I took the first clones from the Girls this week. Inside, the stems were hollow like straws.. I've never seen that before. Trippy! must be the aeroponic environment.

Nice thread. If we were on Gilligan's island you would be the professor. I would be more like the Skipper. LOL! Seriously! You made a freakin' graph. Sorry I didn't notice this thread earlier.

How many inches are you maintaining from the light to the canopy top? Yours looks closer than mine. I was aiming for 7" but raised it to 10" to stop a slight bleaching effect on one of the tops. It was hardly noticeable but I recognized it from seeing it happen to others.

I will be following you along. You have a good scientific style and are easy to read. Keep up the great work.

Thanks,ENT,for the link..Fascinating! LOL w/Tobor..Yes, you nailed it on the Professor! The science behind all of this really really gets me going..something infinitely interesting..It is my truest desire to harness the power of Science in a very intentional way to produce some of the most devastatingly potent medicine on the Planet....But the Science is only part of what I'm doing here. I spend just as much time on the "esoteric" side of things.
For those of you that have read "The Secret Life of Plants" by Peter Tompkins,you'll know what I mean. (For those that haven't,you're in for a treat: check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Plants )

Like you,Tobor, I was also aiming for around 7 inches but experienced the same thing you did. Crazy potent LED light packs a punch. I am at 10 inches above now.
I even tried 2 inches above the canopy,but the top leafs quickly dried out and started to curl like praying hands.

Are you growing in soil or hydro? If hydro, what nutes are you using? I have yet to get 100% dialed in on that.

I as well have finally converted to LED. I am using a 90w UFO with reds, blues and oranges as a trial. I only have one plant at the moment and also have the Bubba Kush. This plant is doing awesome. I would be curious to find an adequate ventilation system. Right now it’s growing in closet, but I’m in the process of building a giant closet. Any recommendations for ventilation equipment.

Hi All, Pardon the delayed communication~ I've been a busy lil' farmer on this end. Since my last post, I have constructed an additional grow room & welcomed 29 new babies into it yesterday. So, now I have a room for flowering and a room for veg! I'll include some pics..the LED's are on in these pics, so don't bust a button..They'll be plenty of other pics on the way,both with and without the lights on. Also, if you want to see something specific,let me know & i'll snap some close-ups.

The initial batch of 12 are doing great!! I have just changed the light cycle to 12/12 & am really curious to see how the Red Flowering LED works. The Blue one produced some AMAZING results during the first veg. stage,so let's hope it carries over into flowering.

Have any of you used a 24/0 lighting schedule before? If so, how'd they do?

New Babies

The new babies are broken down into the following strains:


10 - Bubba Kush
5 - Strawberry Cough
4 - Grand Dragon
3 - Super Silver Haze
2 - Purple Diesel
6 - Green Crack



I have experienced PHENOMENAL results with the Bubba Kush!!!! They have been amazingly resilient in the aeroponic environment & seemed to enjoy more nutes than the rest. Absolutely no nute burn on them @ all, unlike the Larry OG's..which have had a harder time than the rest.

OK. So after all the hype and several years of being convinced LED's were evidence that the infomercial industry had finally one-upped the Phototron, I'm surfing around and find someone who puts his money where his mouth is, and has the photos. Best of all, the site doesn't appear to be financed, moderated, and seeded by the folks selling $1200 LED lights.

Basically, southerners can ditch the expensive climate controls for a magic light that doesn't get hot? Next question is, why can't we build one w/ $100 in parts from Radio Shack? (A rhetorical question, surely the answer lies somewhere in this forum)

HELP!! My Flowering Ladies Are All Droopy,Tips curled down!!

Hey folks, Again my apologizes for not keeping up with this. This girls have kept me so busy!

So here's the problem - I'm about 1/3 of the way in flowering and i just changed the nutes for the flowering ladies to their last stage nutes (CNS RIPE) - I'm using the CNS17 line. I changed the res. yesterday and put in a very low doseage of the RIPE with some Liquid Karma. I wake up this morning and my ladies are droopy as hell.
The fan leafs on top shrunk & tighted up, tips curled down,a few rust spots & i'm getting the dreaded claw.
I immediately emptied the res. and filled it with just plain water. I'm not exactly sure what to do next...Should i switch back to the Bloom feeding schedule? They have been doing great until now.

I think i might have shocked the plants with the CNS RIPE. If that's the case, am I doing the right thing by immediately flushing???
I took some pics with my phone,but they didn't turn out clear. I'll take more today when lights are off.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated..I'm reeeally freaking out!!!

In retrospect,maybe I should have eased them into the RIPE instead of just switching all them all at once.

Raw Data :

*25 gallon res. - Aeroponic system
*Changed occurred when using 75 ml of Ripe & 50 ml of Liquid Karma & ph Down in last nute change.(2 days ago)
*Using ultraviolet treated,super filtered well water.
*PPM's were only 410 and they still got all droopy- They have been getting 600-650 ppm all this time,so that's what is confusing me.
* Ph levels have been kept btwn 5.8 & 6.2.

Pictures of the Problem

The poor things are seriously drooping and look at how skinny the leaves are. They were full yesterday. I'm open to any suggestions. Thank you,Folks!

More Pics

pics continued..

More picss

more pics

Trouble Shooting Form

So ya'll know what's going on:

Your Equipment:
.1) Type and wattage of lights? 360w-3w Flowering Cree LED - Red
.2) Distance from tops? 6 inches
.3) Reflector type? None
.4) Is there a consistent fresh air supply? yes, plenty of fresh air
.5) Do you have an exhaust fan and a circulation fan? yes and yes, both 6 inch.
.6) What are the bulb wattages, kelvin ratings, and schedule? No bulbs- 360w Cree LED's powered by 3w of power see previous postings for the specs.

Your medium:
.7) Specific brand and type of soil, (coco, peat based soilless...) and anything you've added to it. (vermiculite, perlite, worm castings...) - SOILESS with Hydroton Clay Pellets- i'm using a 14 plant aeroponics system by Botanicare. Also using the CNS17 Line of nutes from them. I've had no trouble until switching them to the RIPE nute.

.8) Size of container. 25 gallon reservoir
.9) Did you use peat pucks (or similar) to root clones or germinate seedlings? no

Your nutrients and water:
10) A.) Source of water? Super fancy house water filteration system here- UV filteration,Well Water
B.) What's it's ph before adjusting? plain water ph7.5 -190PPM

11) Method of checking water ph? Old Fashion Drip Test

12) Method of adjusting water ph? Earth Juice Double Down

13) Specific brand and N-P-K ratio for each bottle. List dosages (quantity per gallon) and current feeding schedule. CNS17 Grow(3-2-4) CNS17 Bloom (2-2-5 ) CNS17 Ripe(1-5-4 ) Res.Change Every 7 to10 days Last nute change before this happen was : 125 ml Bloom,40ml Seaplex, 75 ml Liquid Karma
14) How often are you watering between feedings, and how much per watering? constant,24 hour Aeroponics misters spraying the roots.
15) Any additives or tea's? (Superthrive, CalMag, molasses, Mother's Earth...) Yes, mostly i've been using just Liquid Karma.
16) Are your ph levels stable, or do they fluctuate? They are kept within 5.8- 6.2 constantly.
17) What is your ingoing water's ph? ...your runoff ph? N/A - using Aeroponics
18) Do you foliar feed? If so, with what, how often, and at what time do you spray? Yes, Neem every 3 days & Azatrol ever week during vegging. None during Flowering.

Your growroom:
19) Indoors or outdoors? indoors
20) What size of closet, room or hut? 7ft x 4ft -converted upstairs laundry room
21) What are the temps and humidity levels while lights are on? ...With lights off? Humidity kept around 50%,Temps around 70 degrees. They are on a 10/14 cycle Light on- 6:15a Light off- 4:15p
22) Have you seen signs of insects in the growroom? no

Your strain:
23) What strain are you growing? (Indica dominate or Sativa dom?) ?? Mostly Bubba Kush but there are a few other in there. see previous postings in this thread.
24) From seeds or clones? clones
25) Is this an autoflower strain??....??? i have no idea

I'm fairly certain my problem lies in the fact i switched them entirely to the last set of nutes ( CNS17-RIPE) without easing them into it. I wasn't sure how they would react,so I only used 50 ml in a 25 gal res. ppm around 400 to see how they would take it. Within two hours,those pics above are what happened. I immediately drained the res.,filled it with plain water & hygrozyme and have been flushing ever since. I also added a few drops of SuperThrive. Fortunately, I've kept meticulously notes of every res. change. So, i'm thinking just go back to the nutes before the RIPE and slowly add it in. I don't think i've done much damage yet..lol What do you think? What exactly causes a full leaf to slim down like that bottom pic?

I'd love to hear from any of you using Botanicare's CNS17 line of nutes? especially if you are using a hydroponic method.

Crisis Averted!

So here's the low down - The high level of Phosphorous in the RIPE is the culprit. It led to a Zinc issue,which is why the tips turned reddish and curled downward.

From what I gather, the solution is a system flush with super mild nutes. How long do you think I should flush the aeroponic system for? hours? days? Thanks.

Looks great Helix. thanks for the dedication.

Quick question: How did you find the Blue Veg light compared to other MH lights or CFl's used previously? In terms of internodal distance and general well being?

Are they comparable in terms of light quality and area covered? (which is what by the way?)

thanks man

Thanks,Choppers! Welcome to Thcfarmer~ These forums are truly invaluable to the personal grower. I'm grateful somebody put the time and energy into making it happen.

I am a raving fan of my veg light! It truly has performed above and beyond what I expected. The girls LOOOVE it & stretched rapidly reach it. One of my girls grew 11 inches in two light cycles. Strategic pruning helped take care of the stretching.Viva fimming~ I wholeheartedly recommend both the blue-veg and the red-flowering. Folks, We are definitely reaching new heights in cultivation & current LED technology rocks!Don't be skeeeeered~=) Just make sure it is a 100% CREE L.E.D., if it's not, it's a piece of shit...No Exceptions. That's just the truth of the situation.

The only issue I would comment on is light penetration. It's not bad, it just led me to get creative with foam foil board,mirrors and light redirection. I've saved a bundle already not having to buy all the climate control equipment of a conventional grow. I really love them.
Realistically, I should have one light per garden(of 14) in a 2x3 space. The current Flowering Ladies have that,but the current Vegging babies have one light per two gardens - a total space of 4x6. The manufacturer suggests optimum coverage @ 4x4 with maximum coverage of 5x5. So, as you can see, I had a few feet to compensate for. I would reeeally love to see what the 720w LED's would have done! I ran across a website selling 5w-Cree LED's..Those must also be incredible!!

ON A SIDEBAR:
So far, this LED/AERO experiment has been highly successful. The only bumps in the road have been nute issues related to getting dialed into this system. I would also personally recommend the Botanicare CNS17 line...In any kind of hydro environment,you should start by using 1/3 of what the label says & increase 20 ml's at a time until you find the sweet spot. A TDS meter has been worth its weight in gold!
Now, if I can just finish this first batch up without f@!king anything else up, I'll be a happy camper!

Flowering Ladies!

Early Flowering