MC`s Forest Adventure

[SmokesalotofVT]

Hey MC how's it goin? hope all is good man its been hot and Muggy over here too
thank mankind for A/C :-) until last night we got a break finally, looking forward
to a few Pics of your greenhouses.. Anyway stay cool and keep the Girls Happy
like always...
Grow strong

 

[markscastle]

Yep cooling down but muggy. I got the water tanks full and watered late last night so I could sleep in a little. going to work on a couple of some of my more fun projects , take those pictures and kind of take it easy today. It`s cooling down and my son should be up tomorrow to continue working on the barb wire fence. plants are making there upwards growth now, just starting. mostly looking good. Only got two of three greenhouses screened and was waiting for the last of my clones to put in I had ordered. I got them but they aren`t much. I `ll show the last greenhouse in the pics but they are all different sizes and I won`t get much on some of them. I added a few extra of the smaller ones to try to make up on yield. Just have to wait and see. Got a strong batch of grow tea going also.

 

[markscastle]

 

[markscastle]

Two pics of the top GH, then the middle GH and the last GH has a bunch of different stuff all different sizes and not in a SCROG. I was going to pump the tea in the tub into the 325 gal mix tank but have to charge the 12v battery first, then I can feed my ladies ! I also need to fill my 225gal fresh water for the RV and my son could be here any time to work on the barb wire fence. cool and had some sprinkles last night and this morning, but it dried almost as fast as it landed. No lightning though so I`m happy ! It`s so dry and there are so many fires about the area right now, we just don`t need anymore fires going on!!!

 

[coloradoBTC]

I like the color of your wood.

 

[GrowGod]

Awsome looking GH's!!!

 

[markscastle]

I like the color of your wood.

cedar stained.

 

[markscastle]

Yep look like they were built by a drunk guy, but thanks. They aren`t done yet. putting up screens along the sides and framing them in on the ends. Got solar powered vents and screen doors to put on them also. I`ll do the frames in screen so it keeps the moths and bugs out and the lady bugs in and plastic will cover the screens in Fall. I`m looking into heaters and lighting for a Winter grow next. My big problem is using the office trailer for drying doesn`t leave me with a place for moms and clones for the next grow. I really want to use my own genetics and have 60 nice size clones to put in the beds as soon as I can pull these . But where do I put them while drying the plants I`m growing? They will need a few extra hours of light on them to keep veg going until ready to be flipped in Winter. I`m hoping to have Spring and Fall harvests.

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

Now we're talking.. things are looking good .. @markscastle glad your able to stay
cool and have some good help this season.. Ladies are getting big :)
Good work~!! grow strong
also a few new pics in my thread if ya get the chance..

 

[markscastle]

Son`s coming up to work on the fence today, hope he finishes it. I`m playing catchup with the water. Taking 500 gal. a day now and the spring`s flow is to low except in the early mornings. Makes it hard and I can`t sleep in to save my life. Glade I have the extra 2600 gallons of water put away, I may need it!

 

[markscastle]

Fence is nearly done. Son`s coming back maybe Friday to finish it. Then we can work on the greenhouses next. I need a couple loads of water and I should be full up on water after this mornings watering. The plants are really growing fast! nice straight stocks that will become colas like I wanted. Should make drying and trimming a little faster , not sure if it will increase yield yet but it does when Scrog is used indoors so it should.

 

[markscastle]

Up early again. Got a lot to catch up on this weekend. Going to clean out the spring, fill the 1000 gal water tank, water with an other batch of tea and fill the 325 gal. mix tank again. I have a small fun project to do and need to get ready for a trip to town for laundry and fuel. I also need to pull the water transfer tank from the truck and get some plywood for the end frames. pull the Lister generator to town for a new muffler, pull the wood splitter to town after filling a leeking tire and get that fixed and start getting supplies to work on the office trailer. My son got the barb wire fence done and a few other smaller things. Thinking we will start getting the above ground beds insulated before putting the side screens up then the ends framed in. the plants are filling the screens out still while also growing up future colas fast! More pictures coming. I`m thinking it`s going to be a chore cutting the vegetation under the screens but it will cause the auxins in the plants to send the tops up faster and allow more air flow. Once the tops grow in the vegetation under the screens won`t get much light anyway and will not contribute to any real plant growth anymore. All the bud sights will become above the screens. I am worried the colas will become to tall and heavy and want to bow over into the walk way between the above ground beds or maybe every which way so a second larger screen needs to be put around the tops of the colas at that point(somehow). colas will need some support but I don`t want them to expand tight inside the upper screen , but have a small amount of room to wiggle with are flow.

 

[markscastle]

ops , air flow Ha Ha !

 

[markscastle]

Well I got one load of water and started my small fun project. The spring was to low by the time I got the one load. I`ll try again tomorrow I guess. The one load and what was already in the 1000 gal. tank half filled it and didn`t water or use the tea because it was cooler today and it didn`t need it. yet. Still could have done more but my feet hurt all day. I`ll go for a load of water in the morning and clean the spring out , then water with the tea and get ready for the trip to town, maybe Monday? Try to get some pics posted tomorrow night?

 

[markscastle]

Well watered with the tea and got the 1000 gal tank nearly full. Only got two loads before sucking muck at about 10:30 am. I went to town last night and got fuel and some food but need to do my laundry and ether pull the wood splitter down to fix a slow leak or the Lister generator to have a new muffler put on. I just took some pictures of the garden(following). They are growing fast but a few look like they are in flower. I checked in on a local garden nearby and his are in full flower. Thinking maybe I need to pick up a light tower so I can keep them in veg longer and I won`t need to get . wire and set up a string of lights. the 4 /1000 MH lights should cover a 40 x 40 ft area the Green house take up and would also give me an other 6.5-7.5 KW of diesel power. Have to act soon!

 

[markscastle]

Ok checked out light towers and found an older one for around $1200. it has 3 1000w metal halide lights is an Onon diesel two cyl. air cooled with unknown KW generator that has 120/220 outlets. Or I could get 15 200w MH shop lights for $300 but would have to wire them up fast to get them working in time to keep the plants from going into flower. I could run the shop lights off ether the gas Honda or the diesel Lister generators. Both would be about 3000w. the difference would be the shop lights would have an even spread of light and would be cheeper , but would take more time to get set up where the light tower would need little and give me a second diesel generator. I`d also need to install the 100 gal transfer tank in the truck to get diesel fuel but could use the 200 gal fuel trailer to hold fuel. Can`t take the 200 gal fuel trailer to get fuel until I get the truck fixed to tow. If it works I`d be able to triple the yield of my plants as they need to veg a lot more. It would set back harvest but would be worth the wait. Only thing is I`m not sure which way to go and have little time to decide. This needs to be done very soon or I`ll end up with small plants and a small harvest. I could buy both and set the light tower up to run the greenhouses and the shop lights as well as fans and vents or maybe even some electric heaters and dehydrators later when the plastic goes up on the ends for the winter grow. That would leave the Lister to run the office trailer and RV`s. After the harvest is done I could use the office trailer for and indoor and the light tower/generator for the greenhouses. I`m going to need more fuel storage regardless at some point. I just hate spending money and am not sure what I want to do. ether way I can run lights in the greenhouse for an hour a day ether between 5-6am or 8-9 pm but it`s going to light it up like X-mas without a cover to block the light off. Thinking less people around to see the light in the mornings, but I hate getting up so early and would have to in order to turn the lights off and on anyway. If I was on grid I could just set up a timer switch to do that. It`s just so hard to do anything off grid and so expensive .

 

[markscastle]

I think the weather and the smoke from the fires caused the plants around here to go into flower a little early. It`s almost that time of year anyway , I am just running behind setting things up. It hasn`t been that Smokey. but it could have contributed.

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

As usual I see that Mind of yours Is always Working on something.. @markscastle Hope ya get it figured out
with them lights.. plants look happy :-) .. Grow strong Be well & stay High~!

 

[markscastle]

As usual I see that Mind of yours Is always Working on something.. @markscastle Hope ya get it figured out
with them lights.. plants look happy :) .. Grow strong Be well & stay High~!

I did, I picked up s light tower last night. Runs three 1000w Metal Halide lights using a 12,000 KW diesel Cummins generator. I thought it was high hours but, besides being an older military unit it only had 5000 hours on it. It`s bulky and heavier than the newer models but not in that bad of shape. It , like the Lister needs a muffler. It was being used for a high school football teams outfield area for practice until they ended up putting in new lights and didn`t need it. I parked it over a ridge or two at a friends on the hwy. Going to take it down for a muffler after chores today. I even found a sticker where it was serviced less than 8 hours of use ago, by the date that was last year. Explains why the battery was nearly dead on it as it was sitting all that time. Once we got it running it ran great. Not much for looks though. I ended up getting it for $250 less than asking with a new battery and some newer tires switched out on it. First good deal like that in a long time! I think it`s worth about $2500 more than I paid for it ! Put a muffler on it and a paint job and I could maybe get more for it if I were to resale it.

My son came up while I was out and put more support ties on the barb wire fence while his girlfriend did a super job on house cleaning for me! He tried to take the Class 3 hitch off the old Silverado for my 3/4 ton but couldn`t find a socket for the bolts. I`m thinking I need a breaker bar or maybe an extension for the 1 in drive snap on wrench. An extra foot of pipe that slips over the end might work to loosen those bolts up? I see he shot some penetrator fluid on them anyway. I also need to find a 2" pintle hitch receiver. I had to use a pin receiver to pull the light tower and it banged around as I increased or slowed down from the slack. Always more and more stuff to be getting to get the work done.

 

[markscastle]

Took to late to get my chores done and clean up the area to back the light tower after I bring it in for a muffler. By the time I bring it in and if they could get it done today it would be dark before I got it back up the hill. I`ll take it down in the morning. Got to get it working ASAP though to stop early flowering soon as possible. Bad is no lights on the tower and it blocks my brake and turn signals on the Blazer. It also doesn`t have a license plate or title. I don`t think that`s required for Ag equipment anyway. But it isn`t safe to tow after dark!