Week 6 Flower. Sativa dominant genetics, Grown in soil under 600w hps, FFT, cal-mag, blackstrap, Recharge, 35-48 % rh, 66-82.5° (farenheit). Hey guys, I need some help with my 1st garden. Any anecdotal or technical advice would be much appreciated. I’m currently mid week 6 of flower and i can’t seem to get the temperature below 82°F during the 2nd half of the light cycle. I’m concerned about loose, airy buds and subpar quality. I have a newly purchased HLG 550 eco that isn’t in use and i know it would most likely solve my temperature problem.
I’d put the hlg550 in right now for the increased light benefit. And 82 degrees shouldn’t be a concern at all.
As long as you have good air circulation.
82 isn’t going to kill you, but it sounds like you are saying that is your lowest temp later in light cycles. If you are getting much higher than that by the end of the cycle then maybe set up and additional fan on a timer set for the second half of the cycle and blow it directly at the light to cool it. When I ran HID lights I would suck air in thru the filter and then thru my (ducted) lights and then out.
82 degrees under an LED is fine, got 3 plants in those conditions and they’ve got pretty dense buds…not the best ive seen but dispensary quality at least.
I’m at 85 with no problems
82 is fine for temp and you rH looks good too. Just remember that good air circulation is key.
With LED, that is a good ambient temperature. To help keep your leaf surface temp in a good range, make sure you have a bit of wind moving over the top of the canopy and also make sure the it has proper water. Drought stress can dramatically increase your leaf surface temp. The plant is looking good, well done.
Would switching from the 600w hps to the LED cause any stress?
Do you know the leaf temps?
Switching to LED will give you a change in spectrum, environment, and intensity. There may be stress and it may or may not be negative depending on the sensitivity of the plant. High heat could be detrimental, so I would have no issue switching to LED. If the leaf temps are not in the upper 80’s, I would consider finishing as is.
Unfortunatley i don’t know leaf temp. Probably a good device to invest in though.
I decided to go ahead a make the switch. Its something i have commiserated about since the HLG arrived. Hopefully it goes well.
Thank you all for your input.
I think you made the right call! It might cause some stress, but being able to drop the temps the last few weeks of flower is worth it. That HLG eco should be a great replacement. The LED will put out less heat, AND it will allow you to run at higher temps without damaging your terps. On average, the ideal air temp for led rooms is probably low to mid 80s, ideal temp for hps rooms is probably mid 70s. This difference is due to the infrared light from the HPS affecting the the leaf surface temp (as the crew was saying in the comments above).
I would hang the new led a full 36 inches off the plant at first and really ease her into it by lowering the light a little bit each day. Lighting transitions go a lot smoother if you are gentle about it and slowly increase the intensity over a few days.
Thats solid advice. I dimmed the HLG down to about 70% and will incrementally adjust higher to 100% over the next week.
I sincerely thank you. Ive put so much thought, love and effort into this one plant and am emotionally invested.
I recently experimented and find HPS to be far superior for flowering than LED… in general. Also prefer LED for veg only. and I got more density from pruning a nice high lollypop and using soil as well as watering in as cold as it comes out of the tap in winter. not sure if this helps but if the LED doesn’t fix your problem try pruning that sucker till you can see its armpits.
I mean aggressively prune the next ones under carriage