beluga logs it all et al

[Milson]

Hi, which light are you using ?

He made it. You can read about it in the thread's beginning.

 

[Dirtbag]

View attachment 1077397

Another thinking thing - those floors were dirty.
For a salt-based hydro setup, those floors should be pretty spotless.

I think I need to put tent cleaning into my regular maintenance.

Maybe leave the shoes at the door...

That sounds like a good reason to filter the intake air. And leave shoes out of the tent 100%. I leave my footwear outside when i come into the shed.
Even with filtered intake air i notice the fanblades on my hurricane fans get dirty between cycles. Even in a rockwool setup with filtered intake air and an active 4" fan and filter circulating and filtering air inside the shed, they still get dirty. Air is dirty...

 

[beluga]

We Back!

​

Welp. It's been a while. Life got busy, as it do.
To keep me busy from being too busy to do home improvement (let alone horticulture projects), I got this adventurous little fella -

And that's about all the update that I have from the last time I posted.

Except...

Making time for this again :

Severely downsized in a garage that is sealed as if it were wrapped in cheesecloth.
Hot af in summer. Cold af in winter. Decent in the mid seasons.

I've got plans. Dreams. Etc. We'll see what I get around to. I might just cram this box full of whatever I can pull off ()
• I can build up.. and slightly out (if I remove those cabinets to the right). Depth is set at 30"max ... so.... vertical, we'd grow.
• I want to modify the hydro system... nothing extravagant, just some refinement of the LP Aero/DWC thing I've had going.
• Heating is one thing. If I frame out and insulate instead of using tents, I can get by the winter. Cooling, on the other hand... I'm picturing some sort of lung room cooled by an AC unit in the gable vent. Or maybe I'll just see it fit to dish out for a portable AC. Or maybe I'll just hang up the trimmers until the following temperate season. Sep - May ain't bad.
• DIY light fixture is still kickin'. It's the perfect footprint for 30" x 48", and I love the mental image of a vertical stack of three rooms lit by those bad boys. A man can dream.

yupyup!

Good to be back.
Eager to see familiar and new faces.

 

[beluga]

Sprout Day!

And we're off!

On deck this time around:
• Trainwreck x Blue Velvet
• Blackberry Kush x Skywalker OG

All but one, boarding late:

Happy to be with this glow again.


• New tote, quite suited to the footprint; modifications to come over the weekend.
• Gotta get some environment going in there.
•

 

[BudGoodman]

Welcome back, Dude... Good looking dog.

 

[Moshmen]

Glad see ya back ! Nice looking pooch and seedlings
Happy grows
Mosh

 

[beluga]

Mornings in the garage hit different.
There's a window dead east; the garage door, south.
A dull but pervasive smell of dried gasoline and wood dust fill the drafty air.. still.. so much fresher than the moldy basement.

I think I'd rather battle the temperature than fungi.

Taking a break from making some improvements. I'd post some progress pics, but A. I'm not sure it'll even work, and B. I'm in go-mode. No time for documentation.

Hopefully I'll report back with said improvements complete by day's end.

 

[beluga]

I've been in the kitchen.
Here's what I'm cooking:

Decked it out with some white, to be completed.
Annnd this trypophobic nightmare:

I wanted to try to address two issues; one, root clusters interfering with the water pump. And, two, (maybe) the stability of each trunk on top of the flimsy tote lids.

I could (and probably should) have just slotted these pieces in the same fashion as net pots, but I just got going and there was no stopping me.

But....

We have life!

Just some final touches and we'll be ready to put these plant friends in their final home... hopefully it'll be a good ratio of females.... I'll just throw that in the vault for later, but I'm hoping these tubes also make for an easy time removing individuals, as it'll prevent such an entangled root mass.

Got some circulation going, not a bad climate in there considering the higher temps/RH today.

Had one bite it due to maybe the severe RH swing? Seedlings and clones... propagation... has always been a weak point of mine in the process. Gotta work on that.

 

[Aqua Man]

I've been in the kitchen.
Here's what I'm cooking:

View attachment 1273078
Decked it out with some white, to be completed.
Annnd this trypophobic nightmare:
View attachment 1273079
I wanted to try to address two issues; one, root clusters interfering with the water pump. And, two, (maybe) the stability of each trunk on top of the flimsy tote lids.

I could (and probably should) have just slotted these pieces in the same fashion as net pots, but I just got going and there was no stopping me.

But....

We have life!

Just some final touches and we'll be ready to put these plant friends in their final home... hopefully it'll be a good ratio of females.... I'll just throw that in the vault for later, but I'm hoping these tubes also make for an easy time removing individuals, as it'll prevent such an entangled root mass.

Got some circulation going, not a bad climate in there considering the higher temps/RH today.
View attachment 1273080

Had one bite it due to maybe the severe RH swing? Seedlings and clones... propagation... has always been a weak point of mine in the process. Gotta work on that.

Great stuff bro

 

[beluga]

Steady as she goes.

Got everybody situated, albeit lacking some hydroton to top them off. No big for now, the rockwool will take care of them long enough.

For the time being, I'm just gonna throw the sprayers on for a few minutes morning/evening. Not used to using rockwool, but, even through the hydroton, they were well-saturated in short order, and don't seem to use it up too quick... yet.

And someone finally decided to join the party. Curious, that one had the most roots poking out

 

[beluga]

1 Week From Seed

• Topped off the hydroton.
• Set the pump for 30m on twice a day.
• Gave them a trace amount of PBP Grow.
• Gave them a proper amount of Hydroguard.

Manually 'watering' them quickly proved ineffective. Let 'em wilt pretty hard due to just human error, so I'm back to having the robuts do it for me.

Doing alright considering

And suffice to say I'm pretty satisfied with how effective the water spread is. I think I'll want to modify the sprayers to go around the perimeter as well as center... just to really even everything out.

But... they wet

 

[beluga]

Wasn't expecting this so soon

3 of 6, both varieties.

Establishing that second node now, too.

So...

• Upped the sprayer cycle to 4x 30m cycles a day.
• Gave another light dose of PBP.
• Upped the intensity on the light a bit. Probably at ~70% now.

On the note of varieties, I definitely didn't mix them up. Definitely not.

Anyway.

 

[beluga]

Diabrotica undecimpunctata​

Or, cucumber beetles.

Opened the tent to this little fella rummaging about on the sprouts.
Initially thought ladybug. Then concern of mites, etc. set in. Then I took a closer look.

Although new to me, it's a widespread herbivorous pest, and it makes sense it'd be around, given the fully neglected veggie garden outside.
They prefer cucumbers as their common name suggests and reproduce in soil, so it was probably of little concern, but I evicted it nonetheless.

I read that they are attracted to bright yellows like those of cucumber blossoms.

So, that prods me to cover up the yellow of the tote lid fully.

It does have me alerted to the reality that pests will be a more likely variable in the garage environment, unlike the basement. So, I'm going to need to:
• Set up filtered in- and outtake fans. (Intake is already situated, I've just had the tent only partially sealed, equalizing the pressure.)
• Consider topical/foliar treatments for both pest and disease. At least up until flower.

It's not like the garage is swarming with insects, usually just the rogue here and there attracted to the bright light.
I imagine the filtered ventilation will take care of most of that issue.
Oh, and maybe actually closing the door

 

[Dirtbag]

We Back!

​

Welp. It's been a while. Life got busy, as it do.
To keep me busy from being too busy to do home improvement (let alone horticulture projects), I got this adventurous little fella -
View attachment 1272035View attachment 1272028View attachment 1272029View attachment 1272031View attachment 1272042View attachment 1272030
And that's about all the update that I have from the last time I posted.

Except...

Making time for this again :
View attachment 1272048
Severely downsized in a garage that is sealed as if it were wrapped in cheesecloth.
Hot af in summer. Cold af in winter. Decent in the mid seasons.

I've got plans. Dreams. Etc. We'll see what I get around to. I might just cram this box full of whatever I can pull off ()
• I can build up.. and slightly out (if I remove those cabinets to the right). Depth is set at 30"max ... so.... vertical, we'd grow.
• I want to modify the hydro system... nothing extravagant, just some refinement of the LP Aero/DWC thing I've had going.
• Heating is one thing. If I frame out and insulate instead of using tents, I can get by the winter. Cooling, on the other hand... I'm picturing some sort of lung room cooled by an AC unit in the gable vent. Or maybe I'll just see it fit to dish out for a portable AC. Or maybe I'll just hang up the trimmers until the following temperate season. Sep - May ain't bad.
• DIY light fixture is still kickin'. It's the perfect footprint for 30" x 48", and I love the mental image of a vertical stack of three rooms lit by those bad boys. A man can dream.

yupyup!

Good to be back.
Eager to see familiar and new faces.

Good to see you back around my man! Life do get busy. Been taking a break on the forum myself for a while. Nice to see ya growing again, and congrats on the cute pup!

 

[beluga]

Good to see you back around my man! Life do get busy. Been taking a break on the forum myself for a while. Nice to see ya growing again, and congrats on the cute pup!

Thanks man! It's been a pretty great little frustrating and rewarding adventure with him and it's just getting started.

Great seeing you OGs still knocking around, even if sporadically.
I see they finally bullied you enough into letting LEDs into your garden

 

[Dirtbag]

Thanks man! It's been a pretty great little frustrating and rewarding adventure with him and it's just getting started.

Great seeing you OGs still knocking around, even if sporadically.
I see they finally bullied you enough into letting LEDs into your garden

They didn't have to twist my arm too hard! Was pretty happy with how well they grew as well to be honest.
And yeah I still lurk around a bit, mostly chat to peeps in PM's but I do stroll out into the forum to see what's new from time to time.
How did your crop from last year turn out in the end? Iirc you were dealing with pm near the end there but were managing to hold it off.

 

[Observationist]

Took out some undercarriage. Pruned some tops. Flipped to 12/12.
I've read topping just before flowering helps to manage height. We'll see how that goes. I've got a few more feet to work with, so it should be hunky dory either way.
View attachment 1050692
View attachment 1050694

Progress on the light:

View attachment 1050698View attachment 1050701

- Frame 'assembled'.
- Driver wired with power cord and dimmer.
- Wago conductors connected.
- LED strips applied / half of them wired.

Should be quick work to finish it all out when I receive the extra 18awg wire tomorrow.
My dumbass mixed up the gauge of wire and I ended up wasting too much of the 18awg to finish it out.
View attachment 1050706
Lots of notes on this build and I'm already eager to start my next one with more confidence and a more streamlined process.

I love the tote

 

[beluga]

How did your crop from last year turn out in the end? Iirc you were dealing with pm near the end there but were managing to hold it off.

Turned out pretty damn well even with, yeah, the PM cutting it short.

Washed it well, let it dry pretty quick in the low winter humidity, and it didn't spread to any of the finished product thankfully.
I was pretty salty about it at the time and didn't take final weights, but I'm pretty damn sure my gram/watt was quite satisfactory with the diy light.

 

[beluga]

Day 10

Pretty hot today, so I did some testing ( I know, unusual).

max air temp: 88°f
rh: 55%
res temp: (am) 78°f (pm) 81°f
ph: 6.2

Here's the lineup:

We'll see if that formats well

I'm pretty sure the front row is the BBK x SWOG, back TW x BV.

All of the TWBV have roots protruding the netpots.
The BBKSW has one with roots out, one without (although still keeping up leaf growth), and the third was pulled after its picture.

Gonna flip these fairly early to sex them and to keep height down. Don't need the mess I dealt with last run.
All goes well, I'll land 4 ladies
Otherwise, improvise.

 

[beluga]

Back in the kitchen, cooking up some...

Working within 26"D x 46"H x 56"L. I prooooobably should have given myself a little more height to work with, but I want to stack another box on top at some point, so I think it'll be just right if I execute it just right.

On that note, here's what I've got to work with:

From the first run with this light, I noted its canopy penetration was only ~18" max, probably 12" of really good bud production. So... here's hoping. 24" of clearance, ~4" light/canopy buffer... I'll work it.

Just a few more things to get it really purring.
• Finish insulation.
• Add door.
• Frame out ventilation points; vent.

I'm pumped. I've been wanting a permanent, custom-fit grow space for probably 15 years. 15 years of tents. Next time I see a tent it'll be too soon.

Is it perfect? Nope. But it'll be something that I can learn to dial in and optimize with some constancy.

On the plant side of things, everyone has roots out of their net pots and we're about ready to get into some heftier feeding

I'll probably flip them at the 4th node, which I suspect will be in the next week (Wednesday is the 14 day mark.) So, I've got some doing what be done before then.