Aussie Sun Not Doing The Job! Bushfires: Help Needed

[kayciweed]

Bushfires are rampaging acrosd the country and the sun is covered by smoke. Nothing is growing!!!

The biggest seeding here is like 7 weeks old, followed by the one in the smaller pot (which got eaten btw) who is about 5 weeks, then the other, an autoflower about 3 weeks.

I got sick of watching nothing happen, so i bought this grow tent today, with a 315watt light (cmh 4000k). It comes with a carbon filter and a fan too, but you can see i have simply put a fan in for now.

I did that as the tent is in a bedroom and the fan is loud. In the meantime i can keep a section of the tent open for airflow.

Questions:

* How far should lights be? Currently about a metre away

* Aussie sun is atm 12/12 but i want to switch to 17 or 18 hours light and 6 to 7 darkness following my own sleep patterns basically. Best setting for veg and to see growth in these??

* Now that i am growing indoors, when should i switch to flowering. Roughly?

* Can i hang the carbon filter and is there any point?

* Are there any slow fans and quiet fans i can but to connect? Remember i am in a bedroom. This bedroom fan is fine but doesn't blow air out.

* any advice???

 

[Old Salt]

* How far should lights be? Currently about a metre away

As far as possible, even that may be too much light.

* Aussie sun is atm 12/12 but i want to switch to 17 or 18 hours light and 6 to 7 darkness following my own sleep patterns basically. Best setting for veg and to see growth in these??

18/6 is pretty much standard. Your plants may take time to re-enter the veg stage, as they were under 12/12 sun.

* Now that i am growing indoors, when should i switch to flowering. Roughly?

Go by plant size. When they fill 1/4 to 1/3 of the available height, flip to 12/12. Available height it the height of the tent less that taken by the light and its minimum distance from the canopy, and the height of your containers.

* Can i hang the carbon filter and is there any point?

You can hang the filter, but will lose growing height for your plants. You can put the filter outside the tent too. If you don't mind the smell, you can go without one.

* Are there any slow fans and quiet fans i can but to connect? Remember i am in a bedroom. This bedroom fan is fine but doesn't blow air out.

A quality fan does not make much noise. You can isolate a fan in an insulated box to cut the noise level. You'll also get noise from air flowing throught the ducting. There are silencers available that will cut that noise down too.

* any advice???

Keep on Growing!

 

[Mark Gordan Smith]

Hi kayciweed, As Old Salt says Keep on Growing. If this grow suffers it won't be your fault. You're doing the best you can and don't be afraid to ask the dudes in here for more advice. Some plants you can almost play football with and others will take exception if you even cough near them!!. The lack of Sun isn't your fault, your gonna learn from the experience the same as I will reading how you progress.

I have a nephew over there, I have no idea where nor how he's fairing.
I hope both he and your grow get through the current problems. And you too!

 

[kayciweed]

As far as possible, even that may be too much light.


18/6 is pretty much standard. Your plants may take time to re-enter the veg stage, as they were under 12/12 sun.


Go by plant size. When they fill 1/4 to 1/3 of the available height, flip to 12/12. Available height it the height of the tent less that taken by the light and its minimum distance from the canopy, and the height of your containers.


You can hang the filter, but will lose growing height for your plants. You can put the filter outside the tent too. If you don't mind the smell, you can go without one.


A quality fan does not make much noise. You can isolate a fan in an insulated box to cut the noise level. You'll also get noise from air flowing throught the ducting. There are silencers available that will cut that noise down too.


Keep on Growing!

Thanks man. You pretty much know the history of my plants as you consistently help me. Thanks again!!

 

[kayciweed]

As far as possible, even that may be too much light.


18/6 is pretty much standard. Your plants may take time to re-enter the veg stage, as they were under 12/12 sun.


Go by plant size. When they fill 1/4 to 1/3 of the available height, flip to 12/12. Available height it the height of the tent less that taken by the light and its minimum distance from the canopy, and the height of your containers.


You can hang the filter, but will lose growing height for your plants. You can put the filter outside the tent too. If you don't mind the smell, you can go without one.


A quality fan does not make much noise. You can isolate a fan in an insulated box to cut the noise level. You'll also get noise from air flowing throught the ducting. There are silencers available that will cut that noise down too.


Keep on Growing!

Hey mate,

I wanted to ask you about tent temperatures.

I am sitting around 30 degrees celcius which is not ideal, i know. This is only the case when i have the tent open like it is in the photo.

When i close it up, it sits at 32 to 34 degrees celcius.

I bought the exhaust fan at the top which covers my 54fs and then some, but it makes little difference.

I have no way of bringing in cool air from outside in this place, so I need to figure something out. Any ideas?

You mentioned having the lights further away, which i did a little but it made no difference.

What is your thoughts on that? It is making it very hard to continue, as i am growing in a bed room and want to be able to close it up. The only things i can think are to increase co2, get some silica and/or look at a portable aircon. This adds to more power usage.

 

[Old Salt]

I've grown in similar conditions during our summer with temperatures approaching 40°C(94°F). I couldn't do anything about it, so I just continued the grow. All the plants made it to harvest.

 

[BooMtoLate]

You mentioned a portable ac that might be your best bet, or just alittle window unit. They don’t cost that much to run. It would make it more comfortable for sleeping as well being in the bedroom.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

As salt says mate , we just keep going and trying to muscle through heat. There are products that are for coping with excess heat ( for the plants not you !!!.lol) They are hormones ect that calm them down and soothe them. Chill is one that comes to mind and i had one called liquid ice that was brilliant. Hang a co2 bag "exhale" like mine hanging in pic. It helps in tent grows

We had a terrible growing summer with too much heat here but I used silver insulation bubble wrap that was a godsend. I cannot sing its praises enough for keeping heat from transferring between the tent and hotter outside air !!!. It is reflective both ways and creates a thermal layer. once you have a stable environment to work with , it gets more workable on controlling it. You could simply line your outside with it creating a box ( it's cheap as chips too) that should keep whatever inside temp we can bring it down too. Effectively a giant cooler box. Now for the inside !. If you get a fish box ( polystyrene market box for storing fresh fish) or even an actual cool box ( now I know an aussie has plenty of these !) make a hole for your intake ducting in the lid at one end and smaller holes to allow air in the other end. A cheap 4 inch bathroom exhaust fan. ( or pc fan if you can power it somehow)
Fill the cooler with ice and the air from it will be also higher Rh for the room. cheap but a pain to refill the ice. alternatives without going down expensive kit routes are difficult. Ensuring flow of room air is towards your exhaust also helps. Using a cmh which creates a lot of heat is going to be hard to manage. Led would have been a more manageable option and cheaper to run too. those cmh give off some light too , great for bigger rooms but may be too big tbh. Hate to be a doom bringer but it could be a very difficult heat issue to manage in a small area. Another exhaust for heat right next to the heatsink of the light may help too. Distance away is going to be another issue as soon as they get growing with nowhere to move the light to. Can you exchange for an LED or are you committed now?.

 

[kayciweed]

As salt says mate , we just keep going and trying to muscle through heat. There are products that are for coping with excess heat ( for the plants not you !!!.lol) They are hormones ect that calm them down and soothe them. Chill is one that comes to mind and i had one called liquid ice that was brilliant. Hang a co2 bag "exhale" like mine hanging in pic. It helps in tent grows

We had a terrible growing summer with too much heat here but I used silver insulation bubble wrap that was a godsend. I cannot sing its praises enough for keeping heat from transferring between the tent and hotter outside air !!!. It is reflective both ways and creates a thermal layer. once you have a stable environment to work with , it gets more workable on controlling it. You could simply line your outside with it creating a box ( it's cheap as chips too) that should keep whatever inside temp we can bring it down too. Effectively a giant cooler box. Now for the inside !. If you get a fish box ( polystyrene market box for storing fresh fish) or even an actual cool box ( now I know an aussie has plenty of these !) make a hole for your intake ducting in the lid at one end and smaller holes to allow air in the other end. A cheap 4 inch bathroom exhaust fan. ( or pc fan if you can power it somehow)
Fill the cooler with ice and the air from it will be also higher Rh for the room. cheap but a pain to refill the ice. alternatives without going down expensive kit routes are difficult. Ensuring flow of room air is towards your exhaust also helps. Using a cmh which creates a lot of heat is going to be hard to manage. Led would have been a more manageable option and cheaper to run too. those cmh give off some light too , great for bigger rooms but may be too big tbh. Hate to be a doom bringer but it could be a very difficult heat issue to manage in a small area. Another exhaust for heat right next to the heatsink of the light may help too. Distance away is going to be another issue as soon as they get growing with nowhere to move the light to. Can you exchange for an LED or are you committed now?.

I will consider these things and go through it.

Do the co2 bags work? Mixed reviews.

I might be able to exchange, or worst case just buy one and keep the cmh for another time in the future (i imagine it can sit around without going old) when i have a bigger space.

What i want to know there is, if i replace the 300 watt cmh with an led, will it be true watts? In other words same power capability. I have read that you need to ensure it is legit. Any recommendations?

What temps can i expect with an led?

Thanks heaps And plenty of coolers, but they are for beer!

 

[kayciweed]

As salt says mate , we just keep going and trying to muscle through heat. There are products that are for coping with excess heat ( for the plants not you !!!.lol) They are hormones ect that calm them down and soothe them. Chill is one that comes to mind and i had one called liquid ice that was brilliant. Hang a co2 bag "exhale" like mine hanging in pic. It helps in tent grows

We had a terrible growing summer with too much heat here but I used silver insulation bubble wrap that was a godsend. I cannot sing its praises enough for keeping heat from transferring between the tent and hotter outside air !!!. It is reflective both ways and creates a thermal layer. once you have a stable environment to work with , it gets more workable on controlling it. You could simply line your outside with it creating a box ( it's cheap as chips too) that should keep whatever inside temp we can bring it down too. Effectively a giant cooler box. Now for the inside !. If you get a fish box ( polystyrene market box for storing fresh fish) or even an actual cool box ( now I know an aussie has plenty of these !) make a hole for your intake ducting in the lid at one end and smaller holes to allow air in the other end. A cheap 4 inch bathroom exhaust fan. ( or pc fan if you can power it somehow)
Fill the cooler with ice and the air from it will be also higher Rh for the room. cheap but a pain to refill the ice. alternatives without going down expensive kit routes are difficult. Ensuring flow of room air is towards your exhaust also helps. Using a cmh which creates a lot of heat is going to be hard to manage. Led would have been a more manageable option and cheaper to run too. those cmh give off some light too , great for bigger rooms but may be too big tbh. Hate to be a doom bringer but it could be a very difficult heat issue to manage in a small area. Another exhaust for heat right next to the heatsink of the light may help too. Distance away is going to be another issue as soon as they get growing with nowhere to move the light to. Can you exchange for an LED or are you committed now?.

Also, what are these cooling products you speak of? You mean Silica?

 

[Old Salt]

Thanks heaps And plenty of coolers, but they are for beer!

There's no reason it can't do both.

If it's CO2 you want, I read about generators for aquariums that use citric acid and baking soda.

 

[kayciweed]

There's no reason it can't do both.

If it's CO2 you want, I read about generators for aquariums that use citric acid and baking soda.

I might try it in future but atm feels like overkill. I am taking your advice mate. Just bear with it, do what i can, best i can and be adaptable. Just like my plants, hopefully