Alright so life is starting to sort itself out, and it looks like I'm going to have the internet at my house again soon!
I'm going to college for creative writing- life is going to change a lot for me. I need another job that both pays well and doesn't make me sick though...
My father says he'll support me but I want to remain as independent as possible through this. I've thought of being a fireman but didn't have the time/money for school and didn't want to ask my dad for help...
Anyways I'm just going to bite the bullet and accept some help and try a different approach. Seems a lot easier than trying to work 40+ hours of week at one job, at least 10 hours a week on my garden, hours keeping the house and car clean as well as the fucking yard... AND trying to write a novel on the side LOL NOT WORKING
My father says he'll help me out on bills and spending money; and the garden looks like it should be a nice cushion this time around. I still want a part time job though...
I hope I'm not boring people with my life not related to growing cheeba...
Anyways I have a breakthrough piece of knowledge that I want to share with you all about marijuana growth in flower when the leaf temps raise above 75 degrees.
This run I used 3 600 watt bulbs in the 4X8 tent cooled by an 8in Ecoplus inline fan.
The air is sucked from my attic (filtered by this HEPA filter to keep dust, bugs or rats out) and blown through the hoods and back out into the attic and directed through a vent to outside. I have a backdraft damper on the end of the run so when the lights and fan turn off the bugs and rats can't get into the hoods from that end.
I'm using Sun System CoolSunXL's, with 8'' air cooling. The new ones with the hinged glass and aerodynamic junction boxes.
To make a long story short, the 8in fan isn't blowing hard enough to cool all the hoods properly. The first hood in the line is air cooled just fine- I could write a book underneath that light no problem and be cool as can be.
When I first installed the system I could tell the first hood was cooled better than the last, but it seemed OK. My boss at the hydro shop I worked at told me a plant scientist friend of his that tests these high-tech spinning light rigs (think HID lights on a ceiling fan) had data that shows a 10% loss of yeild for every degree the plants leaves go over 75 (up to 80 with some varieties).
I didn't really buy it at first- after all, I mean that's some high-tech shit we're talking. Leaf temps??? LOL
But now I don't just believe it- I know it's true. When you guys finally see pictures again
of this run, you'll see the area underneath the first (properly cooled) hood has the chunkiest Mazar buds I've seen since my first run with Advanced Nutrients.
The last hood has the smallest buds.
What's more -and this is the biggest proof- the leaves underneath the cool hood are staying green, and the leaves underneath the hot hoods are burning to a crisp. It's like a landing strip of heat stress on the buds. It looks like a hill!
What's happening biologically is that the heat is causing the plant to not be able to uptake as many nutrients. It's plain to see- clones on the same food, under the same amount of light, in the same ambient temperature at the trunk- are developing differently. The only difference is the leaf tempertures at the canopy.
What do you know? Leaf temps- 74-78 underneath the cool hood, 80-84 underneath the middle hood and 80-86 underneath the last hood.
I had to use a $60 infrared thermometer do get those readings, because normal thermometers were saying it wasn't getting over 80 in the area, even set in the light directly underneath the hood. The leaves heat up and need to be blown around with an occilating fan, and with tents it's not practical to use occilating fans accept for underneath the cannopy. Axial fans don't work because they cause the leaves to dry out too blowing on the plants all the time with the lights on.
So if maximum yeild is sought in a hydrohut or similar confined space- priority number one is air cooling the hood to the point leaf temps are below 80. This is why Rumpleforskings buds are so huge, the cool tube_ 4in fan he uses cools the 400 watt to a point plants can grow into the fixture and not burn. (although I'd imagine at this point there is some yeild loss from overheating the leaves, it might be fine- it may be cooled THAT well)
Anyways I have proof of how important it is to cool the hood properly- having fans everywhere is almost the same type of thing but is more practical in a room not a tent. I think that air cooling the bulb is better than fans though; the leaves still heat up.
Leaf temps below 80 and the buds are fucking massive- leaf temps above 80 and the buds get smaller and smaller the higher the temp goes! It looks like a deficency but it's from the environment not being optimal- that's why the leaves keep burning on me!
I'm going to try adding another 8in fan to the other side of the run to see if low cfm's are my problem (which is what I think it is)
Sorry so long this time but this was a huge discovery for me and I wanted to share it with you all.
Take care!!!
