The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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Week 4 - It’s Friday again, and that means it's update day! Another week has passed, and as usual, there's plenty to report. A lot has happened, and once again, I’m bringing you along on my journey as a total beginner in the world of growing. Every week is a new learning experience, and I’m excited to share what’s been going on in the tent as my Amnesia Zkittlez and Gorilla Cookies continue to grow. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key Growing Parameters -Humidity: 43-55% -VPD: Max 1.4 -Airflow: Always active at level 1, auto-adjusts when needed -Day Temperature: 25-26°C -Night Temperature: 22°C -Light Cycle: 20 hours light / 4 hours dark -Lamp: IONBOARD S24 from AC Infinity (240W) Watering Schedule: -Day 24: 1 liter -Day 26: 1 liter -Nutrients are applied with every watering Light Adjustments: -Light distance now at 50 cm -Intensity increased to level 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Growth Update The most noticeable change this week has been the incredible growth of the plants. I’ve uploaded some new photos for everyone to see, and it’s amazing how much they’ve shot up compared to last week. The differences in growth behavior between the Amnesia Zkittlez and Gorilla Cookies are becoming even more pronounced. The Amnesia Zkittlez has more than doubled in height since last week, shooting up and stretching outward. Meanwhile, the Gorilla Cookies hasn’t grown as much in height, but it has become noticeably rounder and bushier, almost like a pufferfish. It's fascinating to watch these plants develop in such different ways. While the Zkittlez focuses on vertical growth, the Gorilla Cookies is spreading out horizontally, forming a dense, compact structure. All around the plant, small flower sites are emerging, extending from within the plant and beginning to take shape. This difference in growth styles really highlights the unique characteristics of each strain, and I’m excited to see how they continue to evolve. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Training: LST and Defoliation This week, I’ve also focused heavily on training the plants using Low-Stress Training (LST) and some selective defoliation to optimize light exposure and encourage better growth. I applied LST more aggressively over the past few days, using clips to gently bend the stems of individual branches outward, almost to a 90-degree angle. This technique has helped the plants spread out horizontally, allowing more light to reach the inner and lower branches. I’ve been adjusting the clips nearly every day to refine the structure and ensure that the light penetrates deeper into the canopy. The goal is to encourage outward growth and create more space for the lower branches to thrive. In addition to LST, I began selectively removing leaves. I started with the first set of fan leaves, followed by leaves growing inward toward the plant’s center. These were either shading promising bud sites or simply not contributing to the plant’s energy needs. I’ve also removed the lower bud sites, which likely wouldn’t have developed into anything substantial. This way, the plants can focus their energy on the more promising, higher-up buds that are receiving better light. Throughout the defoliation process, I’ve been careful not to remove too many leaves at once. I’ve only taken off leaves that were either blocking key bud sites or were small and shaded, ensuring that the plant still has enough foliage to continue its healthy growth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nutrients and Watering Routine There haven't been any changes in my nutrient schedule or the way I water the plants this week. I’m still using the same BioBizz nutrients at the recommended dosages with each watering, and the watering process itself remains unchanged. Each plant receives a consistent 1 liter of water every couple of days, and so far, the plants are responding well. However, based on some recommendations I’ve received, I’m planning to introduce CalMag from BioBizz into my watering routine over the course of the next week. This will help ensure that the plants have enough calcium and magnesium, which are essential for strong cell structure and nutrient uptake, especially as we move further into the flowering phase. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal Reflections and Lessons Learned As I progress through this grow, I’m realizing how much more there is to learn, especially when it comes to managing light exposure and training techniques. It’s been rewarding to see how the plants respond to LST and defoliation, but I’m still figuring out the perfect balance. Every small change seems to make a big difference, and I’m constantly amazed by how quickly these plants adapt. Being a beginner, this process has been both challenging and exciting, and I can’t wait to see how the flowering stage develops. This journey has been a humbling experience, reminding me that growing plants isn’t just about following steps, but also about observing and learning from the plants themselves. Every day brings new insights and challenges, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see these changes reflected in the health and growth of the plants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking Ahead In the next week, I’ll continue to monitor the pre-flowering phase closely. I expect the water and nutrient demands to increase even more as the plants transition into full flowering, so I’m preparing to increase the watering amount to 1.2 liters per plant soon. I’ll also be keeping an eye on the structure of the plants, especially the differences between the Gorilla Cookies and Amnesia Zkittlez. I may begin defoliating some of the lower leaves to give the plants more room to breathe and allow light to penetrate deeper into the canopy. There’s a lot of excitement ahead as the flowering phase approaches, and I’m eager to see how the plants respond to these new stages of growth. Stay tuned for more updates, and feel free to drop any advice or questions in the comments—this journey is all about learning together!
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@czar712
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She is healthy in her 4th week and after her first defoliation. she grew an inch. i also topped her on the two different tops {as i said last week she topped herself bout the 2nd week) i am going to put a photo of this week you can clearly see the split. i also increased the light intensity a bit too between 600-700 ppfd or 44000 lux roughly wanna see what happens pushing the ppfd a bit.
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@Prempa
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Primeiros dias da germinaçao, tudo parece muito lento, demorado. Foram postas pra germinar 2 sementes, mas 1 semente veio bem pequena de tamanho, e logico, não germinou! Valeu Crazy Seeds pela mancada e atraso, cuzões, era visível que a semente era imprópia. Seguiremos com uma até aparecer outra ... E apareceu uma White Widow...germinou em 1 dia. Canabiorganic.
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MATARO BLUE by KANNABIA Week #12 overall Week #11 Veg This week all is well she hasn't faltered under the heat stress she's been a strong healthy plant so far this summer. Waiting for this lady to start and flower. Stay Growing!! Kannabia.com MATARO BLUE
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@xmackobox
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Bien pues el domingo 15/05/22 hice defoliacion con 66 dias desde la germi. Hoy lunes por la noche, las pongo ya a 12/12 y que empiecen a florecer. Considero que estan robustas y fuertes para la etapa de flora. Me lie con stories y videos y se me paso hace fotos detelladas para aqui... lo siento, os dejo las stories y fotos de esta mañana Creo que vamos a ver buenas cosas aqui :D Son 10 Tropicanna cookies con 48 dias desde la germinacion y 5 MAC, 4 Bannana wafflez y 1 Apple friter con 67 dias desde la germi. Hoy lunes 16/05/22 por la noche las paso a 12/12 Todo de GBSTRAINS abonado con BOOM NUTRIENTS bajo los paneles LED de GBLIGHTING GB THE GREEN BRAND
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@Vega0284
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Hey Guys! Super excited this week! I've really been wanting to try growing outdoors, so I built a cheap hoop house! Got most of this stuff for the frame from Lowes under 300$. All the soil products I got from GrowGreenMI. Some really cool people out there. One thing I'm super worried about is drainage. Right now those holes are about 4 feet deep and they've got about 4 inches of water in them already. What's been cautioned is that, eventually, about 2 months in these plants roots will grow and reach the bottom and cause root rot to form. One of the biggest things I was trying to be wary of was causing root rot. This was also the biggest precautionary measure I took when mixing the soil. Adding the extra perlite, coco, and clay pebbles. Best advice right now is to build the soil up on the holes another 16 to 18 inches and possible stick a PVC pipe down to the lowest drainage point of the hole to allow some of that natural occurring water to evaporate. Any advice anyone has on it is welcomed! Making a compost tea for the soil outdoors, will probably put 2 cups in each RDWC bucket as well and let that do it's magic for a day or so before nutrient change. Raised the bed about 14 inches as well! All the seeds sank! Off to a good start! Lol
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From day 28 to 35 it slowed down a lot on gaining height, going from 24in to 26. It went from a little bit of signs of flowering to boom out of no where a lot more. I started bloom boost for the first time on morning of day 34, day 35 today I realized the bottle I bought says Orchid bloom boost 😂 🤦‍♀️🏼 🤷‍♀️🏼 I have to look for something else probably 😂 It’s fun to watch it change. I sprayed for the fungus knats twice now, just the soil. I recently noticed a lot of shadows as well, so we bought a bigger light and changed our system around a little. I figure if it’s flowering then more light can’t hurt? This is my first grow, although I am familiar with regular plants this Auto flower is all new to me! Any tips and suggestions are welcome! I did not top it or LST it, it seems to be doing so good I wish I would have 🤷‍♀️🏼 Not sure if I should tie it off now? The top is getting heavy anyway and if I could lean it a little the light would get in there more? The smell is amazing! Super excited to see what happens when it’s all done 🤩 Thanks for reading & any info or opinions are welcome lol
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noto que estan comiendo mucho, osea se secan rápido que es que estan comiendo bastante de lo comun. Las ojas tornandose color amarillo para cambiar a color vino. se ven muy bonitas y estan fewlices. No he cambiado mucho entre los nutrientes (Té y Recharge), he sostenido alimentarlas simples y he tenido muy buenos resultados. muy contento con todo, sigas adelante, buenos humos y feliz 2021
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harvested hb2,ww1,ob3-2nd,gc1,ww2,bg1,bg3,bg4,sp1,hb2,bg2-2,ob1-2 see all results in fotos ____________________________________________ light- and watering schedule: see photos now: 12 plants 2 x Auto Orange Bud > Dutch Passion (early80's) 2 x Haze Berry Automatic > Royal Queen Seeds (2018) 2 x Auto Bubblegum > TH Seeds (late 80's) 2 x Original Auto BubbleGum > Fast Buds Company (late 80's) 1 x Strawberry Pie Auto > Fast Buds Company 1 x Gorilla Cookies Auto Seed Stockers (2015) 2 x Auto White Widow x Big Bud > Female Seeds setup + strategy: 18 seeds 3 x Auto Orange Bud (early80's) 3 x Haze Berry Automatic (2018) 3 x Auto Euforia (late 90's) 2 x Auto Bubblegum > TH Seeds (late 80's) 2 x Auto Bubblegum > Fast Butts (late 80's) 2 x Strawberry Pie Auto 1 x Gorilla-Cookies Auto (2015) 2 x Auto White Widow x Big Bud setup: 18 x gronest 2 liter 60 cm x 120 cm x 180 cm (2 x 4) growtent 4 l humidifier 25 watt axial fan 15 watt clip fan ro-filter bath room with a 50 watts room fan (-> carbon filter not necessary) ...and a lot of odds and ends. grow strategy: max yield by stressing with: 1. tiny shoes (2 l fabric pots standing on 3 plastic rings (4 cm) for max oxygen) 2. tiny growspace (18plants on 0.72 sqm) 3. many strains (8 strains) 4. annoying neighbourhood (mixing old - i.e. bubblegum (late 80's) - with young- i.e. hazeberry (2018) - genetics) 5. no stress by light or food or water 6. unintentionally too much food plus: - no lst - no hst - just leaf tucking - positioning bigger strains (euphoria, orange bud, haze berry) or just bigger phenos on less intense light spots (end of tent + edges) - music-rotation: 24 hrs reggae (for sativas) - 24 hrs classicals (because it's scientifically proofed) - 24 hrs traditionals from the hindukush region (for the indicas) max efficiency (min electricity - max yield): - light: 23 h on - 1 h off - keeping the distance of 18" (45 cm) and dimming to the right par (lux) - value depending on growing stages (see sheet: beginning 185 par ( 10000 lux/100 watt )/end 340 par ( 18000 lux/175 watt )) => ends up in approx. 170 watts in average over max 15 weeks temperatur management: - using approx. max. half of what the lamp can do keeps temperature low: my tsl 2000 is pulling max. 360 watts of the wall - i need only 175 watts, results in less temperature than using a 175 watts lamp - adjusting the temperature by using a humidifier outside of tent: blown in humidity is soaking degrees and is transported out by fan, works much better than doing the same with pure air summer extreme: no humidifier: 36°C / 35 rh - with humidifier: 29°C / 65 rh works for 1-2 weeks of real hot summer days, no mould, no signs of stress in two summers germination: seeding in waterglass spraying "basic"-water: ro-water (22 ppm) + calmag to 180 ppm every 4 - 8 hours until sprouted man versus fungus gnat: 5 days before seeding i'm running the tent with "basic"-watered pots as if there were plants inside - led on, fans on, humidifier on. Fungus gnats coming with the soil might take the chance to come out now for breeding. i'm waiting with a 9 mm rifle. in the past i found 6 gnats in 2 of 8 x 50 l biobizz lightmix bags coming out of the soil. i could eliminate every single gnat successfully ;) rotating harvest: the little ones will be harvested completely when ready. at this point only the top branches of the big ones will be cut...and the new (basic-watered) pots of the new grow will move into the tent. 2-3 weeks later the secod half of the big ones will be cut and the second half of the new grow will move in... nutes: biobizz / soil: biobizz lightmix bloom,grow,topmax,activera,algamic + aminopower instead of bio heaven (too expensive) individual feeding schedule/once a week: veg: 200 - 600 ppm bloom: 600 - 900 ppm water: ro-water with: veg: 100-150 ppm calmag bloom: 150 ppm calmag
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She is thriving and has been my favorite auto Ive grown so far. Always wanted to try some Ethos genetics and I finally got the chance.
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this week was a lil challenging, had to get out of LST due to the fact that I broke a branch and that just tripped me off and I took off all my ties , apart from that i started giving her bloom products because I noticed a few hairs. I started applying tiresias mist to one of my branches so I can get pollen sacks to produce my own fem seeds, as I plan on crossing my fortune cookies autoflower with my ak48 autoflower and creating a new strain called "DRAKO" AUTOFLOWER well till next update . O.G. Bang Bang !! out.....
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4/30/19 start of a new week, las feeding was today, it’s flush time. I’ll probably chop her down around 70 days or a few more. 5/3/19 Watered with clean water. Trichomes are probably 50/50 clear/cloudy. It’s hard af to get a decent look with what I have I need a good recommendation. 5/6/19 Snagged a decent jewelers loupe hence the close up pictures. Watered with clean water. End of the week! One more to go!
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@Fatnastyz
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Cut her on day 74 She grew amazingly! She even handled my over feeding like a pro! Her buds and some of the beat to sit and stare at! Her colors are vibrant which sparkle more off her resinous gleam! She has a very pleasant sweet smell. Thank you so very much Clarissa and Weedseedsexpress for these awesome beans! I am very grateful for the opportunity! 😁💚 They have quite the selection for any needs! Go get ya some beans, always got a deal! www.weedseedsexpress.com Happy growing and ty for the support! 💚😻🤘
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@mikemobes
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7/28/19 --Super happy to see the plants doing this well. Ive found that every other day feeding is the best for these specific plants. Im a big proponent of only watering the plant when it signals it is ready for watering. The least possible amount of induced stress for these plants is the goal for me. Cheese seemed to be totally unaware of the FIM that was done on it, as it showed not even 1 sign of stress post FIM. Cream cookies is another story, she's quite sensitive to absolutely everything--including watering. I am super happy to see that the last fan leave on the 5th node has 9 leaves--a really good sign that the plant is doing extremely well. The more leave nodes on each leave the healthier than plant. There are zero signs of nutrient burn at all. It was difficult at first to see if the slight bending of the leaves was due to nutrient burn, but I later figured out that the leaves were pressing against the side of their pot and as a result bending--wasnt nutrient burn. Ive been varying the pH widely each week--with the attempt to be as random as possible. I want to make as many nutrients available to the plant as absolutely possible. I really am loving the Advanced Nutrients Sensi line. Im growing in coco but I bought the nutrient mix not designed for coco with the understanding there might be some potassium issues down the road. But otherwise as a chemist by profession, when I heard about the pH perfect line I was rightly skeptical. It will balance your solution to the correct pH range (5.6-6) IF you start with dead neutral pH 7.00±0.05 water with no dissolved salts (distilled water). the distilled water I've been buying (from Walmart) clocks in on the pH meter at around 7.6-8.6 which will cause the pH perfect technology to neutralize some of the dissolved ionic species and bring the pH well below safe range for cannabis. Ive found that if you pH the distilled water to 7.00--add your Ca/Mg/Fe, THEN add the pH perfect technology the range will be much more suitable. It was kind of annoying since my pH down is so much more concentrated than my pH up. Me problems I know but still annoying. --One of my amazing collages at work is going to water both babies today with Week 4 nutrient solution even though we are technically in week 5. My vacation has prevented me from mixing the solution to feed. --This vacation has brought so many new automation ideas to coco coir growing. Ive been developing a hypothesis that involves what I call the "level of droop age" and its correlation to plant thirst. It began when I was growing in soil and needed a better way of telling when to feed the plants instead of a fixed schedule, which seemed to be giving way too much water to the plants. ---Ive developed a "droop scale" which can be directly correlated to plant thirst. Ive also found that very happy plants that do not want water will go through a natural droop cycle as night approaches. I take this as the plants time to grow out its root system (happens at night). By the morning the leaves are pointing up in what I call "leaves up loving life" ---So the scale I've developed is kind of arbitrary but it does a really good job imo if you become very familiar with your plants. ---The scale ranges from -10 (the most droop in the leaves every observed) to +10 (the most extreme leaves up loving life ever observed). the scale is out of 10 not 20. ---lets say that you watered your plants today, and their leaves were at a -7/10 droop (what when I water my plants). If you water them you should observe no increase in droop--in other words after watering the droop should only improve not regress. If the droop increases after watering your plants wanted a little more time before their feed--so alter your droop scale until you find the level of droop that when feed causes only an increase in the droop. 6 hours after watering you plant droop should be >+1/10. The next day you should see your plants at least at +5/10 droop. ---Merging this scale with automation is going to be difficult as ill have to use an open source machine learning AI to learn when the plants droop is sufficient enough to justify a watering. I hope to set up the system to be automated or manually operated over the cloud. ---Using a Raspberry pi and an Arduino as well as a whole set of motor control boards and sensor boards I hope to put together an integrated system that can detect when the leave droop reaches critical levels using a camera, and feed accordingly. Ive been all over the internet and all automated grow projects rely on soil moisture sensors which only penetrate <4 inches into the substrate. This doesn't cut it for me as the root ball of the plant is way below that 4 inches of the sensor, yielding readings which only pertain to the top layer of soil, which just so happens to dry out the fastest. ---Im going to keep my grows at 2 plants each from no on--and I plan to make an automated system for both plants which can control watering to both plants individually. Im currently trying to figure out the best way to track volume of water dispensed. A flow meter with a know diameter tubing and a known diaphragm pump rate seems to introduce all sorts of inaccuracies into the mix. I think im going to design an automated measuring system that uses an ultrasonic distance sensor coupled with a camera and AI to fill up a the hopper to the desired volume of nutrient solution. ---I have all the hardware listed but im a complete dumbass when it comes to coding. My profession is chemistry, coding goes right over my head. I have an immense respect for coders as I honestly have no idea how you guys do it. Its like learning 15 different languages at once and using them all together. Blows my the ability of our society. The wide range of skills. Love it. ---If anybody would like to help me code this project it would be greatly appreciated. 7/30/19 -Cream Cookies is doing extremely well. FIM was a great idea. 4 new main cola sites came out of the FIM which im very happy about. The undergrowth also has caught up to the canopy. the canopy has a plethora of bud sites. Defoliation done to increase light to bottom branches. Largest fan leaves towards the canopy removed. FIM'ed leaves that opened up also trimmed, allowing more light to penetrate to those small bud sites. --Ive counted sites where main colas can form. Very happy with this HST I decided to do. --LST done and branches separated from each other so they can receive ample light. Thinking of adding supplementary 40W flowering bulbs for flowering. -Cheese FIM didn't work as intended but it did break the symmetry of the plant. One of the first branches has grown higher than the canopy and I had to tie it down using LST. Did some defoliation and going to do some LST later. --Some light stress spots on Cheese, makes sense since I wasn't physically at my apartment to raise the lamp. Before raising the lamp the plants were 14 inches from the light which is way too close. The closest it should be is 17 inches. Raised the lamp to 18 inches and spots are subsiding. --Being overly cautious ive increased the dose of Ca/Mg/Fe to 4 mL/gal incase spots are actually a Ca/Mg/Fe deficiency from explosive growth. 7/31/19 -Cream Cookies is showing beautiful pre flowers. Still recovering from light stress. Looks very similar to nutrient burn but only present in tip most growth suggesting light burn. 14 inches was way too close-vacation problems lmfao -defoliation done on both cheese and cream cookies to expose bud sites -LST done on both cheese and cream cookies to bring bud sites into the light -both plants fed 400 mL Week 5 nutrient solution-when I mix next weeks nutrient solution im going to reduce the concentration to 12mL/gal w/ 3mL/gal Ca/Mg/Fe. --I want to precent any nutrient burn plus plants are slightly stressed from defoliation and light burn from my vacation. -lamp raised to 19 inches to help aid in stress relief -plants are responding in a weird way to the watering. Not in a bad way-but in a different way--larger lower leaves are not drooping like in the past its just the much newer growth is drooping. Makes sense since newer growth has less developed support system. Makes me feel much better about my watering schedule. --Clawing which I suspected was due to light stress is getting better-especially after a feeding. 8/1/19 --Calcium deficiency just barely showing on midlevel fan leaves. Good thing calcium is a mobile nutrient. Going to readjust the nutrient solution ph to be 6.2-6.3. Been accidentally locking out calcium. --Defoliation done on both plants to expose more bud sites and to thin out the thick canopy so light can penetrate below. The hope is to defoliate correctly. If done right I won't have to lollipop. --Cheese has no preflowers yet--still in veg --Cream cookies looks like it started flowering. 2 preflowers were spotted earlier in the week. Surprised to see how fast the plant moved into flowering. Going to be feeding it with flower nutrients starting week 6. --Going to continue feeding cheese with veg solution until preflowers are observed.
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@Luv2Grow
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Day 50 - Starting week 8 today and she doesn’t look any worse thank yesterday with the lime green leaves so hopefully feeding her nutes hopefully helped her but we’ll see in the next couple days. Day 51 - No significant lightning of the leaves today so I think I got her enough nutes in time so hopefully she’s got enough in the soil to now to push that bud development. She’s definitely a really dark purple and it looks pretty amazing in person, the pictures do no justice. Day 52 - Looking really dark purple now and love the colors. She’s starting to put out a slight citrusy smell as well. Her leaves haven’t really lightened up anymore so I think she’s gonna be ok till the end. Day 53 - She’s chugging along nicely and looking gorgeous. Tested the soil and still a bit damp so will wait a couple more days before giving her some water. Day 54 - Things look great now with this girl. She’s starting to dry out and bit so will give her some fresh water and some cal-mag tomorrow. She’s really darkening up and looks gorgeous. Day 55 - Gave her almost a full gallon of water tonight, she seemed pretty thirsty. I’ve been wanting to upgrade my lights and saw nothing but good reviews on the AGLEX 1200W COB LED and was a decent price so I ordered it today and should be here tomorrow. Really want to see if it helps keep the tent cooler than running 2 cheapo 1000W LED’s. I’m sure it can’t be any worse so can’t wait to get her hooked up tomorrow and see what she does for the rest of this grow. Day 56 - It’s the end of week 8 and all is looking good. I got the new AGLEX COB LED hooked up so really looking forward to seeing if this light will help in the grow. She’s already looking good but hoping this light will push her over the edge. She doesn’t need any water or nutes today and will probably give her the next feeding of nutes sometime this weekend.