pHarmers Sustained Organic Living Adventure w/ HiLEDs

 
Well man I still need to get my Ventilation in check so I have the right amount of air coming into and out of each area, my flower area is ballooning pretty bad so I need to get an extraction fan in there as soon as I can. I still need to mix my soil and have that ready as its the biggest part and most expensive haha. I am almost there tho just need a few more things and im ready to start mixing! Then I need to worry about my watering and I will hopefully be using a Blumat set up but that is going to cost a bit of money to outfit a system for twenty 25gal pots! Stilll need to build a scrog table for my 2x4 area, then the rest is just finishing up light purchases to outfit everything properly haha
 
However this is my first time growing out here since I move and I am having issues with my clones. SO I need to work on my method a bit but this is what I have been doing, & I believe there is a picture guide in the beginning of the thread somewhere. I take the cuttings and place them in a Coffee Can Cloner inside of a humidome. Take 2tsp of Kelp and 1tsp of Silica and mix it with 1gal of water and let it sit for 12-24hrs shaking off and on. I will mist the clones and the humidome lightly off and on throughout the day until they show roots, then I stick them in soil and done deal! However I am going to start playing around with a few different methods and see which works best for me now. I will document each method closely with pictures so it will hopefully help you better then an explanation. For now here is some amazing info on cloning that helped me out tremendously from the book "Fundamentals Of Horticulture"
 
Page 198
 
Cuttings which require leaves are taken from herbaceous plants or from woody plants when the wood is immature. With these cuttings, rapid healing of the wounded surface and rapid production of roots are indispensable to the welfare of the cutting. If the cut surface heals slowly or not at all, most of the all-important water within the cutting escapes, and rot-producing organisms are likely to invade the tissues. How does the cutting heal the wounded surface? In general, immediately after the cut is made the intercellular spaces and the cells just beneath the cut become filled with sap. The sugars in the sap change to unsaturated fatty acids, and these, in turn, combine with oxygen of the air in the formation of the skinlike, varnish-like layer of material, or suberin. Suberin possesses the remarkable property of keeping the water within the cutting and resisting the attacks of rot-producing organisms. However, this layer is effective for a short time only since it is very shallow and nonelastic and cannot adjust itself to changes in water pressure within the cutting due to the intake and outgo of water. For these reasons a more permanent layer is formed. How does the cutting develop this layer? In general, in very young dicotyledonous herbaceous stems the permanent layer develops from the pericycle or cortex. These tissues have the ability to change into meristem and thus produce new cells. On the other hand, in relatively old dicotyledonous herbaceous stems and in immature woody stems, the permanent layer develops from the cambium. In both cases the walls of the new cells are impregnated with suberin, tannin and other materials and they are corky in nature. Since this layer is being renewed constantly, it is durable; since it is several cells thick, it is deep-seated; and since it is elastic, it withstands the stress and strain due to changes in water absorption and transpiration. How does the cutting develop the root system? In general, the pericycle in young stems and the cambium in the somewhat older stems develop growing points, and these growing points develop into individual roots. 
   
Is there anything that can be done to facilitate the development of the temporary and permanent protective layers and the production of roots with rapidity? A discussion of important factors follow.
 
Temperature - Since with cuttings which require leaves the problem consists in producing roots from shoots, growth of the tops is retarded and growth of the roots is accelerated. The problem, therefore, is to keep the tops cool and the basal end of the cuttings relatively warm. In general, this is done by maintaining a relatively low air temperature and by applying artificial heat to the medium in which the cuttings are placed. The low air temperature, combined with high humidity of the air, maintains a low rate of transpiration. This low rate of transpiration keeps the guard cells turgid and the stomates open. As a result, carbon diozide diffuses in to the leaves and carbohydrate and hormone manufacture takes place. The relatively high temperature at the base of the cuttings promotes rapid oxidation of the fatty acids in the formation of suberin and speeds up the rate of cell division in the formation of the corky layer and the development of the root system. 
   
The application of heat to the basal portion of cuttings is known as bottom heat. Bottom heat is applied in various ways: by lead covered electric resistance, wire, by steam in pipes, and by hot water in pipes. (Or Seedling Heating Mat) Many experiments have shown that high rooting-media temperatures, combined with relatively low air temperatures, facilitate rapid root production. For example, tests at the Ohio Experiment Station have shown that chrysanthemum cuttings kept in sand at 60 F produced a satisfactory root system in 10 days, whereas a comparable lot kept in sand ad 50 F required 20 days. 
 
Relative Humidity and Light Intensity - These factors affect both transpiration and photosynthesis. The student will recall that relative humidity and light intensity have opposite effects on the rate of transpiration. In general, high relative humidity promotes low rates of transpiration and high light intensity promotes high rates. Since low rates of transpiration are needed and since light is needed for making of the carbohydrates and the hormones, the higher the relative humidity, the greater will be the amount of light the leaves can absorb without wilting. For this reason a high relative humidity is maintained. 
 
Oxygen and Moisture Supply - The formation of suberin requires abundant oxygen, and the rapidly dividing meristem requires both abundant oxygen and water. Hence, in the rooting of cuttings, media are used which will enable the growing points to obtain abundant oxygen and, at the same time sufficient moisture for rapid root production. In general, washed, sharp, silica sand, mixtures of sand and peat moss, vermiculite, and mixtures of sand and perlite are satisfactory propagating media for herbaceous and softwood cuttings. These materials are porous, easily drained, and hold sufficient moisture for rapid root development. 
 
Mist propagation of Herbaceous and Softwood Cuttings - Mist propagation consists of  maintaining a film of water on the leaves of the cutting and a high relative humidity of the ambient air. In this way, the rate of transpiration is reduced to a minimum, and as a result the guard cells remain turgid, the stomates remain open, and the manufacture of carbohydrates and related substances proceeds unabated even in the presence of high light intensity. Further, with high light intensity, the evaporation of water from the leaves keeps the tops relatively cool, and this in turn lowers the rate of respiration. Thus, with the low rate or transpiration combined with the low rate of respiration, high rates of apparent photosynthesis take place and abundant carbohydrates and other manufactured substances become available for the initiation and growth of the root system. 
    
Hope that helps you out for now bro! If you need more info feel free to ask and I will dive into the various methods I will be trying and why! Also stopping by your thread now!
 

 
Hey man everyone has to start somewhere! They are looking mighty fine bro, really liking the sound of the CBD Critical Cure. Now that I am providing large amounts of medicine to elderly in desperate need, the various CBD strains are going to be the ones I seek out here once I'm established. Need to learn more about the whole name game and what is what in this industry, I am extremely cultivar ignorant haha  
 
What lights are you running currently?
 

 
Its working out great man! Haven't had any issues with them coming off the plastic or any issues while opening/closing. However as TJ pointed out they are not 100% light proof. My solution for this was to take a flap and have it on the outer side of the zipper and have it overlap and velcro to the opposite side. SO you will have a flap attached to the outer wall that can velcro to the door when closed and zipped blocking any light from coming thru. SO all you would have to do is unlatch the velcro from the door move the the side and unzip then roll the door up. Light leak solved! I did similar to the floor area where I had to cut across the door bottom to roll up, there is no zipper on the bottom just a flap with velcro and it works just fine!   
 

 
Nice man that Velcro idea is exactly what I had in mind just not an entire strip of it I only planned on doing maybe 4-5 strips spaced out along the door to make it easier to open with less chances of ripping or tearing the plastic. Either way though that is an awesome idea!

 

Indeed a jungle is a brewing! As soon as I have my soil cooking I will pop seeds and take a bunch of clones! Then i will get everything fully perpetual running some large ladies! So far I have 50lbs of Kelp meal ($54)



50lbs of Oyster Shell Flour ($9.49)



44lbs of Neem Cake ($104.00)



70lbs of Basalt Micro fines ($57.00)



Ten 25gal Fabric Pots & 32 clone/seedling cells and a tray to hold them ($94.94)







The pots are actually a really good quality!! I have both smart pots and geopots and these brown root pouches are almost as thick as a GeoPot and much thicker than a Smart Pot! The stitching is nice and thick so all in all I am very happy with the purchase. I still need to pick up another ten 25gal pots so I am glad they work as it saves me a small fortune! Haha

Now all that is left on the list is Crustacean meal, Gypsum, Peat Moss, Compost, Vermicompost/Worms, Lava Rock, Bio-Char, Straw for mulch, & I think that's about it unless I'm forgetting something haha.

 

Welcome bro! Yeah I killed my plants when I first got my 260, my GSC is pretty sensitive to the light. But I have been able to lower it as much as 20" without seeing any issues. Could have kept going to 18" maybe even 12" but as I wanted to maintain coverage area I didn't go any lower.

Once I get more lights I will run them closer, for now I'm just testing the results I can get with everything while raised up high. Then I'll get it as low as I can and see the difference and based on the two results I'll try and find my "sweet spot". But to me the results I'm getting in the 4x4 area with a single 260w panel just blows me away every time I look at it!!

But if you start the panel off at say 34" then let them acclimate or "get used to" the intensities and spectrum changes. Once they get use to it you can lower the light 2"-3" every 3-4 days and keep going based on the plants responses.

 

Alright man the increase in size doesn't sound like to much, I feel like an idiot as I can't remember the sizes of your rooms. As long as your not trying to Flower a larger area than 2x3 with your single 260 you should be perfectly fine! What exact coverage area are you trying to cover with the SolarSPEC lights along and I can better help you on whether you want a 260 or one of the lower watt panels (150 or 100). Full pictures are helpful as well, or if you can make a blueprint like I did on the first page of this thread with my room build. That would help out a lot I used an app called "floor plan creator".

Yeah man definitely! Anything you'd like to chat about feel free to ask bro! If I don't know I'm sure someone here does and I will look things up and do my best to answer

No, I picked them up from a local feed store and that was the price as is. The guy actually ordered me the Oyster Shell Flour and had multiple bags of Kelp in stock.

I have absolutely ZERO experience with SIP methods. TJ hopefully will chime in with an answer as he is currently trying to get me to use them as well! Haha I am very interested in them just don't like the idea of having large amounts of water at the base of my plants. I'm just paranoid tho! Haha

Happy early birthday bro! From what I am seeing so far, the Eclipse is doing an amazing job! I'll post an update when I get home in a bit!