badtorro goes diy LED! cxb 300W Bubble Gum

Hi guys

I have done 4 grows in dirt and I have had enough. This is my 5th grow ever and I just have switched from organic soil to coco mix. This is my 1st grow in coco. I'm very happy that I switched Now I'm about to switch from HPS to DIY LED. I'm not an experienced grower, so I'm hoping for your help Please help me grow better weed easy

My grow is a 1x1x2m tent (Secret Jardin DR100), there's a 5" extractor linked to 250W MH cooltube linked to a carbon filter. Got temps around 25C (77F) and humidity ~40% (that's because I got to heat my place, it's too cold outside).



I got 6 LEDs CREE CXB3590 3500K CD and two drivers @1.4A, which should result in 300W pull and light equivalent of about 500W HPS. I will arrange it on 2x 80cm heatsinks. At first I want to go for passive cooling, but I'll keep a close eye on temps. Leds will be spread 30 cm from each other. I'm only still waiting for the fing delivery of the heatsinks and I'll post some pictures when it's assembled.

I veg 4x Bubblegums in 2.5L pots, it's a regular strain. I planted it directly in the coco. I now water & feed it every day, manually. I use solution of 6L of water +6ml CocosA +6ml CocosB (Plagron) +1.5ml Aptus CaMg-boost @5.8pH @640ppm. I use fresh lemon juice for Ph-. There's a huge run-off every time. It's 5 week since planting the seeds. I topped them all & cut out old leafs. I will not go for scrog, cuz I have no way to water them with the net on.

I find two distinct phenos. 3 plants look like 50:50 sativa/indica (#27-29). The distinct 1 looks like mostly sativa (#26). The number 26 (Sativa dominant) has already shown pistils )))) I hope the remaining 3 will show sex soon.



I will post a lot so feel free to check out my grow ))

btw. sorry for my bad English, it's not my 1st lang.

Good news! the heatsinks are finally here! I will begin the assembly today, maybe even fire it up for the first time I'm excited



I switched off the heater yesterday and the plants look much happier today



I will switch them to flowering almost immediately after setting up the new light.

Looking forward to it.

Several hours of work later, it's nearly completed.
I didn't expect it would take this much work.
And I didn't expect 3 broken drill bits. I guess I'm not very technicallly skilled :-/

I still need to wire it up, but I'm done for today.
I hope I can test run it tomorrow.
But first, got to get some sleep & go to work!

Damn, forgot to water my plants today..

I like your light setup. I currently use a MH / LED combo .. also run a couple independent UVB bulbs. I'll be following.

Hi Guys! Sorry for no updates! Assemblying this beast turned out more tricky & time taking then I anticipated.
Yesterday I have finished the assembly & test run...

et voilà! It's alive I thought it's going to burn thru my eyes to the back of my skull

I have tossed the 250W HID setup in favour of LEDs only.
I have watered & fed my plants and left this for the next day.

So today it's 24hrs since the launch.
As mentioned, it's blindingly bright.
Temperature of the heatsink is much higher then anticipated. I'm going to install a fan or two on each heatsink, it's just too hot right now. After I'm done with it I'll share some pictures.

Plants absolutely love it. That's very obvious when you look at them.
I will post some pictures later today. I want to prioritize those fans
They still need some time before flipping to flower tho. I hope the light will help that

You're going to need fans and thermal paste. No way will you keep all those cooled passively.

superbak3d said:

You're going to need fans and thermal paste. No way will you keep all those cooled passively.

Click to expand...

you're absolutely correct

fortunately for me I had every ready for this emergency -I picked up 4x 100mm fans from my secret jardin project.
Heatsinks are now barely warm

I have some problems uploading the pics :S

Finally got some pictures



The lamp definitely needs improvements, but it's secure enough to operate.
I'll keep refining how it's assembled over next few days

next update on the plants!

It's time for the update on the ladies

As mentioned before, it's crystal clear to me they love the new light
I have increased the amount of fertilizer I feed them with yesterday

It's now 6L water +8+8ml coco A+B +Aptus camg-boost 2ml @ph5.8 @900ppm
I switch to organic vinegar for ph-, I'm concerned that the fresh lemon juice may be a source of pests. Although, I love the flavour it adds..

I'm still improving my light built, but that's only small modifications to make it look neat & clean.

Now big question is: when do I switch them to flower?
It's a 1x1m tent, I have 4 hybrid plants, all ladies (yuppie!!! ), I won't be using any scrog, only LST.
The point is to fill-in the tent completely and get as much weed as possible.

I'm thinking one more week.
Any suggestions?



Also I'm considering to remove the big fan leafs. On one hand they block light for new branches. On the other, I should not worry about light penetration with the new light. Any thoughts?

Also should I repot them into bigger pots before flower? They don't seem root bound yet, but roots are already sticking out thru every hole in pots.

I would transfer them into larger pots and start tying them down.

Don't flip until you have a nice canopy. Maybe 2 more weeks or so.

Agreed, I would let them fill at least 50% of your space before flipping. Your yield will vastly increase if you maximize the space under the footprint of that light.


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superbak3d said:

I would transfer them into larger pots and start tying them down.

Don't flip until you have a nice canopy. Maybe 2 more weeks or so.

Click to expand...

kmog33 said:

Agreed, I would let them fill at least 50% of your space before flipping. Your yield will vastly increase if you maximize the space under the footprint of that light.


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Click to expand...

thanks guys! I will follow your suggestion.
I will put them in new bigger pots, give them a week or two more to veg nicely and LST them for better coverage.
sounds like a great plan

I too plan on using diy led to grow under in the near future. I am going to be using the housing of my mars lights housing, heatsinks, drivers, and fan.

Now I'm fairly crafty, but my issue is finding where I can purchase cobs not in bulk. I don't need 30 of them. Any suggestions?

Keystone-grower™ said:

I too plan on using diy led to grow under in the near future. I am going to be using the housing of my mars lights housing, heatsinks, drivers, and fan.

Now I'm fairly crafty, but my issue is finding where I can purchase cobs not in bulk. I don't need 30 of them. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/High-Power-LEDs-White-3000/dp/B0131UYAHY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452442437&sr=8-1&keywords=cxb3590

Expensive though.

Keystone-grower™ said:

I too plan on using diy led to grow under in the near future. I am going to be using the housing of my mars lights housing, heatsinks, drivers, and fan.

Now I'm fairly crafty, but my issue is finding where I can purchase cobs not in bulk. I don't need 30 of them. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I bought mine on Alibaba at Kingbrite. It's an honest company, very good customer service. My package arrived 3 days after payment via paypal. I highly recommend you that. I have not found a better offer then Jerry's. However if you prefer you may also try at Mauser or Digikey. I'm heared those are reliable, but more expensive sources. Click the links & you'll find what you need

Time for another update on the ladies xD

At this point I'm just waiting for them to grow bigger to flip them to flowering. I gradually lower the light, it's now 50-60cm from the canopy. I suppose 30cm would be optimal, but I dont want to push it too hard. I think all of them are ladies (this is a regular strain), so this is great luck for me ))

I begin to LST all of them.
I also cut down some of the biggest leafs.
I plan repotting for Tuesday-Wednesday.


Here: A27 (left) and A29 (right).
A27 is my favourite, it's healthiest & grows very fast. It seems a nice 50:50 hybrid.
I'm considering to take a clone of A27 and maintain it as a mother for my future plants.


A27

A29

Here A26 (left) and A28 (right).
A26 is the one leaning towards Sativia the most. It's definitely the highest & fastest growing.


A26

A28
she leans towards indica the most in my garden. Or is simply the smallest, weakest plant in my garden.
I'm going to flower her anyway, but I'm least impressed with her.

I have flushed today and plan to repot tomorrow to 5L pots
Is 5L enough for flower or should I plan to repot again after flip to flower?

But I'm wondering.. does this look healthy to you?
if not, what's wrong?

As mentioned, I feed them with water pH 5.8 @900pm so I'm wondering what might be wrong.. is there something wrong? or am I getting crazy?
I have a feeling they could be growing faster