LED Grow Light Forum

Hello Everyone!

Thank you all for all the information sharing. It is incredibly helpful for those of us who are new to indoor growing!

I have recently received a Solar Storm and VegMaster Solar Flare…very exciting! My room is 8 by 10 feet and has walls covered with Orca Grow Paper. My 'girls' are AC/DC (21+ CBD/1 THC), Harlequin and Cannatonic; total of 9 plants. My plan is to flower out one clone from each plant, have them tested to see the ratios, choose which to keep as mother plants and continue to flower out one or two at a time thereafter. My daughter has epilepsy and we are finding amazing results with the high CBD plants!
Both the Solar Storm and Flare arrived in a timely fashion , were extremely well packed and very easy to install…just put eye hooks up and hang! This was great for me as I did not want to have a lot of heat duct type venting etc. I love that with the Solar Storm I can easily switch from veg to bloom. Ultimately, I'd like to add another of these and use my Flare exclusively for the mother plant(s).

I started with clones under florescent lights, have repotted twice and am now in Beldon (6") size pots under the Solar Storm Lights.
Soil mix is Organic Fafard F-10 (.10-.05-.05)for starting young plants (F-30 will be next step up) and the fertilizer I decided to use is Peter's Excel 15-5-15 cal-mag special. The girls seem very happy so far!

Today I hope to spend some time working on PH. I have yet to test the water, either before or after adding fertilizer and keep reading how important this is in the long term health of the plants. Any tips given are welcome! We have well water but have a ph adjuster as part of our water system so I don't think it will be way off. That said, it sounds like a pretty important part of the growing process. I am also going to be adjusting the height of my lights.

Again thanks to everyone for all the wonderful information sharing!

CBD Mom

Welcome to the forums!

I assume that they told you that the SS will not cover 8x10 adequately and that you're actually using a smaller grow area inside that room? If you plan to flower 9 plants under that SS, you'll want to flower the clones while they're short so they'll all fit under the light. Also, potency is not only determined by genetics so your grow style and environmental conditions will also play a part. A plant that you test after your first grow might test differently after your 10th so after you find a strain that works for your daughter you can fine tune your system and and then test other strains (again) to see if one of those works better. Again, we can help your set up a system that will give you enough yield to help your daughter and, hopefully, leave a little room to experiment with new/other strains too.

I'm glad that your daughter is getting relief from high CBD, there are other documented cases where patients have had fewer seizures based while consuming CBD which has also caused some controversy about whether or not children should be taking MMJ. Growing indoor MMJ is not cheap but it's cheaper than buying it retail. You will need to invest in other equipment but it will be worth it in results later.

Which size SS and SF did you get? Eventually, if you need a perpetual harvest, you might even need a couple more SF lights. We can talk about that when you get closer.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about Fafard soil or the nutrients that you chose but 15-5-15 seems off the mark to me. I assume you chose "organic" for personal reasons so if you want to stick with soil/organics then you might look at the Botanicare line of granular nutrients, they have a grow and a bloom formula that should give cannabis plants most of what they need.

Yes, pH is VERY important. You should know what the pH of your untreated well water is and what is used to treat your water. Do you have access to well water that doesn't go through the treatment system via a bypass or something? You'll also want to know the EC or PPM of your well water. A water analysis should tell you that along with what else is in your water.

If you have questions, feel free to ask...


SME

Thanks for the quick response to my first entry!

I am planning to section off my room using pink foam insulation covered by the Orca grow paper. It will be easy to move around as needed and I can configure it so no light comes through from the other areas of my room. My plants are small enough now that the lighting seems to be working well. All are bushy, thriving and as of yet not stretching. I have the 400 Solar Storm and the Solar flare along with a 48" 6 bulb florescent purchased from my local grow store.

Curious to hear your (and anyone else) thoughts on what type of fertilizer might be a better fit…either organic or not. I went on the Botanicare website…which products do you suggest?

If you make separate areas, each will need ventilation and climate control for air exchange, temp and humidity. While not cheap, you might consider buying grow tents to go inside your room instead of the pink insulation stuff.

The SS400w will only cover an area of about 2x3 if you want top-shelf results, 3x3 would be stretching it and your results will suffer a little if you go that big. You can use the fluorescent light for the clones. I assume that you got the SF200w? Based on your daughters consumption do you have an idea of how much yield you'll need per month/year? How are you going to be preparing her meds?

You might be most comfortable with the granular product called Pure (bottom of the Botanicare nutrient page) grow and bloom. There is a liquid version and special liquid soil version for the bloom if you preferred. Other soil growers here might even have other recommendations for nutrients. I'm not a soil/organics person so my help there is limited.

Hi CBDMom! Very happy to read your posts about the health improvements for your daughter from using CBD. I have been following everything I can about high CBD and CBN strains such as Charlottes Web, Omrita Rx and Jamaica Lion. I follow Project CBD at @ projectCBD.org. (hope that's ok to mention here SME)..you're probably already familiar with it. So happy to hear of the success in treatment for children. The brothers in Colorado and the Charlotte's Web story are inspiring, as was Dr. Sanjay Gupta's recent special on CNN.

I'm also growing in soil, and trying to stay organic as well. I'm a newbie though, so don't really have too much I can offer in terms of advice, other than to tell you that SME and some other guys on this forum are exceptionally intelligent, thoughtful, and have a sincere desire to help where they can.

I've broken my back, and have some other significant health issues, and cannot live with the endless pharmaceuticals the doctors prescribe. Like you, I am hoping that the developing medical cannabis industry will be able to provide us with healthy alternatives.

All the best to you and your family....Be well!

ICB

ICB:
Yeah, that link is OK, it's grow related, you have enough posts and you have a journal.

Hi CBD Mom welcome and I am here to help you in any way I can,I am a soil grower and I have attached a feeding schedule for you below



BOTANICARE PURE BLEND PRO SCHEDULES


PRODUCTS:
PBP Grow= $18 (usd)
PBP Bloom=$18 (either soil or hydro formula)
Cal-Mag Plus= $18
Liquid Karma= $20


PHASIC:

Week 1: 7.5 ml PBP Grow + 5ml Liquid Karma
Week 2: Add: 7.5ml PBP Grow + 5ml Liquid Karma + 6ml Cal-Mag Plus
Week 3: Add: 10ml PBP Grow
Day 1 12/12: Drain & Refill reservoir ADD: 25ml PBP Bloom + 5ml Liquid Karma + 6ml Cal Mag Plus
Week 5: Add 2ml PBP Grow + 2ml Karma + 3ml PBP Flower + 2mlCal-MagPlus
3-4 Days before harvest, flush by dumping rez and filling with plain tap water.


WEEKLY:

Week 1: 7ml PBP Grow + 5ml Liquid Karma
Week 2: 15ml PBP Grow + 6ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Liquid Karma
Week 3 &4: 25ml PBP Grow + 7ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Liquid Karma
Week before 12/12: 15ml PBP Grow + 15ml PBP Flower (soil formula) + 7ml Cal Mag + 10ml Liquid Karma
Week 1 of 12/12 : 25ml PBP Bloom + 7ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Liquid Karma
Week 2&3: 30ml PBP Bloom + 7ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Karma
Week 4: 20ml PBP Bloom + 10mg PBP Grow + 7ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Karma
Week 5 &6: 30ml PBP Bloom + 7ml Cal Mag Plus + 10ml Karma
Week before flush: 15 ml PBP Bloom + 6ml Cal Mag Plus + 6ml Karma
(repeat if not ready for flush)

Sorry forgot to add all of the measurements for the nutrients are to be added to a gallon of water

GOOD LUCK!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful suggestions and encouragement!

My 'Girls' are doing wonderfully! Interestingly enough, my AC/DC plants, which didn't seem anywhere near as vigorous when I received them as small clones, are now almost four times the size of the Harlequin and Cannatonic. I had to separate them from the get go as the Harlequin came with a 'touch' of the dreaded powdery mildew…since the Cannatonic was sketchy also I opted to quarantine both. (Not worth the risk of losing the AC/DC girls) AC/DC went under the Solar Storm while the others went under the 6 bulb 48" Florescent Grow light. I will try to upload pictures tomorrow so you can see the difference in the size of the varieties…it is crazy…now the AC/DC is almost four times larger!!! So my question to all you seasoned growers is, is this variety or light? I am especially interested in hearing from those of you have personally grown AC/DC plants as the entire growth pattern is different. Or those of you who have had the opportunity to grow under both florescent and LEDs. Incidentally, the Cannatonic and one of the Harlequin plants have not shown any signs of the powdery mildew, although all have been exposed. I immediately 'thumbed' the infected leaves, plucked and disposed of them. Also began Cease applications as a GP and have supplemented with another non toxic spray. I also decided to place an air purifier in my grow room as an extra precaution along with dropping humidity and washing all surfaces down with H2O2. All is well … Plan to flower out the two girls with initial issues and keep the resistant one as Mother.

I am planning to add another light as soon as I decide if the growth difference is variety or light induced…leaning to another Solar Storm as I love not having all the venting issues…as it is I have 8",and 6" exhaust fans, along with an intake fan and vent to be opened as needed as I section off my room.. The Orca Grow paper was super easy to put up, easy to clean (can use bleach, H2O2 etc), and when covering lightweight "pink' insulation will be easy to use as a room divider when I need to enclose an area for flowering. I glued a small 2x3 on the floor to keep the bottom in place and cut the sheets to size prior to covering them. Using the Orca Grow tape to cover any cracks and sticky back velcro for my 'door hinge' to keep things tight.

I am curious regarding the fertilizer suggestions (thanks Harley for the specifics!)…I may try a comparison my next grow! For now I am staying with the 'cool-aid' mix which seems to be working wonderfully. Still wondering why SME thinks this fertilizer isn't good for this type of growing as it is balanced and unlike other 'blue' fertilizers has available cal and mag…I am open to hearing as I am wanting to learn!

I am hoping you are all well and having the same wonderful medicinal success we are with this unique plant! Again thank you for all your input and support…it is heartwarming!

CBD Mom

CBDMom wrote:I am curious regarding the fertilizer suggestions (thanks Harley for the specifics!)…I may try a comparison my next grow! For now I am staying with the 'cool-aid' mix which seems to be working wonderfully. Still wondering why SME thinks this fertilizer isn't good for this type of growing as it is balanced and unlike other 'blue' fertilizers has available cal and mag…I am open to hearing as I am wanting to learn!

I am hoping you are all well and having the same wonderful medicinal success we are with this unique plant! Again thank you for all your input and support…it is heartwarming!

CBD Mom

A decent LED (like the SS series) will kick a fluorescent lights rear every time.

15-5-15 has too much nitrogen and not enough potassium for the flower stage and too much phosphorus and not enough potassium for the veg stage. It might be great for tomatoes but that's not what you're growing.