Going bigger

So i thought I would do this perpetual led thing going 12 and 12 from seed but the amount of time used on flower fuck it I may aswell get back to my usual sized girls.. generally I used to grow plants 4 feet wideby 5-6 tall I'm using a vipar spectra led and a rapid led 100w obviously penetration will be an issue but at the rate of growing I'm gonna push for 6-8 oz per run instead of what I expected from my 1000 watt GPS per plant which was around 12...

This is phantom og, I'm not a huge journal guy so I wont put it in that section but ill shoot some weekly updates up I'm gonna veg for 2 more weeks and off to the races we go. Branch structure has been great she's getting a nice table look.

Your lights are weak for producing any weight. If you still have the HPS I would hook it up to flower with.

I appreciate you're opinion but I'm done with the heat, and other issues associated with HPS for a while. If anything I'll add more led.

msimard12 said:

S... I'm using a vipar spectra led and a rapid led 100w ...

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They aren't an HID light by any stretch (pardon the cannabis pun!) but Viparspectra's work. I went with them as well to reduce the heat. Using 2 of their 600 watt Reflector Series. You can keep the light 8" above the canopy without any harm. Your penetration issue is lessened.

Week 5 of flower starts in 2 days. I'll take some pics to show you that those LED's will work.

I agree with HotRod and Starecase...but if you're intent on not using HPS, you're going to need more LED output in your grow space. Yeah I don't blame you for abandoning 12/12 from seed, that just doesn't sound like an effective way to grow or at least not using seeds that cost 5-15$ a peice.

If you want to grow perpetual you should grow from clone. You can get great returns with little or no veg time and increased numbers. How big is your space? do you have a seperate veg/mother space?

msimard12 said:

I appreciate you're opinion but I'm done with the heat, and other issues associated with HPS for a while. If anything I'll add more led.

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Since you are obviously fairly inexperienced you might check the thread by @3rd Monkey in General on LED and calcium.

Thanks I'll check it out, I did grow for 5+ years prior and took a break. Had no issues with my old girls and I was pulling huge weight. The 100 watt is the rapid led and I have a 135 (watt from wall) vipar spectra. I also have a diploma in horticulture so growing plants is generally not an issue. I've set up a separate veg area with a second light. Here is an update on the girl picture wise.

Thundercat said:

If you want to grow perpetual you should grow from clone. You can get great returns with little or no veg time and increased numbers. How big is your space? do you have a seperate veg/mother space?

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I set up a separate veg space, my flower space is 4 x 2 x 6(tall). First time I've used a tent allways used to run a storage area it's amazing how well these tents reflect light.

Well then you could do a small perpetual with a couple plants in each cycle. You'll definitely want to grow from clone though.

I've been just looking for another strain I like. Prior I had a nice mix from when I bred blue berry and ice cream which I kept running.. loved the high but I need to find something that I love again.

Week 5 in the old 2 x 4 begins today ...

Blue Cheese Red Diesel


Blue Cheese:




Red Diesel



5 gallon buckets ... 50/50 combo of black earth, Pro Mix & 1 cup of spent coffee grounds. Fox Farm nutes, Botanicare Cal/Mag and once flowering started, started adding some good old Black Strap.

The Blue Cheese colas are 22" above the SCROG which is visible in the lower right corner of the first overview pic.. The Red Diesel's a tad less at 19" above. The LED's have been kept anywhere between 8" - 10" above the canopy.

6 more weeks to go for each - and we are getting into the "really fun weeks" no less.

Great looking grow, so you basically run one of the 600 series per plant by the look of it so you can adjust the height accordingly. How tall are the plants under you're schreen and how tall is youre tent?

msimard12 said:

Great looking grow, so you basically run one of the 600 series per plant by the look of it so you can adjust the height accordingly. How tall are the plants under you're schreen and how tall is youre tent?

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Thank you. Genetics (Barney's Farm) and growing environment have a lot to say in the end result.

Yes ... these 600's run a 2 x 2 nicely. Veg and SCROG each girl to almost fill the 2 x 2 net then flip to 12/12. A tad over 7 weeks. Keep the light 8" - 10" above and ...

The net is 23" above the floor and the plants go 10" below the net. 5 Gallon buckets run you around 15" tall and I leave about 2" at the top of the buckets.

It's a 5' tent. The filter and exhaust fan on the outside. I wanted as much room for plants, lighting and air movement fans.

Update: structure looks good, got a bit of stretch when I took it out to change to a two grow area set up but otherwise it's going well. Gonna give it another week to veg.

Structure is looking great she's in the flowering tent now. Wont start for a bit of course because she'll need to acclimate to the light schedule.

msimard12 said:

... she'll need to acclimate to the light schedule.

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To help my ladies transition to 12/12, the changeover is done over a one week period rather than 18/6 one day and 12/12 the next. For that 1 week period, the ON/OFF light times are reduced by 1 hour each day.

Day 1 - 18/6, Day 2 - 17/7, Day 3 - 16/8 ... By Day 7, they are on 12/12.

You can see the development of the bud sites - they get just a little hairier each day.

That would be possible if I didn't have another plant in the flower tent

I just flip them to 12/12 directly. Doing it one hour at a time just makes it take longer to start flowering.

Renfro said:

I just flip them to 12/12 directly. Doing it one hour at a time just makes it take longer to start flowering.

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No question - going straight to 12/12 definitely won't hurt 'em and they do adjust themselves accordingly. For me personally, I try to mimic as much of Mommy Nature's lighting as I can. Gradually decrease the lights on time ... gradually increase red spectrum ... stuff like that.