LSD & Red Dragon LED 2018

[Dogweed]

Alright everyone, I have another round of girls coming up. This time its a LSD and a Red Dragon from Barneys Farm. I have done a Red Dragon before and absolutely loved it. So Im super excited to get this one to fruit, and I hear good things about LSD.
I also picked up a Black Diamond PS COB. So I will be using that for most of the grow, replacing a 600w HPS and 2 mars 300s. I will be very curious to how the final results will be. Im currently cooking my tent to see how hot it gets with the light on full and nothing but exhaust fans going. So far its hovering pretty stable at 93*. I never checked with the HPS but I get the feeling its already a bit cooler. Once I turn on the intake the temps should plummet to 65 so Im pretty happy right now. I also like that to the naked eye the light looks pretty natural, not all purple or blue but like being outdoors. However the camera sees it a little differently.

Currently the seedlings are under a Mars 300. The LSD took the longest to sprout but once it did the roots exploded out of the rapid rooter with in a day, so I got it into soil rather quickly. The Red Dragon popped first but stayed as a small root for a while, I still haven't seen any sign of roots poking out of the rooter yet. That's when I drope them into the soil, first sign of roots coming out of the rooter. The soil is FoxFarm Ocean Forest and I use FoxFarm nutrients as well.

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[bombbudpuffa]

Looking good Dogweed. Can't wait to see these flowered out.

 

[zem]

Good luck with the new babies

 

[Rosebud]

Baby mojo!!!!

 

[Hackerman]

I just won 10 Red Dragon seeds in a contest from The Vault. I have things pretty backed up right now but I plant to get them into dirt around April.

Always like Barney's stuff. How was the Red Dragon last time you did it?

 

[Dogweed]

OMG, I would love that luck!
The Red Dragon was exotic in all ways. The colors where bright and vibrant and the odor was very strong with tropic flavors. It was also the first time in quite some time I found my self giggling uncontrollably when I first started smoking it.
I didn't top or train it but I will this time. Its buds where ALL dense right to the bottom but the size varied a lot. Im hoping a topping and scrog this time will even that out.

 

[Killertea08]

Good luck with the grow Dogweed.

 

[Dogweed]

Ok so some not so happy update today with a slightly happy one.
The Red Dragon is doing horrible, it started off the strongest but as soon as it broke through the shell it just stopped. It picked up a bit with a small dose of Great White in its water, but its still lagging behind. Im almost about to just cull it and focus on the LSD, but if I can get a little something out of it maybe I'll keep it in the corner of the tent. Who knows right now?
The LSD is doing good. I had a ph slip up and its showing it, but I'll have that under control in a watering or 2. She'll be moved out of the dome and into the tent this weekend. As soon as I finish my build and get temps dialed back in.

Which brings me to the 2nd part. I just replaced my 600w HPS with a 640w LED in order to help with heat. The HPS was in a closed hood and was able to remove most of the heat before it effected the tent, but on warm days or if the tent wasn't full of vegetation I was still struggling to keep the temps under 90*. So I decided to take the plunge and get a LED. I grabbed a Black Diamond COB figuring the watts being used are very close and I should be able to get a good idea of how the LED compares to my HPS. I've used small cheap LEDs along side the HPS with great results so I know they work. It was just a question of are the higher end leds worth the price? Anyway, after getting the light. I set it up turned it on and ran it to see how hot it would get my tent. 1st without any cooling, 2nd with intake, 3rd with cooled air intake. The first test went for an hour and settled in right about 97. Not to bad considering the HPS would push the tent to 110+ without ventilation. The 2nd test went same amount of time, I just added an intake and bumped up the exhaust. The temps got up to 95 and hovered about there, even when I added the cool air intake. This got me concerned since the HPS would get down to 83-88 and 72-75 with cool air intake (on good days). So I started to think... what could it be? The Hood! The HPS was removing the hot air immediately and the LED was blowing it around in the tent waiting to be removed by the fans, but not before warming up the air coming in.
So I built my self a cool air box to help remove the hot air produce from the heat sinks.

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[Hackerman]

Ya know, that's not a bad idea. I wonder if my new LED light would fit inside my old HID hood.

I don't have the heat problem but for those who do, that's an awesome idea.

 

[Dogweed]

That was the first thing I tried, was getting it into the old hood. Unfortunately for me the led is quite a bit bigger than the hood. I did look for larger hoods but couldn't find one that would fit the bill. I was even trying to find Tupperware big enough to fit it, but most totes are just as wide as the LED. The to jump to a size that would have fit it would have been to big for the tent.
The box couldn't have worked out better. The LED still puts out a bit of heat downwards but just the negative pressure from the ceiling exhaust is enough to keep the tent under 80* with the surrounding room at 70*. I am very happy with it so far, next build project is a pvc scrog frame. Does anyone have suggestions for how tight I should make the webbing, 2x2", 3x3" or something different?

And here the 2 girls are. Both 2 weeks, the Red Dragon became a muto and I was very close to culling her but the last 2 days she showed signs of recovering and the new growth is fairly normal growth. So I will give her a chance to use up some tent space.
The LSD took a hit from slacking on the PH of the water. I ph'd a gallon and never rechecked it for the next week of using it. Of course it climbed and caused a bit of lock out. I did get that under control and she is looking a bit better, no more new discoloration and the new growth isnt red.

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[Killertea08]

Dude that exhaust setup is exactly what I need. I replaced my 600w HPS for a 900w LED and I still need air conditioning. I will be following along, green MOJO for your grow come check out mine.

 

[Killertea08]

3" × 3" should be fine I think, easier to take out big buds that get stuck

 

[Dogweed]

Thank you! I was hoping someone would suggest 3" or larger for exactly that reason.
Yeah, the exhaust has worked way better than I had hoped. Its been a week and I haven't seen the temps above 80*. Such a relief to have that WELL under control.

 

[Killertea08]

You should post a DIY tutorial of that hood in the DIY section. I would love to build one.

 

[Dogweed]

I still might do a DIY, I was planning on it but got distracted...

2nd or 3rd week depending if you count the seedling stage.

The LSD is starting to out grow its little pot, so today I moved them over to their final homes. The LSD was starting to get root bound and the Red Dragon was just getting there itself. So it was a good time to move them over.
I just put them in FFOF and mixed in a scoop of Great White Mycorrhizae, just a little more with the Red Dragon in hopes it might help it catch up a bit. It has already started to show great rebound and Im starting to have higher and higher hopes for it in the end.

Do the leaves on the LSD (the larger plant) look a little funny to you? Is that early light burn? The LED I put in recommends 2-4 feet from young plants, but that's as far as I can get it from them.

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[Dogweed]

Another quick update. I topped the LSD and tied it over, I also removed the 4 largest fan leaves. They were covering the branches directly below them so off they came. The Red Dragon is moving right along. Its starting to take off quicker and quicker with every watering. Today was the first feeding, just a light feeding of Big Bloom. This weekend I'll probably start easing them into the full feeding schedule.

I still have to build my scrog, been super busy last few weeks. Hopefully after work or this weekend I'll get around to finishing it. The LSD is getting close to needing it.

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[Dogweed]

Well they're starting to grow faster and faster. The LSD is stretching 1-2 inches a day and the Red Dragon is picking up the pace as well. Been watering them just under a 1/2 gal each every other day. Ive been pondering trying a 1/4g each and watering every day with a feeding every other. Any suggestions there?

Also I added a wick system to help drain the trays and add a little moister to the tent at the same time. It worked better than anticipated, the paper towels draw the extra water from the trays into the empty tray keeping them all about the same level and the fan blows air over it evaporating the water. All I have to do is change the paper towels from time to time, just in case they promote mold.

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[Dogweed]

Built the Scrog frame today. Cant wait until shes full. I might cut the legs down an inch or 2 but otherwise Im pretty happy where it sits. I have a 2nd level too but no need for it in there yet.

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[Killertea08]

They look great, keep it up. I did a very similar scrog, vegged my plants almost 2 months to fill 4 x4. I'm harvesting in 2 weeks.

 

[Dogweed]

Thanks, I cant wait to see what you get out of yours.
Another week on the books and the LSD has hit the scrog! She has been doing great. I started to ween them into nutrients, I started hitting them with light doses of BigBloom and splashes of HolyMackerel starting today. Hopefully I can get some explosive growth out of these two girls.
The Red Dragon is doing ok, I defoliated most of the fan leaves and tied the main branches down a little to spread it out. It was starting to become a dense bushy plant. The last time I grew Red Dragon I didn't top or LST it. I let it grow into a Christmas tree and it was a nicely spaced out tree. This little girl is a dense shrub. Could be because of the issue during the seedling stage or because I decided to LST this one. Either way its starting to look like I may get a few oz off of it in the end.

Anyone have any suggestions to how I should go about the scrog? I've seen people just pull the plant outwards as it grows, keeping it in the net. I've also seen a few people let the plant grow up a foot or so past the scrog and then super crop the plant down into the netting. Anyone here have experience with both?

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