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So this is my first time growing under a Viparspectra 600w. I was recently using a 400w MH/HPS fixture. I wanted to see what kind of difference the light change makes. Got off to a bit of a slow start. The pre-mix coir substrate that I started the seedlings in was too dense and packed. Needed more perlite, so the seedlings got a little beat up looking, Once I transferred to the 3 gallon FFOF pot, she started looking a lot better. I'm only using the white and blue spectrum lights for veg. Once I switch to flowering I'll add the red spectrum. Of the 3 strains I'm growing, Abraham is, by far, the most vigorous.
Abraham continues to grow rapidly. Seems to like the LED so far. The other plants in the tent are Bomb Seeds Ice Bomb(Shane) and Humboldt Seeds Chemdawg (Daryl). I will be starting LST later this week. Shane and Daryl are growing in coir/perlite.
Topped at the fourth node then started LST a few days later. Super vigorous growth. Abraham is growing at a much more vigorous pace than Shane and Daryl.
I was a little late posting this week. My apologies. Anyway, vigorous growth continues. Starting to get a little pungent in the tent. I was going to flip to 12/12 this week but I decided to go another week because the other two plants (Shane and Daryl) are a little behind in size.
So I flipped to 12/12 today and added the red LEDs on the Viparspectra which brings it up to 600 watts. Noticed a few pre-flowers last week. Today it has so many little flowers though. I've never seen this many pre-flowers before the flip. Should be interesting. I also did a little defoliation earlier in the week.
Well, the stretch in underway. It was getting a bit bushy in the tent so I did a little defoliation followed by some light LST. Abraham was showing a little early yellowing of lower leaves which seemed a bit too early, so I included some Buddha Grow nutes to boost the nitrogen. Branches are looking like they will need support once the buds start to swell.
Buds are starting to form. The branches are long and thin-ish. I'm guessing they're going to need some extra support once the buds start packing on some weight.
I removed a few more leaves. She was getting kind of bushy. She's also a bit lighter green than the other two ladies. I'm guessing she's not getting quite as much nitrogen as the other two which are growing in coir. Still healthy looking with the barest hint of nute burn.
I've been riding a fine line regarding nitrogen. She's slowly yellowing on the bottom leaves, which I know is normal, but I was giving a little grow nutes in addition during feeding to keep her from yellowing too much too soon like my last grow. The other two, which are growing in coir with different nutes, aren't yellowing as much. Don't want to give too much nitrogen at this stage for fear of affecting the flavor and leafyness of the buds. Starting to bulk up a little.
Things are coming along relatively well. Got a bit of yellowing going on. Not worrying too much about it yet. I think I have it under control. Boosted nitrogen just a little. Buds maybe a little smaller than I would expect at this stage. I did read somewhere that bud size is generally a little smaller, but trich production is better with LED compared to HPS. I'll just have to wait and see what I end up with.
So, I've read that LEDs produce smaller yields than HPS but more trichomes. This seems to be the case so far. Also, the trichs on the colas are turning amber much faster than I was expecting. I wonder if this is also due to the intensity of the LEDs? Anyone have any similar experiences with LEDs?
Things got a little hectic and I fell behind on posting. Anyway, this is the last week of flowering. I ended chopping a few colas early because they had sooo many amber trichs. The rest will come down in a week. I think I'll end up with a reasonable harvest.
Pleased with the yield considering that due to my first time with LED I kept the light a little too far from the plants. I ended up harvesting over two sessions because the larger colas seemed to have many amber trichs. I should have just been more patient. I think I would have had a larger yield. Anyway, she seemed a little nitrogen hungry early in flowering so I boosted nitrogen levels a little and that slowed down the early yellowing. Easy to grow otherwise. It's only cured for about a week now, so I can't really coment on the flavor, but the buzz is nice with a little hint of citrus on the exhale. Can't wait to grow again.
Despite my mistake with the distance of the LED during veg, I was pleased with the outcome. Ended up yielding a little more than I expected. Strong vegetative growth. Didn't stretch too much during flowering.
WeedishChef
