........

 

[MIMedGrower]

Gavita recommends 36-48 inches in veg and 18 inches in flowering.......... this is a fact straight from my customer service buddy at Gavita. I do think the 18 inches in flowering is a bit low and some plants have reacted poorly, especially to the center of the room. 20 inches is where I'm at and maintaining.

What's important to me is controlling the height and stretch in flowering. We don't want them too short or too tall. Just keep in mind that at 18 inches in flowering, it changes the growth pattern of the plant and no main cola is formed- they act like they were pinched and just branch/bush out from there. And, the stretch is only 6-8 inches max if the lights are kept this low.

I think after the first 2 grows, I pretty much have a handle on the plant growth......and how to manipulate it to our advantage. What's coming next though is, adding the adapters and master controller to control light intensity. The Master EL2 can dim up to 50% and anywhere between 50-100%. So do I raise and lower the LED's (which I now have a feel for) OR just dim and strengthen the LED intensity as need be. LOL

A new toy to play with and I'm already figuring out where to place everything for convenience and ease. The system also comes with temperature probes to be place under each LED, so I'll have a more accurate reading and control over each LED for optimum performance under them. Slowly but surely things are getting figured out and fine tuned.

I've already told friends I'm hoping for a 10% increase in yield over the Orange Gasm- 106 oz + 10 oz (10%) = 116 oz for 2.5 GPW but it's probably a bit unrealistic. The Bebop strain may actually be a heavily yielder than the Orange Gasm though. Stay tuned...........

Thanks for the info. Now i have to compare a bunch of lamps diode numbers. I really need 12” max distance at peak flowering like i can with 400hps bulbs. How intense of led can i go?

Weird thought for short tent. 2 4’ 8 bulb t-5 flourescent lamps might be the perfect tool.

but im still going backwards. Lol.

 

[sshz]

Just buy an LED with a dimmer, that will make it so much easier for you. Then when we know the wattage of the LED, we can figure out optimum height at different points of the grow. Once Xmas is past, I'm going to buy a LUX meter, and with the chart previously posted, we can test different points in the room for optimum height of the LED. Since it's relatively cheap, I'll be happy to mail it around for people to test their rooms. It will be an interesting experiment for those interested.

 

[Seb]

Thanks again sshz for the info numbers etc, much appreciated!
Personally when I’m new to something I try to set up one parameter at a time, so I would first check the right distances at full power, than starting dimming etc. if it’s indeed needed.
i have been growing under 1000w hps for the last ten years, i like my habits and was a little bit confused with all these led brands, right canopy distances etc; now I’m more excited learning new things again than scared to give up what I know for something I don’t.

My plan was to veg under HPS as I usually do, in order to get taller plants, than as you said playing with the light distance during the stretch to get your plants where you would like them to be; if this can be handle that way, this would clearly be a great advantage.

Sorry for my poor English, greetings from Belgium!

 

[SSgrower]

I've grown outdoors only until now. All the interest from Canada's legalization to America's states coming on board has my Master Gardener brain working to be a student to another O.G. near me who grows indoors in a homemade tent in his bedroom, good weed he grows too. He is looking for a 50/50 strain good for pain to grow. I must learn all the indoor techniques of nutes,lights,water reservois ect. Thank's for the views.

 

[Milson]

I've grown outdoors only until now. All the interest from Canada's legalization to America's states coming on board has my Master Gardener brain working to be a student to another O.G. near me who grows indoors in a homemade tent in his bedroom, good weed he grows too. He is looking for a 50/50 strain good for pain to grow. I must learn all the indoor techniques of nutes,lights,water reservois ect. Thank's for the views.

If you are already a master gardener and want to learn about pot fast, RC Clarke's Marijuana Botany is a great book if you learn well that way. Many of us here are on the lookout for pain relief....best of luck!

 

[sshz]

I’ve probably had my copy of that book for close to 30 years now........

 

[Milson]

I think after the first 2 grows, I pretty much have a handle on the plant growth......and how to manipulate it to our advantage. What's coming next though is, adding the adapters and master controller to control light intensity. The Master EL2 can dim up to 50% and anywhere between 50-100%. So do I raise and lower the LED's (which I now have a feel for) OR just dim and strengthen the LED intensity as need be. LOL

I believe you will get better penetration if you have the lights at full blast and further away. The intuition being that the extra bit of distance is relatively less meaningful.

This question was really bothering me this summer into early fall when i figured it out to my satisfaction.

 

[Madmax]

But no large cola’s....... and that’s where the weight builds up. But definitely better than the last few weeks. I’ll let them go long and hope they can make up some weight in denisity and the sheer number of branches but I’m expecting about a lb less on each side of the room, compared to the Orange Gasm. That would take me to 106 - 32 = 74 oz total.

Quality over quantity ..

 

[Madmax]

I believe you will get better penetration if you have the lights at full blast and further away. The intuition being that the extra bit of distance is relatively less meaningful.

This question was really bothering me this summer into early fall when i figured it out to my satisfaction.

View attachment 1069211

Bit of good will hunting going on there mil.

 

[Milson]

Bit of good will hunting going on there mil.

Tbh i expanded the bottom for no reason and so it's sloppy as.....but you can see the reasoning

 

[Madmax]

I was dropped alot when i was little.thats all im sayin...