First Time Growing. Any Tips?

[xavier7995]

Did you happen to use pulleys when you installed it? If not, you might want to pick some up, makes it super easy to raise and lower. I am not a LED person so can't really advise. You could probably get it closer, but just check out threads on it to be sure.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Yeah I had pullys for the t5. I was more worried about not being able to raise it enough when I flip them and get way taller. But it will be fine. A buddy of mine told me 20" since they don't put out a lot of heat. I was around 77-80 degrees with the t5. I checked an hour after I put the led in there and it went up to 84. So I cracked open the tent a bit. Might just be because of the extra t5 on the side raising it like that. Most forums I've read about LEDs says 24-30" above canopy is recommended.

 

[xavier7995]

What sort of venting do you have/how are you sucking air out of the tent? I think you should be able to get it down pretty close to ambient temps, the led's are easy to keep cool. Is the room its in kind of hot to start with?

 

[BrokonBuds]

The room is naturally not a hot room. I live in Oregon and it's been really cold lately. I have a fan sitting on the ground blowing on the plants. And I had another fan just like it so I put it on top of the tent when I got the led to help suck out air. I should probably invest in an inline fan. Especially if it's gonna be a little hotter then this.

 

[xavier7995]

Yeah, it's a definite thing you need. It will knock out those high Temps easily. Get a speed controller with it so you can turn it down to help keep it quiet.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Okay cool. Should I order a couple of them? Put them both up top to draw out heat. Do I need one to bring air in? My tent has three, holes or rectangles with screens on them. I'm assuming having two up top would be okay and that they would just suck air in through those spots on the bottom of the tent sides

 

[reeferman420]

search threads on leds. they have much higher intensity than flourescents

 

[xavier7995]

One should be plenty, assuming you are thinking of something like this

You just leave the flaps open that have screens, that acts as a passive air intake. The fan is going to be strong enough that you will see the sides of the tent suck in a bit. Get the speed controller, 50 to 75% should work and will keep the fan quiet enough to not bother anyone. Even the "quiet" models are pretty loud at full power.

If sending air out the top, the bottom vent is key. You are trying to pull warm air out with the fan and then using the vacuum to suck fresh cool air across as much of the space as possible.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Alright cool. So I've got everything accomplished. Fan, and spacers in between my pots and trays. Working really well. This is now day three after I flipped the lights. They look healthy as ever. And I can see the new branches even getting a lot fatter. Man I'm excited lol. The led is doing the job so far. We will see how the buds actually turn out. I did notice at night time the humidity getting up to 66% though just last night. It usually goes up to 55 ish when the lights are off. So I'm gonna buy a dehumidifier to get that down a bit. I have a question though, should I be cutting fan leaves right now? And when I do is it okay to cut some top ones that block lower growths light?

 

[xavier7995]

looking good man. You might want to search for the VPD chart and see how your humidity levels vs. temperature stacks up. I try and follow it during veg and early flower; later in flower, when you have big ol buds, I go for something around 25% humidity just to be on the safe side to prevent any mold and mildew issues from showing up. Higher humidity levels are actually a good thing generally speaking and if you have good air movement it should be fine, think about that lush growth that happens in the rain forest.

I am struggling to get my lights on humidity levels above 25% at the moment and battling some warmer temps than I would like; season changes are messing with my stuff.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Thanks bro! I read that 40-50 is really good. But a lot of people say lower is better just incase. Like you mentioned the mold and mildew. I was also spraying my plants with a mini mister bottle twice a day during veg. I'm not going to continue doing that during flowering though. Just afraid of it getting too high especially when the buds are gonna be growing and holding in extra moisture.
Where are you located? Here in Oregon it's raining all the time and around 50-60 degrees daily. My temps in the tent range from 66-81 degrees for night and day

 

[xavier7995]

Denver, it is insanely dry. We are going from spring to fall and my house temps are swinging all over the place so the grow is also moving with it. Was in the 70's yesterday and a blizzard today; normally I don't bother with it but my plants were looking a bit on the sad and droopy side (heat damage) so I put my thermometer/hygrometer thing back in the tent and the temps were higher than I thought they would be an the humidity much lower. Stuck an ionic breeze humidifier in there and it is looking better; higher humidity lets you run higher temps without much trouble.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Dang that is some interesting weather. We just have rain and the occasional sunny day that gets to 70ish lol. And thanks I didn't think of it like that. And here I was thinking the tent was too hot. I've been trying to get it to 70-75 but said screw it. With the bloom light off and veg on, it was around 77.
Anyways super excited to see how they turn out, I'll keep you posted and send another pic in a couple weeks

 

[xavier7995]

General rule of thumb, but I get worried if I get above 85, my target is somewhere below 80. Keeping temps down is not a bad pursuit at all, to high and you can wind up with fluffy buds and no one wants that, 75 is a good target but if you miss a bit it isn't that big of a deal.

Looks like you are well on your way to a mighty fine harvest:)

 

[BrokonBuds]

Hey guys, so they're really coming along. Just now starting to smell like dank lol. Here's what they're looking like.

 

[BrokonBuds]

Took this one this morning :)
Trimmed a bunch of the crap on the bottom part and throughout the plant yesterday and a bunch of the fan leaves. Looking healthy! Also bought a dehumidifier to go in there cause I noticed at night it would get up to 60-69% now it doesn't go higher then 54%

 

[BrokonBuds]

Day 25 of flowering. Starting to smell real nice
This picture is of the blackberry

 

[BrokonBuds]

Hey guys. Here is an update on the grow under the LEDs.
How do you experienced growers think they're looking?

 

[BrokonBuds]

Hey guys, so this is three of the four plants. That single bus picture was a smaller one of the blackberry nugs. By now I've cut them all down and they're drying, hanging upside down in my tent. Looks like my first grow was a success. I'll take more pictures of them when they are dried and cured! Thank you for all the tips and tricks!

 

[BrokonBuds]

I can definitely say I liked growing with LEDs. The single Mars 2 1200w was great. I will use it again for my next grow but next time I will let them get taller. Plants were 15-18" tall.