Help!!

Hey experience growers, new guy here needing a little help...trying to keep this relevant to the thread, but to accurately diagnose the problem, i will give a little background info, and may ask a random question or two non related to the plants themselves. So... here we go:

I have 2 seedlings (bagseed) that I started under CFL'S and they were doing good. A little stretch, but nothing major... Im using these plants to practice and to learn from mistakes before starting my blueberry and white widow...

Shortly after having them sprout under CFL, I got my 138w galaxyhydro 9 band LED light and a few essentials to upgrade my homemade 5 square foot grow-box...so I put them in there once I outfitted everything. They had EXPLOSIVE growth at first, but I think I got impatient and put the light too close...maybe giving them a little too much light... the tall plant had a shit load of horizontal stretch, too...(I'm assuming this 2nd generation LED is stronger than I thought!)...so I moved them to a CFL only box I made for clones and veg stage plants, until I figure out the issue.

The large one is on day 7, smaller is on day 10. Large one has a little curl to the leaves and the smaller, older one, is a little short (because it had a long taproot, so I buried it deeper than I normally would to protect the stem)but looks good...

I wanna get this right before I get started on my new girls...Dont wanna waste any of that expensive FoxFarm soil just got, lol...Any help is much appreciated!

Also wondering if 1 galaxyhydro 138w (3w) UFO LED is enough for 5sqft. of growspace...and when to put them in that box??Thanks!

Seedlings look good. Only thing I wouldn't have recommended was buying the "9-band" 3w LED as they're typically useless for flowering plants in comparison to almost any other technology. It'll do a good job for your seedlings/clones and vegging but when you get to flowering I'd add back some of those CFL's you were using or you'll likely be disappointed, your CFL's probably did a better job at flowering. If you're going to LED's these days, go with COB-based LED's, they're out there now, A51 makes some with Vero COBs that are quite reasonably priced and would at least double your yield vs. those 3w panels. Good luck...

Overwatered looks like 1.

Your galaxy could have more power to the red side of the spectrum, couple that with more heat then the cfl put out will make it stretch more.

Let the cup dry out just a bit more, if you use intense light, try to keep temps under 80f and dont put the light too close. They should work they're way out of it.

GroErr said:

Seedlings look good. Only thing I wouldn't have recommended was buying the "9-band" 3w LED as they're typically useless for flowering plants in comparison to almost any other technology. It'll do a good job for your seedlings/clones and vegging but when you get to flowering I'd add back some of those CFL's you were using or you'll likely be disappointed, your CFL's probably did a better job at flowering. If you're going to LED's these days, go with COB-based LED's, they're out there now, A51 makes some with Vero COBs that are quite reasonably priced and would at least double your yield vs. those 3w panels. Good luck...

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This makes sense why it has more flowering diodes then veg diodes. The unit is underpowered to begin with. Probably only 50 watts.

SPLFreak808 said:

This makes sense why it has more flowering diodes then veg diodes. The unit is underpowered to begin with. Probably only 50 watts.

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You're right, he didn't state the model but a lot of them will say "138w" which will be more like 50-60 actual. I've tried a few of those 3w Chinese panels and use them only for clones/seeds/veg. I tried different variations for flowering and up to 75w/sq./ft. coverage, they still sucked for flowering. It doesn't matter how much wattage you throw at them if the design is inherently flawed. When I finally gave up using them for flowering and switched to CMH I tripled my weight in the first run, using clones from the plants I ran under the Chinese LED's, exact same environment and grow method, only difference was changing out the lights.

Thanks GroErr and SPLFreak808, i REALLY appreciate the response...I am dissapointed that my LED isn't gonna work for Flowering....I dont have the cash on hand to get a new LED atm bc i spent so much on getting everything else ready...but I have a bunch of CFL's in 2700k and 5000k...could I mix these with the LED and get okay results, Or should I just run CFL for flower?

BTW will my setup work??
First box is the veg box...

2nd is the one I intend to use for flowering. It's 31 inches tall x 15 inches deep by 25 inches long... last pic is my light. The label on the box says the actual draw is 85w...

Mr.Hush said:

Thanks GroErr and SPLFreak808, i REALLY appreciate the response...I am dissapointed that my LED isn't gonna work for Flowering....I dont have the cash on hand to get a new LED atm bc i spent so much on getting everything else ready...but I have a bunch of CFL's in 2700k and 5000k...could I mix these with the LED and get okay results, Or should I just run CFL for flower?

BTW will my setup work??
First box is the veg box...

2nd is the one I intend to use for flowering. It's 31 inches tall x 15 inches deep by 25 inches long... last pic is my light. The label on the box says the actual draw is 85w...View attachment 3535733 View attachment 3535734 View attachment 3535737

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Mix them all for flower. You will be fine for experience and personal smoke.

SPLFreak808 said:

Mix them all for flower. You will be fine for experience and personal smoke.

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Yeah that light is 46x3w diodes so likely in the 50-60w actual output. Adding the CFL's in and mixing spectrum will help. Adding some CFL's and LED bulbs to a COB light I have in a small tent I run for breeding increased my output by 20-30%. I added them for heat about 1 1/2 years ago and the side benefit was increased yield - lol

SPLFreak808 said:

Mix them all for flower. You will be fine for experience and personal smoke.

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Thanks SPLFreak808!

GroErr said:

Yeah that light is 46x3w diodes so likely in the 50-60w actual output. Adding the CFL's in and mixing spectrum will help. Adding some CFL's and LED bulbs to a COB light I have in a small tent I run for breeding increased my output by 20-30%. I added them for heat about 1 1/2 years ago and the side benefit was increased yield - lol

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GroErr...I thought i was upgrading when i got the LED...sigh... So for flowering would i go for the 3000k color temp A51 light?? I looked them up and the wait time is a month on that one...

Second question, looking at the pics I posted, what light would you recommend for the space I have for flowering?? I know i have options...Just curious what you would recommend...

Mr.Hush said:

GroErr...I thought i was upgrading when i got the LED...sigh... So for flowering would i go for the 3000k color temp A51 light?? I looked them up and the wait time is a month on that one...

Second question, looking at the pics I posted, what light would you recommend for the space I have for flowering?? I know i have options...Just curious what you would recommend...

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Yeah, no worries, many of us have done the same thing. I spent a bunch of money trying different LED's but still use those panels for various veg/clone/seedlings cabinets I run. They will flower and if you add the CFL's it'll improve it somewhat. But if you have the cash, the A51 flowering lights will pay for themselves in one/two runs. 2x of the 90w (that's actual wattage/output) in the 3000k would fit nicely in there. Reason I'd recommend LED's and specifically COB-based LED's in there is trying to run anything like hps in that space, you'll end up having to deal with a lot of heat in a confined space, likely having to spend more money on cooling equipment, and you'd run more wattage for the same results. The LED's will just run and you'll be able to manage heat no problem in that space. They've been proven over and over in the LED section, any experienced LED growers are pulling 1/gpw or better with the COBs and decent producing strains. That means you could expect (once you get it dialed in) somewhere in the 6-8 oz. range from that cabinet with a decent producing strain. I've pulled more than 6 zips in my little 2x2x4' LED tent while pheno hunting with COBs. Cheers.

GroErr said:

Yeah, no worries, many of us have done the same thing. I spent a bunch of money trying different LED's but still use those panels for various veg/clone/seedlings cabinets I run. They will flower and if you add the CFL's it'll improve it somewhat. But if you have the cash, the A51 flowering lights will pay for themselves in one/two runs. 2x of the 90w (that's actual wattage/output) in the 3000k would fit nicely in there. Reason I'd recommend LED's and specifically COB-based LED's in there is trying to run anything like hps in that space, you'll end up having to deal with a lot of heat in a confined space, likely having to spend more money on cooling equipment, and you'd run more wattage for the same results. The LED's will just run and you'll be able to manage heat no problem in that space. They've been proven over and over in the LED section, any experienced LED growers are pulling 1/gpw or better with the COBs and decent producing strains. That means you could expect (once you get it dialed in) somewhere in the 6-8 oz. range from that cabinet with a decent producing strain. I've pulled more than 6 zips in my little 2x2x4' LED tent while pheno hunting with COBs. Cheers.

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I have tried to limit the newby mistakes as much as possible - - but Murphy still found something to go wrong... lol damn him and that law of his... Do you have any other brand of LED to recommend beside the A51?? I really appreciate all the info man...This shit can get tough on the first try...Thank you so much!!

Mr.Hush said:

I have tried to limit the newby mistakes as much as possible - - but Murphy still found something to go wrong... lol damn him and that law of his... Do you have any other brand of LED to recommend beside the A51?? I really appreciate all the info man...This shit can get tough on the first try...Thank you so much!!

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Damn that Murphy! Haven't looked around much lately as I have some COBs to build, that's another option, lots of DIY threads in the LED section on building COB panels. There are some commercial COB panels coming out, another is PLC but they only have larger, think it's 320w and more expensive.

Edit: if you look around or post a question about commercial COB fixtures in the LED forum there's more current information in there.