# led, ready for a trial



## grass hopper (Mar 18, 2017)

fluence spyder X . IN A 55 BY 55 TENT.  i had to try one. 

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## Rosebud (Mar 19, 2017)

Looks like someone is going to rock out a new grow.. woo hoo. happy for you GH.  Lets watch this!


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## Kraven (Mar 19, 2017)

Perfect set up, tent looks great, very well laid out. . Fluence fixture looks awesome. You should be able to run 9 at a time in there with ease. I'm super stoked for you, looking forward to seeing you get some girls under there and get them cookin'. Gratz on swinging your new LED's.


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## Dan789 (Mar 19, 2017)

Dang, those are some beautiful lights you members are swinging, can't wait to see your grow GH.          :fly:  :fly:  :fly:


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## Guano (Mar 19, 2017)

Your basement window looks exactly like mine except mine isn't connected to....THAT AWESOME TENT/LIGHT SETUP!!!  Niiice!!:vap-Bong_smoker:

I'll be following for sure.


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## tokenzen (Mar 22, 2017)

Subscribed, this setup looks very similar :giggle::smoke1:


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## bombbudpuffa (Mar 22, 2017)

That looks great. Hope it grows some dank.


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## Kraven (Mar 22, 2017)

Yes sir, GH and you are the only two I know swinging them. I'm really looking forward to both threads and seeing the results you each get. Peace


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 25, 2017)

Very nice tent setup. Interesting light fixture configuration. I bet that will give better coverage than the units that have the leds bunched up together. Looking forward to seeing how it does. :aok:


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## grass hopper (Mar 25, 2017)

thanks!! i  wish i did not try the coco chips yet without learning more first. i hada go away a few days and loaded, maybe too fast...  when breaking down the blocks, i added the recommended amount of water and the coco was really wet when i loaded the tent in the 3 gal. felts. now everyone is drooping or yellow and begging for feed. after 3 days of little drying, i fed lightly tonight. i will open up the tent in a.m... try and fan the soak out of them. this is also my first attempt at hydroponics as well. glad it's the smaller tent, anyway.. their twin sisters (same grow different tent), gals i put in the larger tent, in soil with double xtra perlite looks fantastic!!            any thoughts on wet coco, drooping etc. appreciated!!


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## tokenzen (Mar 26, 2017)

Let your medium dry out a bit,sounds like they are still adjusting, give them a few weeks and you shouldn't have an issue, best results I've had are not letting the coco dry out once they get comfy.


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## Kraven (Mar 26, 2017)

Guys, if your using a flood table or ebb/flow set up then coco chips are great... but trying to hand water them is very hard work and really difficult since the medium does not have time to soak up the water before it runs through. Also you need to pre - charge your coco after it is rinsed well a few times. 

I toss a brick of coco chips into a 33 gal trash can and fill it half full with water from the hose, let it soak over night then pour off the water. Then rinse and repeat 2 more times. Once the coco is fairly clean I add a weak nute solution and pH it to 5.8 ....let it sit 24 hrs and if the pH has not changed from 5.8 it is ready to pour off and then squeeze dry the coco a little before using it...if you just expanded a bale and never washed it off your probably gonna have some issue's with Mg through out the whole grow. 

I would have recommend you mix coco coir with the chips 50/50 and you will have a much easier medium to hand water....it is coco too so it has to be washed and pre - charged. All is not lost, give it time and don't wet them anymore. 

Once the top 2 -3 inches of coco are dry then use the soak method to bottom feed so that you push stale air up from the bottom and out through the top...you don't really want the top of your coco wet. If you let it wick up feedings over about 20 mins per plant then thats the best way to work with coco chips.

GH your doing fine, and you will be able to complete this run no problems your just gonna have to do a bit more tweaking. Toss a few pic's up and lets all see what your seeing please. Bet it's not as bad as you think. Peace


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## grass hopper (Mar 26, 2017)

its a sad affair kraven.:doh::stuff-1125699181_i_. i mixed and used (2) of the coco chips from "grow it". as well as (1) roots organic coco chips and (2) roots organic coco mix. note; the (3) roots products stated no pre-washing required. ready to use. this was a rush set up. i hada go away and did not expect the light to show up. when it did, there u go. i am ready to transplant back in soil. there's some good strains in there i hate to loose..

thanks toke..

 pics tomorrow if time..


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## Kraven (Mar 27, 2017)

Super green mojo man. Yea they say that but they aint using it every day like me. Coco has gotten a ton cleaner but it still retains a ton of K.

"One reason the coco is a popular growing medium is that it has a good cation exchange capacity (CEC) rating. Cations are positively charged ions such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium (among others), and the cation exchange capacity of a growing medium describes how well it can hold and exchange them. One way to think of a CEC is a rating of how well a medium stores nutrients.

Since coco is pretty good at holding nutrients, it should be of no surprise that it naturally has some attached to its cation sites. Specifically it starts with high levels of potassium and sodium.

Quality coco has been treated to replace some of these cation sites with a calcium (such as calcium nitrate). Calcium has a stronger bond to the cation sites than potassium or sodium because it has a double positive charge as opposed to the single positive charge of potassium or sodium.

This is done because untreated coco, being high in potassium to start with, will exchange nutrients in the nutrient solution and release potassium and sodium when used. Not only can this create an issue with denying the plant the intended solution, but it will release an overabundance of potassium. This can not only lead to a magnesium deficiency as described above, but the issues associated with potassium overdosing. By rinsing the coco with a weak nutrient solution before use, much of this issue is corrected. "

This is why I wash it well....you run nutes through it and if not properly prepared it will hold some and release others making the root zone very unstable and susceptible to rapid pH fluctuations. I use a weak flower nute solution  to precharge so that I can know for certain that what I'm giving the plants they are getting in the exact amounts I desire.

When your ready to do coco I'll work with you to get it right. The new lights are a big change and i try to only change one thing at a time in a grow so that I can measure my results against what is expected so i can determine if my actions helped or hurt. I would suggest trying to keep it simple by making one change at a time, it will give you much better information so you can make better decisions. If I can help with anything please let me know. I'm super excited to see the light, gratz again on such a fine fixture.


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## grass hopper (Mar 27, 2017)

trimming non-stop now. 3 or 4 days will be done. fed lightly tonight and checked runoff. ph in 6.4... p-h out 6.9. plants still yellowing. don't think they can feed. tomorrow i may try a flush. just need them to survive a fews days until i can devote enough time.


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## Kraven (Mar 27, 2017)

They will hang in there, it's really tough to kill a weed man


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## Hushpuppy (Mar 28, 2017)

I would flush them with solution set at 5.7 that has been well aerated so that more oxygen can get into the root system. That will give them more time to bounce back.


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## Snook (Mar 30, 2017)

I see more & more peeps using/experimenting with LED's.  I use them also. So far...So good.


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## techrons78 (Mar 30, 2017)

grass hopper said:


> thanks!! i  wish i did not try the coco chips yet without learning more first. i hada go away a few days and loaded, maybe too fast...  when breaking down the blocks, i added the recommended amount of water and the coco was really wet when i loaded the tent in the 3 gal. felts. now everyone is drooping or yellow and begging for feed. after 3 days of little drying, i fed lightly tonight. i will open up the tent in a.m... try and fan the soak out of them. this is also my first attempt at hydroponics as well. glad it's the smaller tent, anyway.. their twin sisters (same grow different tent), gals i put in the larger tent, in soil with double xtra perlite looks fantastic!!            any thoughts on wet coco, drooping etc. appreciated!!


Perfect choice grass hopper..I'll be adding new Fluence in June ..


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## tokenzen (Apr 1, 2017)

Hushpuppy said:


> I would flush them with solution set at 5.7 that has been well aerated so that more oxygen can get into the root system. That will give them more time to bounce back.



Yup, give them a lower PH in please (5.6-6.0) and they will perk up in few days.


I also noticed you have 5 bars verus my 8 bars on the Spydr x Plus I think that's the only difference, I run 6 bars on, my plants were getting light sick. 

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## grass hopper (Apr 2, 2017)

that's just what  i did pup! they're bouncing back with some vertical growth now. still lots of yellowing.. thanks!!

toke,  yea,. its a powerful light and plants need time to adjust so says the instructions. did you read the user manual and the high ppfd cultivation guide?? am very impressed with these. tells you exactly where to keep everything ( temp, rh, co2, ppfd, ec,). wants my rh at 60% or slightly higher at my current basement temps. super psyched about learning alot more when using this light. gonna blow up and paste the 7 or 8 charts in the cultivation guide. learned alot just reading it. helpful on phone also..   thanks kraven, happy with the light!

thanks snook, tech!!

kraven, if i were to wash or flush a couple wheel barrows full of coco mix, i guess i would need to spread it out and rotate it for several days maybe with fans running over it to help it dry out??


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## Kraven (Apr 2, 2017)

I have two 33 gallon rubber maid trash cans, I expand over night in one and then gently pour off the water, then over the course of a few days I will dump the coco from one can to another, helps rotate it and then usually it is good and damp but not wet, so you cant squeeze water out. I only expand what I need each rotation. I kinda start about three days before I need it so it has time to get right. I would not dry the coco on purpose since you dont want to transplant into dry coco.


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## grass hopper (Apr 2, 2017)

i understand and thanks. do u have 4 grow areas kraven? though i reaD THAT SOMEWHERE. (Sorry caps.) i cant keep up with 3.  when yard work starts, back to 1,  at most. will have a few o.d. monsters though, sure will be fun.


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## Budlight (Apr 3, 2017)

I sure like your new light set up everything is all nice and clean man


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## techrons78 (Apr 3, 2017)

grass hopper said:


> trimming non-stop now. 3 or 4 days will be done. fed lightly tonight and checked runoff. ph in 6.4... p-h out 6.9. plants still yellowing. don't think they can feed. tomorrow i may try a flush. just need them to survive a fews days until i can devote enough time.


Yes way to high for coco..I run between 5.3-5.5 I find best for coco.


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## grass hopper (Apr 12, 2017)

the new fluence vs. hps.  both tents have the same strains. all plants are in 5 gal. sacks (same soils). the hps tent has a 2 week head start into flower, 12/12. this should be a very fair comparison. everything is very healthy now.. 

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## Kraven (Apr 13, 2017)

Looking good, super stoked your threading your experience with the Fluence fixture. Thank you and green mojo.


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## oldfogey8 (Apr 14, 2017)

wow, grass hopper. nice play room. i am jellin' as the kids say these days(or maybe did before old fogeys tried to use the term and made it uncool)...


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## Lesso (Apr 14, 2017)

Tents are packed! Hell yeah!


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## kaotik (Apr 14, 2017)

utilizing every mm of space eh hopper 
looking nice man. quite interested to see the results


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## tokenzen (Apr 17, 2017)

Nice looking Jungle you got there!
Did I miss, the # of gals you have under the fluence?


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## grass hopper (Apr 17, 2017)

thanks guys, yea, i have had my best overall yields with 5 gallons  almost touching each other. when grown less plants, received less overall yield..

i am VERY impressed with the fluence!! the stalks at or near the budding sites are larger, thicker than normal. consistency from plant to plant is amazing. the outer edges of tent are identical to the center. plant colors look like sun grown... love it!!
i am learning a lot more than ever from fluences, growing guidelines.. my tap water(well), is 410ppm. most of my hps grows are very good with this. i noticed that AFTER adding my nutes my ppm has dropped to 210ppm or under 200. multiple tests showed this. found that my kelp additive dropped my ph from over 600 ppm to 115ppm! though after adding my final nute (big bloom), my ppm spiked to 204. was thinking on writing harley on this to understand better.. local grow store guy thinks the kelp is making my cells (ppm), consolidate...??  not sure on this... also ordered another fluence... the spyder X plus..   will be switching one of the 4 by 8 tents from hps to fluence.   thanks for support.
thank you kraven!


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## grass hopper (Apr 18, 2017)

my ppm was not dropping with the kelp additive!! it was bringing it up over 1000. where my meter only uses 3 digits, a tiny (x10) symbol popped up that i did not see. jeeeez..


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