Update: Bought an ExHale for $33 at the local grow shop. I made the hanger by drilling holes in an old tupperware dish and zip ties holding it to the frame. A little shoddy with the materials, but works as good as anything else and it's cost effective. A word of caution with these things - Expect a lot of humidity. I put this thing in the tent and I closed the inlet flap on the bottom of the tent to retain the CO2. That was just before the lights went out. 6 hours later the lights came on. They were on for 2.5 hours and I went to unzip the tent to check them out and I felt wetness. I zipped open the tent to a jungle. The inside humidity was 97% (outside the tent it was 26!). The plants: In an effort to combat the humidity I have opened up small holes in the duct near the lamp in order for it to draw in a small amount of air. I've also opened up the bottom vent for now until I can figure out a way to better control heat and humidity. I don't like the idea of all my co2 getting pumped out into the room instead of soaking my plants, but its better than what they had before.
Also, why does the search not work for me? I tried searching for 'nitrogen' to research nitrogen deficiency and this is the result I got: I hardly doubt that nowhere in this forum is the word 'nitrogen' Also, I can't get the Android app to work. Without the search I can't find my journal to even make a comment on. It doesn't appear in any of the lists either. If anyone reads this and knows what I'm doing wrong, please let me know.
Looks like you are learning as you go. It seems like you are making things harder than they need to be. Plus I'm not sure in how you set things up. It looks like it might cause issues in the future, I could be wrong though. You will be fine without CO2, I don't even use it and my plant turn out just fine. Sure it might help a bit but not work the money unless I was installing a tank and regulator. Using co2 should be one of you last worries. Save your money and get everything else dialed in and a few grows under your belt. Also I would get a grow book or two and read them and save for future reference. Good luck.
Thanks for the feedback. Im definitely taking a more difficult route than most, but its because I'm trying to learn as much as possible from every grow. Thats what all the measurements are for so I can test and develop my method. Its kind of my thing. What were you not sure of with the setup? Do you mean structure wise, soil or otherwise? Im using co2 bags because everyone is saying it can really increase yield & Ive heard good things about them from people with similar setups. Its causing some problems now but will be worth it if I dial it in. Co2 tank setup would be the best but Im slowly working up to that phase. Dont want to have a ton of expensive equipment with no background. Im working in incremental stages learning as I go. Ive also got two editions of Ed Rosenthals Growers Handbook. One from the 90s and the most recent. Anything Ed says is gospel to me. Sent from my SPH-M820-BST using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Got the app to work finally. Had the power go out for a second and had to run into the room and switch the lights off to avoid another hot start. Went to the grow store and bought a Titan Hades 15 min delay timer for $75 and hooked it up. One bulb is worth that much, and its well worth the peace of mind that it wont blow when I'm not home. Pics soon. I've also recently solved the humidity issue by putting a little walmart personal fan in front of a vent at the bottom and opening a vent near the top up a little more. This creates an updraft effect that will allow me to make the most out of the co2, and the fan is puny so I'm not just wasting all the co2 any way. I bought a Titan EOS 2 humidity controller$90. It will start the fan when it gets to 50%+/- to save even more co2 by not running all day. Will eventually install a real fan inside during flower, but no more cash after those purchases. Pics coming soon.
Well, my making things harder than they need to be has saved the day. When I added my delay timer to the lights I adjusted all of the clocks on the timers to DST. I put all of the timers back to 'auto' except the light... I got home yesterday and the room was 88 degrees with a max temp of 105 in the tent. The light was on for 6 hours with no cooling fan, not to mention that the lights were on for 24hrs. If I didn't pay as much attention to the environment I may have not noticed for a few days and distrupted the day/night pattern or even burned out the bulb or worse. I'll take cautious and tedious over careless and dangerous. Human error is hard to avoid and seems to be the biggest obstacle in my way.
Update Changed to the HPS bulb and flipped to 12/12. Avg height is like 22''. One is sick, only 13.5'' but the one that was smallest is now right up there with the rest of them. During the bulb switch I wanted to make sure it went flawlessly without error, like the last time where I left the lamp on without a cooling fan. So, in order to do this without getting side tracked and missing a step, I made a checklist. No lie. Overkill maybe, but, it worked the first time without any issues. Used a TV tray for an extra flat surface for me to work with. Got all tools and zip ties out and ready first before 'performing surgery'. Here's a pic of the box I put the Metal Halide bulb in. I didn't think of this step when I started so I threw away the box it came in, which was better. Noted. Here's what they look like now under the HPS light When I installed the bulb I removed the intake duct. I've wanted a filter on the front of it since the start but I haven't been able to come up with anything yet. I tried to put a nylon sock around the intake to be a basic filter. In the end, the filter didn't stay. Not that it didn't work, it certainly did. But because it became the weakest link in the safety chain. Although it was very secure and I strongly doubt that it would ever come undone, if it did for any reason it would immediately be sucked onto a hot lamp, melting it to the bulb, eventually causing a fire. Nylon is flamable, after all. And even though now with the timer settings I will be home always when the lights are on, I don't want to risk ruining expensive equipment, setting a bedroom on fire, gaining attention from the neigbors and put my family at risk. Too little reward for too much risk, even though it is unlikely. I wrote the bulb hour usage on the box just to remind myself how much it's been used in the future. Another tip I have is to check out your new bulb way before you disconnect everything and find out it's cracked or something. Mine wasn't, but I was worried for a second when I considered the idea of having to put everything back together and buy a new bulb tomorrow, then take it all back apart again. Heres some other random photos: I buy water from this big vending machine at my grocery store. It takes in city tap water, puts it through a sediment filter, charcoal filter, reverse osmosis filter and UV filter before dispensing, all for 50 cents a gallon. Here's how pure it is: 6 parts per million. Pretty pure. Got to treat it with CalMag to raise the PPM's. Ed Rosenthal says the PH should be 6.0-6.3 and PPM's in the 125-150 range. Once a week from now on I'll be doing a 'tea'. There is a company around here that sells aged fertilizer derived from woodland deer, moose and other creatures. I fill a .5 cup measuring cup with 3/4 of the fertilizer and 1/4 earthworm castings and I put an aerator in the jug for 24 hours, then serve. Here's what it looks like while brewing: My sick plant versus what was the smallest plant Here's some old pics:
I noticed on the outside of the two sickest plants patches of grey mold, or at least it looks like it. I'm not sure about these pots... the fabric seems to be a good way to accumulate mold better. Not sure how to get rid of it, so I added some fans and decided to forego watering for an extra day to try and dry it out. The plants are at a size now where I need to upgrade the venthilation system. I have bought a 4'' fan, now I need to run ducting out. Now that I'm in flower I need to run the ducting outside so I can dispose of the smell. If the smell gets too bad, I'll have to add a filter. I've spent a grand or more into this rig. Man this shit adds up quick.
Had to kill 5 plants. 3 males and the two sick ones needed to be pulled. It looked like they have mold on the pots and I didn't want it to spread. Now I have 3 plants left. Beautiful ladies that will get a lot of attention
Pics update Here's the sick plants. Leaves curling up until they double over, limp soft stems that fall over. A gray mold on the outside of the pots. The others are males. These are what young males look like. This was the first time I could tell distinctly which sex they were. This is what the mold looked like under the microscope: Sucks to get rid of (mostly) great looking plants. So much green Here are the ladies who made it to the final round: BS3 (Bag Seed 3) FTE (Flo Tahoe 'E') And FTC (Flo Tahoe 'C')
I made a big mistake while trying to test staking a plant. I had topped it way earlier, and had a beautifully split stem. I was trying to stake those two off to the side to keep them shorter, and this happened: If I let it fall it would have taken half of the best stem with it. I wrapped a bread tie around the split to keep the stem together and then I staked it to its original position. I really hope it heals... I'm sure it stunt the flowers a little, if not kill the whole damn plant. Trying to manipulate plants in a confined area is very annoying, and when things like this happen you want to abandon the practice altogether, but I staked a couple of them out just to see what the difference is anyway. Heres the whole plant I also noticed this plant has red veins going up almost all of the stem when the other plant (not topped) of the same type is just green.. is that indicative of anything?
Well, the split stalk didn't have any negative effects that I can see now.. One big problem, I have Thrips. It took me a long time to see them. I only saw the damage before I realized they were there. I think it might be a product of having my outdoor herbs in the tent for the first part of the growth. Here's what they look like under the microscope: I bought some all natural systemic stuff that's called like SNS 209 or something. It was like $25 at the local grow shop. So far I see a dramatic reduction in them, however they aren't completely gone yet. It sucks to have to use something systemic, but it was bad, and I didn't have any other way to fix it. Here's some photos of the 3 remaining plants:
Update: I haven't been around for a couple of reasons. I've lost a beloved family pet and I've welcomed a child into the world. Busy times. So, one of my plants (the only remaining bag seed plant) got a severe nutrient deficiency. I believe it was a phosphorus deficiency. I'm now considering it a hash only plant. The thrips are pretty mitigated, I haven't seen one for some time now. The Untopped FT plant The Topped FT plant. Biggest producer. Some buds so heavy they are falling over. The topped BS plant. You can see the damage from here. Up close of the damage
The grow is still going strong. The two Flo-Tahoe plants are doing well. The topped plant is falling over with all of the heavy buds it has. Almost every single leaf has fallen off (except the bud leaves) and the hairs are about 75% amber. The trichromes are mushroomed out. I'll try to get pics of them later. The untopped plant is much healthier. Although some of the biggest leaves have fallen off, and some of the others have gone pale or look like they will be falling off, the plant as a whole is much healthier, holding itself up, and the buds are seriously high-times worthy looking beasts! As for the bagseed plant, it looks all messed up. I'm going to process that one first and make some butter out of it to salvage the work I put in.
After running an average humidity of 60-70% consistently for months, I decided to remove the intake tubing for the light fixture fan & have the light cooling fan pull air out of the tent. The benefit is now I'm consistently running 1 to 2 % less humidity than the room that the tent is in. The downside is that I'm bringing unfiltered humid air past the bulb. Obviously filters would be best, but I have a problem with room and finding or building an appropriate filter system. This will be something I tackle for the next grow. I have a second 4" fan that I plan on using to vent the tent, separate from the bulb. Do any experienced growers pull the hot air out past their bulbs? Does this really cause a problem, or is it ok?
Update: I've been needing to start my next grow and have been batting seeds v clones for some time now. Since seeds take so long, I've really wanted to start clones as my current grow winds down. After all of my research and talks with the dudes at the grow store, I've been told numerous times 'DO NOT TAKE CLONES FROM FRIENDS' and of course 'DO NOT BRING OUTDOOR PLANTS INSIDE'. The downside is, in my state, there is no legal way to acquire seeds or clones. Except as gifts from other people who have the card too. Luckily, this old guy I know started growing a few outdoor plants, and he gave me a little Pineapple Express plant. It was located in a fairly shady place in his yard, so it wasn't that big at this time of year. It had just started to show pistils, but I think it was mostly because of the lack of sun (the plant thought it was later in the season than it really is). Well, without much other options, I decided to clone off that plant for my next indoor grow. Luckily, I've completed my clone box and I will be keeping the clones completely separate from my current grow. This way, if any bugs do make their presence, I can deal with them without ruining my current grow or contaminating that room. But, I did take all precautions that I could, including having near clean-room conditions when I clipped the plant, everything sterilized with peroxide and I used a sterile scalpel (from the grow store he threw it in with the other supplies I bought). I've mitigated all risks, but we will see. Here's the plant that I got: As soon as I brought it home, I put it in direct sun and now it gets about 5 more hours of sun per day than it used to. I also started watering with zero fertilizers and using a mixture with my insecticide in it (a rosemary oil type). I've read that you should have the plant to be cloned flushed and with minimal fertilizers, especially N. The leaves were starting to yellow when I did the clipping - it was needing some fertilizer bad. So now at least I get to keep my little outdoor plant, and see how that one does and I've got some good clones from it. Here's some pics of the clones & clone box all set up: The box is about 3 ft high, over 2ft wide and a little over 2ft deep in the grow chamber, and I designed it to have a separate chamber on the right where all the HVAC and Electrical would be put together. It's basically a bulkhead with easy access. Here's a pic of the bulkhead: I took a small 4" fan from walmart (7 bucks), unscrewed the cage around it, then used screws to mount it to the wall. Of course I cut a proper size hole for it first. I then screwed the other half of the cage on the inside to make sure nothing hits the blades. The fan pulls air in from the bulkhead, and the bulkhead has a screened intake on it. You can see the 3 inlet holes in the picture above. I also put 3 exhaust holes near the top of the box on the inside: I attached two screen covers from Home Depot that cost like $2 a piece. Here's what the back side looks like: The whole box was made out of free scrap plywood reclaimed from old cabinets. Here are my happy clones: I read in Ed Rosenthals book to use city water (with chlorine in it to help keep things clean) and a little peroxide mixed in. The guys at the grow store said Reverse Osmosis water and some of this stuff: which is a real low dose fertilizer mix made specifically for clones. I bit. I also bought a small packet of Clone-X and a whole clone box with cover. I got these plugs that aren't rockwool, but some kind of soft, spongy brown stuff. I'm too far away from the bag to see exactly what it is, but the grow guy at the store (who is a keep-it-simple-and-reliable kind of grower) says he uses these all day (and the clone solution, which was the cheapest he had). The clone solution calls for 3/4 of a cup per gallon, but I only added 1/2 a cup, but I mixed in soe of the rosemary pesticide, but in half the dose. I'm only applying it via spray. So, here we go. First try at clones. Not exactly the best way to start, given the outdoor-in problem, and I'm also adding some low-grade pesticide in the spray. I also added some experimental cuttings including a tiny 2'' branch, a one-leafed 'sail' cut, and I cut a few branches in half to see if the lower cutting would work. Who knows. It's experimentation on top of experimentation. As a back up, the dude at the grow store recomended Single Seed Centre. So, I'm going to buy some purple seeds for the 3rd grow, or if the clones fail. Purple strains are my absolute favorite, and so I ultimately want to grow them, but only after I figure out my methods. CURRENT GROW: As mentioned in a previous grow, my humidity was out of control, so I decided to vent my tent through the light and out the window. Here's how it looks now: I added a bug filter to the end to help reduce the dust and debris entering the light fixture. Eventually I will have a carbon filter installed for the next grow. Here's the exhaust, heading out from the fan, past the electrical station and out the window through a metal vent I bought at Home Depot. The board that holds the vent is actually just that styrofoam poster board stuff. Eventually it will be wood, but I had to test the theory first. The tent immediately started to pull inward now that the fan was pulling from the inside. I had to open two of the lower intake flaps, which luckily come with a 1/8" screen on them. Here's one of the flaps: One word of advice, just make sure no light gets in these flaps when you don't want it to. Hard to control, but I needed to do it for the time being until I revise the set up. At least all the air is screened to the point where a mosquito couldn't make it in. Not quite HEPA certified, but better than before. Like Maya Angelou said: when you know better, you do better. Time for the plants: The untopped plant: It's the healthiest and the prettiest. Even though it wont output as much as the topped plant, it holds itself up (instead of tedious staking) and seems to be able to handle issues WAY better than a topped plant. The topped plant: The Bag Seed plant (now is the hash plant) I've been snagging buds off the topped plant & drying out for testing. It's a little early, but damn, already potent. It just smells like freshly cut grass. I haven't cured properly either, which I read is the real problem. When I harvest the plants, I'll be sure to follow the rules then. For now, it's nice to sample the fruits of my labor. PS, now that I'm venting outside, I realize that my plants were stinky. Really stinky. I had grown used to it. Caution to indoor growers, I ca smell these 3 plants from 50 yards away.
I'm really surprised at the lack of feed back you have had from this journal, I know I've enjoyed reading through it for sure! Good luck on the next grow
Thanks man! Yeah, I can't believe I didn't get much feedback either, but hey, that's ok. Thanks for the support!
Here's some of the harvest: The untopped Flo Tahoe plant: 3'3'' The topped Floe Tahoe plant 3' 9'' The biggest Cola: Bad News though, I had a real tough time controlling humidity during the first half of flowering. Mold is the result, and none of this cola will be used for smoking unfortunately. Basically, all lost, except I trimmed all of the decent looking bud off to make hash, but basically a lot of waste. LESSON LEARNED: Controlling the climate is as important as lighting for sure. NONE of the other buds have any mold at all, just the giant one. If you want to keep untopped plants (as I do until I find a pruning method that I like) Here's what moldy cola looks like. Some closeup pics of some buds from the good plants: The harvest: I only harvested the buds from the two good plants (minus the big cola from the untopped plant), the other, weird looking plant was all cut up into the hash pot. I put most on a drying rack: I hung the rest of it: Here's the hash pot (trash from two good plants plus all flowers from weird bag seed plant) And the results of the hash run (2.62 Grams): I'll measure the weight of the buds after they are fully dried.
About my hash run: What I used: I bought Hash making bags, a brass (seems to be the best metal for high pressure presses) hash press and a mixing tool for paint that you use with a drill. Hash Bags: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005TY2MFS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I paid like 35 bucks for the bags, I ordered the 5 bag kit but got the 8 bag kit. I think 8 bags is way over the top. I only used 4. MY OPINION: This is about the fewest plants & plant trash that I would attempt making hash with this way. It's actually a lot of work, a lot of preparation and clean up, a lot of time and little reward. Hash is STICKY and any tools you use will become sticky. If I had a field of plants, hash would be a huge part of my operation, however, I will only do hash runs with 5 gallons or more of plant matter in the future. It took all night, you use a lot of hash on the screens and the tools you use, you still have to dispose of the trash and good water that you used (I used Reverse Osmosis water in my grow and making the hash for ultra pure taste - I'm told that the taste of the hash is worth it). I'm sure the hash is good, but I don't even know how to smoke hash without any special equipment, I just break some up and spread it on a bowl of weed. I know I made some absolutely killer hash. My plants are 100% organic with the best of everything I could do, plus Reverse Osmosis water in the hash making process. I wish I knew someone who smoked hash, so that I could get their opinion. I'm sure it's great. But man, a lot of work, little reward - less than I thought. I mixed the material for 15 min by hand with the mixer, let it sit for 30. Question - How the hell do I clean the bags? Theres a lot of hash on the screens still.