Indoor Mars Hydro Grow Journal (2x) TS600 + 1 TS1000 Bruce Banner + Critical Mass + Gelato - Check out the pics!

I'm gonna take your advice on this. Now that I'm at 100% recommended nutes I'll monitor BB for at least a week, see how he responds. Maybe he just wanted more nutes. Hope so, not worrying about PH is a positive to me. Thanks for all your feedback NL!
Your welcome. It is recommended however to use ro water with AN ph perfect nutes. Your using tap. I'm not sure how the two react? @autobeast do you use tap or ro or distilled? Is it ok to use tap with AN nutes? If your using tap what is your starting ppm autobeast and also CDN88?
 
Since this is a Mars Hydro competition, I figured let's talk about the lights a bit.
As mentioned I'm new to growing. I wanted a cost effective setup that wasn't going to compromise on quality. I could always move up down the line if I wanted more. So browsing on Amazon I see the Mars Hydro lights have pretty good reviews. A lot of the negative reviews were people saying two of the RED LED's are dim and burning out. Of course those are the IR lights that are supposed to be exactly like that. So factor out those comments and the reviews are pretty solid for Mars.

So I got a 2x4 tent and two TS600's. Pretty good I thought. Started a photo period grow with four Black Banana Cookies. The plants were doing quite well, couldn't complain. But I think for the size of the tent the two 600's were ok, but not great. So I decided on adding a TS1000. PERFECT!! Once I added that baby in between the 600's my tent lit up. It's super bright in there now. My first grow was a SCROG, very packed in there and the light still penetrated deep into the bush. I had excellent yield and the plants flourished.

I will note the 600's can get a little hot. I run a fan that is aimed across the top of the lights. This keeps the 600 closest to the fan very cool and the one furthest very warm, but not hot. The 1000 doesn't get as hot as the 600's, not even close actually. Must be a much more efficient light/power supply.

Now the 1000 has a dimmer. But with my limited knowledge I don't know why or when to use this. So far I only use it when I have to stick my head under the lights for whatever reason, I dim it so I'm not blinded. Other than that, is there a stage in the grow where I should dim this light? I assume seedling only? IDK, I keep it full blast 100%

Also, love that it comes with all of the adjustable ratchet straps you need. Makes setup super simple. The free stickers are cute, but a tip to Mars, don't bother sticking the ones on the actual light, after a day of running the lights they starting peeling off due to the heat. They come off easy and clean, so no big deal, but I can't imaging they stay on anyone's light very long.

I am running my autos on a 20 on 4 off schedule. Thoughts?

Anyhow, I really like my Mars Hydro lights. There seem to be a fantastic bang for the buck. I'd like to add another tent for seedlings to 6 weeks old so I can cycle plants and get a rhythm of veg / bud going and have harvests more often.

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You can see the fan I run above the lights. And another below aimed at the plants. With this and the exhaust fan I get a lot of air flow going on and it keeps the warm internal air and cold fresh air mixing nicely.
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One more thing I did for my setup was add a HEPA filter to my fresh air intake. You can see below I bought a furnace filter and Gorilla taped it to the side where the fresh air is coming in. I did this on my second grow because of two things.
1) Late stage of my first grow I started battling powder mildew. This was my fault as some trimmings I had off to the side in a bucket started to rot and got moldy. The fresh air sucked that in and then it was a major pain for the last weeks of my grow. So this HEPA filter will help to keep spores out.
2) We seem to have some fungus gnats in the plants in my basement where I have a side room where my tent is. Frickn gnats are brutal to eradicate, but any that get into this side room where it's dark get attracted to the glowing furnace filter. Every time i go in the room I look at the filter and if there are any gnats on it, which often there are 1 or 2 I kill them right there. Bingo, now they don't get into my tent.

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Hey, mate, really appreciate your comments for mars hydro lights.
For the TS 1000 dimming function, you can use it at germination and the early veg, considering that you also use 2 TS 600 light, you can dim it to 50%, and the hanging height 18'' around, help saving power bill. And you also can only use TS 1000 at the germination stage. Remember growing and flower stages, turn it to 100%
For the stickers, I think that putting them on inside of the grow tent is great :smoking:
Thanks for joining our contest, happy growing, and best luck for you.
 
Thanks @Marshydro ! Gonna be hard for me to beat @WildBill . I see he's a long time contributor and has a lot of respect around here. But gonna give it my all. I have my eye on that SP 3000. Would be perfect as the main light in this 2x4 tent for flower and would start another tent for veg. Get a good cycle going from one tent to another. Would also love to reveiw the progress of a SP 3000 grow. Woot woot, having fun with this hobby. looking forward to growing with this forum. SP 3000... you're mine baby!! lol
 
Good luck. I'm in this competition too with Jammy Dodgers from Mephisto. :cheers: Whoever wins is gonna be one lucky s.o.b. lol. The competition here is real tho for sure!! Watch out. Lol
 
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Your welcome. It is recommended however to use ro water with AN ph perfect nutes. Your using tap. I'm not sure how the two react? @autobeast do you use tap or ro or distilled? Is it ok to use tap with AN nutes? If your using tap what is your starting ppm autobeast and also CDN88?
Iv always used water straight out the tap.and couldnt tell u anymore info.cause I dont check ppm. Biobizz light mix buffers itself and keeps itself in ph perfect range.trust the soil.and magic will happen.happy growing every1;)
 
Iv always used water straight out the tap.and couldnt tell u anymore info.cause I dont check ppm. Biobizz light mix buffers itself and keeps itself in ph perfect range.trust the soil.and magic will happen.happy growing every1;)
Sounds interesting. Might have to check it out Might have to try that on one girl on my next run testing "Pinky Tuscadero" . It would be interesting to see what it will do.
 
Thanks @Marshydro ! Gonna be hard for me to beat @WildBill . I see he's a long time contributor and has a lot of respect around here. But gonna give it my all. I have my eye on that SP 3000. Would be perfect as the main light in this 2x4 tent for flower and would start another tent for veg. Get a good cycle going from one tent to another. Would also love to reveiw the progress of a SP 3000 grow. Woot woot, having fun with this hobby. looking forward to growing with this forum. SP 3000... you're mine baby!! lol
For your tent, that SP3000 would be perfect! It's an outstanding light. You will love it.
 
***Day 20***

Ok I took NorthernLight_42's advise, he sent me some emails as well, and I left the PH alone. Upped the nutes and Brucey is turning green again!
I promise to never check PH again lol. He was just starving it would seem.

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And Critical Mass is looking wonderful!! Love her. Look at the size of her fan leaves. That's a 5 gallon pot she's in. Her leaf is almost as big as my hand. And she is a real nice colour, this plant is looking really really healthy.


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Baby Bruce is still tiny and Gelato is finally growing a third set lof leaves.
 
***Day 22***

WOW what a difference 1 week makes. Going to post some comparison photos from today compared to 7 days ago.
First Bruce Banner Comparison: Huge difference. Bruce is reaching out beyond the pot circumference and is growing pistils everywhere! Really greened up since increasing nutes and looks like she's gonna tear her shirt open soon and explode!

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Next Is Critical Mass, 7 days ago she was a tiny little shrub. Today she's so thick and bushy it's crazy. Some of these leaves are almost the size of my hand. As mentioned these are 5 gallon pots, look how much she's grown in one week!! Love it!!
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My first photo period didn't have this type of explosive growth so early on. It's like every time I open the tent they are bigger. Before I know it they'll be all grown up and moving out of the tent.... into my rolling papers lol.

I knew they were growing quick, but when you compare the 7 days growth it's quite amazing. I can see now why Bruce wanted more food, he was begging for energy to get big.

Wondering, on average, how tall with an auto get? CM looks more Indica right, with the bushy shape and fat leaves? They were both hybrid's but i assume Indica dominant on CM and sativa dominant on BB? Thoughts?
 
Looking excellent! Great job!
 
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