My Pandemic Project featuring Chinese LED Strips

I'm going to use this thread to document my first real grow. Thanks to coronavirus, I suddenly had a whole lot of extra time on my hands and needed something to keep me occupied so I didn't go stir crazy. My friends and I tried growing in an attic years and years ago back in HS and failed spectacularly so I'd consider this my first actual attempt at growing.

Let's start with the space. I moved the laundry room into another building on my property and had this empty room that wasn't really being used for anything. It was already wired for 110v and 220v and had water and drainage so I figured it would be a perfect place for an indoor garden. Here is the space I have to work with the day I got started.



For lighting, I was going to grab a couple Gavita Pro 1700e until I did some reading and came across some posts here and elsewhere regarding Chinese LED clones of the Gavita or Fluence lights. I researched for a few weeks and and figured it was worth the risk. Similar performance for half the price so I pulled the trigger and got these on Alibaba:



Initial impressions were good. Build quality is excellent. I compared them to a Fluence light on display at a local hydro store and there was very little difference in build quality. They really are solid lights. I went with 720w instead of the 660w for a little extra power. The lights were supposed to come with LM301b diodes but upon closer inspection I realized the diodes weren't perfectly square like they were supposed to be so I measured them and realized that they were NOT! What they actually sent me were lights with LM281 diodes. I called out the vendor on Alibaba and they admitted they made a mistake but as of now have not provided me with a sufficient resolution to this problem. If they had actually sent me the correct lights I would definitely recommend them to anyone but for now I can't vouch for them in good faith. I don't want to wait another month for new lights so I am just going to run these for now. The LM281 diode is still a good chip, its just not the latest and greatest which is what I wanted and paid for. I will probably place an order for some Meijius in the next few weeks if these don't seem to be cutting it. I also have some HPS lights for backup if these aren't cutting it or go tits up.



While I waited for the lights I gathered all of the rest of the equipment and materials that I needed. A friend of mine had some stuff left over from his old grow that he was happy to share with me. Next picture is after I got the lights hung and installed some oscillating fans as well as temporary ducting for my intake and exhaust. My exhaust fan is an 8" MaxFan hooked up to a carbon CanFilter and Phresh silencer. Intake comes in thru the old dryer vent where I have a small duct fan going thru the wall and then a short duct to a 4" fan filter thru an extra 4" Phresh carbon filter that my buddy had given to me.



I built two separate tables out of some lumber I had taking up space in my garage. I coated the tables with some elastometric roofing sealant to waterproof them. The sealant I chose is designed to seal rooftops and reflect light to keep temps down inside of a building. I figured the added UV reflectant might help with directing some of the light back up under the canopy. Who knows if it actually will do anything...the non UV stuff was only a few dollars cheaper than this stuff so I figured it couldn't hurt. After I coated the tables it was almost painful to look at the tables when the lights were on due to the reflection.


Once I had everything in there I decided to make a couple of changes to optimize the space a bit and I added some ducting for the AC exhaust. I was originally going to leave the exhaust filter standing on the floor but its pretty big and was taking up space so I decided to hang it from the ceiling.



Lastly I cut a lid for my rez tank, positioned the AC and humidifier and put in a little table I had lying around to store nutes on (nothing fancy, just using GH). For this run I have some clones my girlfriend picked out at the dispensary (Runtz, Chili Verde, PB Breath plus this shit little clone of Doctor's Orders that they threw in for free cause it looked like it was about to die) and the rest of the space will be filled with Ice Cream Cake. The clones are going to stay in the rock wool cubes for another day or two before I plant them in tall 5g pots with some Fox Farms Ocean Forrest soil. Each table will have its own SCROG setup. And just because I'm a nerd...everything in the room can be controlled and monitored via my phone using smart plugs and sensors. I can also use voice commands via various smart speakers I have around the house



I'm back at work full time now that places are re-opening but hopefully I'll have time to keep this thread updated.

dope laundry room. subbed

good luck.those lights should work fine.sucks they werent what you ordered but i still use my cxb3590s which are years old tech and work great still.

zep_lover said:

good luck.those lights should work fine.sucks they werent what you ordered but i still use my cxb3590s which are years old tech and work great still.

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Thanks. I’m not too worried about the lights performance. I just want the vendor to refund me some money since the exchange shipping would be costly. Hopefully alibaba takes my side and the refund me some money.

Transplanted into solo cups today. Found mites on some clones. Pretty sure they were dead but I went ahead and dipped them all anyway. Ended up tossing a few of the worst ones.

I wanted to go straight into pots but it turns out 5 gallon tall plastic pots are out of stock literally everywhere and lead time on orders is two weeks. Has anyone tried the plastic bag pots? Seems like they’d be the most efficient for cramming as many plants in as possible but I don’t see too many people using them.

First major fuckup! I didn’t research well enough and bought a single hose AC. With the exhaust and intake fans running the AC doesn’t do shit and the AC exhaust is not filtered so it will stink come flower time. It all seems so damn obvious now. It’s the same as running central air with all your doors and windows open. Total waste of electricity.

I am considering making the switch to a ventilated sealed room and adding a CO2 generator. I planned to add CO2 after my first run but I may just do it now as switching to sealed will help woth my heat issues. Think I’ll remove my exhaust ducting and run the fan and filter as a scrubber. Modify my single hose AC to be a dual hose and make it so the room only ventilates are night when the CO2 generator isn’t running and respiration is taking place. Adding CO2 will allow the plants to tolerate higher temps so the AC probably won’t be needed as much.

For now, as a temporary solution, I’ve changed my lighting schedule to lights out from 1pm-7pm (hottest part of the day for the most part and will allow me to water and check on the plants at a reasonable hour after work). Using my smart switches I’ve set up a routine that cycles the fan on for 10 mins every hour if the system detects that the AC unit is on and cooling. Probably would have been easier to set up if I had thermostat equipped smart switches but I had to make do with what I’ve got until I devise something more permanent or just bite the bullet and run sealed with CO2.

Since I have poor impulse control, I went ahead and ordered this bad boy.
Temps have definitely calmed down since altering my light schedule. Will be sealing up the room this week so I can install that thing ASAP. I’m going to wait and see how it effects the climate before I grab an AC and/or a dehumidifier. Unfortunately a minisplit won’t work so I’ll probably lose the single hose and grab a dual hose or modify a window unit.

The four burner is a bit oversized for my space so hopefully it will not run as often as a two burner. I plan on adding a small exhaust fan with damper so I can clear the air at night. I’m assuming I’ll need an intake with damper as well? Thoughts?

My 8” can filter and max-fan will run as a scrubber And the small exhaust fan will also run a carbon filter. The small fan and filter should be fine since it’s purpose isn’t changing the air as quickly as possible.

Very nice build out. What are you dipping your clones in for the mites? The small fan will be fine if your just dumping c02 at lights off. Modifying a window unit is your best bet imo since you don't want a mini split, window units just seem to have way more power than portable units. I don't think dual hose ac are sealed very well, I have one but I wouldn't trust it for every day use. I've been using it on super hot days for lights off cooling, and since it's temporary I just run one hose and it smells fairly bad. I tried running the other hose to pull from a different room and didn't seem to fix smell issue.

There is a thread on here somewhere about sealing a dual hose portable unit better. The guy took it apart and sealed off some areas maybe try searching for that.

Apalchen said:

Thank! Very nice build out. What are you dipping your clones in for the mites? The small fan will be fine if your just dumping c02 at lights off. Modifying a window unit is your best bet imo since you don't want a mini split, window units just seem to have way more power than portable units. I don't think dual hose ac are sealed very well, I have one but I wouldn't trust it for every day use. I've been using it on super hot days for lights off cooling, and since it's temporary I just run one hose and it smells fairly bad. I tried running the other hose to pull from a different room and didn't seem to fix smell issue.

There is a thread on here somewhere about sealing a dual hose portable unit better. The guy took it apart and sealed off some areas maybe try searching for that.

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Dipped the clones in Floramite. Stupid expensive shit but it does the job and is cheaper than not killing mites!

Are you running a scrubber with your AC? Was wondering if you used a big enough scrubber running at lights out the AC wouldn’t exhaust the stank. Doesn’t seem possible but was curious.

I saw that dual hose sealing thread. I’m gonna either do that or the modified window if I end up needing AC. Temps are staying below 82 since I changed lights out time so I may not even need one except for the highest days. My space is really well insulated. I may throw some UV reflective elastometeric roof sealant on the roof as well. I used it for my watering tables but it’s designed to reflect heat on roofs.

My stubborn ass wanted so bad to make a portable or window shaker work. Been reading about modifying them to work for like 12 hrs straight. Finally came to the conclusion that it is not the right way to do it so I ordered a minisplit.

I will never finish designing and building this grow room will I. Dammit

Made some changes today to get ready for my CO2 generator that’s coming in tomorrow. I turned my 8” filter into a scrubber and added a 4” fan and filter for an exhaust that will only come on a few times a day when lights are on and more frequently during lights out. I also shortened the exhaust duct for my portable AC. Once the CO2 is in the AC will only run run during lights out. Hopefully the weather cooperates for the next two weeks since my minisplit should be here in less than two weeks. Right now all the duct work is mostly held together with tape in case I want to switch things around once the minisplit arrives. After it’s in I’ll connect everything with proper HVAC fittings.

I’ve got this simple autopilot CO2 controller as well as a more sophisticated sentinel box lying around. I think I’m just going to use the autopilot unit for simplicities sake and because I have everything else hooked up with smart switches which I can monitor remotely.

Mods just moved this from the wrong forum for me and I just read the rules. All comments and suggestions are welcomed!

CO2 burner arrived last night so I hung it and ran the gas line. Didn’t have the correct adapter to hook it up to gas so it’ll have to wait until this evening.

The clones are growing okay but don’t look super healthy at the moment. The four mature plants are recovering well from light burn. I flipped the lights from 40% to 60% for one night and 3 out 4 taco’d up pretty badly. Back to 40% and it still may be a little too much. Going to chop the legs in the table this weekend since the lights are already as high up as they can go.

Going to increase the concentration of Karma and rapid start for my nutrient solution to see if that helps at all. My ultrasonic cool mist humidifier will be here today as well so that should help since I’ve had trouble staying above 40% RH when id prefer to be closer to 70% at this stage. Firing up the co2 burner and running a better humidifier should help.

Any word of a resolution on the light front?!

You have a great set up evolving there @sf_frankie - sounds like you're making the most of the opportunity.

What's a full room look like to you?
That's a lot of clones (strains?) Are you looking for the best of the bunch or just trying to fill the footprint?

GL

JimmyNuggs said:

Any word of a resolution on the light front?!

You have a great set up evolving there @sf_frankie - sounds like you're making the most of the opportunity.

What's a full room look like to you?
That's a lot of clones (strains?) Are you looking for the best of the bunch or just trying to fill the footprint?

GL

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I’m waiting on alibaba to make a decision. I was finally able to escalate it a few days ago after negotiations failed with the manufacturer. Yesterday the alibaba rep messaged me with a sob story about how she was fired for sending me the wrong lights and then told me that I will calm down and accept the wrong lights after I’ve smoked the weed I grow with their lights lol. It was super weird. In my googling about alibaba scammers that get caught, it seemed pretty common for the rep to make it personal with a sob story after they realize the buyer won’t back down and rescind their trade assurance claim. Despite not being what I ordered, I’m still pretty damn happy with the lights. They’re well built and put out a ton of light.

Learning about and building this grow room has been super fun. I’m almost kind of bummed that I’m nearing the end of this phase of the project but I’m excited to learn the ins and outs of the growing phase.

The full room is going to be almost entirely filled with the one strain, Ice Cream Cake, except for the four mature plants pictured. Those are four my girlfriend picked out for me to grow for her. I ended up ordering 70+ clones and will remove them as I go until I end up with the best lot to fill the tables. I should be able to squeeze around 20 per light in there. Gonna try those plastic disposable grow bags. They’re taller and thinner than 5 gallon pots and actually hold more soil and come with some of the benefits of running fabric pots without the hassle of cleaning them for the next run. Plus they were cheap as hell. I paid $15 for all 50!

CO2 is finally up and running. Took me a few hours to get it dialed in with my portable AC without having it burn non stop. Finally got the CO2 level, RH and temp to all cooperate. Sitting at 1000ppm/60%RH/78F. Not perfect but it’s the best I can do with a portable AC until the minisplit arrives in a couple weeks. AC now only runs for a few mins after each burn which only happens every 30-45 mins for a minute or so.

The plants have responded well to their first half day with CO2. Most of the clones were really struggling after the transplant and floramite dip. Already had to toss 5-6 of them. I think they were dealing with some light stress as well. I had my lights a good 40”+ above canopy and dimmed to 40% and they all looked dried out and droopy but still growing. Now with the 1000ppm of CO2 and humidity up around 60% they are showing signs of bouncing back. Did some LST and pruning of the lower parts of the more mature plants as well.

I’ve spent several hours in the grow room over the last two days just sitting in here monitoring and tweaking everything to get it juuuust right. I’ve got my VPD in the Goldilocks zone (~1kPa) and have managed to make my CO2 burner work efficiently despite having to run a single hose portable AC for the time being.

Right now I’m sitting at a steady 82F with humidity at 67% and 1000ppm of CO2. The CO2 gen fires for 30-45 seconds every 30 mins or so and then the ac kicks on for a few mins after to counteract the heat generated by the co2 generator burn. Running two humidifiers at the moment as well. One is always on and the other is triggered by a smart switch that triggers on for a few minutes if the AC starts pulling over 1000w (meaning the AC compressor has gone to full power). This counteracts the dehumidification from the AC). My exhaust and intake fans automatically come on for 10 mins every three hours to change out the air in the room and then runs for the entire lights out period.

The plants have done a complete 180. Before they were all droopy and dry looking with minimal growth. I was starting to worry a bit which is why I’ve spent so much time in here tweaking every little variable. I’d estimate that in the last 36 hours or so I have seen at least a 30% increase in new growth and the color of the leaves has gone from a pale green devoid of chlorophyll to a nice deep healthy looking glow. They’ve all perked up nicely no more droopy dead looking leaves.

Once my minisplit arrives, I will really start pushing these things. More light and more nutes. I ran a test by killing the AC and let the generator dump CO2 while I monitored PPM. I gave up after waiting 3+hours for it to kick back on. I got bored plus it was like 95F and humid in there so I was afraid i was gonna melt. But it held at 1200ppm meaning I’m very well sealed! I honestly believe that, if done correctly, one could run CO2 with a portable AC without breaking the bank on gas and electricity costs. During the winter my girlfriend runs both ancient wall mounted gas furnaces all damn day and the bill is still less than $100 for gas. So less than two mins of CO2 generator burn and under 10 mins of AC per hour is not terribly expensive. Still plan to follow thru with the minisplit though since better efficiency is the goal here.

I chopped the tables by about 8” to get the clones further away from the intense light and for more head room once they mature. I also realized I could fit all of the clones and my four older plants on one table under the same light so I moved everything in a effort to save on electricity costs for the time being.

I had been manually controlling temps and humidity to get a better understanding of how one effects the other. Now that I figured all that out it’s time to automate.

Hooked up my Sentinel CHHC controller and got it dialed in for my ideal VPD if 1.1kPa. Been sitting here letting it do it’s thing and monitoring things. Trust it enough to let it run the room from here on out.

Plants are healthy and happy with lots of growth. Transplanting to their final pots this weekend. Going to use the plastic grow bags.

After that I will get my minisplit installed and the start pushing!

First day running the Sentinel CHHC controller was a success. Much more stable than me using my phone to remotely monitor and control everything from work. It got old, fast but I’m glad i did it as a learning experience. This sentinel is wayyy easier though !

Started transplanting today. I only had around 5 bags of soil lying around and the hardware store was closed when I got home from work so I didn’t quite get thru half. Will finish this weekend. My tables can hold 36 plants each using the 5g grow bags compared to just 25 using tall 5g pots. Problem is my light can really only flower a 4x4 so I’m gonna stick to 25 per table for this run. I will probably add another couple of DIY strips or a few QB96s for my next run so I can use the whole space.