MC`s Forest Adventure

[markscastle]

I watered with a good batch of flowering tea today. Most of the plants are starting to show buds now. I`ll go for a load of water tonight at my buddies and I have 1 1/2 gal. of milk in the fridge to start spraying along with some neem and maybe some nutes to keep any mold away and foliar feed my plants for a good start. My son`s coming up tomorrow to work for me again. Going to try to finish the front frames except the staining of the wood. Might also go to town on a late night supply run? Well maybe and maybe not!

 

[markscastle]

got the ends framed in and got a load of water after I emptied the water transfer tank full of my friends well water. Going to BBQ some chicken tonight that can`t stay in the freezer any longer. Don`t think I want to make that trip to town today. I think it can wait.

 

[markscastle]

Got the frames almost done. Just need to cover the bottoms with plywood , stain and put in the screening. Oh and I should cut out the plastic for the ends so it won`t take so long when it starts getting cold. Also did some yard cleanup and doing some house keeping and personal care tonight. I`ll do my morning chores and fetch some water in the morning and ? More work of some kind, haven`t decided what yet.

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

framing and all coming along Nicely @markscastle .. Green Houses full of ladies looking good..
grow strong and keep em Green.. :-)

 

[markscastle]

framing and all coming along Nicely @markscastle .. Green Houses full of ladies looking good..
grow strong and keep em Green.. :)

Well they don`t look all that good, not a carpenter , but they will do the trick.

 

[markscastle]

Oh forgot those fans are 12 volt and have solar panels to be put up also. I`m working on a battery system to keep them running after dark and when the temps get above 85 they come on. will be using passive intakes but again working on a pollen resistant filter for the intake.

 

[geologic]

Everytime I hear this song now--
I think of this thread...

 

[markscastle]

Funny I forgot to take my afternoon meds and my feet were sort so I sat down while waiting for my nerve pill to kick in, woke up 6 hours later and way behind. I can`t do work in the garden at night because of the light problem so I`ll have to work extra hard tomorrow to make up for my nap time. I get little rest , plants come first. Everything else gets done around them or later in the evening. I`ve shut off my satellite for now, just no time to watch TV. I`m not only trying to hobble around and take care of my garden but I`m trying to get set up to grow off grid in winter and maybe year round until I get my farm in order. I`m getting older, won`t say just how old, but I only have so much time. Diabetes has slowed me down a lot and made my demise sooner. I have well over 50 years into growing and breeding cannabis. I have little to show for it, not money and not fame. And my love life has also taken a big hit. But when I see someone who is cured from censer or maybe just comforted from some other Illness because of cannabis it makes it all worth my while. Great I`ll have that song in my head now all week!

 

[markscastle]

Oh my birthday is coming up. Looks more and more like I will make it to the century mark if I can keep healthy ! Thinking I might retire at 100 ?

 

[markscastle]

Well I got a little ways to go to hit the century make. Lots to get done before that! Watered extra well today and started yet an other batch of tea. I also sprayed a little and took a late trip for some supplies. I need a few more things so will need an other trip or two. Got to pick up some Folar-Cal and stuff. getting stocked uo for when my plants are in full bud so I can sick around. Don`t know if I`ll have any help at harvest or to trim.

 

[markscastle]

Got 2/3`s of the garden sprayed with milk and water today. Ran out of milk but it`s on the list. Need an other trip to town soon. Maybe tomorrow? Going for a load of water in the morning early if I can get myself going then going to soak the plants before I decide if I`ll go to town or do something else.

 

[markscastle]

I finished the spraying and am supplied up , just need to do a trash run and maybe bring in all the recycle. I`ll have to go over the garden and catch a few spots I missed spraying and maybe hit it with some neem oil as well. It`s been raining so can`t spray neem until it warms up a little. just plug up the sprayer when it`s cool. I really do need to get up and fix my roof on the motorhome. I`ve gone over the one sky light twice and it still leeks a little. I can`t do that until it stops raining as well. All I can do is clean up the little puddle on the floor every once in a while for now. I guess I could go for a water run in the rain as the 1000 gal. tank is low. Maybe just watch a ovie and maybe do some dishes? I`ll have lots of trimming to keep e going later in the winter when the weather gets bad but for now there isn`t that much I can get done in the rain. May go visit my friend on the other ridge tonight if the rain lets up. Could use to get out of here and get baked with someone else besides myself. Thinking I might put in an other trailer when I get on the property and rent it out just so I got someone around when I need a little help or to watch the animals/garden when I`m away. Have to find the right person(s) though don`t want to get ripped off! Hey They could have there own garden so not as likely they would want to be trimming any extra of mine anyway!

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

Yeah,Go visit your friend .. get out for a little while,i know you dont like to
leave the gals alone ,but always good to BS and get baked with other Peeps..
:cool: esp if you dont have to go too far ..

 

[markscastle]

Only about 8 miles away. Sometimes I stop by on my way back from town or to the post office. Right now he and his wife are split up and coming back together, so it`s been a little strange as they are both considered good friends. Lots of emotions and felt they needed time to work on things without me hanging around to much. They both say to keep stopping by though. I was surprised to see them pull up for a short visit together at my place in the middle of it all. But they always seemed to get along anyway. He`s an old hippie and she is just a little younger. Both good people. Good to see they are back together.

 

[markscastle]

going for a load of spring water nand maybe a load of well water for the RV use later today. I am ready for a good dose of tea on the ladies and if I get time I`ll do some spraying today again. this week I`m going to be working on my roof `s and then back to working on the green houses. I`m also trying to get a good idea of what the cost will be for heaters to finish up this crop and also what else I need to grow a crop in the winter. I need to get enough plants going by November to do a winter grow and can keep them under lights to veg until this crop is pulled and the beds are all ready. Doing a back on back is going to be a challenge! I won`t have any time to waste getting the next crop started in time to get a good yield. I may have to take an offer up for a privet/personal loan in order to do so. I hate owing anyone ! I refuse to have anything to do with bank loans, but in a pinch I`m willing to work with a personal loan from a privet source. Not that I like to do so but I`ve done this before with him and he is fair and takes trade for product. That` also how I bought my 10 acres of land. Remember hemp was the first type of money some 6000+ years ago in China! LOL!

 

[markscastle]

Plants are looking good today, budding nicely. it`s cool this morning but should warm up to 79 degrees if the weather man is right. Nice and clear anyway. I`m going to get one load of water this morning and work on the greenhouses. Little bummed as I can`t afford enough nor can I borrow enough to be ready to start the winter grow ahead of harvest . I might try to do some clones and add a few hours of light a day to keep them in veg but I will need the office trailer to harvest in and not sure how that will work. If I can have them half way sized to plant I still might be able to finish them before the days get to long to finish flower. Problem is where to put them as it`s already getting cool at nights. No room in the greenhouses and they would need sun during the day as well as 6 or more hours a day of added light. They also would need to stay warm from the night cold that is only going to get colder. I should be able to barrow enough to finish this crop , heaters and solar powered fans but not enough for lights ,controllers, and CO2, etc. one problem is being off grid. Controllers need to be analog so they don`t need reset every time you start the generator. Where can I find analog controllers these days? I only have one and need two more. If nothing else I have enough to run one greenhouse through the winter. I`m not wanting to grow next spring with the way Butt County is these days , can`t afford 1000 a day fines ! One other possibility is to use the one GH and keep the plants in tubs until I can ready the other two GH for winter growing. The biggest having a place to grow the clones up until one of the greenhouses are done. May decide to just pull up the crop in one of the greenhouses early ! Better to lose 1/3 of a crop and get an other full crop in is the thinking. I also could try to build a smaller simple GH for the clones?

 

[markscastle]

Well got two loads of water with one of them still on the truck. Also emptied a tank off the truck of well water for the RV and cleaned out the spring . It had ,besides all the mud, maybe two 5 gal buckets of leaves and acorns in it. After I empty the water from the truck and water I`ll work on the greenhouses. I`m still not sure how I`m going to do a winter grow yet. I`m not giving up though. I might scrape enough money up to set up oil heaters and put fans up that need the generator until I can harvest and process what I have. I may then be able to get better equipment before the hard cold hits. Still working on where to veg clones until I have room to plant them. Somehow I`ll make it work, just hate wasting time and money doing it twice instead of having the greenhouses all equipped right the first time. But if that`s all I can afford then that`s all I can do. I still may be able to make it work if the weather doesn`t get to cold ,to fast. I guess the thing is I`ll have fully covered greenhouses and fans , even though they depend on generator power for now , the oil heaters can always be used later for backup. Wish I had more indoor space and better power set up. Also wish I had thoughts longer summer days to get more done in the light. with plants in flower I can`t even turn on the lights to work a little into the night!

 

[markscastle]

Looms like an other storm coming in Tuesday- Wednesday. I need to get my hump going to be ready and get as much done in-between the coming storms of winter. That time of year!

 

[markscastle]

I`m working on a plan to incorporate solar and wood fired hot water with solar powered 12 pumps or 120 volt with inverter(s) along with ether 12 volt circulation fans or 120v fans with an inverter. thinking to use pool solar water panels to pre heat water going into a wood fired hot water heater , then into an insulated tank. a 12 volt pump or 120 volt water pump would circulate the water on a thermostat control. The heat exchange would be small car radiators with 12 volt fans. Air circulation fans would also run off the same batteries and be charged by solar panels or the generator using 12 volt car radiator fans or maybe 120 volt fans with inverted power from the same battery bank. 12 volt diminishes with distance so thinking the trade off between efficiency of converting from DC to AC maybe made up with being able to run power over a greater distance without nearly the power loss of 12 volts. I`ve seen passive solar water collectors work to keep the temps up in Greenhouses but I`m not sure they would work well enough in dead winter. I have a 12 gal wood fired hot water heater now to use for the project. I can build solar water panels so I`m looking for a large insulated water tank ,solar power system, thermostats and water pumps that run on 12 volts and can take the heated water temps. also looking for 12 volt radiator fans or may use regular 120 volt wall mount fans with an inverter(s) and a good battery bank. I think some fans need sine wave power but auto 12volt fans do not.
I plan on using kerosene heaters and my light tower with diesel generator to start the winter grow until I can complete the heating/ air circulation project. I`ll still need a generator to run some 400 watt MH shop lights 6+ hours a day to veg but plan on using the extra power to help keep the batteries charged for the solar heat exchange and air circulation system after it is done. The idea is to use as little diesel as possible and not have to run the generator more than a few hours a day but keep the Greenhouses warm and air flowing 24 hours a day in winter. A plus would be being able to use jumpers from a running car instead of a generator to keep batteries charged in a pinch. The average charge time with a car is about 20 min. for a full battery charge. It would take massive solar power to run say 12 400 watt MH shop lights but the rest of the system should be do able. I wouldn`t need the shop lights to come on when in flower anyway, just while plants are in veg. I`m alittle worried about hot water system building up pressure with the wood fired hot water heater so the return would have to be an open system like a large open tub and the cooled water them pumped through the solar water heaters into the wood fired heater before going into the insulated tank. a separate pump would then run the heated water though insulated lines and through the small car radiators with 12v fans on a thermostat then return to the open collection tank to be re-heated again and again. water being added to the open cooling tank as needed. I also need to think of a way to have water treated with an anti-freeze that is plant safe if the water leeks anywhere along the system and to insure that id the system fails at some point the water freezing in the pipes causes no extra damage to the system. So the anti-freeze needs to be of food grade and not animal/plant toxic. any idea what I could use to treat the water with?

 

[SmokesalotofVT]

Hey hey @markscastle .. Look into Propylene Glycol. http://www.thermalfluidsinc.biz/
i don't know much about the subject,but holyyyyyy Molyyyyyy ,quite the system Plan.
hope alls going well and Girls are happy.. Grow strong~!