First grow room - let the wild rumpus begin!

[ttystikk]

That would be great, but it would also put a pipe across the back of the house. Can't disrupt 'the view'. I may be able top scratch it into the hill side enough to hide it. If I could get enough of a drop from where I pull water to the area behind my shop I could use a ram pump. That would be most economical.

As long as you use enclosed pipe, it need not follow a slope; as long as it doesn't end up above the entrance height, all remains well. It can rise and/or drop substantially along a route and still work as desired.

 

[greendreams]

Wow, I just read through this whole thread... holy crap that room looks awesome! (lol @ the cat in the ganja tutu)

 

[Swany]

Wow, I just read through this whole thread... holy crap that room looks awesome! (lol @ the cat in the ganja tutu)

HA! If you think he looks good in a party dress, you should see him in his formal wear ;-} Thanks Greendreams.

The important parts of the room are together (whew) and I'm running. Last night I got two tables finished and we move the African Elephants out of beer cups and into 5gl buckets.

Just a basic hydro setup. Res is down on the left with an EcoPlus 185 feeding the two Black Hole drippers. Drains are located near the bottom of the buckets and drain back to the res. I though I would put the drains up a bit on the sides and put air stones in the buckets, but the guy who got me started in hydro put the drains down low. I have two air stones in the res so the solution is aerated. He says the top feed will drip solution down the roots ad it's all good. I still think there should be more solution in the buckets....

The plants seem happy. Sure seems like I had an inch of growth from yesterday... My nute mixture has a certain unknown quantity to it. I intended to run a custom, non branded formula that Tyystikk shared on my post about nutes and topping up. There are a few raw minerals I could not get when I went looking for them however. Leaning on the hydro guys experience we mixed up a batch using Cyco A and B (the Jacks Hydro was not in yet) and the other items I had found there were close to basic minerals. Just today I asked another local guide what the local dispensaries look for. Before he always said the think they look for most is 'the look'. They want good looking bud. When prompted he also said they prefer organic or natural fed weed ( hmmm - I wonder what 'grass' a grass fed cow eats? imagine how a 'grass' fed cow would taste.. ;-). So now that the Jacks I ordered just came in today I'm starting to think I might switch. I was looking forward to Tyy's recipe too. Maybe I can switch in a few weeks and call it good.

Also got an 8" fan to upgrade my 6", and I'm going to put some more inlets in. Actually one more but larger. I want to make sure the room stays cool enough. When the weather turns again I plan on a CAP variable fan controller, then use the simple on/off controller I have now for a heater.

A few more pics -

Blues City Diesel, running 12 of these and 4 Cynics (Cinics..?)

What the top of my tent looks like - just in case you were wondering ;-} The conduit on conduit rollers didn't work so well, but I can still raise and lower fine.

Man I get a kick out of looking at this! I'm betting I'm not the only one who gets silly grins when they pass though the plastic and step into their room.

Lastly, I still have the cloner running. There are 5 or 6 plants in it that we though we would keep going in case one that we moved did not do well. They all did but I don't want to just dump the rest of the clones. Though maybe I would put them in pots and see how they did. Problem is they seemed to get shocked when we had the cloner open. None of the transplants had an issue, but most of the remainders did. The tips of the small leaves all seemed to disappear, then the rest of the leaf tried to grow around the missing tip. You can see it in some of the pictures. Other plants just plain got wonky.



Got a dance workshop all weekend so don't know when I'll get the cooling upgraded, but when I do you'll hear it here first ;-}

p.s. - drat, I had all the pictures adjusted so they did not take up the whole screen, and then when I posted they went big. grrrrrrrr.... And now somehow the sleeping cat got tagged on the end again but it dose not show up on an edit. I guess you can print the full size and tease your dog with it ;-}

 

[Swany]

I forgot this earlier - I was looking at induction lighting and found this wild set up -

You can see the complete set of photos here on the Inda-GRO website.

 

[Swany]

I got the new fan put in this morning. I bought a 6" fan originaly because it moved 435 cfm, more than twice the power I needed to change the air in my room every 5 minutes, and because I was naive. I knew I would not get all the claimed air movement but thought i would get at least half. I didn't even think about heat in that equation.

Old fan -

New fan -

The new fan is rated at 720 cfm and an 8" hole has about 50 cu in of volume. I did not replace the cabon filter - which is rated at 500 cfm. I'm hoping I can get buy with this for this run, or if not I'm going to try everything else first ;-}

Here are the results of increasing force without increase the hole to shove it though;

After running all night, the room was at 81 degrees.
During the fan swap - 84 degrees.
30 min after pluging the new fan in - 78 degrees.
Outside temp is 58 right now.

I will try the new fan without the filter at some point to see what that does, but first I think I'll open another vent. A much bigger vent.

 

[One Flip]

I got the new fan put in this morning. I bought a 6" fan originaly because it moved 435 cfm, more than twice the power I needed to change the air in my room every 5 minutes, and because I was naive. I knew I would not get all the claimed air movement but thought i would get at least half. I didn't even think about heat in that equation.

Old fan -

View attachment 314086

New fan -

View attachment 314088

The new fan is rated at 720 cfm and an 8" hole has about 50 cu in of volume. I did not replace the cabon filter - which is rated at 500 cfm. I'm hoping I can get buy with this for this run, or if not I'm going to try everything else first ;-}

Here are the results of increasing force without increase the hole to shove it though;

After running all night, the room was at 81 degrees.
During the fan swap - 84 degrees.
30 min after pluging the new fan in - 78 degrees.
Outside temp is 58 right now.

I will try the new fan without the filter at some point to see what that does, but first I think I'll open another vent. A much bigger vent.

If that can is not a one piece with a 6" flange remove the reducer so is does not restrict airflow

I would probably add ac or a chiller at this point. You can calculate the size you need and maintain a steady room temp.

If you still want to cool using fans it's more of a trial and error...maintaining temps by exchanging the air in the room is cheaper on the power, but not nearly as stable.. You need to get at least a 12" out with a c125. And then use your 8&6 as ins.

To give you an example, a room your size with 6-600's would barely survive with a maxfan 10" and a maxfan 8" running constant.. You would probably hit 90 a few times during the summer.. Your 4k runs hotter.. I would run around 1500 cfm out and 1000 cfm in.. You can use speed controllers to control exhaust and intake for when it starts getting colder out.

Looking how clean your set up is so far... Get a heat pump or chiller.

 

[ttystikk]

You need to CONTROL your environment. Exchanging air at a breakneck clip isn't control, because you can't manage both temp and rh this way- never mind co2!

The decision about whether to choose ac or a chiller should be made based on your operation's local climate. If it's generally damp, get ac. If it's generally dry, a chiller will work far better.

 

[One Flip]

Tty did you ever find out any more info on that heat pump that you were taking about a couple weeks ago?

 

[Swany]

If that can is not a one piece with a 6" flange remove the reducer so is does not restrict airflow

You need to CONTROL your environment. Exchanging air at a breakneck clip isn't control, because you can't manage both temp and rh this way- never mind co2!

The filter is a Cabonaire one piece. If (when) things get too bad I can back up the filter and increase airflow to get a little better performance. I don't need to worry about the smell for short periods of time.

This morning the RH out doors was 70%, not exactly dry. In the grow room it was about 38%, a little too dry I think. Temps are hitting 80 now.

I cut a new inlet into my room early Sunday morning, a total of about 100 sq in worth of hole. That makes about 240 sq in of inlet.

While cutting the hole temps got up to 88, which can be nice if you're a CA transplant to WA but not so much for the plants. When I kicked in the fan again the temp came down to 78, outside temp was 66 at the time. So - outside temps where higher but the added vent inlet dropped the temp a degree lower than just installing a bigger fan.

So I turned the lights up to 100%

As I said, this morning the temp was 80/81 (I have three thermometers in the room) and the solution temp was 76. You guys are right - need to control the environment. Over the next day or three I'm going to put insulation around each tub to try and get the solution down. Hopefully if the black tops arn't getting hit with the light it will make at least a few degrees difference.

So I live in a wetter climate which would indicate AC, yet my indoor RH is below optimum, if I'm correct. I'm thinking chiller, especially because I have a creek full of cold water. I just gotta get to doing it...

Anyway, some shots of the little ones playing nice in their room -

 

[One Flip]

This morning the RH out doors was 70%, not exactly dry. In the grow room it was about 38%, a little too dry I think. Temps are hitting 80 now.

You want to get your RH a minimum of 60% preferably 70% at this stage. In late flower you can drop to 50%.

I cut a new inlet into my room early Sunday morning, a total of about 100 sq in worth of hole. That makes about 240 sq in of inlet.

Are you cutting a big hole in the wall on an adjacent room to keep your intake air cooler? Ya lost me. Please explain..

While cutting the hole temps got up to 88, which can be nice if you're a CA transplant to WA but not so much for the plants. When I kicked in the fan again the temp came down to 78, outside temp was 66 at the time. So - outside temps where higher but the added vent inlet dropped the temp a degree lower than just installing a bigger fan.

So I turned the lights up to 100%

As I said, this morning the temp was 80/81 (I have three thermometers in the room) and the solution temp was 76. You guys are right - need to control the environment. Over the next day or three I'm going to put insulation around each tub to try and get the solution down. Hopefully if the black tops arn't getting hit with the light it will make at least a few degrees difference.

So I live in a wetter climate which would indicate AC, yet my indoor RH is below optimum, if I'm correct. I'm thinking chiller, especially because I have a creek full of cold water. I just gotta get to doing it...

You need to get your water temp down to 68 or 69. I would hop on Craig's list and get a small water chiller regardless of what your going to do in the future and get your water temps right..unlike humidity this cant fluctuate and needs to be dialed in

IMO. 76 - 80 is where I like to have my temps. Some like up to 82. Your humidity is low now but will be a lot higher when the weather changes and your room is packed full of plants.. Keep that in mind when deciding between ac and chiller..[/quote][/quote]

 

[Swany]

You want to get your RH a minimum of 60% preferably 70% at this stage. In late flower you can drop to 50%.
Are you cutting a big hole in the wall on an adjacent room to keep your intake air cooler?

Hey One Flip - Thx. The vent hole is cut in a wall separating my room from a carport. This allows outside air into my room. I built a box around the hole on the outside to hold a 16"x25" furnace filter and place a pollen rated filter in it. I have two of these arrangements now, one at either bottom corner opposite the carbon filter.

The RH in my room is really low then, and the RH out doors is just about right... Then the RH is dropping as the 70% air goes up in temp about 20 degrees in my room. I can put in a humidifier but with all the air moving through the room it would not be very efficient, I would think.

I'm starting to better understand how handy it is to have a sealed room... Though I'm not going to get it sealed for this run.

 

[ttystikk]

Tty did you ever find out any more info on that heat pump that you were taking about a couple weeks ago?

Not really. The main difference between current models and the new type is that the electric motor driving the compressor is replaced by a single cylinder internal combustion engine running on the same natural gas that's delivered to homes for heating.

Instead of waiting for the new tech- which after all this time is only just now beginning to hit the market- I would tell anyone looking into it to just get a normal heat pump. You'll still save a damn fortune over running ac.

 

[Swany]

Day 12 of Veg

The plants seem to be healthy, but not growing very tall..



Most are Blue City, what I've learned is a cross between Blueberry and NYC Diesel if the info is correct. The tall three fingered one is Cynix, which I have not learned much about. I'm thinking they are short because the nutes I set up were not quite per instruction. Friday night I will change out the majority of the water for a Botanicare Pure Blend advanced formula.

Am I wrong, are the plants a normal-ish height?

I am making 'heat shields' for all the tubs, but with an abundance of heat and not a whole lot of time I just covered the top of most of the tubs for the short term. This didn't seem to do too much for solution temps, though the solution temp is down to about 76 now. This is most likely due to the room being around 77 after pulling the filter back from the exhaust fan.

A look across the room -

 

[Swany]

After the last post I pulled up the thumbnails of the individual plants to see the full size images out of curiosity. At full size I can see a lighter leaf color around the edge of the leafs, and they do look kinda light. Would this be low N? I saw pictures of leaves and what they look like under different deficiencies but I can't remember where...

 

[Swany]

Day 18 of Veg

Been very busy and laggin' on the updates.

Since the last update the plants had filled out more, but didn't seem to be growing very tall. A friend told me to cut back on the light, and a few in the Med forum told me to raise the lights. So I did both; dialed the ballast back to 75% and raised the lights 6" or so. Keeping the ballasts at 75% also keeps the room around 77 to 79 degrees. Hopefully the room will soon be cooled with creek water and I think I figured out how to get water up from the creek with no more power usage. I'll document that as I get there.

The four in the back of the above picture are a differnet strain - Cynics

The tops seemed to be reaching a little higher so I celebrated by tying them down ;-} Save for two that I topped one of which being the farthest right in the above shot.
Here are a few shots of individual Blue City Diesels, the majority of the plants,



And two of the Cynics



And one of the African Elephants that will be a mother when she grows up



I changed out the nutes last Friday night for a 'by the book' Botanicare Pure Blend mix. Worked until about 3 in the morning 'cause I had to finish the drain pump plumping along with have two friends stop by to chat for a couple of hours. Long night. In preparation I changed the nute pump plumbing to enable mixing -

by turning the two valves on the right the output of the pump feeds back into the res. After 50 gl are mixed and stable I spin the valves again and send the new nutes into the system.

I also put up some shelves across from the tank for all the nutes

I can't keep my desk clean for a week. Fortunately this trait does not extend to the grow room ;-}

 

[Swany]

Day 24 of Veg

I went out of town for the weekend. After care and feeding last Thursday night it was too late to post and update, had to get up early Friday morning to leave. Here's a pic I took that night 6 days after I cut the lights to 75% and pulled them up a bit -

And here is what I came home to Sunday night -

A close up of the large Cnx (the right spelling... maybe)

I also found these guys roaming around on the table in the work room where I keep the two African Elephant moms -

I spent 15 minutes hunting 'em down and squashing them, and will hopefully not take so long tonight when I go in. I can't find them in the books I have. They move slow, and are a millimeter to maybe 3 mm long.

Anyone know what they are?

 

[Swany]

Day 26 of Veg

Not much to report, except for they're getting bigger ;-} Seems like the young ones eat and drink about the same. Currently they go through about 4 gallons a day, and after 5 or 6 days the ppm goes up from 1120 or so to 1280 or so. I add 35 gallons, mix in the Pure Blend for 30 gallons and leave the other 5 gallons to dilute the rest of the mixture.

I also raised the lamps again because it seems the plants are reaching a bit more. Still quite bushy though...

And close ups of some of the plants if you are interested -



Some of the stems are pretty darn big it seems, but Blue City's are just not that tall. The Cnx, especially the one in the back is huge in comparison. I'll be taking a mom off of that one.

 

[One Flip]

Looking good.. They have made a big turn around since your trip. Keep rocking it!

 

[Swany]

Looking good.. They have made a big turn around since your trip. Keep rocking it!

Thx One Flip. Backing off the lights seems to coaxed a bit more stretch out of them. I had the thought to change the bulbs from MH to HPS early to see if the redder light would help them reach. Swap them but keep them on 18 hours still.

 

[Swany]

Day 28 of Veg

A quick update - trimmed the plants last night and am contemplating flipping them this weekend. I wanted to grow them out a bit more, but I also have to have them down and dry before the end of August. Still don't know if they are an 8 week flower, more or less. May hold off another week...