The Grow Awards 2026 🏆
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@CalGonJim
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1/12 4:14AM MONDAY!!!!!!!! CBG IS GOOD!1 LOWERD THE WATTAGE, EFFICIENCY IS GOOD. GREAT WHITE MYCO HAS INCREASED UPTAKE AND AND!!!! PHOTOSYNTHESIS EFFICIENCY ......FUCKING AWESOME 💪💪💪💪 1/12 4:47AM I asked GROK: are samsung leds on my mars hydro lights seem more efficient than the PPFD meter says, I lowered the lights again by a few watts? Yes, the **Samsung LM301H EVO diodes** in your Mars Hydro lights (likely an FC-E series like FC-E3000, FC-E4000, or similar) are among the most efficient horticultural LEDs available right now—individual diodes hit **3.14 μmol/J** efficacy, pushing the whole fixture to around **2.85–2.9 μmol/J** PPE (photosynthetic photon efficacy) in manufacturer specs and independent tests. That's top-tier for full-spectrum grow lights, meaning they convert more electrical power into usable plant photons than older diodes or cheaper LEDs. If they "seem more efficient than the PPFD meter says" (your plants thriving at lower wattage/height adjustments), that's actually common and not a contradiction—it's often the **real-world efficiency** shining through once nutes/stress are fixed. Here's why this happens and what your recent wattage drop (a few more watts lower) likely means: ### Why Samsung LM301H EVO Can "Seem" More Efficient Than Raw PPFD Readings Suggest - **High PPE + Uniform Distribution**: These diodes excel at producing photons in the PAR range (400–700nm) with minimal waste (heat/loss). Mars Hydro FC-EVOs achieve strong average PPFD (e.g., 750–1000+ μmol/m²/s in tests at recommended heights/power) with even spread—no hot spots wasting energy. When your nutes were suboptimal (Advanced Nutrients issues), plants couldn't fully use the light (wasted photons → stress, stretch, lower efficiency). Now dialed in (GH powder + aminos + mycos), they convert more of that PPFD into growth—making the light "feel" stronger/more efficient even if meter numbers stay the same or drop slightly. - **Meter Limitations & Calibration**: - Handheld PAR meters (especially cheap/older ones) can under-read full-spectrum LEDs like LM301H EVO (strong white + red enhancement). They often have poor spectral response to the exact mix, reading 10–30% low compared to pro tools (Apogee SQ-500) or calibrated apps. - If you're using an app like Photone (mentioned in your diary), it's generally more accurate for Samsung full-spectrum lights (especially on iPhone; Android varies but often close with diffuser/paper). Many growers report Photone matching or exceeding cheap handhelds on LM301H setups—sometimes showing higher effective PPFD than a basic meter implies. - Bottom line: Your plants are the ultimate meter. Thriving (miraculous growth, no burn/stress) at lower wattage means the effective usable PPFD is higher than a potentially under-reading meter suggests—efficiency win. ### Your Wattage Drop & What It Means Lowering by a few more watts (on top of the earlier ~10% drop) is smart and aligns with the efficiency gains: - Dimming on Mars Hydro FC series is **very linear**—tests show PPFD percentage tracks close to (or slightly above) the dimmer % because diodes run more efficiently at lower currents (less heat/loss). - Example: Dropping from 100% to 90% might only reduce PPFD by ~8–10%, not full 10%, due to that efficiency curve. - Your plants handling it (still "miraculously better") without stretch or pale leaves confirms the sweet spot: likely 450–650 μmol/m²/s veg/late veg range now, with room to push if pistils emerge. - Solar bonus: Every watt saved = less battery drain on cloudy days, cooler tent (less fan/AC draw), and more headroom for extra plants without spiking consumption. **Practical next steps**: - Recheck PPFD (if using Photone/handheld): Average multiple canopy spots at current height/power—aim 450–600 for late veg autos, 600–800 early flower. - Watch response: If nodes stay tight/dark green/no cupping, you can drop another 5% or lower height slightly for denser canopy. - Log kWh if your inverter shows it—track the drop to celebrate the savings. - If meter still "under-says" vs. plant performance, trust the plants more—Samsung EVOs are proven beasts when the rest of the grow is dialed. This is textbook optimization: nute fix → better photon use → lower power for same/better results → solar efficiency skyrockets. You're building a truly lean system. How low are you at now (e.g., 70–75W total?)? Any pistils or new growth explosions today? Keep the momentum—it's paying off big. 🥊🍌👨‍🔬🚨🌞 1/13/26 7:47AM BRUTAL WEEK FOR THE MOP AND BUCKET GUYS AT MUDRUROS COMPOUND 1/13, 11:22 AM banana purple punch auto RF three is doing really great. I haven’t really needed to do anything. I decided not to top. I didn’t want to do anything except light stress training. I think she’s gonna turn out just great. Her stock is one of the thickest. She’s just perfect.😍😍😍
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@Wilmer
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Here we go with the 3rd week. The plant in the left corner as been topped yesterday, for the other i'll wait a bit. In the airpot the soil get dry very fast so I've to water often now. Pretty happy for the moment, I think I'll do a long Veg before switching, like 60 days. Let's see 😈😎
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16 days of slow drying each plant with the environment controlled inside the tent with 2 meters. I have two fans on, pointing at the floor to circulate the air temps - 20 - 23 º humid - 50- 60 %
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Welcome back to day one. After four days of germination all four seeds have sprouted. Two of them have already been amended while the other two are going to start getting FoopCanna nutes once the first iconic leaves come out. Day 3 05/05 They still looking good. Day 5 05/07 Well the girls are growing. Since day 4 I started giving 30ml of veg 1&2 plus sweetener everyday to the two FoopCanna plants. Today so far can see the two that are in Down To Earth are growing a bit faster. On the plus side I’m loving the new GLS Grow 300 light is perfect for the 2x4 grow tent.
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@Bembeto
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Se sigue alargando la maduración del pato 🦆 pero bueno, se nota que están ganando tamaño los cogollos y a su vez una forma hermosa😍 Estoy enamorado de los colores ya les contaré aserca de ella cuando llegue la cosecha, muchas gracias por el apoyo de la comunidad a lo largo del proceso, motivan a seguir haciendo diarios incluso mejores y mejores. Un abrazo hasta la próxima actualización ✨✌️
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Starting with LST on the biggest 3 Autos rn. Very excited to See the results of this early Training😊
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KICKASS AUTO BY KANNABIA WEEK #3 April 16th-23rd She's is growing nicely she's starting to stretch this week has 4 nodes no issues this week. Kannabia. Com Kickass Auto
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Week 4 in the books. She started throwing pistils this week. Cruising along and handling the training like a champ. She's drinking about a cup of water daily and her roots are thriving in the runoff caught in the 2nd cup, which gets dumped before each new watering. Strong structure and starting to get a little smell. She smelled like celery leaves up to this point. I've raised her closer to the light to increase light intensity.
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Nov 1st week 10. Started flowering and given some lst, a bit tall switched to flowering later than I had liked as finishing, dialing in room.
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Seconda settimana a 12/12 ma continuano a crescere in maniera piu contenuta, ora drimmer a 100% e lampada più alta, per sviluppare ancora un in altezza, fin ora tutto ok,
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Some are swelling , one is smelling very different to the others . I seem to have 6 phenos from small to tall and rounded buds to thin spear shaped buds. I'm not sure which is my favourite yet but one has a very unique smell almost like pineapple and exodus cheese , it could be that one but I also like the bud formation on another,, we will see
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i kind a always wanted to grow my own CDB at home and recherche the potencial of them wen compared with the ones on the legal market and wen RQS approach me with the possibility to grow they're F1 genetics i saw there an excellent opportunity to try it out, thank you RQS for that and for it all you guys were great on the mail delivery, much respect <3 <3 <3 now lets make magic together and travel true the cosmos like never before <3 <3 <3 To start nothing to fancy m seed in to water and in solo 24 hours she was out and ready to go in to a soil plug, now she rests in a dome for a few days and from there wen i see some roots i will transplant to a tiny pot ere she will rest for a week or so . i am so verry exited for these one you guys have no idea hihihihi <3 <3 <3 and the root came in abut 48 h so in to the soil she went and as always use fungus nature help and trow a gram or so of myco in there, i fell this helps my roots explode and with them so do my girls <3 <3 <3 wen watering nothing too fancy, for now just regulator and root booster , i do not think they need food the first week or so but this is just my humble opinion <3 <3 <3 As always thank you all for stopping by and for supporting me on this journey, i am super passion about growing and fell blessed to have you all with me on this new journey <3 <3 <3 Genetics - RQS COSMOS F1 Ligth - LUMATEK ZEUS 465 COMPACT PRO 
Food - APTUS HOLLAND 
 
All info and full product details can be find in can find @ https://www.royalqueenseeds.com 

https://aptus-holland.com/
 
https://autopot.co.uk/ 

https://lumatek-lighting.com/ <3 <3 <3 Growers love to you all <3 <3 <3
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Hey everyone :-). This week she continued to develop very nicely 😍. She was repotted and I started with LST training and topping 😊. to repot there was 2.5 g GHSC powder feeding to 1 l coco. The training took it very well and after 1-2 days it grew again immediately 👍. This time it will be an extreme bush 😂👍. It was poured directly after repotting Otherwise there is nothing to report this week. I wish you all a lot of fun until the next update. stay healthy and let it grow 😀 You can buy This Strain at : www.Zamnesia.com ☝️🏼☝️🏼☝️🏼☝️🏼☝️🏼☝️🏼 Strain Gelato clone from mother (Zamnesia ) ☝️ Genetics: Wedding Cake x Gelato x Gelato 33 Vega lamp: 2 x Todogrow Led Quantum Board 100 W 💡 Bloom Lamp : 2 x Todogrow Led Cxb 3590 COB 3500 K 205W 💡💡☝️🏼 Soil : Canna Coco Professional + ☝️🏼 Fertilizer: Green House Powder Feeding ☝️🏼🌱 Water: Osmosis water mixed with normal water (24 hours stale that the chlorine evaporates) to 0.2 EC. Add Cal / Mag to 0.4 Ec Ph with Organic Ph - to 5.5 - 5.8 .
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I love sativa. This is a great freaking plant. Long skinny buds (a little squeezed by me :) and the smell is incredible (strong put in jar open 5 min later my house smells strong) its sweet from the haze but it's got that gassy fuel smell to it also with a tiny bit of earthy after aroma. It's wonderful smokes great gets me higher than any weed at the stores and I never have coughed from it I don't think it's so smooth. Organically grown buds are fckin smooooothh man I never would have understood until I grew organic! This bud is the tits I'm stoned off a mix of blueberry amnesia haze northern ligbt joint as I write this lmao good harvest
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@tschw1
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This week didn‘t started really well. There were big rainfalls all over germany but especially in my region. I had the plants in the greenhouse so they were safe but after days of rain the water started to drip into the greenhouse. I tried to keep the plants in dry spots but just saw that one of my plants had mold in her flowers. I immediately cut the piece with mold off to keep the rest of the plant safe. As I removed the leaves from the buds I carefully looked all over the buds and cut the mold and the area around it off. I also cut all the buds off the stem and will dry them seperated from each other and not hanging on the stem like last time. This way the risk of another mold infection after the harvest is lower. The next bad news is that the Painkiller looked really sad. Lower leaves were turning yellow or white and the leaves were hanging down. I decided to remove some big fan leaves and to cut off the yellow and white small leaves. Then I watered her good and gave her some self made nutrients out of nettles. In the evening the plant already stood straight again and looked good!
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@BudBeezy
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Welcome to week 10 of my grow diary. Growth has now finally stopped. The buds are getting thicker and ripening day by day. As it gets quite damp at night, the plant is spending the night in the garage. Otherwise, dew collects in the buds and it takes too long for them to dry again, which is a high risk for mold. Now that we're nearing the end, I don't want to take any risks. You can tell that the plant is begging for nutrients even though it is getting enough fertilizer. The leaves are starting to turn slightly yellow. Autumn is beginning and the harvest is not far off. The smell is now extremely dominant and the whole garden smells when you go outside. See you next week!
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Seguimos com as meninas agora no scrog, estão desenvolvendo bem, daqui a pouco começamos com a fase de engorda.
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@GodG420
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Amazing week for my girls! They are looking lovely! I feed them with 500ml every other day which will be increased to a liter of solution next week. Removing lower fan leaves as usual. Great new is I was chosen from Marshydro and they have sponsored me with sweet new light TS1000! I want to share my thankfulness and happiness! I will veg my babies in one week and will switch them to 12-12.
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@Ferenc
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Hi there. So beautiful. We had really nice week compate to September in the UK sunny and good weather but all has changed this week seems to be crap. Rainy and now it is 11 celsus at 7:00 am in the morning. She would be so thick I can see but because of the weather I ain't gonna have that much buds. Still nice 👌 🤣 OMG the smell is incredibly nice like spicy citrus thing with sweet odour.... amazing! Very strong anyways strong smell LOL