2nd Grow - Magnum 357 - OG Kush

[Dunge]

I pay 25 cents per Kilowatt.
Very highly motivated to LED as my wife challenges me about my power bill.
Thanks for the link CASP. Am looking at the 200 watt Diamond Series LEDs - Extreme 3w LED Technology but $545 is still a big chunk of change but if it works could pay for itself in just a few grows.

 

[CA5P3R]

I pay 25 cents per Kilowatt.
Very highly motivated to LED as my wife challenges me about my power bill.
Thanks for the link CASP. Am looking at the 200 watt Diamond Series LEDs - Extreme 3w LED Technology but $545 is still a big chunk of change but if it works could pay for itself in just a few grows.

Haha don't give me credit for the link, that was another fellow on my thread, I don't know much about those models as my only experience thus far has been with the Mags.

It is true though that all the LEDs that actually produce anything significant come with a pretty high price tag. Some people will say HID is better because it is cheaper and is proven. However HID does come with a lot of extra work to have proper ventilation, heat management and space confines.

The way I look at it, one way or another I will need to acquire my medicine somehow and if I was to buy the amount that I just produced I would be looking at over a $1000. So on my very first grow I ended up putting up about $1000 in equipment (Magnum, Tent, Promix, Nutes, accessories) and ended up with a little over $1000 worth of medicine. So I got the $1000 worth of medicine I would have paid for anyway and now I have a whole setup for more or less free to keep producing.

I understand peoples reluctance to spend so much money, but sit there for a second and think about how much money you have spent over the years on the medicine itself. For me getting this setup together was a small spec in my cash pool compared to how much I have spent on the meds.

I would say for any light, LED or not, the financial risk is minimal as long as the light can produce something cause sooner or later you will move into the plus. It only took one grow with the Mag for me to break even. I was skeptical at first but now everything going forward is free minus a tiny hit for replenishing Nutes and Mediums.

My only question is, WHY THE $#*& DIDN'T I DO THIS SOONER!

 

[CA5P3R]

Hey guys!

Better late then never I always say.

Well hope you enjoyed my first grow and will stick around for my second to see if I can break the 1g/w mark, that's my goal at least.

So as I was saying on my last journal I am switching to 12.5L Air-Pots, only doing 2 plants instead of 4 and will be running a SCROG.

I just finished transplanting into the Air-Pots and snapped some shots of before and after. I also have one pic showing the size of the 2G Pots I was using before compared to the 3.3G Air-Pots I am using this time.

Hopefully I can hit the Depot later and grab the screen for the SCROG.

Enjoy!

 

[Dogwap]

Casper,

Very nice write-up on your first grow. And glad the light worked out for you.

How tall were the plants at harvest? I'd like to get an LED for my cabinet, but am concerned with the extra vertical require as a result of the 12-18 inch focus distance.

Also, you probably mentioned this, but I missed it, how long did you veg?

Good luck on the current grow. You'll have a lot of ppl watching.

 

[Dunge]

I like the mode of operation for those air pots.
I have some experience with the fabric smart pot line and it seems to work as described.
I grow in 3 gallon fabric bags and when I stripped the bags off at harvest and cut up the root ball with a shovel, the entire mass was a uniform net of small roots.
All my plastic posts had extensive root mass abutting the plastic and sparse to irregular permeation throughout the inner mass.

 

[CA5P3R]

Well guys, looks like I will be picking up some BubbleBags today. Gonna go with the 1G 8Bag kit.

Also last night I picked up a Wet/Dry Shop Vac so I can clean out the excess water in the tent a lot easier after watering the plants. I went by the Depot to pick up some hexagon Pet fencing to make my SCROG but decided I didn't really like the stuff, to many sharp edges.

You guys have any suggestions for a nice 2x2 SCROG screen?

 

[CA5P3R]

Casper,

Very nice write-up on your first grow. And glad the light worked out for you.

How tall were the plants at harvest? I'd like to get an LED for my cabinet, but am concerned with the extra vertical require as a result of the 12-18 inch focus distance.

Also, you probably mentioned this, but I missed it, how long did you veg?

Good luck on the current grow. You'll have a lot of ppl watching.

Hey Dogwap thanks for popping in. My plants at harvest were around 2ft I would say. Well by the end I had my light about a foot from the tent ceiling and the tent stand 5 1/4ft. So yea with pot/plant/light to canopy distance that was about the right size with a little room.

Now I vegged mine for about a month they were a foot tall after re sprouting from some FIM when I switched over to 12/12.

I originally had 5 in there and man was it crowded. The appearance of Balls brought it down to 4 and even that was crowded once they started bushing out.

What kind of room are you working with?

 

[CA5P3R]

PS. Got the BubbleBags :)

 

[Dogwap]

Ghostie,

Thanks for the quick response. I have a 30 inch Closetmaid (30x20x72 high). But it has a built-in structural shelf that devides the cabinet into two compartments. The grow chamber is about 60 inches tall, less the 15 inches for the rez and rail (stinkbud method). Right now the unit is set up for CFLs. But for my next grow, I'd like to make the switch to LED. The problem is that when you take off a few inches above the light for cooling and 12-20 inches for focusing, there's not much more than a foot of grow room. A possible solution is to cut the center out of the structural shelf. That might get me enough room to make it work.

 

[MPD]

Care to report on how your first run with the Magnum yielded?
There are many of us almost ready to pull the trigger on an LED purchase, but those prices are still out of reach without confidence that the lights yield far better than equivalent watts of HPS.
I go from site to site and just never can find pertinent information about these lamps.
Click on product details and actual power draw or unit size or any number of "details" are missing. This does not inspire confidence.

My thoughts too. I'm thinking about using LEDs, but if they need 500 watts of power to produce 500 watts worth of HPS equivalent output, then who cares? We never seem to get documented facts that are at arm's length. It's always someone who is connected to the manufacturer or some other moral hazard that leaves the report hanging.

 

[CA5P3R]

Ghostie,

Thanks for the quick response. I have a 30 inch Closetmaid (30x20x72 high). But it has a built-in structural shelf that devides the cabinet into two compartments. The grow chamber is about 60 inches tall, less the 15 inches for the rez and rail (stinkbud method). Right now the unit is set up for CFLs. But for my next grow, I'd like to make the switch to LED. The problem is that when you take off a few inches above the light for cooling and 12-20 inches for focusing, there's not much more than a foot of grow room. A possible solution is to cut the center out of the structural shelf. That might get me enough room to make it work.

Yes you could certainly cut the divider out and then you would have plenty of room, or maybe you could cut out a snug little rectangle out of the top of your box that would fit the Mag or whatever perfectly, that way you save space above your light and your light will also exhaust it's warm air out of the box.

 

[CA5P3R]

My thoughts too. I'm thinking about using LEDs, but if they need 500 watts of power to produce 500 watts worth of HPS equivalent output, then who cares? We never seem to get documented facts that are at arm's length. It's always someone who is connected to the manufacturer or some other moral hazard that leaves the report hanging.

Yeah I know what you are saying. Well all I can tell you is you have my first grow to go on, and hopefully you will stick around for my second.

It's true there are a lot of Affiliates doing grows and I would be lying if I said I didn't wish I was one myself, I mean cheap lights would be awesome. Hell maybe one day I will be if the guys who make the Mag or any of the competition like what I am doing.

Bullshit aside though I am really enjoying sharing with the community. I like how you guys here at THC Farmer ask questions and get me thinking. I have this journal over at RIU as well and haven't got a single comment.

As far as Production vs. HID from some skimming it seems like most folks come up with about 0.5 to 0.75g/w with HID and with some advanced folks pushing the envelope a little higher. I managed 0.85g/w on my first grow ever and I was so relaxed about the entire thing. I really didn't try very hard, from the start my conditions were not ideal so I decided to just use this grow to learn the process and try things out like cloning, FIMing, harvesting, drying curing. My current grow I will be focusing more on technique and the science. So we will see.

I know there is not a ton of completed LED grows out there and I think that is because like you most people were a little skeptical, but I have seen a lot now that are underway, so lets pull up a chair and see what these fellas can do.

 

[K11NG]

My thoughts too. I'm thinking about using LEDs, but if they need 500 watts of power to produce 500 watts worth of HPS equivalent output, then who cares? We never seem to get documented facts that are at arm's length. It's always someone who is connected to the manufacturer or some other moral hazard that leaves the report hanging.

i totally agree on what your saying here, I am on my second grow and the only reason i decided to go into medicine production was because the option of led. I think that this is a great thread and ca5per is honest and a man for the cause. I hope you dont mind if i put my diary here so we can help the led cause.

 

[CA5P3R]

i totally agree on what your saying here, I am on my second grow and the only reason i decided to go into medicine production was because the option of led. I think that this is a great thread and ca5per is honest and a man for the cause. I hope you dont mind if i put my diary here so we can help the led cause.

Thanks for the kind words K11NG. Glad I can once again follow your journal too.

I made my first batch of BubbleHash last night from just my trim. Didn't get very much but there wasn't a whole lot of trim either so couldn't expect a ton. I was a little to "sleepy" to play photographer and Bag sifter so didn't really take pics but I'll snap a few shots of the finished product later.

 

[CA5P3R]

Alright,

So here is a bunch of random pics I just snapped. We got my BubbleHash, the stuff I found to be my SCROG screen, the left over Mash from last night, my 8 Bag BubbleBag kit and the 2 Garbage pails I used. Let's stop there for a second, I had a hell of a time trying to find buckets or pails that would fit the 1G bags, but these garbage pails are perfect, so word from the wise, bring your BubbleBag with you if you are going out to buy a pail for it.

Then we have a pic of my new ShopVac, makes cleaning up that excess water under my plants so easy now. Then we have the growth update.

Enjoy!

 

[CA5P3R]

Just finished installing the Screen today. Looking forward to doing some training.

 

[K11NG]

looking good and orginized cant wait to see them fill that screen!

 

[CA5P3R]

Yeah I don't think it will take long to fill either, once the roots dig into these 3.3G Airpots they are gonna explode!

 

[CA5P3R]

Gave the girls a nice feeding today.

Really gotta get back into the habit of filling up my Humidifier, got so used to flowering and not having to bother with it.

Some tops are starting to poke through the screen, almost time to start training them.

 

[ronvmpc]

Thats a sick as grow you got going there. Nice nus as well. I'm setting up a 30" x 30" with 2 60wt led's while he's outta of town. He's gonna go crazy when he gets back. I was just wondering, and you've might of posted it already, and shame on me if you did, what kind of ventilation you run in that tent? I'm thinking of a 4" inline.