LED-GROW-MASTER Grow Test
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Dec 6, 2007
Thanks to Jonathan from Led-Grow-Master for making this light test possible.
Setup
The grow chamber and aero machines are the same used for the UFO grow. The one LGM5
Professional bar is hung 30 inches up from the tops of the grow pots. This is according
to the instructions and was also suggested by Jonathan to start with one bar at
this height and possibly add another bar, if needed, and adjust height accordingly
to the plants needs. It states in the instructions that putting this light too close
to the plants is detrimental, not beneficial.
The LGM5 Professional bar weighs .75 pounds and measures 22" x 2.5" x 1". The light
has five light pods. The photo I took of the light pods unfortunately makes all
the reds, oranges, etc, look all the same. However, by eye, there are different
color spectrums involved. I do not know the exact spectrums and intensities. More
information can be found on led-grow-master.com
I didn't do the light meter grid. According to Led-Grow-Master, this is a different
LED Grow technology using multiple spectrums and the intense Red/Blue of other technologies
is not what they are trying to accomplish. There
are also NM ranges present in the
bar my meter is not going to register.
Right now, I'm sanitizing the tanks by running some fresh water and a little H2O2.
It was decided to grow some Sweet Red Bell peppers instead of tomatoes. Peppers
were selected to test as I've had too many tomato grows lately. Time to change it
up a little. Anyway, the seeds were planted yesterday. In
a few days, I'll update the test with photos from the official grow start.
Setup photos
below
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Dec 16, 2007
Sorry about the delays getting this test started. I didn't have much luck getting
pepper seeds to start all of a sudden. There is one sprout finally coming up you'll
see in the photos. I did order some newer seeds and they arrived and I planted some
of these yesterday, so we will get this test off the ground one way or another.
Please note the lights are not the cause of this seed-launch failure. My pepper
seeds I had don't seem to work with trying about 4 different germination methods.
At least I have one sprout started, so we'll see how this plant reacts to the LGM5
grow light. The sprout just stood up this morning.
As you'll see in the photos, I've added one more LGM5 unit in the chamber for a
total of two now. This was suggested by Led-Grow-Master.
As a base LUX measurement, I'm getting 1000 LUX right on top of the center pod and
825LUX on the left and right pods. Remember my meter's relative sensitivity is really
low on 660NM range, so using this reading to compare to a 630NM rig is probably
not a good idea. The sensitivity of my meter looks to be about 20-25% at 630 and
only about 3-5% at 660. The reason I'm taking the readings will be used as 'relative'
to itself as we monitor the plants reactions and adjust the light as necessary.
This will at least tell us when we get a reaction (good or bad) what the meter reading
is at that time, so we'll get an idea how to use this light.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Dec 27, 2007
It seems the pepper seeds are are giving me germination headaches. Not too much
luck lately. The two new seed packs I ordered germinated one out of six as of now.
At least I do have two pepper plants going for the test now. I don't think it's
my nursery as a bunch of other seeds came up. I'm thinking of buying one of those
seed heating pads or something to warm it up a little. It's strange for the peppers
as I've had 100% germination on this brand before. We'll keep trying and eventually
get three plants going. I don't want to throw in a tomato or something else as from
my previous experiences, peppers need a higher PH (6.0-6.2) and seem to need a lower
EC than tomatoes. I wouldn't want to try growing tomatoes and peppers out of the
same nutrient tanks.
The newest one popped up vertical and is the plant on the right. It has cotylodon
leaves fully out. It was a little bent over as I was gone for a few days and it
was leaning against the dome. It's straightened out a lot already and is almost
totally vertical now.
The one from the previous photos has it's first set of true leaves. It seems just
about right proportion with no stretching that I can see. The first set of leaves
is right on top of the Cotylodons.
At least we have two plants to watch now. Photos below.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Jan 8, 2008
Three pepper plants growing now. The left one is the youngest followed by the right
and then center. Center plant is working on 3rd set of leaves, right plant on 2nd
set, left plant on first set.
They seem to be doing okay, although the left and right plants seem to be leaning
in toward the center a little. The lux reading at center is about 200 LUX greater,
so they may be leaning toward the slightly brighter light.
Although there's a slight lean, the nodelength doesn't seem too bad. Personally,
I'm getting a feeling to lower the light some, but I'm leaving that up to Jonathan
at Led-Grow-Masters as I've been using his recommendations.
Photos below.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Jan 11, 2008
The light hasn't been moved. It is still 30 inches up from the chamber tops, which
puts it at 28 inches above the 2" center pepper plant.
They are progressing in their growth. I've also included some root shots this time.
The roots are right now in the string stage. The center oldest plant is starting
to produce better and better roots. Much more strings hanging around.
I did get a couple of questions on why the growth rate for the three plants is so
different. The answer is the seeds did not sprout at the same times. Center sprouted
around Dec 16th, right one Dec 26th, left one Jan 2. So, they are different ages.
Click on the button below for photos...
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Jan 19, 2008
The peppers have grown about 1/2 inch each since the last update. The largest has
reached 2 1/2 inches now.
They look healthy enough, but the growth rate seems a little slow. The light is
still located in it's original position 30" from the pot tops.
Click on the button below for photos...
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Jan 27, 2008
The peppers have grown about another 1/2 inch each since the last update.
They look healthy, but the growth rate still seems slow. The light is still located
in it's original position 30" from the pot tops.
The roots seem white and healthy enough, but not as developed as I would like to
see them after all this time
Click on the button below for photos...
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Feb 2, 2008
Size of the plants seems to be about 1/2 inch larger than last update.
I've decided to do a little experiment. I've swapped the left plant with the one
on the right. Over the smallest one, I've set up the HGL 14 watt kit. Just want
to see what additional light will do.
Blossoms are coming out, but they are small in size. I also notice that a few of
them turned brown and died (the ones in the middle forks)
Another change is addition of the new pump cycle timer I built - 5 seconds on /90
seconds off. Schematic and design courtesy of Tom, thanks! This schematic is posted
in the forum.
Click on the button below for photos...
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Feb 8, 2008
Size of the two plants under the LGM5 seems to be about 1 inch larger than last
update. The blossoms are dropping off the large one before opening to flowers. Two
bottom leaves on the largest plant turned yellow and dropped. Root-wise seems healthy,
but the roots seem under-developed and the stalks are not real thick for this age.
Some changes to the setup recommended by Jonathan were to set the timer back to
15 hours. In addition, he recommended installing a 60 Watt incandescent soft-white
and run it 15 mins per hour during the 15 hour cycle. This was installed this morning.
The 15 hour light cycle started a couple of days ago.
My experiment with the little plant under the 14 Watt kit is showing great results.
It has grown a couple of sets of new leaves and most importantly has gained girth.
A lot of new root growth in the last couple of days. Before the addition of the
kit, I could hardly see any roots at all on the small plant. I now notice many root
shoots forming. I installed a shade over the smallest plant so it's only gettting
light from the 14 Watt Kit.
The root shots in the photos are in order of
1. right plant under 14 watt kit - most of this is brand new growth
2. Center oldest plant
3. Left plant
The ages of the plants now are:
1. Center sprouted on Dec 16 - 54 days
2. Left sprouted on Dec 27 - 43 days
3. Right plant on Jan 8 - 31 days
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Feb 17, 2008
Some growth happening with the peppers under the LGM5, but not a lot of major changes.
I'd still like to see some more root growth and stalk thickness. The root shots
are in order of the plants from left to right. First two are LGM5, third one in
the pepper under the 14 watt kit. The roots are still taking off with the one under
the kit.
Blossom-wise the LGM5 peppers are still drying up and falling before opening. They
are still small in size. There are a few blossoms on the 14 watt kit pepper, we'll
see what happens to these.
The 14 watt pepper plant is also growing a lot more off-shoots and staying shorter,
but bushier. It's gained quite a bit of stalk thickness.
Another change suggested by Led-Grow-Master was to lower the light to 18 inches
above largest plant. The light was lowered 8 1/2" yesterday morning, so this is
second day with lowered light adjustment.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Feb 23, 2008
The lowering of the light last week seemed to spurt some growth, mostly at the very
top of the plant canopy. A couple of the latest buds do seem a little larger, but
still tiny. The largest about the size of a BB that you would use in an BB gun.
With the tops of the canopy getting a little thicker, I'm also seeing the very bottom
leaves droop some and becoming a little yellower, especially on the left plant that
is not centered under the light. This might be an indication of lack of light penetration.
I was hoping to maybe see some side shoots, but nothing yet. I don't see progress
in stem size and strength yet.
The pepper under the 14 watt kit shows strong roots, thicker stem, and bushier growth
with larger buds, many more side shoots, and better root development. I'm not seeing
improved root growth on the LGM5 peppers.
The photos are in order from left plant to right. The left and center plants are
LGM5 and the right plant is isolated under HGL 14 watt kit.
Plants ages since sprout time are now:
1. LGM5 - Center sprouted on Dec 16 - 69 days
2. LGM5 -Left sprouted on Dec 27 - 58 days
3. HGL 14 watt kit (for 21 days) - Right plant on Jan 8 - 46 days
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Mar 1, 2008
My opinion is there is still not enough light getting to the LGM5 plants. There
was some growth and a little improvement in bud size, but they are still dropping
before opening with one exception, the middle plant did have a flower fully open
for two days, but it dropped. There are some more blossoms on the middle plant,
so we'll see if they open. The left plant still has very tiny blossoms and they
continue to shivel. Some of the bottom leaves have also dropped on the left and
center plant. They turn yelow, weaken and drop. This I believe is light depravation
due to canopy penetration. The bushier they get at the top, the more the bottom
leaves are falling. The roots seem weak also. There's no dead stuff, but not as
much growth as I would like.
The 14 Watt kit pepper is just about opposite. Very compact with thick trunk and
well developed root system. The buds are much larger. There are three flowers open
now and these are the ones in the photos.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Mar 11, 2008
It's been about five days since I added the two additional LGM5 bars. We now have
a total of 4 LGM5 bars over the two pepper plants. The four bars are mounted as
close together as I can get them. The light is 16 inches above plant canopy. This
is puttingthe light from all 4 bars into about a 2' x 1' or two square feet.
So, we're at about 18 watts per square foot which puts it up there and beyond the
watts/sq foot we are covering with the other high power lights like my Homemade,
UFO and Procyon. We still don't know if we can achieve the same growth as them yet.
The cost to get this much light onto these small pepper plants with LGM5s in my
current configuration is 4 x $260.00 = $1040 which is extremely high at about $520.00
a square foot.
Time will tell if the four bars will bear fruits. I'm seeing some growth pick up
some after adding the two additional bars. Additiional root growth, somenew leaves
and some stem strength. We'll see whats happens in the next few days.
Also as an additional experiment, just tonight I've added two HGL 3 watt 630NM Reds
(60 degree lens) in addition to the 14 watt kit to see what it'll do with more red.
This configuration comes in at roughly 20 watts/square foot at a cost of $80.00
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Mar 16, 2008
The plants are doing more growing with the addition of the extra lights. I do see
a diiference. Leaves standing up much better. Seems to be most growth in the root
area which is good to see.
The left plant seems to have grown the most and is catching up to the center one.
All three plants do get blossoms and flowers occasionally, but all seem to drop
so far. I'd actually prefer to see them get more stout before blossoms happen.
It's due for a tank change, so I may increase the grow formula some and see what
happens.
I'm also going to shut off one of the additional red lights I put onto the 14 Watt
kit pepper to see what happens. The two Reds didn't seem to do much.
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Mar 30, 2008
Two weeks since last update - Seems the plants gave reached a "stasis' of some kind.
I did get more growth the last three weeks with the four light bars above the two
plants. Blossoming continues to happen with a few flowers coming out evry once in
a while. I haven't been able to get any to fruit yet as they continue to drop.
I also seem to be at a balance of where about the same amount of leaves drop is
about the same speed as new growth. So the bareness of the bottom branches is working
it's way up slowly.
The pepper plant under the 14 watt kit is in a similiar pattern with the exception
of having many more flowers appear. They do hang around longer and are usually larger
than the flowers under the LGMs.It's also slightly thicker and bushier.
I'm going to have to think of something to try and get this grow doing something.
The past couple weeks have seen a lack of 'action'......
Led-Grow-Master.com Grow Test - Apr 21, 2008
Conclusion of test and final observations.
Trying different light heights, nutrient formula mixes, etc, from March 30 - Apr
15th didn't seems to help. Raising the 4 LGM5s back up just seemed to make the plants
look weaker with quite a bit of bottom leaf drop. The plants continued to blossom
a little, but with all blossoms dropping. I was not successful in getting a pepper
to fruit unddr the four LGM5s.
Sunday, April 15th, it was decided by Led-Grow-Master and myself to end this test.
The test went four months. Instead of ripping the plants out, I wanted to see if
I could get a reacton using another light. This could ensure there were not other
issues besides lights causing the failures if the plants reacted favorably. I replaced
the LGM5s with the UFO on 4/15.
The UFO seemed to kick the plants into high gear. Within 2 days the first pepper
finally appeared. There are now five peppers fruiting on the center plant. The plants
have grown much larger and thicker in the past 6 days.
The photos for this update are below. The first three photos in order are before
applying the UFO six days ago. The rest of the photos are from this morning.
Also please note that one plant has been changed. The smallest pepper plant previously
on the right was replaced with the pepper plant from the Procyon 100 grow. The tomatoes
were crowding it out. I decided to sacrifice the smallest pepper plant and keep
this one as it is very large.
Based on the results of this test, the LGM5s don't seem to have the power for fast
growth nor for fruiting a high light plant such as these mini bell peppers.