So I moved out of my condo awhile ago, now I have an outbuilding roughly 7'X10' that is my dedicated grow room. I ran 2 dedicated circuits to the building, one for the new AC mini split, and one for the room in general. Because of block insulation I cannot connect to wifi from my house, so cat-6 cable has been run to hook up to wifi access point as well as hookup an ongoing(slowly) arduino/raspberry pi controller/webcam/server. The room has 3 windows which were filled with styrofoam and Mylar backed insulation. I wanted to cover the walls with Orca film, but the cost of shipping (not even including 20-30% import tax) made it prohibitive so I covered the walls and windows with more Mylar backed insulation. The ceiling is suspended drywall so I used steel tubing above the building and dropped 3/8 all thread (overkill) and made a simple frame from slots angle. I am just finishing up the maiden harvest in the room and learned 2 good lessons. One, don't be away for most all of the grow. I was out of the country for about a month and a half leaving the day after flip, also gone a few weeks during veg. Second is don't let indicas grow over 6'! I am growing in 25 gallon grow bags sitting on top of roughly 2'square perlite filled SIP trays. Each bag has roughly 20 gallons of organic soil and even though it's used soil, this is round one of "no till". The trays have bulkheads installed and hose runs between pairs of trays. I will eventually connect all trays together but 12mm push to connect fittings are not to be found locally and again the shipping is ridiculous. Lights are my beloved solar spec 260s one per plant. However right now it's 2 per plant as I don't have the headroom for coverage with these two big plants. Coverage has improved the last few weeks as the plants are too too heavy and falling over. Room is more restricted here with a low ceiling of 7' and just a plain small room. I don't really have room to add a tent for veg so I made the frame out of more slotted angle. Pretty good deal, free cutting and assembly took less than 10 minutes for a 2X4X6 and cost about $40. I will have a cover maid from fabric I can source locally that is used for photography reflectors. I'm not too worried about reflection efficiency as I am more worried about light proof so it won't disturb the girls in flower. I have a solarspec 150 for the veg tent and will order a second. I actually already ordered it, but my order is on hold as I was also ordering 2) solarspec 220s but I was given the option to wait a couple weeks for the new 250w I have room, and soon will have lights, for a 4X6 footprint. Actually that is just the trays and the plants have an extra foot left to right and lights should be ok for a foot or two front to back. So total is roughly 5X7. I should harvest in a week so I just dropped 10) Sensi seeds Jack Herer seeds. Damn expensive but I've heard so much hype I gotta try. Also plan to finally use GA3 and harvest some feminized seeds. I plan for this journal to be an obvious grow journal as well as a grow room journal with some updates/upgrades I have planned. deep mulch really helps prevent the soil from getting hard and brittle. I have a marigold growing for fun and to help prevent Mosquitos and some other bugs. I have a gecko or two roaming around helping with pest control but haven't had many invaders after a few doses of peppermint, citronella, lemongrass, and clove oil applications. Freshly acquired granite mud, will dry out in a few days to rock dust. Can't buy here so I have to harvest it from granite shops. I'll use it for a little too feeding as well as my outdoor veggy gardens (and to help a buddy grower) Ok time to go work outside and plant my cashew tree baby that is getting unhappy in such a small pot. Please chime in, ask questions, shoot the shit. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
cashew tree that sounds interesting ill have to look into that and setup sounds nice and the jh seeds are awesome I have a four footer finishing up outside and cant wait to see the ga3 blossom
Thanks TJ. It was busy moving into a new house and a mini world tour. Planned on a 2 day trip to China but got stuck here 3.5 weeks spent a lot of the summer digging gardens, this area doesn't have soil, it's pure clay. Combine that with the tropical humidity and heat... Whew kicked my ass. Trying to hire some kids in the neighborhood to do gardening for me but I've only seen one young girl. How can there be no kids in an entire "village"? Hahaha Last night I sampled my freshly harvested white widow, it was pretty small due to being shaded by the apeshit and honey B... DAMN STRONG. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
thank you sir. I guess cashew trees get big and the nuts are poisonous until you roast them... Just something fun to try to grow. Would you share a pic of your Jack Herar? Would like to see it the GA3 is giberic acid (spelling?) it's a chemical you put on a bus site and that site develops pollen that you use on another bud site to create feminized seeds. I've had it a year to the day and still havent tried it http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Previous grow is harvested. Bags are bare, frame for veg tent are made. Planted 10 Jack Herar seeds, 9 sprouted, 1 had severe helmet head and didn't make it, one was microscopic and disappeared, so I'm left with 7 plants. I will be ecstatic of 6 are male, happy if it's 4... 2 new solarspec 250s should be on the way in a week or two, so I need to modify my suspended light frame and should be good to go. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Finally home for a day... I've neglected my girls due to work travel... Today they got bigger homes and wow were they root bound . Oddly enough the smallest (last to sprout) has the biggest root system. It seems much more indicate with very tight nodes. They went into SIP trays and will get fed some barley tomorrow. I ordered more lights this morning for overkill coverage like I had in my tents. 2) 250w cob and another 150w for my veg box/tent/whatever it is... Been getting feedback from friends I shared my last harvest with. Everyone is raving about "ApeShit". I finally tried it and holy crap! Feel really high, very uplifting but at same time body is relaxed like major couch lock, but energy To jump up and now the lawn. It's actually almost a confusing high hahaha http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Final weigh in from last harvest: SBA. 28g White Widow. 60g Ape Shit. 200g Honey B. 260g Solar spec proved itself, 25g bags proved itself Can't wait to see what I can do with more light coverage so 2 plants don't get light starved. Also feed more than twice the entire grow http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Introducing my 2 new 250w solarspecs Also should update on the babies, one day after new bigger homes, they all seem much happier. Also received a second 150w unit to keep in veg so as the babies grow, they won't be starved for light. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Do you have to do anything to be able to put that much wattage on a circuit? Or do you have them through different circuits? Thinking about LED lights and i'm wondering about any special wiring arrangements I need to consider. I see it now, I'm blazed and missed it. 2 dedicated circuits.
ok Im medicated right now, lets see if I can do this.... ((4X260)+(2X250))/230=6.7amps, no need for special wiring
Nice to around and posting thanks for stoping in. One good thing about not being home in the U.S. Today is day 2 of 3 of kelp foliar spraying before I top and start training. I plan on trying to root what I cut off and keep the females. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
So i add up my watts, divide by 230 and as long as that number is lower than my circuit (probably 15 amps), I'm good? Edit (lol): Found a site that explains it. Checked and I have a 10 amp circuit, so i'll have to stay under about 1200 watts it seems for the room
Sorry, yeah ohms law. Amps=watts/volts Ok, so 3 days of spraying kelp water, then topped the girls at 3 nodes. I put the tops I cut off into aloe Vera water to soak overnight before using as clones. Of course labeled the plants and cups 1-7... Also worked on "semi auto" top watering. Plan is to hook all drop hoses to an aquarium pump I can put in a 5 gal or bigger trash can full of water and or barley/coconut water. Can just flush fresh water to keep everything clean. I'm hoping my new Ethernet shield for my arduino arrives tomorrow so I can get the controller moving again. In a moment of snaking my forehead and calling myself dumbass I remembered the shop that I got plywood for my rolling trays... I plan on covering my beg tent with plywood to help light-proof it. Not important yet, but needs to be done before this run is in veg and I have something in the veg tent. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Auto waterer works http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361
Topped and training for semi mainline, leaving bottom branches for seeds... These girls are growing roots faster than I can keep up with. I don't have room for bigger pots in my little veg tent. I'm going to have to plant up into my 25g bags in a few weeks. Tonight will feed barley sst http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1341205-solar-spec-1040-white-led-vs-mars-ii-2100.html#entry20859361