i’m growing under all 3500k boards and last round all plants went longer than suggested by breeder, looks like i’m on track to finish on time or an extra week with this round
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I guess there are just so many variables it’s hard to tell if it’s LED alone that makes things finish faster. I know my Juanita la Lagrimosa finished a week faster this last round under my COBs than my Blurple one. Same containers, soil, and nutrients both runs.
Running her again in the no-till now, I’ve heard Coots claim the Malted Barley Powder (MBP) decreases flowering times by 15%. That’s a pretty bold claim, but I think the combo is killing it for me.
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A post was split to a new topic: Brix Mix Recipe
I fixed it! muuaahahahaha, I’m flexing my moderator power today. 
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none of the above, friend! i was simply interjecting a bit too much info in regards to the Barley malt & apologize profusely. i’m still learning the OG manners. Also, because i take things too personally, i must protest-- i sell nothing! i am poor & unhealthy & scrape by on food stamps, detest money & everything related. Ouch.
i have more to say if we care but it’s not a big deal to me, just want to clarify if i mis-posted, & thanks for understanding.
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edit: ignore last few words please
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Faster, slower. If you have patience they are both the same thing.
What matters is grams per square foot per week.
It is the only metric that makes sense. We can ignore grams per watt, it is almost worse than meaningless unless you are bumping up to your power limits and have lots of space left. In that situation only, grams per watt makes sense.
Quality is important as well, if plants that finish early are better or worse quality that matters.
So :
If you finish in 90% of the time but get 85% of the yield then faster finishing is a bad thing.
If you finish in 90% of the time but get 95% of the yield then faster finishing is a good thing.
If the yield per square foot per week is the same but the quality is worse then that is a bad thing.
If the yield per square foot per week is the same but the quality is better then that is a good thing.
So, how does the yield and quality compare between faster finished plants and ones that take more time?
Only the answer to that question will decide if the faster finishing is a good or a bad thing.
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To you that’s what matters my friend, not everyone.
I was simply curious. I would not be growing strains that can flower as long as 20 weeks If I was worried about finishing faster.
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Totally agreed, not everyone. That is why I also said about quality, which is the other thing to measure. I find the people who do not care about yield really care about quality.
I am curious to know about anything which will affect the plants, which is why I asked about the other things. If the only change is faster maturing then that is pretty neutral.
If though it affects quality that is important, and if it affects yield that is also important. People talk about grams per watt a lot as though it is the only measure for lighting. People who care about grams care about yield.
I quite like this thread as it shows there are other things to consider than just grams per watt, which as I said above IMHO only really matters if you have more space and no more spare amperage, or if you are running against other limits, like heat. Spectrum is the new area for development it seems.
I am interested if there are other changes as well though, not just faster flowering.
I too am interested in varieties that are not just the short, heavy, mainly indica commercial crop plants. I have decided to restart breeding. I did it decades ago and talking here has rekindled my passion. I want to make my own stable line, not just lucky F1 crosses.
These days though getting male plants is harder than it used to be.
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I agree - if we take one week off flower, does that mean we reduce the yield by 1/6th? The plants are only making flowers for about 6 weeks indoors. Hopefully the plant’s metabolism actually runs faster & produces the same yield in a shorter time - it does look like that is happening.
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Our latest round is showing an overall increase in growth rate from seedling on and the last autos the missis grew finished the best yet in terms of taste and potency. Maybe some of the terpenes are being fried off by all that radiant heat from sodium fixtures and now that’s no longer an issue. All i know for sure is that last blue amnesia she grew finished under led’s and is absolute dynamite and so so sweet tasting. It’s by far the best yet and shes now grown that one 4 or 5 times 
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Im Outdoorgrower, but i recall the Anwser and found it to sound believable (im rather questioning all i hear) : Red Parts of Spectrum promotes faster flowering. It fits perfectly your Observations: Casuse majority of Leds have a propper amount Red Parts, whera Metalhalyde have not as much. Still Metalhalyde has a pretty full Spectrum tho, but red is slightly on the Weak side.
(Metalhalyde also have nice UV, so, nothing against Metalhalyde)
Blue Parts promote Vegetative, and Red Parts promote Flowering growth,wich can speed up Flowering one, two Weeks.
I speak of knowledge that having an equal and rather flat Spectrum of Frequencies is atleast in Sound /Acoustics absolutely essential ! Im pretty shure its far better to have a flat and also Hole-less Spectrum.
I rather like to compare the wanted Spectrum as the Sun-Spectrum, not the one that Plants will absorb. The Sun is the Optimum, and the only reason why growing 20 Weeker Equatorials in northern Spheres doesent work MAY be the Intensity of Light NOT the Change in Spectrum. Otherwise the northern Sun would be as perfect as equatorial (Thailands) Sunshine.
1: First Graph shows what i found to be the closest to Sunspectrum, namely Plasma Lamps (LEP) :
Notice the rather consistent flat Line of Sun Spectrum… It is decreasing slightly to the Red side too, but its just a slight decrease from left to right, and basically FLAT.
2: Secound pic shows again Metalhalyde (was also in pic one). Metalhal. has just not too deep long Holes, no big Deficites, its overall pretty good aswell
3: Third is the Led, wich would be also pretty flat, wouldnt there be that typicall hole aroud the green Part… Leds would be pretty spot on otherwise, it also hasnt that possibly dangerous spikes of Metalhalide.
Even not hundret Percent knowing, i highly highly suspect its wise to imitate Sunspectrum if you want Quality. If you want efficieny its another Quest, and you might make complet different Choices.
In therms of Floweringtime, yes, abundance of Red can slow down flowering about two weeks
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I have tried a few combinations of LED’s but i have pretty much settled on 3500K as the best temperature for dual purpose lighting rigs. Especially when height is an issue, the high blue content helps reduce stretching and you get nice tight buds in bloom.
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They ALWAYS go longer than what breeders say lol. Everything you see is 8 weeks, whereas in reality strains that are truly done in 8 weeks are pretty rare. A good rule of thumb is always add a week to whatever they say when planning things with new strains.
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I always had strains go longer than breeders suggest when I was using hps but now under led they seem to be less than suggested times. I thought it was just me but I’m guessing there is some truth to that.
I just had a blueberry with 20% amber at around 45 days. Could just be genetics as the other blueberry went about 55 days with 10% amber and a much better yield.
I still finished a week or 2 sooner than suggested flower times.
…and if trichomes get ‘bruised’ or oxidized they can go brown at any stage, so there’s that. 
Not implying anything 
