Mars Hydro SP250 Test Grow

[iShatterBladderz]

I have always been critical of any Mars Hydro and their “blurple” lights, as well as any company really selling these lights and labeling them full spectrum, so when I seen they had new lights made from epistar’s SMD diodes, I just had to try it myself and see If this light compares at all to a Quantum Board setup, which I use in my main tent. I picked up a 4x2 tent from them as well, I think the combo was about $400. Everything arrived and is all assembled, just waiting for some new Rapid Rooters to arrive and I will be popping in 2 of @Useful Seeds’ Orange Cookies x Chocolate Diesel fems. Once the seeds are in the plugs, I will start updatin regularly with progress, so anyone that has been curious about this light, feel free to follow my journey! Attached are some shots of the tent assembled!

 

[iShatterBladderz]

Just an update, everything is ready to grow, going to pop the seeds into rapid rooters tomorrow! Will update as progress is made!

 

[gwheels]

That is awesome. I wondered how these new mars designs work. I think they may be very good for a tent grow and the price is very reasonable.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

That is awesome. I wondered how these new mars designs work. I think they may be very good for a tent grow and the price is very reasonable.

This is what I am hoping, so many people local to me buy the purple lights under the impression that they’re full spectrum and the best option out there, and i always recommend QB’s but they either cant afford to order them from HLG or they aren’t comfortable using Alibaba. If these are comparable to my samsung diode QBs, I’m sure once I finish this grow, there will be a surge of people ordering these lights in the Tulsa area LOL.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

Seeds are now germinating!

I mixed up 1/8 tsp of recharge into a gallon of RO water and let a couple rapid rooters soak in it for a while. I put the seeds into the plugs and removed a little bit of the bottom of the plug to cover the hole at the top. I filled the bottom part of the tray with 1/4” of water and filled each cell in the top part of the tray with 1/2” of perlite to wick up the water. Now we just play the waiting game until we see some roots and its on to the next step!

 

[Jewels]

They are side by side because they are going to be best buds.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

They are side by side because they are going to be best buds.

That they are, these ladies are going to eat their feelings and get all fat & sticky.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

These ladies have popped up to say hello! Dug a little hole in two 1 gals of coco/perlite, sprinkled some recharge power in to help the ol roots, planted them into the hole and gave them a little water. Time to let these ladies do their thing!

 

[iShatterBladderz]

Sorry its been a while without an update. We’re in the not so exciting stage of growth right now, where they are spending a good portion of their energy establishing their root zones. They do seem to be doing well so far, Have been feeding a light mixture of 1ml/gal Dynagro Foliage-Pro, now that we are at a week since sprouting, I am going to start slowly increasing Foliage-Pro strength, and add in some ProTekt. I have also been treating with recharge every other day by filling up 8oz of water and mixing it with 1/8tsp of recharge, and than pouring 4oz of recharge water directly over the stalk of the plants. I will continue to do this as well, except as the plants get bigger, I will up the dosage a bit as well as the volume of the mix.

Notes about the light: It seems to be doing pretty well in terms of delivering energy to the plants. The one issue I have had so far is the heat the light puts off. I have the driver outside of the tent, and my tent is in a room that stays at 70-71 degrees Fahrenheit, and even with the driver outside of the tent and a fan blowing air over the light itself, it still heats my tent up to 78/79 degrees. Not a big concern really, my leaf surface temps are still only about 76, but I am going to have to brainstorm ways to get the temp down a little bit during flower, as I like to be a little closer to 70 during flower stage. Not nearly as much heat as an HPS would put off, however its a decent amount more than my Quantum Boards I’m comparing this to. With the driver outside of the tent on my quantum board, the temperature increase is very small. I do wonder however, If this doesnt have something to do with the tent the light is in. The only other tents I’ve ever used (not counting homemade setups) have been the heavy duty version of the Gorilla Grow tents, and these are very well insulated. I have the driver for this light, sitting on the window sill about a foot behind the tent. I might try moving the tent further from where I have the driver sets, to see if that makes a difference.

Attached is a picture I took yesterday or the day before, after feeding. They’re chugging along!

 

[Sc006]

I saw your name and I'm like where do I know that name from.. Dudegrows show or whatever it's called lol.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

I saw your name and I'm like where do I know that name from.. Dudegrows show or whatever it's called lol.

Hey that’s me! I love those guys!

 

[iShatterBladderz]

They’re chugging along, ran into some humidity issues whenever we had to turn the heat on in the house, but I added a humidifier and they seem to be loving it so far. Started spraying Optic Foliar Overgrow today, that’s why you see drops on the plants’ leaves. will spray twice a week up until flower.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

Last picture I posted was taken on day 12 from sprout, up until that point I had been feeding just 1ml/gallon of foliage pro , with recharge every other day. Monday, I upped my feed to 2ml/gallon FP, and did my first foliage feeding with optic foliage overgrow (I use twice per week up until flower). In the last two days, they have exploded in size, so much vigor. This picture was taken today, day 12 from sprout.

im going to finish off what I have premixed right now, and then next mix I will add in some ProTekt as well.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

15 days from sprout, these ladies have exploded in size over the last 4 days, it’s insane. Currently feeding 2ml/gallon DG Foliage Pro, 3ml/gallon DG Protekt, recharge @1tbsp/gallon every other day and optic foliar overgrow twice a week.

 

[iShatterBladderz]

18 days from sprout, transplanted to 3 gal smart pots on day 17. Ladies were just sprayed with optic foliar before taking the picture.

 

[Sc006]

How's that light treating ya? They look decent for the price, I took long hard look at them but decided on diy cobs. Just wasn't much info on them at the time. Plants look happy with it

 

[iShatterBladderz]

How's that light treating ya? They look decent for the price, I took long hard look at them but decided on diy cobs. Just wasn't much info on them at the time. Plants look happy with it

They seem to be doing pretty well so far. Plants are growing like crazy right now, so there’s sufficient light for growth at Mars’ recommended distance for veg. I feel like flowering stage is where we will really be able to see how this stands up to the likes of a quantum board or COB setup.

 

[sandman83]

just to chime in here, I have 2 of the sp250 and they treated me decently well for this run. I'm considering another 2 so I can use 4 in a 4x8 setup.

 

[Hust17]

@TheSadVeryBadMadGrower

edit: Damn it, did this journal die?

 

[TheSadVeryBadMadGrower]

I got some completed grows under the Mars TS lights. Their SP and TS models are doing great.