280W Apollo8 vs. A51 XGS 190

[KineBoisin420]

Today


I pulled them out of the tent to inspect them a little closer, and to take this series of pictures.

The one under the XGS still drinks more than the one under the Apollo, and looks a bit bushier, to me. The top flower is different under each light though, not sure if it translated well in the pictures or not. The one under the Apollo has started doing the "hash tip", or "light bleaching" or whatever we're calling it these days, not under the XGS. The top flower under the XGS is a teeny bit larger, too.

Nothing too remarkably different between them.

A few leaves have shown a slight deficiency on the Apollo side, but pretty minor, and I'm not noticing anything progressing, since the initial leaves were affected.

 

[KineBoisin420]

A few days later, and the "hash tip" "light bleaching" is more pronounced on the Apollo side. Its hard to determine what to call it, since it does look like a high concentration of trichomes when I look at it under a 60x loupe, but the plant matter surrounding the trichomes still appears greenish, and not white. This is the one time I wish I had a 200x USB loupe so I could look at things more clearly, at a larger size, on screen.

None of this is occurring on the XGS side. So far, the XGS is a dream to grow under. Consistent results.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Top flower of each plant, @ day 30. Really liking this XGS. It grows pretty flowers.

 

[KineBoisin420]

I've found certain strains do really well under the Apollo, like the leggy Hash Plants I have in the back corner of the tent. They're at week 7 and have some fat buds. In case you cant tell, the top of the plant is growing vertically, so the top tip of the flower is what you see behind, and the "bud mass" you see near my hand is all of the other flowers growing up towards the light.

 

[gk skunky]

Looking good man. How old is the apollo lamp? No issues? I'm sure the xgs is easier in the eyes working in the room. But noticed any pros and cons for either lamp? Oh and maybe I missed it.... but are the lights the same distances away or the apollo higher?

 

[Thecouchlock]

Uh oh, big difference between them!

 

[purplegrower02]

So how many plants do you think you'll run under the XGS in the future and how big of a tent.

I'm thinking about putting the xgs into a 2x2 grow tent for mostly vegging but flowering also 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Looking good man. How old is the apollo lamp? No issues? I'm sure the xgs is easier in the eyes working in the room. But noticed any pros and cons for either lamp? Oh and maybe I missed it.... but are the lights the same distances away or the apollo higher?

The Apollo is about a year old. No issues, so far (knock wood).

Both lights are the same distance away from the canopy.

So far, I'm noticing them to be close to the same, although I like the way the flowers are developing on the XGS side better, for this strain anyway. No doubt the Apollo can grow dank...I've shown that, many times already. But the plants under the XGS just look happier/healthier, and we need to remember, it draws 95W less than the Apollo.

 

[KineBoisin420]

So how many plants do you think you'll run under the XGS in the future and how big of a tent.

I'm thinking about putting the xgs into a 2x2 grow tent for mostly vegging but flowering also 2 or 3 times a year.

I've got a 4x4 tent with both lights in it. Not growing corner to corner, but I probably could. Right now I've got two plants under the XGS, in 11L pots, and both are reasonably bushy. I've also got a few party cups straddling the middle between the lights, with at least 1/2 being primarily on the XGS side.

Depending upon your pot size, you could get away with 4 plants under the XGS, in say, 7.5L pots. But 2 larger plants works for me, right now.

 

[purplegrower02]

I think I'm going to get the xgs put it in my tiny 2x2 with 12L air pots running 4 plants harvesting every2 weeks and if i can squeeze a 3L airpot for an auto but most likely I'll just do the 4 12L's.

mainlineing is the way to go. In my 4x4 i have 4 plants each with 8 tops and every inch of the tent is filled in with those 32 thick colas.

 

[spazatak]

I think I'm going to get the xgs put it in my tiny 2x2 with 12L air pots running 4 plants harvesting every2 weeks and if i can squeeze a 3L airpot for an auto but most likely I'll just do the 4 12L's.

mainlineing is the way to go. In my 4x4 i have 4 plants each with 8 tops and every inch of the tent is filled in with those 32 thick colas.

got any pics....

 

[KineBoisin420]

I think I'm going to get the xgs put it in my tiny 2x2 with 12L air pots running 4 plants harvesting every2 weeks and if i can squeeze a 3L airpot for an auto but most likely I'll just do the 4 12L's.
mainlineing is the way to go. In my 4x4 i have 4 plants each with 8 tops and every inch of the tent is filled in with those 32 thick colas.

I did one Plushberry using the Mainlining technique last round, and I was impressed. It was also an 8 topper, and I really liked how it turned out. I'm going to concentrate more effort into the technique this next year, as I too think its the way to go in closer quarters.

If you can fit 4 - 12L plants into your 2x2, the XGS will certainly cover that footprint, np. You'd have to use the ML technique or some heavy training, or you'll overgrow that tent ya got.

I like the 2 plants under the XGS...gives em room to fill out when I'm lazy and don't feel like training them.

 

[purplegrower02]

Maybe I'll start with two plants harvesting one a month with letting clones vegg for 2months doing the ML. Hopeig to pull 3-4ozs per plant every month. Think it's doable.


that's why i love growing outdoors plant some seeds give it some teas since a have an amazing super soil recipe and get 2lbs a plant ahhh gotta love outdoors lol. But i already have a 4x4 flower and a 2x2 veg so this 2x2 I'm going to use for more "exotic" strains like mr.grinspoon, kali mist things like that, just sounds crazy letting a plant flower for 4 months lol....

anyways back to the topic sorry for hijacking the thread it was not my intention.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Maybe I'll start with two plants harvesting one a month with letting clones vegg for 2months doing the ML. Hopeig to pull 3-4ozs per plant every month. Think it's doable.

that's why i love growing outdoors plant some seeds give it some teas since a have an amazing super soil recipe and get 2lbs a plant ahhh gotta love outdoors lol. But i already have a 4x4 flower and a 2x2 veg so this 2x2 I'm going to use for more "exotic" strains like mr.grinspoon, kali mist things like that, just sounds crazy letting a plant flower for 4 months lol....
anyways back to the topic sorry for hijacking the thread it was not my intention.

Two plants under the XGS, with a 3-4oz per plant goal is certainly a realistic projection, and several folk on here have already achieved this goal with a single XGS.

 

[purplegrower02]

Yea when I receive the light on the first week of July I'll start a journal for the led guys.

obviously the first grow won't be what is actually capable since the grinspoon and kali mist are not heavy yielders but still should be an awesome grow.

I think I'm going to also buy two small vipars or mars2 since their dirt cheap and put one on each side of my 400w hps in my 2x3 flower area. It's funny I have 4 small flower cabs and locals make fun of it until they see that Ipull over a lb a month combined tthan I'm the one laughing.

 

[KineBoisin420]

I gotta say, my plants sure like the light from the XGS. I know I'm a month out from my plants being finished under them, but so far, so good. If I ever have any issues with my Apollo, I'll replace it with another XGS, without batting an eyelash.

I've also got a Plushberry in the back under the XGS, and it has really started taking off in flower production...exciting. Its a solid yielder under the Apollo, and its looking more developed under the XGS at 1 month in...so I'm looking forward to seeing how that one finishes too.

 

[pedrovski]

i've just ordered a panel with 60 of the 5w 3750k cree leds that the xgs uses for $120 over getting an apollo 8 and i will be running at around 200w which will hopefully not produce too much heat. Your plants under the xgs do look healthier so hopefully i made the right decision in choosing this over the apollo 8, only time will tell.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Update time. As usual, Apollo plant is on the left or first in a series of two.

The XGS plant is still thirstier and bushier than the Apollo plant. I have to water the XGS plant every 2 days, without fail. The Apollo plant could go 3 days. I just end up watering them on the same days, but water the Apollo plant less ml.

I tried getting better closeup pictures of the top flower, but am using my phone, so the quality isn't the best. I'll pull the real camera out next update for some proper pictures.

But even with the phone pictures, you can see the difference in flower development.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Just for fun, here's one of the two lanky Hash Plants just finishing their 7th week, over on the Apollo side. This is the slightly larger of the two plants. The Apollo grows quite well, certain strains just do better under it than others, from what I've found. The Hash Plant you see is super duper dense, and would have had massive top flower, if they weren't growing sideways. The plants are more lanky than my others, so I had to tie them down and train sideways early on in flowering. Each of those flowers are super hard, dense. Really enjoy this strain. If you like HP, I recommend it!

 

[Hosebomber]

Call me crazy but the apollo side looks healthier and fuller with more resin to me.