TI Smartbar Grow Test
TI Smartbar Grow Test July 28, 2008
First - Many thanks again to Grow Revolution for providing the equipment
for testing. See their websites below for information and sales. You can call
them at their toll free number 1-877-309-5337
The TI Smartbar kit came with everything I needed except a cooling tub, hanging
chains, and a few screws, bolts, and nuts. The specifications are posted on the
website above, so I won't repeat them here.
The kit contains:
Two Smartbars - Very nice looking solid sealed units.
Power Supply - 220V, 450 Watts according to the sticker. Note - I can't light
it up yet as I'm waiting for a step-up power converter to arrive. I do not have
220VAC wiring in my grow room. I ordered a 500Watt step-up for $29.00
Pump - The pump is a 120VAC Little Giant 1200 GPH.
Hoses and hose clamps - three lengths of 1/2 inch hoses for plumbing the cooling
system
.
As you'll see from the photos, I mounted the two Smartbars on chains. The Smartbars
have a 'T' machined groove in the top. I slid bolts in and attached the chains.
The hoses are connected from the pump to bar1, from bar1 to bar2, then from bar2
back to cooling tub. The water flows from the tub through both bars and back to
the tub. I secured the return hose to the tub so it won't come flying out. The documentation
recommends 40 liters. My tub is rated at 50 liters, but from my measurement, really
about 40-45. It'll hold 50 right to the very top. It also recommends a short wide
tub as opposed to a tall one. I got the best one in this size I could find. This
is for water/air surface area for cooling. The system runs with no water leaks!
This is a good thing....
The electrical hookup is easy with plug connectors. Bar1 is the master with two
plugs. So connect up bar1 to the power supply (ballast) and run another cord to
bar2 from bar1.
When the power converter arrives in a day or two, I'll update with some photos of
the lights running. I'll also throw a thermometer in the cooling tub and we'll see
what the water temperature does over time. I'll have my grow tanks setup by then
and the grow test will start soon.
Note: As you'll see in the photos, there's a lot of light coming into the grow chamber
from the Smartlamp test beside it. I'll be isolating that in a few days. I thought
I had enough materials to do so, but I don't, so another trip to Bargain Outlet....
TI Smartbar Grow Test July 31, 2008
I had a few challenges getting everything running, but it's in pretty good shape
now and I hope, ready-to-go.
The first problem was I simply overloaded my room's AC circuit. I was trying to
run an airconditioner, computers, Smartlamp, Smartbars, pumps, fans, etc, all on
one 15 AMP breaker. I was able to replace the 15A breaker with a 20AMP as I had
the wiring to support it. So, when you think about it, this is pretty good actually.
TI claims the Smartlamp is equivalent to 600Watts and TI Smartbar is equivalent
to 1000Watts HID. So, I'm running all my stuff and keeping good environmentals for
way less power than I would be with HID. I would definitely need lots more power
on additional environmentals with HID. Now, we can concentrate on seeing if the
lights live up to their claims on the growing part.
The second problem was the Smartbars got to hot on first trial run. The light and
water temperature got above 50C after only a couple hours of running time. Last
night, after they got hot, I shut the lights down, but left the pump running. Nine
hours later the water was still hot at 51C. The Little Giant 1200 GPH pump was adding
a lot of heat to the system itself. This morning, I hooked up an Eco-Plus 396 GPH.
The system runs much cooler now with almost 14 hours of steady lights-on, the temp
has topped out for a couple hours now at 43C. It took about 9 hours to reach 43C.
Take into account it was really hot and muggy here today, not a good day for cooling!
My room temperature went from 21C to 26C. When it gets cooler outside, things will
balance out at lower temps. Much easier in Fall and Winter for sure. I'm still going
to experiment to get the Smartbars cooler. One thing is I could use a larger tub
for example. I'm at least within tolerance for the Smartbar. It would be interesting
someday when I have my basement grow room completed to maybe use some of the cold
outside air to really cool down the Smartbar water cooling system.
The light is VERY bright. With the Smartbar and Smartlamp running in the same room,
sunglasses are highly recommended. There are more than 700 Watts of LEDs lit now
in this room. However, it is still a comfortable room to be in. Reading, typing
on the computer, looking at the plants is very nice. However, do not look directly
at these lights!
The LUX meter reading at the top of the pots is 8000-9000. The light is about 18
inches up from the top of the pots. (Note: Once again, this doesn't really mean
anything as a comparison to other lights). I'm using these readings for my own benchmarks
to record the readings to go along with the growth performance.
The photos make everything much redder and darker than the human eye sees it. To
my eyes, it is much more brighter and pinker than my camera photos show. There are
some green and white LEDs in these units. For example, the tomato plants under the
smartlamp look natural and I see a lot of green. Objects under these lights have
a more natural color slightly tilted to the red side.
The aero machine is up and running with some H2O2 solution running through it. The
seeds were planted a few days ago, so hopefully we'll see some sprouts soon and
get the grow test started. These are the mini-bell peppers and I'll be growing four
of these in the 3' x 3' area. The canopy should eventually fill the entire area,
so we should get a good idea of coverage.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Aug 10, 2008
Three of the four pepper pods have sprouts. These pepper seeds are a little finicky.
Always start out like this with these peppers. The germination rate is not real
good and time is usually 8-14 days. Only tree of ten seeds sprouted. I'm working
on getting another one sprouted in the fourth pod, but it'll be somewhat behind
when it does. I'm out of the Sweet Red mini pepper. The fourth one will have to
be a chocolate mini-bell
The front-left came up last Wednesday, Aug 6th, then rear-left Friday, and finally
rear-right Saturday morning.
So at least we have something growing now.
On a side note - I added a small fan to blow air over the top of the Smartbar cooling
tank. This really knocked the temperature down. The Smart Bars now run much cooler
and maxes out at about 34-36C at the end of the 18 hours.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Aug 17, 2008
Four pepper plants up now. They are all Red ones so far. The chocolate brown ones
haven't come up, but a red one did with delayed action. That seems to be the way
these red pepper seeds work, not 100% reliable and the seed package actually says
that...
The older ones are working on some true leaves and off to a good start. The closeups
show them yellower than they appear, just can't get the tones right...
The roots are starting to develop well, some nice long strong strings forming out
of the bottom.
The light is still running well. In the light cooling tank, I'm adding a teaspoon
of chlorine bleach every once in a while to keep the tank clean. Running an open
water tank tends to start growing slimy stuff, but the chlorine is keeping it crystal
clear...
TI Smartbar Grow Test Aug 25, 2008
Pepper plant growth progressing good. Well balanced growth so far. I like the root
development and the overall looks of the plants. Hopefully off to a good strong
start.
Front left plant is about 20 days now. A little ahead of the plants at same time
on my homemade light test and way ahead of LGM5 test
TI Smartbar Grow Test Sep 1, 2008
Once again a good week for plant growth. Plants are nice and thick. Leaf size is
very large and thick almost like a rubber plant.
You'll see in the photos the two older plants are producing bud junctions already.
The plants are very dense at the top and I'm wondering if the light may have been
a little closer to the tops than needed. I did raise it a couple of inches and it's
about 12 inches from the top of the highest plant. I may raise it a little more
soon.
Another impressive thing about these plants are the roots. Probably the best roots
I've had so far on peppers at this stage of development.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Sep 7, 2008
Grow is progressing well. The two largest plants are getting to be 9-10 inches tall
now. The trunks are very sturdy and thick (over 1/2 inch in diameter). Starting
to see quite a bit of blossom growth. There's a few that should be fully open any
time now.
In some of the photos you may notice 'spots' on the leaves. This is not really any
leafspot. The Zero Tolerance I used to kill the little gnats leaves a little residue
that glistens in the light.
One thing I do notice is some 'bubbling' and bending on the topmost leaves. The
leaves are healthy, but somewhat mis-shaped. I've seen this before and it possible
the light is too close to the plants. I've got the leaves to do this before by putting
the lights too close. I've moved it up slightly to about 16 inches from the top
of the canopy.
Another thing is the nutrient solution strength. I'm still running very weak at
about 300 PPM. However, I hate to raise it any as the plants look very, very green
(almost too green) right now. It may be just me, but it seems the nutrient mixes
can be drastically different with different lights. Takes a lot of getting
used to where you need more than one grow to learn the lights.
Overall - looking pretty good for the grow time.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Sep 14, 2008
The plants are growing awesome. They've grown much larger this week. The largest
ones are nearly 14 inches tall now. Not only taller but thickness, new growth, roots,
blossoms and everything else seems to be doing great.
They've been on a blossom formula since last update. Once again still using the
FloraNova at a much weaker mix than called for. I believe the weak mix is more due
to using aeroponics than a light requirement. The mix I have in here is a straight
1/2 Teaspoon/Gallon of Liquid Karma, Nitrozime, Cal Mag+ and FloraNova grow. These
plants are now drinking over a gallon of water a day.
Some may not believe me, but I feel I was running the lights too low to the canopy.
If you noticed in the photos last update, the tops of the plants were very curled
up and too densely packed. Raising the lights has 'smoothed' things out and the
leaves are opening much better. The growth accelerated nicely. This is a good thing
if it stays true, as the higher the light, the more coverage area the lights will
cover. It's nice not to have the lights right on top of the plants.
Blossoms and lot's of them have been opening. A few have opened and are now closing
up. As you'll see in the photos, there are a couple for-sure peppers fruiting now.
The pepper end has enlarged since the flower shriveled, usually a sure sign of a
fruited pepper. No blossoms have dropped off yet, so hopefully this is a good sign
that a decent blossom/fruit ratio is coming
TI Smartbar Grow Test Sep 21, 2008
The Pepper Plants are doing fantastic. peppers are definitely fruiting on three
of the four now (remember the smallest is a couple of weeks behind). All four are
coming along nicely and with the number of blossoms forming, should produce a lot
of peppers in the long run.
I've never seen so many blossoms as I see now forming on these plants. Many have
been open and are closing now. It'll be a few days to see how many 'take', but it's
looking like quite a few. The number of flowers and blossoms is quite fantastic.
The newly forming top crowns of the plants are loaded, so it looks like quite a
long flowering season ahead....pretty awesome. I know not all blossems will fruit,
but with so many, a very small percentage of pollination will still produce a lot
of fruits...we shall see.
The stalks and leaves are very healthy, thick, and sturdy. I have pruned some leaves
out of these plants to keep the tangles down and allow for some light penetration
and good air flow. I haven't trimmed any branches, just some of the larger leaves
that are forming at the top.
I'm quite impressed at the maturity of these plants for the growing time so far...if
I count right, they are at 45, 43,41, 30 days since sprout.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Sep 28, 2008
Plenty of peppers fruiting and more to come judging by the number of blossoms still
opening and forming.
The plants are about 20 inches in height now and still very sturdy
Some of the larger peppers are about an inch or so in diameter now. The pepper count
is from left-front plant clockwise = 20,12,12,6. There are more, but I'm only counting
the ones that are sure meaning the pepper is actually growing larger. The fruiting
is starting at the bottom forks and working it's way up as the bottom flowers are
oldest. There are even a few peppers on sub branches that have formed below the
main plant forks. Plenty of blossoms and flowers still to go...
If everything stays on track - there should be a lot more peppers next update.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Oct 5, 2008
I think the photos speak for themselves - there's a lot of peppers on these plants...and
they haven't quit yet! Still a lot more blossoms to go. The plants are loaded right
now, especially the older ones.
I think this does away with the rumors that LEDS don't blossom and fruit well. If
we simply disregard the "how much LED watts does it take for HID argument" and just
look and see what 400 watts of LEDs has done here, it's pretty good, don't you think?
Here's what I count for peppers on the four plants left-front clockwise = 30, 24,
27, 9. Remember the last plant is two weeks behind, so I would expect it to catch
up some in the future. My count should be fairly accurate, but it is difficult to
make sure I get every pepper and not miss any so it may be off a couple here-and
there. I will be counting them as they ripen, so at the end of the test, the counts
will be most accurate.
I removed some of the older leaves at the bottom and trimmed the plants up a bit.
I've grown these peppers before, both inside and outside. The number and size of
these fruits is as high as I've ever seen. I feel this test is a success already.
Please let me know what you think of it in the forum.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Oct 13, 2008
Not a lot to say this update. The pepper plants are loaded with peppers and everything
seems to be going well. They may be getting maxxed out as I notice the blossom rate
is slowing down. Actually, on these plants I'm wondering if there is room for more
anyways!
Summary - great pepper numbers. I tried to count them and it's futile as I get different
numbers everytime, but there are more than last update. We'll get an exact count
as they ripen and get picked. None look like they are ripening yet, but from past
experience, these turn red fast once they get going.
Side note: Look at the last photo. There were two peppers that turned into 'mutants'
for lack of better words. Looks like a dual pepper or some kind of extra bulge grew
out of them and then split. Both of these peppers came from the same plant
(left rear). Don't know what it means if anything, but first 'mutants' I've seen.
Could be a genetic thing as they came from the same plant. These are the only two
from all the peppers on the plant as the rest look normal. They've looked like this
from very early on and didn't just 'do it' all of a sudden, so I don't expect to
see anymore.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Oct 26, 2008
We're coming to the end of the test. Pretty much a matter of counting peppers as
they ripen now, so I'll keep adding those counts and photos. I picked the first
batch of red peppers today, 19 total.
The plants did very well and are about 100% into basic ripening stage. Not too many
buds opening. There are plenty of small dormant ones ready to wake up for the next
blossoming cycle.
The peppers for this breed, are pretty good size. All the ones I've grown like this
seem to be about 3/4 - 1 1/2" in diameter. That's pretty much what the seed package
says.
I think the amount of peppers on these plants is in the high range. Best I've ever
got indoors or out.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Nov 8, 2008
Quite a bit of harvest since last update. Lot's of red peppers picked. Three
days of 6, 17, and 64 as you'll see in the photos, for a total of 106 pepers so
far. That's 106/4 for avg @ 26 per plant...pretty good so far. Especially considering
the youngest plant was kind of rushed along with the rest and it had around 12 peppers
on it, so the other three are above this average. There are plenty of green ones
left to ripen and pick too. The pepper count won't be as high as say tomatoes. You
just don't get the same numbers in peppers, but these are good numbers.
If I were going to keep these plants for the long run, I would trim them down good
over the next two weeks, also at the same time bring the nutrients up a bit to an
accelerated grow formula. This also might be a good time to do a system flush. The
tank could be cleaned and then run the aero pumps constantly for a few hours and
flush all the crap out. All this aiming for a grow and veg push to get ready for
a second strong blossom stage.
That would be great, but I'm hopefully only a couple of weeks away from finishing
the basement remodeling and moving the grow operation down there. I'm looking forward
to it as I'll have more space to do some more experimentation this winter.
I have to apologize for the shape of the plants - I haven't had time to take care
of them as well as I should. The tanks are overdue for changing and the place is
a mess. Too much work taking me away from the fun nowadays.
These little red peppers taste very sweet. I have a hard time keeping them away
from the grandkids.
TI Smartbar Grow Test Nov 30, 2008
I concluded this test last Wednesday. I needed to tear down the equipment for the
move from room-to-room. Too much work...
Anyway, here's the final tallies. I picked 31 more peppers, so we have a total of
147 peppers for four plants in one fruiting cycle. Average about 37 per plant. Pretty
good for these I'd say.
I was difficult to get root shots as the grow went along. Really difficult to lift
the plants up when they get large. Anyway, I took some photos of the roots during
rip down. Overall they looked real healthy. No rot or nasties in there which is
good. They really started creating a 'pad' on the bottom as they looked like they
kept piling up when they grew to the bottom of the pot. You can see how they mesh
into the plastic screening I stick in there. The screening seems to allow them to
spread out more as they work themselves down. I think it helps a little.
Unfortunately, I lost some of the other photos I was going to post. I did something
to the camera's memory card (or something). Anyway, there were more shots of the
trunks, leaves, branches and such. I guess the ones I saved of the roots and fruits
were more important anyhow.
Let me know your opinions of this grow test in the forum...
The end