LED Grow Light Forum

So hey everyone I'm starting a new grow to participate in the growers feedback program.
so here's what I'm using:
4x4x7 tent from HTGsupply.com
carbon air filter+350cfm fans
6- 7 gallon smart pot felt knock offs
Fox farm nutrients (soil basic pack)
3 cu. ft roots organics soil +my own mixings
Vermicompost (worm castings from compost)
1Lb of red wigglers (worms that are great for the soil and move around a lot)
4 stage Reverse osmosis water
small circulation fan.
and a 400w Solar storm courtesy of California Light works.

Sorry I don't have any pictures right now I'm trying to recover all of my photos off of my phone right now. And I just got off work so if it seems like I'm rambling its probably because I'm passing out after I write this.

So I start all of my seedlings in a peat+coco+compost mix with lots of water to stress them and provide a High nitrate level from go, I figure it helps in the long run breaking them in hard. Also has provided me with an 3/4 female rate so far on just light from my kitchen windowsill. Anyway I bought this light mostly because of the spectrum vs. cost. I want to see if veg. lights from start really do affect plan sex on top of my method.

So from the first transplant I've had them in the tent on 18 hours of veg mode a day and my god have they taken off. I wish I had another tent to contrast hps vs the solar-storm light. So I'm three weeks in from seedling and my inner nodes are getting dense, so far all females so I'm going to have to kill off the little ones; No big deal except they're all healthy and getting dense, no mutants, no stragglers. Anyway enough babbling.
I kicked them all to 24hour light a week ago and it shows. they love every bit of it, and they're not stretching; instead they keep growing dense. the fan leaves are getting pretty big though for some little plants so I wanna see what happens with this.

So I got curious the other day and decided to start some seeds in a spare pot I had. 2 weeks in and the seedlings are catching up with some of my window sill starters (now 5 weeks old), and there's no initial yellowing/burning of the leaves like every other I plant I start (I know it sounds bad but there's a reason for it, oh this light made the yellowing on existing outdoor starters vanish in about 2 days)

So this light is a solid investment the quality's great the output is awesome and it runs cool. Dime for dime its cut my veg. time in almost half for the same results with hps, plant maintenance is easier I just have to water and feed to keep up with them now. The only downside is I have to put a heating blanket under the pot liner because this light runs so cool my soil doesn't hardly get warm. And the worms love it they'll come up and hang out in between watering's, and it doesn't seem to dry them out like my HPS setup does.

I like the idea of using worms in the pots, nutes are not strong enough to hurt them the only problem I see is them running out of feed stock. Please inform!
I am a hobbiest composting worm grower. I use the casting to make tea. I have used both food scraps and compost as food stock. I much prefer compost, problem is finding good organic, clean and properly processed is a big problem. So now I am making my own compost with yard scraps and some food scraps.

Good luck on your grow, I hope to be using my light within the next few weeks.

Peace out

GR

I feed the plants compost just like I feed my worm farm I'll put about 3 cups on a 7 gallon pot once every 2 weeks I try to keep it ph neutral as possible mostly leaning towards the acidic side it takes some time to get the feel for it but it works wonders it just sucks come flush time if youre trying to rejuvenate the plants after harvest in stead of cutting them down. You tend to loose a good portion of the worms but they feed the soil and worms are only about $20 a lb so who cares.

Welcome to the forums!

I like vermicompost too, it's easier than processing pure castings and it has many benefits.

The worms in the pots thing not so much. Generally, soil in potted plants is too compact for happy worms and post watering conditions are far too wet which is why they rise to the top after watering. They don't like light but they hate to drown even more so if they're on top with lights on they tend to want to run away to escape. Like 45 said though, they are cheap and they breed fast so if a few die it's not a big deal and they turn into fertilizer, eventually, themselves.

I think all organic fertilizer is time release so flushing is kind of an exercise in futility and I'm not sold on the alleged benefits anyway. YMMV...

Also a 4x4 tent is way too big for a SS400w (in flower) unless, of course, you're not using the whole space for growing.



SME

I appreciate the feedback and I was kinda wondering about flowering .So for my for I'm going to have to put up something reflective to shrink the area whats the ideal area for a 400?, and with the worms in the pot I keep a little flushed peat + coir on top so the worms can come up. I do this because I think it'll help with aeration as they dig up and down.

So a little update Im falling in love with these fox farm nutrients they make a world of difference, and they're forgiving if you over do it I just found out the hard way when I was measuring out tablespoons to feed when I should've been using teaspoons lol. My second batch is catching up with my first batch still in veg so I think I'm getting my new method down with this light. seeing as I'm getting close to flowering and the new guys aren't too far behind my first batch I'm going to extend my first batch's veg period about 3 weeks and see how it goes. that and I'm letting it get hotter in the tent to simulate the halfway mark in a season. (only about 5F deg) oh so this light week for week dollar for dollar is worth every penny and I'm already sold on the 800 watt version.
I haven't kept statistics So this next grow I'll do a 600w HPS vs this 400w solar-storm inch for inch same feed same water same soil same strain.
Oh and all of my seedlings are females f@%$ Yeah! this light works.

Based on journals here I'd say that 2x3 or smaller for flowering top-shelf cannabis with the SS400w and smaller is better with LED so clones in SOG or SCROG styles will do best but that means an increased plant count. YMMV...