First LED Grow (126W Penetrator LED) (Growing Short Riders)

* For the newbies out there:

At this point during my ficticious last grow, the AK-48 was not in good shape. The change I made this time around was my "watering".

I'm using a lot more at each watering, but spacing each watering session at 4 days apart. I'll probably try to keep that up for the remainder of the grow.

After some advice from good horticulturalist, this time around I water each pot until it just starts to leak out the bottom drain holes. And that's it. If they are looking healthy for 3 days after I'll water them on the 4th. Once in a blue moon I'll notice the outer edges of the leaf tips turning upwards. So I'll put 6 - 8 oz of water in there, wait a day and then do the full watering cycle.

I by no means want to start a discussion on "Plant Care".

I just wanted to point out something that seems to have made a positive impact on this grow. Hope this helps anyone who has an interest in Horticulture.

Happy Growing

adinocr7 said:

* For the newbies out there:

At this point during my ficticious last grow, the AK-48 was not in good shape. The change I made this time around was my "watering".

I'm using a lot more at each watering, but spacing each watering session at 4 days apart. I'll probably try to keep that up for the remainder of the grow.

I water each pot until it just starts to leak out the bottom drain holes. And that's it. If they are looking healthy for 3 days after I'll water them on the 4th. Once in a blue moon I'll notice the outer edges of the leaf tips turning upwards. So I'll put 6 - 8 oz of water in there, wait a day and then do the full watering cycle.

Happy Growing

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It may be worthwhile watering just a bit more so you get some "run-off", this partially washes away unused nutes and helps stop salt build up.

Grumpy Old Dreamer said:

It may be worthwhile watering just a bit more so you get some "run-off", this partially washes away unused nutes and helps stop salt build up.

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Grumpy:

Hey thanks for the advice man. I will definitely start going extra on the watering.

Both girls are 42 days in from germination, and seem to be flowering well.

These first two pics are actually a comparison. The brown colored pot is the AK-48 during my last "fictitious" grow. It was at exactly 42 days in that pic. And the black pot of course is one of the Short Riders (Sativa Looking one).

Same lighting schedule as the AK-48 was on (of course LED lighting this time around), however the Short Rider has raced into flowering much faster.

AK-48 on left (from past grow) and the Sativa looking Short Rider (current grow) on the right:

Looking good man im interested in getting an led light but was hesitant due to things i heard about flowering results so i will be watching to see how it go's. What kind of light was used for the plant on the left?

Here are pics of both plants at 42 days (separate and together):



The speed square is 7" tall. Just wanted to give a reference for size. The plants are only about 10 - 11" right now. But very compact. I have had to do a lot of pruning to let some light in for the lower bud sites. So they were even fuller before I took any pics. Had to do a cabinet shot for you guys as well.

Icculus said:

Looking good man im interested in getting an led light but was hesitant due to things i heard about flowering results so i will be watching to see how it go's. What kind of light was used for the plant on the left?

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Thanks man.

The AK-48 on the left was grown under a 150W HPS. Yielded about 3/4's of a zip.

Here is the link: https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-plant-problems/411658-first-grow-bumpy-road.html

Supz adino Your girlz look healthy and petite! Its sooo fluffay ima die

Mineralz said:

Supz adino Your girlz look healthy and petite! Its sooo fluffay ima die

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Ha Ha thanks Mineralz. These things flower so quick they really don't get a chance to veg. If you did them in a hydro setup under some "serious"lighting such as a 600 or 1000W HPS, or a high powered LED ($1000 - $1500 job)they'd be a lot bigger as well as the yield. My goal is to get a watergarden(or two) going in the near future. If this 126W Penetrator (Equivalent to a250W HPS) does the trick, I'll step it up to a water garden underneath aPenetrator 345W Pro Series light. I'll still do the little soil grows under the 126w LED (probably just Short Riders and other short, small and fastflowering strains). But I'll do some nice Sativa Strains.


* Everything posted on this forum is purely fictional and for entertainment purposes only *

Nice I'm pretty prone to watching LED grows for some reason. I like the look of them, not to mention everyone disses the hell outta them. I guess it's personal preference, but you got my hoorahz for sure. Keep em comin!

adinocr7 said:

The Penetrator 126W is $475.00. Or you can pick up the Pro Model for $635.00 From what I've found the prices in the brochure are pretty much what shops and online stores are charging.

As far as electric goes It's supposed to consume 65% less power than a 250W HPS. At least that is what the brochure claims.

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I've heard nothing but bad things about this company and the people who run it. They definitely charge way more for what they really give you than the good companies charge for what really works best. 1w diodes are definitely way old school now and they want $4.13 per watt with that thing when the best most proven companies (with a positive reputation) charge less then $3 per watt of 3w diodes. Sorry to be such a downer.

That said, this thing should do well enough as I am suprised even by how well its veggin, I would go 1 or 2 small plants SCROG or LST

^^ The 3 watts are about 1.5 watts in real used power and the 1 watt is around .82 watt. But yea, 3 watts are the standard now. I get around a foot penetration of good flowering light from this light. Keep em short.

jdizzle22 said:

I've heard nothing but bad things about this company and the people who run it. They definitely charge way more for what they really give you than the good companies charge for what really works best. 1w diodes are definitely way old school now and they want $4.13 per watt with that thing when the best most proven companies (with a positive reputation) charge less then $3 per watt of 3w diodes. Sorry to be such a downer.

That said, this thing should do well enough as I am suprised even by how well its veggin, I would go 1 or 2 small plants SCROG or LST

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Jdizzle:

Hey thanks for checking out my thread man. And I greatly appreciate your feedback. As far as the story behind the creator(s) of the Penetrator LED lights, if the story is true I hope the individual(s) find some good in their lives and put whatever problems they have behind. But that's a different story for a different day.

My main concern is the end results of this grow. If I can get 1 zip per plant I'll be more than happy. And most importantly if the quality of the smoke is as good as the Hydro Store owner says it will be, then this light is worth every penny. And if a little 126W Series can accomplish that, I can truly justify a bigger cabinet, watergarden setup and an even bigger LED.

Hey nice lookin grow! Awesome to see others taking the LED plunge! I've actually got 2 romulan clones currently scrogin under a 126w pro model. Currently at week 6 of flower, I'm hoping to post some pics or a journal of some sort soon.

I had been researching LEDs for quite a while before I bought mine and was really stoked to see a company with all that research and videos of results. About a week after I placed my order, I heard about all of the drama with Cammie/Ledgirl around the forums. While a lot of it sounds really sketch and I definitely have reservations about dealing with them in the future, I decided in the end what really matters to me is how the light works.

I've also since then noticed that the Penetrator series seems to be (not positive tho) a rebranded/customized version of a light made by a Chinese company that sells them surprisingly cheap in bulk. So if I do want another one, I might try to figure out the right color ratios and order one (or like 10 ) directly from china.

This is my first grow, so I can't really make good comparisons to HPS or other lights, but overall I'm quite happy with mine so far. And yeah it was pretty expensive, but in my current situation I truely think LED was my best option for minimizing heat and maximizing stealth while still(hopefully) getting good results from a limited space. I'm guessing I might not get the weight I could have gotten with an HPS, but the quality should be great, as things are looking quite nice and crystally. I'll get some pics up soon...

Federal:

Great to hear from someone else who's giving the LED thing a shot. I'm with you on the "drama" and "buzz" around Ledgirl. I could really care less about that stuff. If this thing works then that's good enough for me. As far as the price goes on these lights? It's 400 a zip all day long where I'm from (Because of prohibition mind you). So in the end it more than weighs out (no pun intended) in our favor.

I was getting frustrated seeing these great journals, following them week after week. Then each one would fall off the face of the earth. So like my last grow this will go right to the finish.

My ultimate goal (being a broken record here) if this works, is to do a Hydro Grow (Watergarden) under a 205W or 345W LED. That setup should yield at least 1/2 a lb. . . . all . . day . . long. If I can hit the 5 - 6 zip mark in that type of grow, I think that'll definitely answer "everyone's" questions on whether a good LED can perform neck and neck with an HPS.

But for now we'll just have to wait and see how this turns out. If it rocks I'll move forward with what I mentioned above.

adinocr7 said:

Federal:

Great to hear from someone else who's giving the LED thing a shot. I'm with you on the "drama" and "buzz" around Ledgirl. I could really care less about that stuff. If this thing works then that's good enough for me. As far as the price goes on these lights? It's 400 a zip all day long where I'm from (Because of prohibition mind you). So in the end it more than weighs out (no pun intended) in our favor.

I was getting frustrated seeing these great journals, following them week after week. Then each one would fall off the face of the earth. So like my last grow this will go right to the finish.

My ultimate goal (being a broken record here) if this works, is to do a Hydro Grow (Watergarden) under a 205W or 345W LED. That setup should yield at least 1/2 a lb. . . . all . . day . . long. If I can hit the 5 - 6 zip mark in that type of grow, I think that'll definitely answer "everyone's" questions on whether a good LED can perform neck and neck with an HPS.

But for now we'll just have to wait and see how this turns out. If it rocks I'll move forward with what I mentioned above.

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Sounds good man. I look forward to seeing where you go with it. I'm with ya on LED being worth the $. I think a lot of people also forget to take into account the savings and environmental impacts of the energy savings either, not to mention other advantages to using less juice.

Lets just say in my current situation the light wattage + cooling wattage of running HPS would be noticed by those that pay the bills, cfls might work but I'm sure I wouldn't get the same results. With my current LED + computer fan setup, I'm drawing just over 200w which shouldn't be noticed at all and so far I'm seeing great results.

I come from a family of hybrid driving, energy conserving hippies. My daydreams typically include a bunch of solar panels powering some huge LED arrays over a glorious indoor field of organic buds...

Fadeleaf:

200w is not a big deal at all. It's like you leaving a few lights on 24/7 in your house.

I think CFL's are good for starting seedlings and for supplemental lighting. But other then that they will not flower a plant like an HPS or (theoretically) a good LED setup.

Like the Solar Panel idea!

adinocr7 said:

Fadeleaf:

200w is not a big deal at all. It's like you leaving a few lights on 24/7 in your house.

I think CFL's are good for starting seedlings and for supplemental lighting. But other then that they will not flower a plant like an HPS or (theoretically) a good LED setup.

Like the Solar Panel idea!

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I definitely recomend doing seedlings with a weak LED or CFL bulbs. I did some Nirvana Ice from pop at 2ft from my 12wavelength 3w diode 395w (true wattage) LED panel and definitely had an... issue? Basically those plants grew in height and overall size very slowly, but had tons of nodes and new dense undergrowth. They never caught up to the same strain that had 5-7 days under CFL after pop even after 2 months. In the future I will always go with my PC grow box using CFL for 1-2 weeks before going under my LED It gives them a chance to grow some supporting leaves for making energy before going node berserk and growing slowly everywhere.

LED can definitely be better than MH and HPS with the right panel/company. But it will cost you $2-4 per true watt upfront (although with the best you only need about 1/2 as many watts as HID especially if you split it into multiple panels).

jdizzle22 said:

I definitely recomend doing seedlings with a weak LED or CFL bulbs. I did some Nirvana Ice from pop at 2ft from my 12wavelength 3w diode 395w (true wattage) LED panel and definitely had an... issue? Basically those plants grew in height and overall size very slowly, but had tons of nodes and new dense undergrowth. They never caught up to the same strain that had 5-7 days under CFL after pop even after 2 months. In the future I will always go with my PC grow box using CFL for 1-2 weeks before going under my LED It gives them a chance to grow some supporting leaves for making energy before going node berserk and growing slowly everywhere.

LED can definitely be better than MH and HPS with the right panel/company. But it will cost you $2-4 per true watt upfront (although with the best you only need about 1/2 as many watts as HID especially if you split it into multiple panels).

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Jdizzle:

Great info man, thank you for sharing that!

You hit the nail on the head for "seedlings". Mine are under a 2 Foot 25w (6400K) CFL for a good 7 days until they get a few sets of leaves. They seem to mature quickly so I'll definitely be doing this in the future as well. Gives them more than enough light with absolutely no stress.

If I ever step up to a high wattage LED, I'll go from the (7 days) under the CFL over to the 126w Penetrator I currently have. Then after 2 - 3 weeks throw them under something big and bad (345w Pro).

Mineralz said:

For surez man they are hella $$. I suspect you'll love the results tho. Been watching a few LED growz on here. Good shiz

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Mineralz:

The lights are definitley more up front. For example some killer ones would be the Penetrator 126W Pro or the 357 Magnum ($635 / $750). But here is the thing. A good 400 - 600W HPS with a remote ballast will set you back about $300.00. That's just for the light, hood and ballast. Now you have to also consider "cooling". You need insulated ducting and a good fan. Not a cheap inline fan, but a centrifugal fan. The fan and ducting will be $200 + all day long. Now last but not least you have electricity and bulb changes. Ideally you want to change the bulbs every two grows. After that your yields will start to diminish. Bulbs are $25.00 or more depending on what brand you get. A good Hortilux, Digilux can run up to $100 depending. Yeah thats a lot, but who wouldn't want the best for their plants? If you do 4 grows a year (one every 3 months) with a 600W HPS and change bulbs twice a year, you're looking at $60 - $200 depending on what brand bulb you get. Add the extra electricity (let's say a conservative $15.00 extra a month over an LED) you're looking at $180.00 annually. Of course with the cooling fan running (during lights on) you have more noise. In my case no problem. But if you're in an apartment, or rent part of a multi-family home noise may pose a threat. And chances are you have to have at least "1" fan being used for exhaust.

So here's a breakdown for one year with a 400 - 600W HPS (And these are very realistic for good equipment, not Chinese knock off crap):

- Light / Ballast / Hood (Good quality Brand) $300.00
- Centrifigal Fan $150.00 (And remember for each light you need a fan and ducting! So multiply extra electricity and up front costs)
- Insulated Ducting $ 25.00
- Electricity (Extra over LED @ $15 / mo) $180.00 (Annual)
- (2) Bulb changes @ $35 a bulb $ 70.00 (Annual)

So for one year with an HPS setup you're at about $725.00.

A Penetrator Pro 126W costs $635.00 and a 357 Magnum costs $750.00 (inc no tax and free shipping) from the manufacturer.

And to top it off the "quality" of the bud seems to be better from the grow journals I've read, and people I've spoken to who use them.

Anyhow absolutely no "attitude" intended here Mineralz! Rather I'd like to thank you for bringing up the "cost" factor. Because for most of us (including myself at one point) the initial cost of a good LED is a show stopper.