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Issue #476 - Sunday, May 30, 2021
Dear Fellow Grower,
In today's issue...
- Would you test out a product yourself? What if you could have someone willingly test the product for you free of charge? Hopefully, you answered "No" to the second question because there's no reason to learn a lesson the hard way if you don't have to. With that in mind, we're reviewing LEDs we've grown with and would grow with again. If you're in the market for an LED light, you don't want to to miss this
info!
- Want even more grow light content? Learn how you can increase trichomes using LEC grow lights!
- Check out the latest pictures of our Mars Hydro vs Spider Farmer LED grow journal. See a before and after of a defoliation and lollipop. The plants have EXPLODED since last week. It's hard to believe it's only been 7 days since the last update!
- Lots of colas. Lots of stickiness. This week's trophy pics will put you in the smoking/vaping/edible mood before you even finish looking at them. In fact, I was posting these pictures, and when I looked down, a bong had magically appeared in my hands! Consider yourself warned...
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
~Maya Angelou
5 Best LED Grow Lights 2021
(Yields🌳🌳🌳, Speed🏃♀️ & Quality 🏆)
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LEDs have overtaken HPS and other HIDs as the best cannabis grow light for nearly all home growers. Although there are some situations where LECs or HPS are a great choice (for example in a cold space where the heat of the lights is a positive thing, or if you’re making concentrates and want to use special bulbs to increase trichome
production and terpene levels/smells), generally most home growers will be happiest with LEDs.
LEDs grow magnificent cannabis plants indoors without much heat or electricity. Today you’ll learn about about some of the best LED grow lights for cannabis plants.
Why LED Grow Lights?
- More light, less heat – LEDs produce more light and less heat than HIDs, watt-for-watt
- Better for heat control – Not only do LEDs run cooler, plants under LEDs actually prefer warmer temperatures. That means they are the perfect grow light to deal with heat. If your grow space is room temperature or warmer, LEDs are your best grow light choice when it comes to controlling heat.
- More colorful buds – LEDs tend to bring out colors like pink and purple on buds and leaves. Although some strains will stay green no matter what, many strains have the ability to turn color in certain environmental conditions. LEDs will almost always bring out colors in those strains especially as plants approach harvest.
- Excellent bud yields & potency – In my side-by-side grows using clones, modern LEDs produce similar or higher yields, better bud quality, and even significantly more THC than comparable grow lights like HPS and LECs.
I’ve been testing LEDs on cannabis plants for over a decade, and most of those LEDs produced subpar results as far as yields, speed of growth, and bud quality. However, around 2018 the newest models of LEDs started matching and even beating the results I was getting from HPS and
LEC grow lights. The rate of improvement on new LEDs seems to be speeding up since then, not slowing down. It may come as a shock to us old-timers who were underwhelmed by older LED technology, but new LEDs have fairly won the title of “best cannabis grow light” for home growers in my opinion. Today I’m going to share some of the best LED grow lights for cannabis so you can harness that power in your own grow.
The Electric Sky ES300 produces dense heavy buds. This is Version 3, which produces even brighter
light than the previous versions.
5 Best LED Grow Lights for Cannabis Plants
Some LEDs are far better than others for growing cannabis, and the “best” LEDs change every year. Since I used my first LED grow light in 2008, the top LEDs companies have changed drastically. Many of the old popular LED companies aren’t even around anymore, while new companies are appearing daily.
For me, 2021 is the most exciting year yet when it comes to LEDs. The choices are better than ever as more and more people figure out ways to tweak LEDs to produce even more yields and better cannabis bud quality.
The only problem is the best LED grow lights for cannabis obliterate the results of the worst LED grow lights. The challenge for the grower is figuring out which models to avoid and which LEDs work the best. After tests with real cannabis plants, we’ve narrowed down the list to our 5 best LED grow lights for growing weed in 2021.
How to Increase Trichome Production with LEC Grow Lights
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CMH/LEC grow lights typically produce more trichomes and terpenes than other grow lights including LEDs… if you use the right bulb.
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Spider Farmer vs Mars Hydro LED grow journal update
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Spider Farmer on top (white labels), Mars Hydro on bottom (with red labels to help remember that’s the “Mars” tent) - Day 20 of Flowering
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Wow the tents look TOTALLY different from last week!
You may remember at the beginning of the grow journal I wrote out a training regimen for the flowering stage. Since it is week 4, it was time for defoliation and simple lollipopping. After this point, plants are mostly going to be left alone until harvest. I won’t remove more growth or leaves
unless I have to.
For defoliation, I removed all leaves that were…
- laying on top of each making wet spots
- on long stems (longer than 1″)
- in the bottom and middle of the plant where light couldn’t reach
- covering bud sites from the light
For lollipopping, I removed….
- Any branches that were small and spindly
- Any branches that were never going to make it to the top canopy (buds lower on the plant don’t usually fatten much, and can steal energy from top buds)
- Any buds or growth that was right at the base of the plant where I know from experience it will never make decent buds
I took pictures so you could see exactly what that looked like.
Spider Farmer tent before defoliation
After defoliation and lollipop
Now onto the Mars Hydro tent....
Mars Hydro tent before defoliation
Mary Hydro tent with two left plants defoliated and lollipopped. The right plant still untouched. I thought this was a cool way to help see the difference between defoliated and undefoliated plants. Click for closeup.
I noticed the beginnings of a calcium deficiency on the Pacific Punch plants close to the grow light where leaves are working hardest. It’s a pretty purple color thanks to the LED grow lights but it’s too early in the flowering stage to see discoloration on the leaves. When leaves turn color too early, they aren’t as good at photosynthesis and can
therefore reduce your yields. Whenever you see a calcium deficiency, the number 1 first thing to check is the pH at the roots. Calcium deficiencies tend to show up when the pH is too low because it is poorly absorbed at low pH ranges. Other reasons to see calcium deficiencies are when using filtered water, low PPM (“soft”) water, or when you’re not adding any nutrients that contain calcium (cannabis plants LOVE calcium
especially under LEDs).
Calcium deficiencies may appear purple especially under LED grow lights. In my experience, these deficiencies are most often caused by low PH at the roots. If that’s the cause, the solution is simple: give higher pH water.
My water has been going in at about 6.2 pH but when I checked the runoff water coming out of the Pacific Punch plants it was coming out at 5.2 pH. In coco you want a pH between 5.5-6.5 so this is way too low especially considering the water I put in had much higher
pH. In response, all watering from now on will be given at 6.5 pH until the runoff water starts coming out closer to 6. Then I may lower it again to try to maintain between 5.5-6.5. I anticipate that the pH should be corrected within a few waterings. I’ll make sure to get a little extra runoff each time this week to help “clear” whatever is lowering the pH at the root zone.
Next week the plants should be mostly done getting bigger and it will be bud fattening time until harvest. The tents are stinky and buds are getting sparkly. I can't wait to see what the tents look like next week!
Love,
Nebula
P.S. Check out the grow journal on our website to learn more about this grow.
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"Well I have had a great season,and it's because of you 2, you guys always give the best advice. You guys are awesome, and because of you I got away from clones. Thanks guys seedsman rocks."
~Charles
Awesome to hear, Charles. Let us know how the current grow goes! ~Sirius
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"Thanks for everything you two do. Never buying weed again."
~Reef
Thanks! Hey, your name is our initials with the W turned upside down. Coincidence? 🤔 ~Sirius
"Hey Sirius, ur info on bubbleponics is spot on the money! This is my second try."
~Steve
I'm glad you like; bubbleponics/DWC is my favorite way to grow. 👍 ~Sirius
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"This is a white widow auto flower. I have not had any serious problems with this plant."
~Lori
No serious problems? More like serious success! Excellent! ~Sirius
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"My two little girls,I only wish I had of been less conservative manifolding. Thank you for all your help."
~Darryle
This is a common problem; it's tough to remove colas when they appear to be doing so well. ~Sirius
"Hi Nebula, Boobah from the land down under. Read your article on Monster Cropping in a dwc stand alone system (not recirculating) These are 3 cuttings I took from a plant I grew last summer (photo of just buds).
Turned back on 1st May. My first in tent Monster Crop, tent is 2.4mx2.0x1.2, 3 x p2000 viparspectra lights at heights suggested. Finger's crossed I will send you some more pics at the end. Thank you for this site, I refer to it regularly."
~Boobah
So many budsites. I definitely wanna see how this turns out. 👍 ~Sirius
"Thank you for your time, energy, and love you have put into this site. Week 8 from 12/12 LSD; 3-gallon air pot, FF trio; molasses; Epson salt. Under Sypder farm SF1000."
~Jagged-decoder32
Glad you're enjoying your Spider Farmer LED too. I love trichome pictures in general, but these are some fantastic examples. Well done! ~Sirius
We encourage you to forward this email to a friend in need!
GrowWeedEasy.com has hundreds and hundreds of pages!
Check out some articles you may not have seen...
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back...
- HLG 300 Quantum Board LED Cannabis Grow Setup & Tutorial - This is a journal for a grow we did with an HLG Quantum Board. The light did well and was a pleasure to use, but check out the article for the full lowdown on our experience using this light.
- How to Take True-Color Pictures Under LED Grow Lights - These days, many LEDs emit a pleasant whit-ish color that happens to be great for taking pictures. However, if you're still using LEDs that emit "blurple" or pink-tinted light, your pictures will always look just like the LED that's lighting them. This article contains solutions for your pink and blurple colored
problems.
- LEC vs LED Grow Lights: Side-by-Side Cannabis Grow Journal - LECs (Light Emitting Ceramics) were positioned to be the newer, cooler replacement for HPS lights. When the quality of LEDs increased substantially, it put LEC lights in a tough spot. So, how do they compare to each other? Read this article to find out!
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update/add articles every week and have built a comprehensive growing resource. Anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone
:)
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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