Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
aquaholic_gw

LED Jalapeno grow

aquaholic
13 years ago

I bought a couple of jalapeno seedlings from Home Depot and have them under a 150 watt LED light.

The LED light has the following layout of diode.

1. Red - 10%

2. Deep Red - 50%

3. Blue - 20%

4. White - 10%

5. Orange 10%

The Deep Reds are in the 680nm range and the Blues are in the 460nm range.

This is my first LED grow.

This is also going to be a hydroponic grow. I have grown hydroponically before, but not at my current home. The water here has a high PPM percentage which concerns me a little bit.

These plants will be removed from soil and placed into some nets pots with hydroton as soon as it arrives. A DWC setup will be used with GH nutes.

Comments (28)

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    correction, here is the LED (WEX-C150) layout.

    50% 660nm deep red
    10% 630nm red
    10% 600nm orange
    10% 3500K warm white
    20% 460nm blue

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    well these plants were put into the DWC tub and i went and purchased a couple more jalapeno plants i will grow in soil outdoors.

    for now all of them are enjoying the LED light. ;)

    still a little concerned about the water here. after adding GH nutrients my ppm is running about 625, but the tap water is 450 all by itself.

    I guess we will see. i have some PH calibration solution coming soon. I'm almost afraid to see the PH...

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    well this has been quite a journey so far.

    i found out my PH was 9.0 with 450 PPM out of the tap. this was just not cutting it, plants survived briefly then would start to die.

    to make a long story short, i needed better water and could not afford a RO system, but after some research i turned this:

    to this:


    using this filter and refill filters as needed, i was able to convert my 450 PPM tap water to 180 PPM and it brought the PH down to 5.5 :)

    i just used it again today (with a new filter). this time my water came out 50 PPM and 5.5 PH.

    This thing is great and has allowed my plants to finally survive and start to flourish.

    my dwc water is now running 380-400 PPM with a PH of around 6 and the plants are pretty healthy.

    however, their leaves are a bit droopy. i don't know if that is a light or nutrient problem. since i have the nutrient/water situation corrected, i am assuming this might be a light issue. so, i am gonna throw a little compact fluorescent into the mix for testing...

    my led array is about 8 inches above the plant tops...

  • wordwiz
    12 years ago

    How powerful is your light? I had a 125-watt panel about eight inches above some peppers and they did not like it a bit.

    Mike

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    mine is a 150 watt light, but it covers an area almost 4 foot in length and 18 inches in width. Really a large area for a 150 watter.

    However, I have tested with a 39 watt compact flouro right above one plant and it made no difference.

    I think the plants are probably doing ok...

    Here is a cheap cell phone pics of the plants without the LED lights on. They really look pretty good now... :)

    {{gwi:1004775}}

  • wordwiz
    12 years ago

    aquaholic,

    Those plants look like crap. The best thing you could do is to get rid of that light (send it to me) ASAP. I'll sacrifice, just to help you out, and pay postage!

    Wow! Impressive. Those leaves are not droopy - they are normal for plants in the middle of a huge growth spurt. Seen it in tobacco plants for years and years. Keep up the great grow!

    Mike

  • veriria
    12 years ago

    Random about the plants from home depot -- I wanted to buy a plant or two, but when I picked a few up to inspect them, they ALL had mold or fungus on the peat pots pretty much all over. The white stuff, and yellow oO did you have that on your plants as well? I couldn't buy them, they'd set my husband off with an asthma attack or whatnot because of the mold covering the peat pot...

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    hey thanks Mike, I am gonna hang on to em for now, lol !!!

    veriria, i did not have any issues with mold on the plants or peat pots when buying from home depot.

    i also ended up buying a couple from walmart too, same brand, no mold...

  • ethnobotany
    12 years ago

    Nice grow!
    If you don't mind me asking, how much did that Mr. Clean tool cost you? How often do you have to change the filter?

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thanks ethnobotany...

    i think i paid around $20 for the Mr Clean Car Wash Auto Dry gun.

    1st 3 use filter got me about 6 gallons of water. I am on my second 3 use filter and it's provided 3 gallons so far. If this gives me another 3 gallons before degrading then the 10 use filter should be worth about 20 gallons of water...

  • TheMasterGardener1
    12 years ago

    LED is a good investment. Add 6500k cfl bulbs for some sup light.They should do nice.

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    just noticed the large plant has the smallest of small peppers starting.

    i'll take pics in the next few days...

    @TheMasterGardener1,
    i'm trying to see what this LED array can do by itself (from seedling to a plant in full bloom. Seeing peppers starting is another positive step in that direction. If need be I will add some cfl's...

  • wordwiz
    12 years ago

    aquaholic,

    Once the plants start flowering, IMO the LED will be even better. The problems I encountered with LEDs was the tendency of the plants to get leggy, meaning more Red than Blue light. But of course, red is great for flowering and fruiting.

    Mike

  • capoman
    12 years ago

    I can vouch for adding 6500K flourescent to LED. Plants even look better. LED alone tends to make leaves an odd purply dark green. Adding a couple of HO T5s around the perimeter of the LED seems to improve vegetative growth throughout the plant and improve color of the plant. I have the 6500K's lower then the LED. I put young plants on the outside under the T5's and larger, taller ones under the LED. The T5's light the foliage on the side in this config, which seems to work well.

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thanks mike...

    these plants are far from leggy. very short and bushy.

    biggest plant is 8 inches tall and just over a foot in diameter !!!

  • capoman
    12 years ago

    I've never had any issue with legginess with LED. In fact with LED alone, I get extremely compact plants. Adding 6500K T5 actually extended the node length for me a bit. My understanding with LED is you only get legginess when there is not enough blue LED's in the panel. Panels with less blue are more appropriate for the flowering phase. Adding cool white fluorescent to a red biased (flowering) panel should help to compensate.

  • wordwiz
    12 years ago

    Capo,

    I know! I bought my panel about three years ago when the makers were really into the red and even orange spectra. It's a 125 watt panel and my banana tree loves it. But I've tried basil peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and under stuff under it. Simple shop lights work better, at least for seedlings.

    Mike

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    here's some pics as promised. the biggest pepper is 1/2" long and the big plants blooms make it look like its about to explode with peppers.

    {{gwi:1021001}}

    and here is a shot of some other seedlings under the LED. these are going outdoors...

    looking pretty good so far... ;)

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    well i have peppers. 5 or 6 in about the 1 inch range.

    i'm about to try one for taste ;)

    Anyway, they are very healthy looking, just not big. in fact, both plants are small.

    btw, i have also started some lettuce under this LED lamp...

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    here are two peppers i picked and sampled. WOW, HOT !!! Yummy goodness, lol !!!

    also, i have determined this is much cheaper

    than this...

  • merrybookwyrm
    12 years ago

    Um, total newb here. The two jugs of water you posted pics of seem to be different kinds of bottled water? One distilled, and one drinking water? lol

    I'm in awe of you all. I've got the flourescents, the wire rack, and the south facing window, but just haven't had the gumption to put anything to growing in the setup.

    In the past, everything put in that window has done poorly, while everything put in the window 10 feet down the wall has done excellently well. Haven't figured the difference between the two places yet. Unfortunately, the window where things grow well is the sliding door to the yard and can't fit the wire racks into it.

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    hey merrybookwyrm,
    the two jugs of water are different. spring and drinking. first i bought one of each and took ppm and ph measurements. i decided to go with the drinking water. it's working great.

    i say go for another grow in the window. peppers are easy to grow.

    on a different subject, i also have some lettuce added to the mix now...

    check it out !!!

    {{gwi:1021016}}

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    a better picture of the lettuce...

    about to try some on a burger.

    {{gwi:1021018}}

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    about 5 days ago i decided this LED was putting out enough light to cover an area about 20" x 48", so let's expand the garden.

    i am gonna create some little ebb & flow unit's that i am awaiting parts for now.

    so 5 days ago i took clippings from my jalapeno plant, my basil plant and my tomato plants that are outdoors.

    {{gwi:1021021}}

    And tonight I got roots on all but one tomato plant so far... HELL YEAH !!!!

    {{gwi:1021024}}

  • bunnyman
    12 years ago

    I'm a fan of adding a flouresent bulb. All I added to my sprouting rig was a 17 watt grow bulb and it gave a notable boost in seedling vigor.

    Take advantage of LED coolness to get that light right down centimeters above the plant tops. Leggyness can come from the plants "reaching" for the light.

    I bought cheapy wall mirrors and boxed in my light rig... the reflected light really helps keep the lower leaves healthy.

    Michigan here so my garden seeds all get started indoors. A good ten years going now. I started by bringing my hps yard light inside... too hot. Switched to flouresent which worked good. LEDs now to work that electric bill down.

    Even with the nice cold LED bulbs I highly recommend having a fan blowing. The fan builds strong stems and circulates the CO2/O2. Seems to help the plants draw water.

    Might as well throw in glue pads for fly traps.

  • aquaholic
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thanks for the reply bunnyman.

    i understand legginess and stretching and do try to keep the light fairly close, but some seedlings have had at least a foot to the light with no signs of stretching. in fact, the node spacing on the peppers is really tight...

    i also keep a fan blowing on them.

    as far as adding a cfl or two, i want to see just what the LED can do on it's own and i would say it's done really well...

    here's the latest. basil rooted and in a new ebb and flow system i created...

    {{gwi:1021026}}

    {{gwi:1021031}}

    {{gwi:1021032}}

    and the lettuce has just gone NUTS !!!!

    {{gwi:1021033}}

  • bunnyman
    12 years ago

    Plants will do okay with just LED. Part of the fun is tinkering with this & that just to see what happens.

  • khyberkitsune
    12 years ago

    I recognize that LED light! WEX-C150! Those are some great lights, and you could order from the manufacturer in more customized spectrum (Figure out LED efficiencies for your reds and blues, and try to achieve a 35% blue 65% red mixture, more 660 than 630, and try to hover around 470nm for your blue to really hit both one chlorophyll and carotenoid.

    If you're lucky, that blue diode will also be based from a 370nm UV diode, so you'll get some additional boost in flavinoids, terpenes, and it does have some photosynthetic enhancement effects.

Sponsored
Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars254 Reviews
Northern Virginia Design Build Firm | 18x Best of Houzz