T5 + HPS + LED +New Grower

Hello,

I'm a new grower that has been reading a lot of posts here for around the last 6 months and have decided to start growing myself. I will be looking for help and advice throughout the grow so any and all comments and suggestions are welcome.

Here is my setup
Soil - FF Ocean/Forest
Nutes - Full FF lineup
Veg Room - T5 BadBoy 16 bulb
Flower Room - (1) 400 watt HPS, (1) 500 watt LED, (3) 150 watt LED, (2) 180 watt LED, (2) 290 watt LED

I have a few different strains that are going on 3 weeks: Chocolope, Qrazy Train, Purple Kush. I also have a DJ Short Blueberry that is a bit further along

I am probably missing some important information so let me know if you want or need to see anything more.

Here are a few shots of what I have right now. I hope to finish building my two rooms within the next week - It has taken me a bit longer than I planned.

Wow man, beautiful setup! Why did you go with a 400w for flowering over a 1k though? You had more than enough room, with the LED panels, great job on them but what are the specs on them? How much of a footprint do yours need to cover with using the 400 in conjunction? I think you have more than enough room, money isnt an issue judging by 8 LED pannels. I would honestly, just go invest in a 1k setup unless you like those little popcorn buds.

Really though, why all the lower power lighting?

Subbed! That's a ton of lights. Are those led numbers actual draw, and what brand are they? The only suggest I'd make at this time is to get the power cords up instead of hanging down to the ground.

its crazy to shell out that kinda cash on l.e.d. i hav not realy heard that much good about those lil things.. the end product looks like what a t-5 would produce. you should have ran 3 or 4 600w hps...jus seems nutz to me..must be nice to have cash to piss away on a sub-par grow room.. that ff soil has a high p.h your gana have to cut that down a lil bit.. per-lite or somthing ill let you figure that out. get your self a grow book you got the cash no doubt. your gana need it.

Also wondering if that is actual draw. Subbed.

You're going to want to be able to lower those smaller LED units.

I likee. The use of T5's and LEDs are a perfect blend of stealth from heat signatures and power usage. Make sure that u put the lites close to the plants in veg room for max growth. 2"/day should be the norm in conjunction with ur nutes. Treat ur plants as they were a mechanical pump. Keep ur nutes 10 degrees cooler than the foliar section and results will be awesome.

Quite funny, negative comments even before you get started ? Looks like a good set up you have there, it's all about grams/watts at the end of the day. If you get 1g/watt you're doing very well in my books. I've never use ff soil so just make sure your Ph is kept under control for the medium you are growing in and you'll have no problems, best of luck and I'll be following along

Thepill said:

I likee. The use of T5's and LEDs are a perfect blend of stealth from heat signatures and power usage. Make sure that u put the lites close to the plants in veg room for max growth. 2"/day should be the norm in conjunction with ur nutes. Treat ur plants as they were a mechanical pump. Keep ur nutes 10 degrees cooler than the foliar section and results will be awesome.

Click to expand...

So the fact that he is also running a 400w negates his heat signature when you combine with the rest of his LED's and T-5's.
So if low profile,low yield, EXTREMELY high startup costs and a sweet looking grow room was what you were after, you nailed it! Whatever works for you man, that's all that matters. I think your electric costs will be the same, but lower results. IMO you should have ran Blue/white spectrum led panels in conjunction with your T5's, and just thrown a 1000w or 2 600's for flowering. Your yields would have been dramatically improved.

LED's are great for veg growth, but from what I've read the high end lighting just isnt there with the cost values for Flowering.

Hey this will be a great test run though. You have ample space and everything, we should be able to compare your yield to anyone elses who hasnt used T5's with a 400w in flowering, then just take that number and add the total amount of money you spent. Find someone who invested in just T5's and say duel 600's, find out there yield versus cost. This way you can find out how much money you lost compared to how much yield you should have had if you didnt invest in low lighting.

I'll try to answer the questions here:

Why did I go with the 400 watt?? From what I have read you get better quality with LED lights but lose out on quantity, you want HID for yield. So I thought I could get higher quality using LED as my main source of lighting and supplement with a smaller HID. I'll see how things go and might look to add a 1k to the setup in the future if I'm not happy with my results.

As far as $$ goes, I've been working on building my two rooms for about 4 months and have been purchasing items for these rooms over a year I tend to jump into things headfirst and planned to start smaller but went a little overboard. I have been able to pull some good deals and see potential in LED - I might be wrong but I wont know till I try. If this flops I'll use LED for veg, sell some of my panels and pick up another 1k HID to go traditional. I like the idea of power savings, lower heat and potential of higher quality. I don't really have to worry much as far as stealth, I'm a patient in a legal state so its legit.

LED Lights - Seems like you either Love em or Hate em. The lights are actual draw. It's a combo of Black Star and Spectra GLH lights - the GLH lights are the 2011 models and I have read about some issues with them. I have contacted Mike about them and will probably be getting the updated power supply so the draw will go down a bit if I do this, I'll keep everyone updated on this. The cords will go up once I have completed the build and are on yo yo's and/or ratchet systems so I will be able to adjust the height

I went 50/50 mix with the FF Soil and mixed in a soiless mix with peralite and some other stuff. Can't think of the brand but from what I have read and heard this mix should help. I forgot to put this in my original post

I think this covers the questions. I will do my best to post updates at least weekly till I make the switch to 12/12. That's what we all really want to see anyways. I will also plan on using LST and am thinking I will try SCROG with maybe half of the crop.

And the mix of plants is 2 Qrazy Train, 1 Purple Kush, 1 Blue Berry and 5 Chocolope. I'm looking at adding in some Jilly Bean for the next round. Like I said, I'm new so I'll be flying by the seat of my pants for a bit till I get a few grows under my belt and figure out a system.

Thanks for all your comments and help as I move forward with this

Things seem to be going well so far. I plan on trimming some of the lower stems today and start LSTing some of the younger clones. I have a bit more work to do in the rooms but think they should be done this weekend. I'm sure I will keep making small changes as I go along but at least the big stuff will be done.

I am having some trouble blocking out light from the doors. I picked up door insulation strips but the doors wouldn't shut well. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I will post pictures soon of the rooms and the girls

I've been neglecting my thread here. Been really busy finishing up the rooms and trying to stop the light leak through the doors. Just picked up some panda film and will drape it over the doors to stop the last bit of light from creeping in.

I have also cut my first clones and put them in my Turbo Klone machine. Didnt know what to expect as this is my first time and they really wilted when I first put them in the machine. After a few hours they were back to looking good and standing upright so I think all is good - at least for now.

My plan is to flush and start to LST tomorrow morning.

Pictures to come later today

Here are the updated pics. Since my first run I have put up some reflective insulation around my walls in my flower room, made some rolling trays for my plants in the veg room, put up some shelves (and have clones in the turbo klone) and have moved some lights around.

I will be making a light blocker for around the doors using PVC and Panda film later today

Quick update today. I trimmed up blueberry she is under LED lighting, and my chocalope, qrazy train and purple kush are all looking like nice little bushes under the T5.I also took a quick look under the hood of the cloned and see several roots developing already at day 7.I'm thinking maybe 1 more week till blueberry goes 12/12

Also, anyone know how to post pictures on here using an iPad.

Here are a few picture updates of my girls. Today my Blue Berry is looking a little saggy - she due to get some water but I'm not sure it that's the issue. I was also trying to LST her a bit to make more room and snapped a branch. It didnt snap off so I tied it up in hopes that it would heal - will this happen? Let me know if any of you have some thoughts. I tied it up and took a picture.

I also took a look under the hook of the cloner and am seeing more roots - not a tone but there are more today than yesterday. Friday will be 15 days so I'm guessing I should be able to transplant the ones that look good by then.

Any thoughts/help on my blue berry's condition and what do to with the branch would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a quick video:
[video=youtube_share;ydcTJsrhMb4]http://youtu.be/ydcTJsrhMb4[/video]

Tomorrow will be a big day. Going 12/12 with half the party and moving the clones from machine to soil.

I've made the switch with half the group to 12/12 today. I am running a 400 watt HPS and a 500 watt LED. I have them side-by-side but do not plan on running a competition, this is after all my first grow and whatever comes out from this won't be due to my mad skills.

I do plan on rotating the plants between the two lights every day or two (at least at this point)

Right now the HPS has my Blue Berry under it and the LED has (2) Chocolope, (1) Qrazy Train, and (1) Purple Kush

That's all Ive got right now, just feeling nervously optomistic with it being my first run. The shot of the three under the T5 is my veg room, I'm going to let them grow out some more and try to figure out how to make this a perpetual grow

Nice I like it. You should have a lot of fun with this setup.
Good Luck.

You should really consider Co2. I only run 1000's and am curious why you chose a 400w around all those LED's?

It will heal if you give it a brace. don't be scared to FIM or top in the first few weeks. Early topping/FIM with LST makes for some very busy fast growing baby girls. Try it on a few and see if you like it.