Little update some may already know from the DIY led thread, I finally put together my DIY bridgelux strip light. Pics don’t do justice for the brightness. I’m pretty excited things worked the way they did had Amazon not lost my package I’d be using 2 blurple lights like the one I just used, I’m not knocking that light cause it grew weed but I think this upgrade is just gonna be a lot better, I was gonna do a step by step but it was to easy to need to, I have low confidence so sorry if I sometimes come off as completely stupid . But here it is all lit up . I also put a really long cord so the driver can stay out of the tent, cord may actually be overkill it’s like 10ft .
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Well done buddy…nice job
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Got these coming tomorrow gonna use 4 , 1 in each corner to hang the light.
And these seem to be finally taking off they were feeling a little slow.
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Light hangers were here when I got outta bed this morning.
Also decided to mix up my soil today and have it ready for transplant.
4 - 3gallon pots filled 2 with the VPW30 and filled another with sheep manure and the other with perlite which was about 3/4 of a pot so topped it off with VPW30 .
Than dumped it all in a tote and gave it a good mixing, and put it all back into the 4 -3 gallon pots, had a sample pack of root rescue from the grow store that I mixed with water like it says on the package and watered all the pots of soil with it. They’re outside drying out and will be ready for transplant when my plants are ready.
I am hoping this 2nd grow is going to be much better than the 1st, upgraded light, better soil mix and abit more experience as well, for the 3rd grow after this I am thinking about either getting in on a seed run if something comes up that will work with my set up or I will order some seeds. Which leaves me wondering if I order should I get photo’s or Auto’s , guess that will be my next bit of research.
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Just a little update, the bigger 2 are 23 days in soil and the smaller are 18 days.
Later this evening I am thinking I may raise my carbon filter and exhaust fan to maximize space and thinking maybe tomorrow evening I may hang the new light and possibly transplant the plants into 3 gallon pots.
Also I had gave my friend/co-worker my 3 harvested plants to re -veg , I guess 2 died but one is working, he said when he emptied the 2 that died out of pots there wasn’t alot of roots and he thinks it may be from under watering, what does everyone think about this? He has a good amount of growing experience but I am just looking for input to improve future grows.
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Another small update I’ve raised the exhaust fan and carbon filter this evening as well as ran the ducting out the top rather than the side, I also hung the rope hangers in each corner for the new light and I’ve also rerouted some wires… I’m not sure if the oscillating fan is going to cause issues with the new light because the light won’t be able to go any lower than the fan. A before and after pic I never even thought to actually take one but after looking through pics I found one not the greatest but the few inches gained is visible.
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I got ambitious this evening and the new light went in the tent ,much better than that purple light! Also transplanted the plants into their 3 gallon pots they will finish their life in. Also took a root picture of each plant, i am not sure if they’re good healthy roots anyone feel free to share their knowledge 
I am not sure how hot the driver will get but I had a small fan so decided I’d put it on the same timer and let it blow on the driver.
Funny thing I thought my tent had no light leaks, this new light proved that wrong, seeing small pins of light in a spot on the curve of the zipper.
I will update as things progress.
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Looks like somebody is moving up.in the world. Nice upgrades Rob, I think you will be surprised at the increased yields
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Definitely happy with these upgrades! One thing I am learning is it never ends, no matter what I upgrade my mind always has plans in the works for the next upgrade. I am confident the yields this time will be better than last, got full coverage lighting this time which will be perfect to LST the heck outta these.
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Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread but the how tall is your tent? Lovin the looks of that light! I have a 315 W CMH in my 4 × 4 × 5’ tall and I’d love to go this route next time my bulb fails.
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Thats cool man I’ve considered building a light too but im not confident in my abilities in electrical stuff lol. If you dont mind me asking and sorry if you’ve covered this somewhere on this thread but what is the total power draw, do you know the par values and what did it cost you to build in comparison to buying a similar one of equal power? The plants sure seem to like it bud. Good work so far my friend
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@Canofbusjoe the height of my tent is 60" (5 feet)
@Joboo if it is something you are interested in I wouldn’t worry to much about your electrical abilities it is pretty straight forward I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and there was all Kinds of great info here as well as great people willing to help, i know it’s 240 watt but not sure if that’s out of the wall or not, pretty sad I don’t know much about it all I know really is it was a big upgrade compared to what I was using and the light is 3500k, the total cost for me was about $290 but I needed to buy everything except the cord to plug it into the wall. I’m going to see if I can find some info on wattage and par values and what it compares to as far as to buying something that is plug n play(if anyone knows feel free to chime in) when i find this info I will update you.
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thats cool man. The new tent im getting comes with the spider farmer 2000 so i wouldn’t be building one for atleast a little bit but 3500k is nice especially for the price. The numbers you’re talking seems like the actual power draw from the wall would be the 240watt but is probably equivalent to the power of around 1000w hps or close to it. A lot of these style of lights with the rails a nd fhe larger square frame and all that tend to be $600 at a minimum and we all know they go up to over a couple grand when youbare talking commercial grade. Good to know it is pretty damn straight forward for a couple dummies like us lol. Thanks for the info rob
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Wow that’s some heavily frosted looking dank you got there @rob0781 things will get easier as time goes on! Keep up the great work!
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Make sure you bond any non current carrying metal to the ground wire from your plug. That means anything metal that isn’t supposed to have electricity on it i.e. Your frame ect. Trust me 
I’m an electrician. But Seriously. That way if any wire gets frayed and touches any metal it will trip your breaker in stead of electrifying said metal until you touch it 
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@Canofbusjoe thank you for that advice, very appreciated! I am definitely going to do this as soon as possible definitely want things safe.
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Looking good bud
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