First ever Grow...

[MrE]

5 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

or should we rather not ask

I didn't know If I'd be breaking forum rules or just irritating everyone by posting off-topic. But ye, it's the first shipment of my lights that I'm currently making par charts for. Having to take a break after doing the 90cm x 90cm size, my lower back is so sore.

@Prom is a super nice guy, he let me use his quantum sensor. Thanks again to you sir, tip of the hat!

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

16 hours ago, MrE said:

I didn't know If I'd be breaking forum rules or just irritating everyone by posting off-topic. But ye, it's the first shipment of my lights that I'm currently making par charts for. Having to take a break after doing the 90cm x 90cm size, my lower back is so sore.

@Prom is a super nice guy, he let me use his quantum sensor. Thanks again to you sir, tip of the hat!

This is awesome!!!  

man look at the ingagement on just that post about the light, I think I speak for all of us when I say you're more than welcome to post about this!

I would actually like to know more about this, bugger the guys who gets irritated, this a cannabis grow forum... we post stuff that has to do with growing here and I am well sure this is some golden growing information!

not sure if you saw the diy LED thread I made, I know I know, it's not the "very best" out there right now tech used is as basic and minimalistic as I can get without using poopoo brand LED strips. at least I used some samsung LM301H strips.

Do you perhaps know how big of a difference in technology and quality of output there is when comparing the Samsung F series strips (LM301H) with the Bridgelux EB strips? I know there are many different strips in each of those catagories, but for argument sake just think of two of the same Kelvin and close to same diode count? 

my understanding is that the best of the best Bridgelux strips' efficiency is still comparible to the efficiency of the Samsung F series. am I way off or no?

What strips you making use of in your builds? 

[MrE]

13 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

This is awesome!!!  

man look at the ingagement on just that post about the light, I think I speak for all of us when I say you're more than welcome to post about this!

I would actually like to know more about this, bugger the guys who gets irritated, this a cannabis grow forum... we post stuff that has to do with growing here and I am well sure this is some golden growing information!

not sure if you saw the diy LED thread I made, I know I know, it's not the "very best" out there right now tech used is as basic and minimalistic as I can get without using poopoo brand LED strips. at least I used some samsung LM301H strips.

Do you perhaps know how big of a difference in technology and quality of output there is when comparing the Samsung F series strips (LM301H) with the Bridgelux EB strips? I know there are many different strips in each of those catagories, but for argument sake just think of two of the same Kelvin and close to same diode count? 

my understanding is that the best of the best Bridgelux strips' efficiency is still comparible to the efficiency of the Samsung F series. am I way off or no?

What strips you making use of in your builds? 

Well thanks dude! Mighty kind words for sure! Awesome, glad you've got the led bug too! I guess I'm just a bit hesitant to go waving my 2c around. 

Yea dude, I love all the lights, love diy, all of it. So with that in mind, here it is:

My light: 240W, Samsung LM301B SK bin 3000K+5000K, Osram Oslon SSL 660nm, designed for 60-70-80-90cm(max) tents. 92% efficient Fahold driver, PF 0.983. Foldable, driver on bars or external (2m extension cord), 3 year warranty. etc. (see the website for more)

Maybe controversial, but from what I've studied, LM301B sk is the exact same chip as LM301H sk, LM301B sl is the same as LM301H sl. SL is roughly 5% more efficient for a 40% price increase.

https://cre.science/en/lm301h-vs-lm301b/

Info on the upcoming LM301H Evo: 

https://cre.science/en/lm301h-evo-new-horticulture-leds/

Samsung LM301H SL is right up there with the most efficient, if not the most efficient by a smallish margin. I'm unsure whether Nichia, Seoul, Philips Lumiled, Sanan (what the Lumii series uses iirc), Epistar etc. have any new products out, accurate data is hard to find, so it's entirely possible a few have chips that come super close. They all produce quality chips though. 

Bridgelux is no different, the top bin gen3 chips in the best EB series strips are really good (slightly more ePar production, if that's your thing, but that's a deep rabbit hole). To match the output of the top bin LM301 chips, Mars Hydro (FC3000 vs FCE3000 and now Spider Farmer with their G1000 model) use around 32% more Bridgelux diodes, making them run cooler and more efficiently.

Samsung and Mean Well established their brands first, commonly referred to as somewhat of a "gold standard" in the market. They enjoy those word of mouth bonus points. But, as with led chips, there are plenty of similar quality drivers, all with at least 5 year warranties etc. (Not that it translates through each brand's light warranty). In fact, Mean Well has been a bit slow to jump on the programmable driver train iirc.

Oh, I'm not using strips, it's a custom layout I designed. I've been developing it with a Chinese ODM for a year+.

I really appreciate your friendliness btw, makes a dude feel good ya know. Feel free to ask away. I live for this stuff. 

Edited May 3, 2022 by MrE

[MrE]

Quattro Kush: Flipped to 12/12

[Ill_Evan]

4 hours ago, MrE said:

Quattro Kush: Flipped to 12/12

Very nice shape!

[MrE]

9 hours ago, Ill_Evan said:

Very nice shape!

Pleasantly surprised, that one was struggling for a while sheesh! Seems to be staging a bit of a comeback. 

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

14 hours ago, MrE said:

Well thanks dude! Mighty kind words for sure! Awesome, glad you've got the led bug too! I guess I'm just a bit hesitant to go waving my 2c around. 

Yea dude, I love all the lights, love diy, all of it. So with that in mind, here it is:

My light: 240W, Samsung LM301B SK bin 3000K+5000K, Osram Oslon SSL 660nm, designed for 60-70-80-90cm(max) tents. 92% efficient Fahold driver, PF 0.983. Foldable, driver on bars or external (2m extension cord), 3 year warranty. etc. (see the website for more)

Maybe controversial, but from what I've studied, LM301B sk is the exact same chip as LM301H sk, LM301B sl is the same as LM301H sl. SL is roughly 5% more efficient for a 40% price increase.

https://cre.science/en/lm301h-vs-lm301b/

Info on the upcoming LM301H Evo: 

https://cre.science/en/lm301h-evo-new-horticulture-leds/

Samsung LM301H SL is right up there with the most efficient, if not the most efficient by a smallish margin. I'm unsure whether Nichia, Seoul, Philips Lumiled, Sanan (what the Lumii series uses iirc), Epistar etc. have any new products out, accurate data is hard to find, so it's entirely possible a few have chips that come super close. They all produce quality chips though. 

Bridgelux is no different, the top bin gen3 chips in the best EB series strips are really good (slightly more ePar production, if that's your thing, but that's a deep rabbit hole). To match the output of the top bin LM301 chips, Mars Hydro (FC3000 vs FCE3000 and now Spider Farmer with their G1000 model) use around 32% more Bridgelux diodes, making them run cooler and more efficiently.

Samsung and Mean Well established their brands first, commonly referred to as somewhat of a "gold standard" in the market. They enjoy those word of mouth bonus points. But, as with led chips, there are plenty of similar quality drivers, all with at least 5 year warranties etc. (Not that it translates through each brand's light warranty). In fact, Mean Well has been a bit slow to jump on the programmable driver train iirc.

Oh, I'm not using strips, it's a custom layout I designed. I've been developing it with a Chinese ODM for a year+.

I really appreciate your friendliness btw, makes a dude feel good ya know. Feel free to ask away. I live for this stuff. 

My guy, props given when they're deserved  same with being nice, it's a two way street Only a pleasure man, I wouldn't say nice things if it wasn't true.  

infact, I am quick to point out things I don't agree with and not scared to voice my opinion on anything and it doesn't take much to tip my scales lol 

like they say, closed mouths don't get fed!

I see you got tons of info on the backburner when talking bout LEDs, I'll have to study a bit more just to know what everything meant you just told me but I get the picture. thanks for the links to the info, I'll provide a looksee a bit later! 

You got a very nice light put together there man, hell yeah!! Is this the same light you using in your 60x60 tent?

Do you mix the 3000 and 5000 to make it both a veg/flower light or what's the reason for that? 

When during the plants life does it benefit more from full spectrum light? Or would it rather be a case of having different lights for different things? 

I am thinking like a noob here, but my mind tells me it's better to have 240w of 4500/5000K full blast during veg and 240w of 3000/3500K + 660nm during flower.

You designed your own strips?! Well, colour me impressed! Damn, talk about being 10 steps ahead of the rest of us! 

If I was looking at adding only 660nm diodes to my already existing 300w DIY LED, I would need a seperate driver, can I ask you what driver I should be looking at if I wanted to save a few rands on not having a meanwell shipped? 

Should I just be looking at bloom boosters?

[MrE]

12 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

My guy, props given when they're deserved  same with being nice, it's a two way street Only a pleasure man, I wouldn't say nice things if it wasn't true.  

infact, I am quick to point out things I don't agree with and not scared to voice my opinion on anything and it doesn't take much to tip my scales lol 

like they say, closed mouths don't get fed!

I see you got tons of info on the backburner when talking bout LEDs, I'll have to study a bit more just to know what everything meant you just told me but I get the picture. thanks for the links to the info, I'll provide a looksee a bit later! 

You got a very nice light put together there man, hell yeah!! Is this the same light you using in your 60x60 tent?

Do you mix the 3000 and 5000 to make it both a veg/flower light or what's the reason for that? 

When during the plants life does it benefit more from full spectrum light? Or would it rather be a case of having different lights for different things? 

I am thinking like a noob here, but my mind tells me it's better to have 240w of 4500/5000K full blast during veg and 240w of 3000/3500K + 660nm during flower.

You designed your own strips?! Well, colour me impressed! Damn, talk about being 10 steps ahead of the rest of us! 

If I was looking at adding only 660nm diodes to my already existing 300w DIY LED, I would need a seperate driver, can I ask you what driver I should be looking at if I wanted to save a few rands on not having a meanwell shipped? 

Should I just be looking at bloom boosters?

Mighty kind of you sir :). I can go on a bit, it's true.

Straight shooter huh, niccce. That's a preferred personality trait if you ask me.

I have two, slightly different, older prototypes in my 60cm and 80cm.

I prefer the slightly heavier red spectrum of 3000K over 3500K, however with the addition of 660nm the overall spectrum results in slightly less blue than is optimum, so I added just enough 5000K to get to about 13 percent blue, which keeps plants sufficiently compact. I follow the principle (sorry for the name drop) Dr Bruce Bugbee stated: As much red as possible, enough blue for dense, compact growth, and fill the rest with green.

This may not be a popular opinion, but: Personally I don't worry about different lights for different stages of growth. I only care about a balanced, full spectrum light, that is a pleasure to use and then spend the rest of my energy trying to maintain optimal temp and humidity, VPD, DLI, training, and an effective watering schedule. I feel that by spreading my effort equally, it results in a far better grow at all stages rather than chasing a customised-for-growth-stage approach.

There was a lot of trial and error trying to understand how to change the led layout, believe me!

The specific driver you need for a 660nm strip(s) depends on the electrical requirements of the PCBs you source, eg. Forward voltage and current etc. 

It's might just be that buying a locally stocked Mean Well is cheaper than importing a Moso or Inventronics etc.

Honestly, if your overall spectrum is already 3500k/3000k, I don't think you're missing anything substantial that will be a magic bullet. But.. new gadgets are fun :).

Edited May 4, 2022 by MrE

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

19 hours ago, MrE said:

Honestly, if your overall spectrum is already 3500k/3000k, I don't think you're missing anything substantial that will be a magic bullet. But.. new gadgets are fun :).

Hell yea, I'd like to play around with the lights more so to just configure new ways and help myself understand the technology better, and less so to have a new light! but to hear that I am not far off with my DIY is a very enduring  

it really is a fun hobby, building grow lights, that moment you first switch on your first DIY light, it really is infectious! 

like I said with the last build for a friend of mine I was more excited than he was he was running HID and I was constantly on his case about getting an aircon cz he had heat problems, would harvest rock hard golf ball size buds with almost no smell or taste cz the heat was constantly above 35 when lights where on. terpenes go byebye!

Anyhow, big big props to you Mr.E, I like what you do and the way you go about it and now in future with my next DIY LED or just fun side project I know where to go for the real info. this industry is rife with confirmation bias and it seems marketing hype is of bigger concern than diligence!

We need more people like you on the scene, for real! We need more people passionate and willing enough to take their own time to do research and put forth information and even bring products to the local market that make it easier for all local growers to get the right stuff from the start and not have to pay unnecessary school fees! 

Hats off to you and all the work and trial and error you had to put up with for the rest of us to have better lighting options in future! 

 

[MrE]

11 hours ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

Hell yea, I'd like to play around with the lights more so to just configure new ways and help myself understand the technology better, and less so to have a new light! but to hear that I am not far off with my DIY is a very enduring  

it really is a fun hobby, building grow lights, that moment you first switch on your first DIY light, it really is infectious! 

like I said with the last build for a friend of mine I was more excited than he was he was running HID and I was constantly on his case about getting an aircon cz he had heat problems, would harvest rock hard golf ball size buds with almost no smell or taste cz the heat was constantly above 35 when lights where on. terpenes go byebye!

Anyhow, big big props to you Mr.E, I like what you do and the way you go about it and now in future with my next DIY LED or just fun side project I know where to go for the real info. this industry is rife with confirmation bias and it seems marketing hype is of bigger concern than diligence!

We need more people like you on the scene, for real! We need more people passionate and willing enough to take their own time to do research and put forth information and even bring products to the local market that make it easier for all local growers to get the right stuff from the start and not have to pay unnecessary school fees! 

Hats off to you and all the work and trial and error you had to put up with for the rest of us to have better lighting options in future! 

 

Heck yea, it's super fun, brother :). We can enjoy it on behalf of others!

Oef, 35 is no bueno. Maybe some super growers can manage that with co2 and extreme environmental control. But from what I've read, 30 is usually max optimal value.

Man, you're too kind. I'm definitely no prophet figure, just a regular schmo with a passion. But I appreciate ya!!

Edited May 5, 2022 by MrE

[MrE]

Dqxslurri: Day 34 of flower.

Quattro Kush: Day 8 of flower. Heavy defoliation.

Edited May 11, 2022 by MrE

[ORGANinc.]

13 minutes ago, MrE said:

Dqxslurri: Day 34 of flower.
Quattro Kush: Day 8 of flower. Heavy defoliation.

Quattro Kush: Day 8 of flower. Heavy defoliation.

Going very nicely bud, that DQxslurri is dense, it will yield very well. It has really good resistance to mold and pests. I only chopped my outdoor plant yesterday and it survived a couple of rains.

[SkunkPharm]

The Dream Queen strain is suppose to flower in under 60 days. That is why I put it on the slurricane. And also the Terps. Would have liked to see it have more frost though. But I do have a small amount of seeds to hunt through still one day. It does look to be a yielder though. Beautiful grow.

[ORGANinc.]

5 minutes ago, SkunkPharm said:

The Dream Queen strain is suppose to flower in under 60 days. That is why I put it on the slurricane. And also the Terps. Would have liked to see it have more frost though. But I do have a small amount of seeds to hunt through still one day. It does look to be a yielder though. Beautiful grow.

This type of genetics gets to a decent enough size to almost chop early if necessary. I wonder if it could be forced to flower fast resulting in a faster finisher by means of lower light hours and less overall nutrients. 

Either way, you could even ride it out slowly and finish with massive colas. 

The taller one had more frost, the shorter one not so much, Saw more of the slurri traits in the taller, however I enjoyed the shorter one to smoke. 

[SkunkPharm]

1 hour ago, ORGANinc. said:

This type of genetics gets to a decent enough size to almost chop early if necessary. I wonder if it could be forced to flower fast resulting in a faster finisher by means of lower light hours and less overall nutrients. 

Either way, you could even ride it out slowly and finish with massive colas. 

The taller one had more frost, the shorter one not so much, Saw more of the slurri traits in the taller, however I enjoyed the shorter one to smoke. 

It’s just finding the right pheno that finishes early and have the right terps. That is why I made the seeds. I only had one female out of a batch of 10 seeds. 2 males. Only 3 sprouted from the original Dream Queen seed pack.

Edited May 11, 2022 by SkunkPharm

[MrE]

Quattro Kush: Day 13 of flower.

Dqxslurri: Day 39 of flower.

Edited May 16, 2022 by MrE

[John Stonedwell]

On 5/16/2022 at 5:06 AM, MrE said:

Quattro Kush: Day 13 of flower.

Dqxslurri: Day 39 of flower.

I love your diary updates man. Short and sweet but with the best angled pics we could ask for. Plant looking smashing and that canopy training was spot on. 

[MrE]

10 minutes ago, John Stonedwell said:

I love your diary updates man. Short and sweet but with the best angled pics we could ask for. Plant looking smashing and that canopy training was spot on. 

I appreciate your kind words, brother. It makes me happy that we all share this passion for growing. 

[MrE]

Dqxslurri: Day 45 of flower.

Quattro Kush: Day 19 of flower.

(slightly earlier pic)

[ORGANinc.]

9 hours ago, MrE said:

Dqxslurri: Day 45 of flower.

Quattro Kush: Day 19 of flower.

(slightly earlier pic)

Sick winter colours coming through from the cold, my outdoor also did a small winter purps, yours looks quite pronounced

[SkunkPharm]

She is getting heavy

[MrE]

8 hours ago, SkunkPharm said:

She is getting heavy

Yo this winter humidity sucks! It's got me on high alert. Doing a lot of inspecting and preventative snipping.

[ORGANinc.]

2 hours ago, MrE said:

Yo this winter humidity sucks! It's got me on high alert. Doing a lot of inspecting and preventative snipping.

Ya but you might want to consider a trelles net, those branches won't hold them selves up for much longer. 

[SkunkPharm]

26 minutes ago, ORGANinc. said:

Ya but you might want to consider a trelles net, those branches won't hold them selves up for much longer. 

Or just tie them to the roof of the tent with yo-yo’s

[MrE]

Quattro Kush: Day 30 of flower.