Richie Rich's grow journal
Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:56 pm
Alright, so finally I found some time to pump out this journal as promised per terms and conditions at the time of sale. I participated in the grow light feedback that California Light Works offered at the time when I bought the grow lamp and as part of the agreement, I’ve promised that I will commit some time to put together a journal… so without further ado, here’s the goods so far. I will comment on the pictures and note what I’ve noticed.
A bit background info about my previous growing experience: I’ve been growing for a few years now. My previous setup was a 1000 watt Hydrofarm magnetic HPS ballast with matching Hydrofarm aircooled hood. The reason why I choose a magnetic ballast over a digital was because of cost: I would go through a bulb every 6 months with a digital so then I changed to a magnetic and then the bulbs lasted for a little over a year before they reached a point where the light intensity from the bulb justify the cost of running it. Long story short, I wanted to save more money and it’s probably a good chance that why you’re reading this too. So join me in this journey! I encourage any questions or comments, just keep it civil eh? If not, I will not respond.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The first thing I’ve noticed is that “Wow, this thing is bright!” I think it should come with a warning label… seriously. The reflective light (I guess) emits purple but when you look directly at the plants, the emitted light looks white! It is that bright! Initially I had the light about 18”s away from the plant… the lamp gave off so much light that it gave it nutrient burns. When I moved the light more like 24”s away they absolutely love it – all the tips are pointing up, nice dark leaves, fat f’in leaves for the size of the plants.
This is not a veg light for sure. At first I was like “eh, this doesn’t look like it reflects light very well… maybe I’ve made a bad decision.” I mean, how can it? The engineers would have to design it so that all the LEDs are focusing on the same angle or something and then from that lens or something I suppose the angel of the light would be more controllable… something to think about I suppose. Y
This thing does get hot too though. Just because they use LEDs don’t think for a minute that you’ll get away with shady ventilation; if not, I guarantee you’ll cook your plants. This is not a veg light, again. After about a week of use and observation, I can safely now say that this product is very comparable to a 1000w HPS/MH lamp as far as the light intensity/light penetration and the light cover area. I can’t wait to see how this does in the flowering stage.
To be honest, the first three pictures are a week old and here is the current picture as of today (4/25/2012) The roots finally reached the reservoir on the five gallon buckets. I grew these up from seed. I normally do not do this, I usually grow from clones or teens, however this time I made an exception; mainly because I haven't done this before, grew from seed that is, and two: I got seeds from a sack I got from a dispensary. I mean, it would be okay if I walked in there intending to buy some seeds but... eh.
update: 4/27/2012
Wow, another interesting thing I want to mention is that when I went to check on my plants today I’ve noticed that inside the tent was a little warm, so then I thought “I better get some more ventilation going on here.” So I bent down to do some work and noticed right away that underneath the lamp is about 10-15 degrees coolers than above the lamp. I mean how cool is that! It’s usually the other way around with HPS/MH lamps lol.
Dang, I’ve been meaning to reply to this for a while now lol but for some reason or another it hasn’t happened one way or another. Wtf this sounds like a riddle or something : p. Anyways, the reason I grew some many plants in one pot is because I knew some of those will be males and I was gonna un-root them, however, with some consideration I decided to see how these plants turn out and if they turn out good I might cross bred it with another plant or something… Something to think about.
I normally do not turn out one gram per watt, I always thought that was like an urban legend or something lol. I believe in quality or quantity, at least most extent, but it is something to consider I suppose. I mean, one gram per watt is something to aim for then why not just veg the plants for six months? I mean I could get two or ten grams per watt, if veg for like nine months under a fluorescent lamp, but then again I’m looking for quality and six-nine months sounds ridiculously long. In fact, you could theoretically achieve the greatest watt per gram or gram per watt or whatever, if you just let it veg outside like it does in the wild, however, there are so many plants that like different PH levels, nutrients, light, etc, that it’s almost impossible to control your plants like you can indoor. So that completely defeats that purpose. And if you grow outside, you’re more susceptible to mold and other stuff you have to grow a healthy plant above anything else; the plants survival matters more if you are growing outside than the quality of the end product. As far as I’m considered, outdoor weed is low (medium quality at best) while any decent indoor from a decent strain would be considered at least medium grade.
Anyways, enough rambling, here’s some shots just two days later! I use a deep water culture system, a cheapo Home Depot edition if you know what I mean. Let me know if you want to know more lol. I have a feeling this is an outdoor plant... we'll see I guess.
A bit background info about my previous growing experience: I’ve been growing for a few years now. My previous setup was a 1000 watt Hydrofarm magnetic HPS ballast with matching Hydrofarm aircooled hood. The reason why I choose a magnetic ballast over a digital was because of cost: I would go through a bulb every 6 months with a digital so then I changed to a magnetic and then the bulbs lasted for a little over a year before they reached a point where the light intensity from the bulb justify the cost of running it. Long story short, I wanted to save more money and it’s probably a good chance that why you’re reading this too. So join me in this journey! I encourage any questions or comments, just keep it civil eh? If not, I will not respond.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The first thing I’ve noticed is that “Wow, this thing is bright!” I think it should come with a warning label… seriously. The reflective light (I guess) emits purple but when you look directly at the plants, the emitted light looks white! It is that bright! Initially I had the light about 18”s away from the plant… the lamp gave off so much light that it gave it nutrient burns. When I moved the light more like 24”s away they absolutely love it – all the tips are pointing up, nice dark leaves, fat f’in leaves for the size of the plants.
This is not a veg light for sure. At first I was like “eh, this doesn’t look like it reflects light very well… maybe I’ve made a bad decision.” I mean, how can it? The engineers would have to design it so that all the LEDs are focusing on the same angle or something and then from that lens or something I suppose the angel of the light would be more controllable… something to think about I suppose. Y
This thing does get hot too though. Just because they use LEDs don’t think for a minute that you’ll get away with shady ventilation; if not, I guarantee you’ll cook your plants. This is not a veg light, again. After about a week of use and observation, I can safely now say that this product is very comparable to a 1000w HPS/MH lamp as far as the light intensity/light penetration and the light cover area. I can’t wait to see how this does in the flowering stage.
To be honest, the first three pictures are a week old and here is the current picture as of today (4/25/2012) The roots finally reached the reservoir on the five gallon buckets. I grew these up from seed. I normally do not do this, I usually grow from clones or teens, however this time I made an exception; mainly because I haven't done this before, grew from seed that is, and two: I got seeds from a sack I got from a dispensary. I mean, it would be okay if I walked in there intending to buy some seeds but... eh.
update: 4/27/2012
Wow, another interesting thing I want to mention is that when I went to check on my plants today I’ve noticed that inside the tent was a little warm, so then I thought “I better get some more ventilation going on here.” So I bent down to do some work and noticed right away that underneath the lamp is about 10-15 degrees coolers than above the lamp. I mean how cool is that! It’s usually the other way around with HPS/MH lamps lol.
Dang, I’ve been meaning to reply to this for a while now lol but for some reason or another it hasn’t happened one way or another. Wtf this sounds like a riddle or something : p. Anyways, the reason I grew some many plants in one pot is because I knew some of those will be males and I was gonna un-root them, however, with some consideration I decided to see how these plants turn out and if they turn out good I might cross bred it with another plant or something… Something to think about.
I normally do not turn out one gram per watt, I always thought that was like an urban legend or something lol. I believe in quality or quantity, at least most extent, but it is something to consider I suppose. I mean, one gram per watt is something to aim for then why not just veg the plants for six months? I mean I could get two or ten grams per watt, if veg for like nine months under a fluorescent lamp, but then again I’m looking for quality and six-nine months sounds ridiculously long. In fact, you could theoretically achieve the greatest watt per gram or gram per watt or whatever, if you just let it veg outside like it does in the wild, however, there are so many plants that like different PH levels, nutrients, light, etc, that it’s almost impossible to control your plants like you can indoor. So that completely defeats that purpose. And if you grow outside, you’re more susceptible to mold and other stuff you have to grow a healthy plant above anything else; the plants survival matters more if you are growing outside than the quality of the end product. As far as I’m considered, outdoor weed is low (medium quality at best) while any decent indoor from a decent strain would be considered at least medium grade.
Anyways, enough rambling, here’s some shots just two days later! I use a deep water culture system, a cheapo Home Depot edition if you know what I mean. Let me know if you want to know more lol. I have a feeling this is an outdoor plant... we'll see I guess.