500 Watt Blackstar LED Grow- 6 OG Kush

trdank said:

Nice ladies sleezy1, I am about to startup myself with a Blackstar 500 in a 4x4 tent running a 2x2 ebb and flow tray. I am in TX and its hot as hell too. I would like to grow in my garage. Do you think I should use a AC.? I am going try to do a 3x3 scrog. How many clones should i use?

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Howdy partner! lol. Anyways, you should definitely use your ac in your garage, cuz my garage can get up to 100 degrees. The SCROG idea sounds great, but I do see some issues. The 500 watt blackstar covers only about 12 square feet, with a sweet spot of about 9 sq feet. You can get away with a little using a SCROG, but I recommend two units to cover a 4x4 area effectively. So I would either return your 500 for 2 240s or pony up the dough for another 500. Also, I would use about 4 clones, because later on its going to get really messy up in that tent. Any more than 4-5 plants and youll be going crazy trying to train and trim because the plants cant be moved at that time. Goodluck, let me know if you have any more questions.

Same ol same ol, just wishing I could fast forward time by 25-30 days!

sleezy1 said:

Same ol same ol, just wishing I could fast forward time by 25-30 days!

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Your girls look pretty in pink.
It will be here sooner than you think, keep up the good work and great pics.

Just started Shooting Powder today! Time for fat buds! Had to add a few more stakes in anticipation of the heavier buds

Do you have run your AC unit the whole time. Can you plug in a thermostat in the a/c unit?

trdank said:

Do you have run your AC unit the whole time. Can you plug in a thermostat in the a/c unit?

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No I don't run my AC the whole time. I run it during the day time when the lights are on, and when it is hot here. Once the sun sets I turn off my AC. I just run the AC to keep me comfortable, the plants could probably do well without it on also.

So this grow is 100% blackstar 500 watt - new 2011 model? That is fantastic! Have you opened up the light and checked out if they added heatsinks to the new version?

IndianLung said:

So this grow is 100% blackstar 500 watt - new 2011 model? That is fantastic! Have you opened up the light and checked out if they added heatsinks to the new version?

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Sup IndianLung? Yes this grow is 100% 500 Watt Blackstar. I have not opened up the lights or checked out the heat sinks. All I did was plug em in and started growing right away. Plus I am scared to break em if I did open them up.

looking good..

No Pics today. I wanna surprise everyone 2 days after I gave shooting powder to the plants. I can tell you this. WHen I woke up this morning and looked at them, they definitely put on some weight and got fatter!! I can't wait till tomorrow morning.. I tested out the density of the lowest buds forming at the bottom of the stem, and surprisingly they were dense buds! I was sure they were going to be fluffy and weak. Not only were they dense, but full of sticky, sweet trichs! The pungent OG odor was very apparent on my fingers. This was at least 36 inches away from the LED light. My plants are at least 30- 37 inches tall and they lights are 6-8 inches away from the tops. So im pretty impressed with the penetration thru that thick canopy. I know they wont be as thick as the colas up top, but not bad for bottom buds!

sleezy1 said:

. So im pretty impressed with the penetration thru that thick canopy.

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I kinda laughed at this cause i was just thinking about how you should've topped those plants a couple of times and kept them in veg. That Canopy isnt exactly what i would call thick. Dont take that in a negative way, your grow is looking pretty awesome, ive been following both of yours from the start. I just think they could be that much bigger had you topped and vegged more. I still think led's are best when used in a scrog/sog where penetration is less of an issue.

GerryJarcia said:

I kinda laughed at this cause i was just thinking about how you should've topped those plants a couple of times and kept them in veg. That Canopy isnt exactly what i would call thick. Dont take that in a negative way, your grow is looking pretty awesome, ive been following both of yours from the start. I just think they could be that much bigger had you topped and vegged more. I still think led's are best when used in a scrog/sog where penetration is less of an issue.

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You are right! Thanks. I topped the plants once, but kinda rushed everything to make a certain deadline. I'm goIng on a trip in the beginning of august and had to time it to finish by then. The clones I got where very peculiar from the start, (growing sideways, dual stems, weak, etc.) I'm just happy they made a recovery and are producing buds! I am not going to get my clones from this dispensary next time. I will try a 4-5 plant scrog next grow possibly. I will determine this after the results from this grow. I got 3.75 ounces off one plant in my scrog. So I'm comparing what is best techniques for led.

sleezy1 said:

Sup IndianLung? Yes this grow is 100% 500 Watt Blackstar. I have not opened up the lights or checked out the heat sinks. All I did was plug em in and started growing right away. Plus I am scared to break em if I did open them up.

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Last question for ya. Did you use the 500watt for veg and fruit or just fruit? I only ask because I am debating whether on getting a magnum or a blackstar 500watt and 240. And if you vegged with purely just the 500 well then I am sold. It must be the newer model though. Did you go through gotham?

And apologies, not trying to jack your Journal thread, but I am really curious about your setup since I am going the same route.

IndianLung said:

Last question for ya. Did you use the 500watt for veg and fruit or just fruit? I only ask because I am debating whether on getting a magnum or a blackstar 500watt and 240. And if you vegged with purely just the 500 well then I am sold. It must be the newer model though. Did you go through gotham?

And apologies, not trying to jack your Journal thread, but I am really curious about your setup since I am going the same route.

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No worries bro! That's why Gotham has partially sponsored me. Yes I did all my led grows using the same lights from clone till flower. If you look a few pages back it gives you the breakdown of my whole setup

sleezy1 said:

No worries bro! That's why Gotham has partially sponsored me. Yes I did all my led grows using the same lights from clone till flower. If you look a few pages back it gives you the breakdown of my whole setup

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I was debating on going 2 240's each for flower and veg. But I think I am just going to go with the 500 watt. What do you think? Would you say their veg stage was stunted from only using the flowering version of the 500watt? To be honest, I am surprised you got such a great grow from only a flower 500 watt setup and didn't even use any of their veg lights. Great work! Really.

You can grow just fine with the flower model only! I've done it twice now. the led spectrum is just what the plants need. I would go with two units regardless of which model you get, to cover that 4x4 area. And as I mentioned before, this grow could have been better if I vegged longer and topped more often. I had to flower early based on my upcoming trip.

So the shooting powder is definitely working. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the buds are fattening up! Getting thicker and the colas are starting to fill up. The smell is getting pretty strong and noticeable once I open up the tent, and the buds are so sticky I don't even bother touching them.

Sick dude...New pics are outstanding. And not bad for one 500watt LED. Really. Instead of going with 2 240's. I'll be going with a 500 and a 240. Thanks for your help man, and best of luck on that harvest!

IndianLung said:

Sick dude...New pics are outstanding. And not bad for one 500watt LED. Really. Instead of going with 2 240's. I'll be going with a 500 and a 240. Thanks for your help man, and best of luck on that harvest!

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Hey indianlung! I vegged with 1 500, but now i have 2 500s in this grow. Gotham gave me a partial sponsorship with another 500 and a bigger grow tent. Fyi

Here are some pics at the end of the day 15 minutes before lights out. I swear they got fatter over the last 12 hours! I had to add a few more stakes because the buds were beginning to lean over.