summer 2011 - blackout tent needed

[Dunge]

I live at a far northern latitude and would like to flower some plants outside this summer.
I'm thinking of growing them inside until June then placing them outside to take advantage of the almost constant sun.
Come July my thought is to cover them with a blackout tarp so as to limit light time to 12 hours for July and August.
I have nothing but an idea here. No idea what the tarp will be made of or how to prevent the environment from going toxic while covered. (humidity & temperature)
I was thinking of building a greenhouse frame over a small grow area and dragging a tarp over it at 7PM, them removing it in the morning at 7AM.
If the tarp is large enough I might be able to stake up the edges for air flow but still provide enough shade to trick the plant into thinking it is night.
Any advise on a blackout tarp are welcome. Black plastic is cheep, but a few holes could mess things up.
How likely is this to work?

 

[ibTheMan]

if u got some money, they make one that does it electrically. it would b hard to do it every day without it interfere'n with life.

 

[mellokitty]

some of the best outdoor i've ever had was tarped SoulShine - you wouldn't have thought it was outdoor. they were some dedicated farmers though. (hint: they pull off 2 harvests in one growing season in interior bc)

i guess you could also consider an autoflowering strain? they're less affected by light.

 

[Dunge]

These are the girls I plan to put outside in a blackout tent for summer 2011.
I saw an RCMP bust video that showed me how to do it.
Visquene tent, forced air ventilation, & canvas tarp for blackout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxqfkkLUhk&feature=related
I'm thinking of getting them outside in early May and letting them veg for a month or so. Then start with the tarps morning and night to give them 12/12.
Should have a tent full by Mid August.
Stay tuned.

 

[Gartner]

Marijuana outdoor growing in summer

Summer is quite tought for the growth of the plants, But you can do it,
Just make sure the availability of the water, in summer the plants consumes some 25 to 40 gallons of more water as compared to winter,
so make sure your plants get infinite amount of water.
the soil should store one inch of water per square feet .
Wishes...:harvest:

 

[Blaze]

So long as you a vigilant about pulling the tarp twice a day and do not screw up your light cycle it should work fine. It only takes one or two missed days to affect the plants development. Also you will very likely have to pull the tarp back at night after it gets dark to prevent humidity build up. That, or rig up some sort of ventilation system that can run once the house is covered.

If you are going to build a greenhosue I would recommend building a hoop house or arched style house. The curved roof will be easier to pull a tarp over than an A-frame style. You can also have the black-out plastic on the inside of the greenhouse. IMO that is a better way to do it.

 

[Dunge]

Early May update

Growth is on track for moving outside as soon as I can get a tent up.
The pile of dirt is my attempt to make a "super soil" as described in other threads.
Made 11 cubic feet of what I hope will be a good soil that can carry through flower with water only. We shall see.

5 cubic feet local peat/sand blend (pure Alaska)
3 cubic feet compost (looks like wood chips)
2 cubic feet perlite
.7 cubic feet earth worm castings ($26 per bag is why only one)
5 pounds Bat Guano (high P)
4 pound bone meal
3.5 pounds blood meal

I mixed it up and watered it a bit.
Plan to let it sit under the tarp until use in a few weeks.
What more do I need to do?

The picture of my dirt pile is where I plan to put my tent.

I intend to automate a shade tent. I have a plan.

 

[Dunge]

Into pots at last!

Here they are.
Six lines of genetics.
Three plants yet to sex.
Half are in Fox Farm Ocean Forest half in my super soil.
The tent is just a wind break but is the rudiments of my blackout tent.
The total frame size is 10 X 20 feet.
Dark room maybe 14 X 8 feet.
Grow my petties!

 

[SCFSYNDICATE760]

i think you mean pretties? lol...nice set up..good luck!

 

[Dunge]

Four days in the sun. Sunburn.

I believe that I have burnt them rather badly.
How should I have 'hardened them off'?
All other aspects of the plan are coming into being.
I have cable to anchor the ends, just need one better anchor.
I found an old piece of 6ml. greenhouse plastic that can cover this thing twice. It is over ten years old but has been stored in the dark and looks to have suffered minor oxidation.
I have a great fan that will provide required ventilation.
And it turns out that garage door openers have internal latching relays.
This will allow me to control the shades with a simple timer.
And last of all, I have automated drip watering.
This tent could be fully hands off.

 

[Dunge]

Summer 2011 under way

Put the plastic on my frame today. Had to tie open the ends quickly to prevent temperature spike.
Time to start working on the blackout tent.
Garage door opener on a simple timer driving a black plastic shelter over the girls. This will need forced ventilation. I have two fans to choose from.
They are ready for flower now!
I will try to build my tent tomorrow so my first blackout should be tomorrow night 7PM.

 

[Dunge]

Day 0 of flowering 22 June

I have my tent in place for the first time at 7 PM this evening.
It seems rather dark in there.
I have a garage door opener that is hoped to automate this thing.
Watering is automated and ventilation is on a timer 30 on / 30 off for when the blackout tent is up.

 

[Sunbiz1]

Wish I had one of these in my backyard, it would save me constants trips hauling 5 gals back and forth into closets for 12/12's. I thought about building a shed for that purpose, then sealing all the light leaks. Even then I would still have to use some type of removable light blocking 4/the access door.

Good luck!

 

[Dunge]

Blackout tent is Fully AUTOMATIC

Day four of flower lighting.
The tent goes up and down on the clock. Had to put a 20 lb. counter balance on the tent to allow the garage door opener to manage the load.
Pictured is the clock and relay gear that controls the garage door opener.
Also pictured is my high tech ventilation system. The round fan is on a thermostat that blows when over 80 deg F. The tent ventilation turns on by clock for 30 min each hour when the tent is closed and any time the temp in the tent gets above 80 deg. F.
Some hail damage was suffered before I got them fully covered but they seem to be healthy and "stretching"? They do seem to be growing vertically rather quickly.

 

[Tobor the 8th Man]

I admire your ingenuity and drive. This is quite the project really. This has potential. Good luck.

 

[Dunge]

day 9 of 12/12 in blackout tent yields FLOWERS!

Of the six varieties present in my tent, three are showing early flower development at day 9.
I am taking this as proof of concept.
The tent is running fully automated for tent open/close, ventilation, and water.
The drama here was that if these plants were not getting dark enough to start and sustain flowering then this entire experiment would be a bust.
As it is, I am expecting the three remaining varieties to start flowering within the next few days.
I am very relieved and expect to get excited as the buds grow.
Stay tuned.
Concerns: I am running a rather conventional super soil as outlined in previous posts. Will this really carry me through finish on water only?
I hope to try it, but two months is a long time to resist giving them something.
Molasses at least and perhaps a high P guano tea.

 

[Dunge]

Day 26 - Flowering

The blackout tent and auto water is working nicely.
I just returned from an 11 day vacation.
Got only one call from interested observer asked to call if something seems wrong. The tent failed to open and the garage door button needed to be pushed by hand for a 5 hour late opening, but this inexplicable failure never recurred.
If these plants were indoor I would not expect better development.
The system is clearly working well enough to keep the girls in flower and I am getting excited.

 

[Dunge]

Day 3 to 30 side by side

This tent is working well I believe.
All plants are flowering well (see photo), though the foreground girls are a bit slow.
Water only via drippers for three minutes at 7: & 19:00 (These are also the tent movement times)
I lack confidence that these super soils will carry my plants through the next 30 days without any nutrient teas of anything but water.
I will be watching like a hawk but I don't know what to look for.
My wife thinks that leaf yellowing at half way through flower may be normal senescence, but I can't help but think some plants are asking for a bit of nutrient help.
All the bud locations are healthy green so perhaps this doing nothing is the correct path.

 

[Smokey503ski]

My Uncle has one of the tightest outdoor spots I have seen. He does the blackout tarp using 2 winches bought from Harbor Freight for $100 each.
Uses pvc to make a hoop house. Then wraps the black plastic with 1x1 boards so he can pull the tarps evenly.
Pulleys and 2 winches and 2 timers and a bunch of rope. Work's effin perfect.

Great job on doing the tarp idea. If I had land, I would do just what you are doing. You can double or even triple your outdoor harvest.

 

[Dunge]

I gave them a shot of gn 3 part

A close reading of my posts would revile a lack of confidence with respect to super soil.
I asked what to do in the infirmary forum and heard from some known sages that I should feed them.
Nobody from the lunatic super soilers came to my rescue.
So I threw some nutes at them.
I picked out two good performers to exclude from the feeding.
I feed via auto drippers and I pulled the drip stakes on two good looking girls.
They may tell me if I needed to go to the nutes.
Or they will fall behind and require remediation.
The hunt is on.