Is that a strain or something going on with the plant? I have a small cola site on one of the BlueBK where something similar is happening that looks like that…
@dbrn32 I have some questions about QB driver strategy. Most of the DIY recommendations call for a driver that is lower than its maximum capacity. The trade off seems to be that higher you run the board, the lower the umoles per joule, which I understand to roughly mean the number fo photons released per wattsecond. I would assume the trade off here is heat, more heat is lost to the process resulting in less photons.
So, for example, I have 2 288v2s on a 240h-c2100 driver. Based on the hlg site, with both boards at 2100, I have about 205watts lighting the canvas, which is a little shy of 30w of light for my 10 sq ft space. If I were to run on a 320h-2800 driver, it would be about 280w of light and a loss of .1umol per joule. This is closer to the 30 watts per sq ft.
Am I interpreting this right? What are some of the other pros and cons of running at a higher amperage besides loss of umol per joule? I am assuming the cons are the cost of the driver and perhaps the lifespan of the led itself.
Any insight is appreciated. I have become quite fascinated by the LED world you have introduced me too. Thanks!
Flux Characteristics with QB 288 V2 3000K, S6 Bin at 55C
| VDC | Current (mA) | Watts at Board | Lm/W at Board (55C) | μmoles/joule at Board (55C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45.72 | 500 | 22.86 | 206 | 3.00 |
| 46.98 | 1050 | 49.33 | 196.10 | 2.85 |
| 47.70 | 1400 | 66.78 | 190.50 | 2.77 |
| 48.96 | 2100 | 102.82 | 180.77 | 2.63 |
| 49.50 | 2400 | 118.80 | 177.50 | 2.58 |
| 49.86 | 2800 | 139.60 | 173.80 | 2.53 |
- Allow tolerance of an additional 1V while matching drivers.
- Please use this as a reference only.
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The dandelion is a concept that @budbrother introduced me too that indicates your plant has transitioned fully to flowering cycle after the onset of the 12/12 cycle
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This is for my flowering gals. Hydrogen peroxide is also used by growers to wash their harvest right after cutting it down, so at low dosage it doesn’t appear to hurt the buds.
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You’re correct on hlg’s data. Not exactly on everything else. You’re driver probably has higher current than nameplate for one, some of them are extremely high. Also, by just about every other standard watts per foot is going to include your driver losses. So with any extra current and driver losses I’d bet your light pulls 240 or so at the wall. Which would be same metric anyone else would be talking about.
When the v2 boards came out the voltage is considerably lower than the original 288’s, so it’s no longer maxing the driver potential is all. More on that in a minute. Just wanted to cover example of the 3 board 320 kit first. Using v1 boards the proper driver for that kit was hog-320h-c1750. The 2100ma model didn’t have the voltage to clear all 3 boards and would kick out of cc mode and regulate output to something like 150 watts. With the v2 boards having lower forward voltage, all 3 boards will fit on 2100ma model fine. So it’s kind of a give and take.
Back to what’s more important, you are looking in the right spot just at the wrong metric. Let’s say you’re at 2100ma on the nose with two boards at photon efficacy of 2.63 umol/joule. That’s 206 watts for a total flux of about 542 umols per second. Convert your space to square meters and run the math on density. You’ll see exactly why they still recommend this light for a 3x3 even with the lower power level. And chances are there’s that extra current there with would have actual flux a little higher. For you with extra foot of space to cover, maybe slightly different story. But probably not enough to justify buying a bigger driver.
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Thanks @dbrn32
So I have it straight about the driver sizing and the forward voltage issue, the meanwell 320h-c2100 driver has a constant current region of 76 to 152v. The forward voltage of the V1 @2.1 is 51.12v, at three boards in series is just over the 152 - which is a problem. The forward voltage of the V2 @2.1 is 48.96, or just a little under 152v at 3 boards in series. Yes?
Regarding the ppfd, my space is about a square meter, and the recommended flowering ppfd is 600-1000 from what the internet tells me 
. So I am a little shy on ideal requirements at 2.1, but as you note, the actual output (edit) current may be higher than 2.1.
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Yup, yup, and yup!
Thanks for making me feel like I add value to the forum. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is picking up what I’m putting down.
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That would be output current, but you have the concept absolutely.
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Hi @WonkaMan - here’s my grow journal for my ongoing assembly line grow. I kicked it off with the MWs, have some Gold Leafs in flower too. .
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Thanks for the tag, SixPack! I just went through your journal, and your grow looks great! I don’t have the benefit of a full sized bathroom for my grow, so I’m hoping that I can top and train these girls into submission 
. I hope you’ve been successful in conquering the gnats!
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@Sixpackdad me and @dbrn32 had so many back and forth discussions about this because I’m tryin to build a custom light and it’s cool to completly understand what your talking about …the v1 boards being just over 51 and change 3 in series would kick you out of constant current being about 153 n change … db you give this site value by your self everything else here is a bonus you go above and beyond cheers to you…they should pay you lol
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Here is my happy new year post and first grow update of 2019. The three-stage assembly line grow continues. The Maui Wowie Scrog is near the end. Some recent points of interest:
- I’ve added a V1QB304 4k lamp for my seedling and vegetation phases.
- I got a 4x2x5 grow tent and three 6" vivosun inline fans for $100. The 4x2x5 tent will house my late veg/early flowering plant stage. I will use two of the fans for an improved ventilation system for my late flowering stage room
- the problem with the gnats seems to be at bay, but I don’t know how damaged the roots were until I harvest in a few weeks. I don’t think my plants have filled out their 10-gallon pots well, but we will see
- I continue to use a peroxide solution for the white powdery mildew. I think it’s not winning. The WPM isn’t widespread, but it’s not at bay either. I’ve read some stuff about how WPM reaches a systemic state with the pot plants and its basically impossible to be rid of it. Maybe I am there.
- I burnt one of my gold leafs with a misplaced heater on a cold night. I lost a bit of it, but, fortunately, it was the smaller of the three of them.
- I’ve been running the dehumidifier, but it overheats the area - gets into the 90’s - and I feel its just sucking water out of the soil rather than keeping the humidity down. I’ve opened the light fixture at the top of the shower and that has helped heat rise out into my attic, which has improved the situation. I have some ideas on how to fix the overall ventilation with a lung in my attic pumping into and out of the grow room.
- by my original grow schedule, I would have harvested the MWs this weekend, fifteen weeks after seed pop. I moved the schedule out two weeks to account for a transition period between going 12/12 and the plant being in flower. So, I am in a bloom&boost schedule, which will end this weekend, one more week of bloom, then all water. I am concerned that some of the buds are a lot further along than others.
- I’ve adjusted my overall schedule from a fifteen to an eighteen-week general plan. I originally wanted to harvest every five weeks, but it doesn’t leave enough time to flower. So I’ve adjusted my schedule to three-stage eighteen-week cycle, an extra week of veg and two weeks to account for a transition to flowering after going 12/12
Here are my White Powerder Mildew closeups.
Here some pics of the Maui Wowies in scrog and some trichs. Sometimes I see patches of amber, but for the most pary, mostly clear and cloudy.
The Gold Leafs are doing great, except for the part where I burnt one a bit.
These are the Maui Wowie clones under their new light QB304 light. They were under a 45W blurple. So they are a bit leggy and not as full as they could be with a more appropriate light. They got a underbelly lollipop trimming today.
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Bro. You can grow. Plants look great. Hope you can keep it in check till harvest. 
I seem to be fighting a losing battle with mine. 
I’ll give them some more time but already planning next mods to room. 
Peace @Sixpackdad. 
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Since it’s hard to get into the scrog to really look at the buds under the magnifying glass, I cut one of the branches today from a square. I washed it in a peroxide bath, rinsed, air dried for a few hours, and trimmed off the sugar leaves. Then I gave her a real hard look over. I still see a lot of clear trichomes, a good amount of cloudy, and only occasional ambers. It’ll dry out paper bag method for a few days, then it’ll be time for a bong hit testing - in the name of science!
I think I have about two weeks left. I watered tonight with 1/8 bloom dosage. WPM seems to be at bay. Humidity is low. No signs of bud rot.
I think it’ll be my last feeding. There are no signs of them starting to eat themselves up, so I think they’ve had enough. Water only from here on out, drilling the base next Sunday, lights out on the following Friday for continuous darkness until Sunday harvest. Anything else worth trying, or thoughts on this strategy?
@raustin @Oldguy @blackthumbbetty @wonkaman @dbrn32 @MattyBear @Familyman @abouttime @peachfuzz @greencoat
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@Missiles @smellthat @DoobieNoobie @basementstealth @GetbackJoJo @stells @Sirdankz @Budbrother @heybudletsparty @Zsitchin
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Raise or lower the pH when flushing
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That’s why I’ve not really put much thought into a scrog. I’m debating it on a big clone I’ve got now that needs to switch to flower asap. But working underneath it would be really hard.
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Awesome sixpack, Unbeleivable. Im going to finish this grow and I am looking to do a scrog with some OGK. Db has been a great help with me on lighting issues sense I am so dense in that area…lol.
I will be asking you ?'s on scrogging but Im doing soil. Happy Growing and thank you for the tag !
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It seems like you have your basis covered for your Harvest. I just did 3 days of darkness and just harvested a plant yesterday. It’s too early for me to say how well the darkness helped her but from what I hear it really helps! I waited too late to try drilling the stalk I wish I would have done it sooner. This is my first harvest so we’ll see if any of it helped 
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