My wife has been disabled for chronic migraine pain since 2001. We have tried everything to combat the pain and nausea that comes with it and have found very little that is actually helpful with acceptable side effects except cannabis. I feel blessed to be in the Grower Feedback Program and this is my grow journal.

Background: I have been using a 400W mh/hps light for several years. Recently I purchased 2 90W LED lights to supplement or replace my MH light. I noticed that plants under the LED lights really flourished (thicker trunk, broader leaves and are not leggy) but the grow area was smaller than my MH/HPS light. I had read that the flowering would suffer under LED light's, but this was not my experience. I have turned in my paperwork and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my SolarStorm light.

Welcome to the forums!

Two 90w LED lights will never replace a 400w HID (which is small to begin with) light, the SS is more like a 600w HID light but, regardless, it should be much better than what you had. That said, I have some questions. How much did you normally yield with your old setup? Was your old light(s) growing enough meds for your wife's needs? Soil or hydro? What kind of genetics do you prefer? If you tell us about your grow system/method, we may be able to help you tune it for better results. I assume that you're growing short plants since your old lights were so small?

Good luck!


SME

My current grow area is 3' 2 1/2 " by 4' (but is basically a 3x3 area). I have a 400W mh/hps light with a adjust-a-wing reflector. I use soil (most forgiving). I grow everything from seed. I use 1 gallon pots until they show their sex and then I transfer them to 3 gallon pots. I can fit about 16-18 3 gallon pots in my grow area. My scale broke so I'm not sure of yield, but generally it's 3 one quart mason jars, which is about 3 months use. As far as strain goes I originally used any seeds from any stuff that I could scrape up as well as some Jack Heer and Chemo or Chronic. Now my seeds have those as well as a few unknown strains mixed together but are noticeably heavy with Indica (broad leaves).

My grow area has 3 sections.
X11 X12 X13 X14
X21 X22 X23 X24
X31 X32 X33 X34

The 400W light can barely cover the area, but the 2 90W LED's (1 magenta and 1 purple) hang over the X3 section. Everyday I rotate their position, so they are not stuck in a poor light position (X11 goes to X12, X12 goes to X13, X13 goes to X14 and X14 goes to X11). Taller plants will be in the X1 or X3 rows, while the shorter plants the X2 row. With the addition of the 2 90W LED lights I now use the X3 row for light therapy. If a plant is a late sprouter or isn't as big as the others, it will spend time under the LEDs to catch up.

Research has led me to believe that the following strains might be best for my wife's disability: Flo, Flave, Romulan, White Diesel, Maui, Chernobyl, and Purple Diesel. I'm not sure of the best way to get some seeds from these strains.

OK, so let's do the math; your 400w HID covering a 3x3 grow area is 44w/sqf, which is not quite enough, imo; add in the LED and you're over 50w/sqf which is good but only 44w of that is HID. Now, once you replace the old system with the SS you'll have nearly 70wLED/sqf which is exceptional but you have to make sure that they can handle it. Your room will be warmer too.

You should consider using your old lights for vegging, in a new area, and to keep one or more "mother plants" going so you can switch to clones from seeds. You'll save money that way, especially if your wife has a "favorite."

How much headroom do you have in your grow area? SOG has some advantages (and disadvantages) but you may want to consider growing fewer plants that are taller, if you have room.

I tried a high CBD/low THC strain for my back/neck pain but it didn't work as well as I had hoped. I'm going to try "wappa" next, another grower here had his crop lab tested and the results were impressive. I can't say for sure that your wife will like it but it's another to consider.

My ceiling height is only 7' 1" high, and my light height is even less. I have a metal shelf that I use to hold the light. That is why I use 3 gallon pots instead of 5 gallon pots. As far as cost, I usually pollinate a plant or two so that I have a steady source of good seeds (doesn't cost more than cloning). I've only purchased seeds once, though I will again to get the correct strain for my wife.

As long as you have a steady source of seeds, at least you don't have to buy them, but there are other advantages to growing from clone...if you had enough space to keep a mother, etc. Either way, it sounds like you have things under control...

I got my Solarstrom light a couple of days ago and have replaced my 400W HID light.It did not come with any user's manual (I don't know if it was supposed to). It did come with a pamphlet that listed 2 new products that aren't even on California Lightworks web site. A Solarstorm 400W light and a Solarflare 100W light.

My first impressions.
Pros:
Light output seems much stronger than my 400W HID
Has vegetative mode, flowering mode and UVB boost (no changing bulbs to change modes)
Sturdy build
Cons:
Heavy, seems more than 40 lbs
Higher heat output
No user's manual (only a product pamphlet and a safety warning sheet-one warning was to not immerse light in water or other liquids...really that needed to be listed)
Fans are a little loud (much louder than my Kessil lights)

I'm 6 and a half weeks in, on a 12 week grow. I'm just starting to pull males as they reveal themselves. I am looking forward to my next grow that will be all LED, but I will continue to post about this grow.

Week 7.5
Because of the the increased heat, I placed a small fan blowing over the top of the Solarstorm, This fixed the heat problem.

Humidity 57%
Light 18-24' from canopy
The canopy sensor is 18" from the light
Ceiling Hi 84.9 deg Lo 69.8
Canopy Hi 82.9 Lo 69.4

13 of 20 were female. All female plants re-potted into 3 gallon pots.
Fertilizer used is Fox Farm's Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom,

Looking back over my strength and cons I feel that I need to re-evaluate.
Cons:
Heavy light
Loud fans
Higher heat output; partially mitigated by an additional fan. The heat is much higher than my 400W HID and 2 Kessil 350's
Minimal documentation
Power cord does not sit securely in fan receptacle
Pros:
Sturdy build
Greater light intensity
Good coverage
Both Vegatative and flowering modes require no bulb change.
UVB boost for late stage flowering

Near Disaster. For some reason, one of the four LED sections has 21 lights out. Called CLW, today. They said that they would have a replacement light out today or tomorrow. With Memorial Day weekend I figure that means Tuesday.

Yeah, bad timing for sure but I've heard nothing but good about CLW customer service so it shouldn't be too long. At least it's not the whole light. *shrug*