Rider509: Two Thais & G13

[Scrogdawg]

Very happy I'd say.

I should have mentioned earlier regarding not top watering. I looked at the bottom of the pots above the water line and made sure the condensation/moisture line was high enough to be at the root level inside the pots, before the roots were visible. By the look of these I'd guess you're there for sure.

I'm glad you're growing again. Sure hope theres some girls in there.

 

[Rider509]

So the Samsungs are on the back two and the Crees on the front two, which plants are which?

Just an observation, but my Mack locked out at 700 ppm with the GH Flora trio nutes. I had to drain and add straight water in week 4 and 5 to get them to start drinking again.

The Mastik is in back under the Samsungs and the MT/Pineapple Crunch is under the Crees. I've got both systems dialed back to 260ppfd. There is no reason for the height of the lights other than that I couldn't be arsed to move them last night.

The high nute values are intentional but may come back to bite me. My logic was that they rooted out in Fox Farms Ocean Forest, which is a very hot mix. If they rebel I'll take it down a notch.

I wish I hadn't used the Fox Farms trio. My room smells like bat guano and pig shit and a high school locker room. Recommendations for something that doesn't stink?

 

[Rider509]

I should have mentioned earlier regarding not top watering. I looked at the bottom of the pots above the water line and made sure the condensation/moisture line was high enough to be at the root level inside the pots, before the roots were visible. By the look of these I'd guess you're there for sure.

I'm glad you're growing again. Sure hope theres some girls in there.

I've wondered whether the massive growth of the Gold Leaf was due in part to top watering. From the "soil" surface down the roots were watered and aerated and the roots exploded out of the entire net pot to reach down into the water. I wish I'd taken photos because the root mass was insane. I tossed the net pots out with the roots because I could hardly see the net pot through the roots.

And thanks, Scrogdawg. It feels good to be growing again.

 

[Calvados]

Mission Control. Yes, I know the pH is still high. No, I don't have plants in the system yet.

Hi. What am I looking at? Is that a CO2 tank? Are the grey boxes on the floor on/off switches? What are the 3 grey boxes on the wall? And finally what is that gauge on the inside of the tent? Isn't that going to be a light problem during flower?

 

[Rider509]

Hi. What am I looking at? Is that a CO2 tank? Are the grey boxes on the floor on/off switches? What are the 3 grey boxes on the wall? And finally what is that gauge on the inside of the tent? Isn't that going to be a light problem during flower?

Yep, it's the CO2 tank. I have enough light and environmental control to warrant its use once the plants are well established. The grey boxes are air pumps; each grow tub has an airstone. The three boxes on the wall are LED drivers. The gauge in the tent is the CO2 system controller and it is grow safe.

 

[Rider509]

I think I'm off to a spectacular start. Do you have any advice, Tunkers?
(you know I love you, brother! )

 

[Rider509]

I don't want to have to buy a res chiller so I'm considering using a pump on a thermostat with a coil outside to keep res temps down. My primary concern is that if the nutes don't flow through the coils often enough the coils will freeze. The other option is to appropriate one of my small RedBull refrigerators to the task. I could either put this coil inside it, or disassemble it and put the fridge coils in the res tank.
I'm open to suggestions!

 

[Calvados]

You add C02 to compensate for increased light? Is there a formula?

 

[Rider509]

You add C02 to compensate for increased light? Is there a formula?

There's a generally agreed upon school of thought, but yes, there's a point at which additional CO2 becomes beneficial given enough light and higher temps. It's been hashed out in the forums ad nauseum so a forum search will net you tons of info on it.

 

[Calvados]

I don't want to have to buy a res chiller so I'm considering using a pump on a thermostat with a coil outside to keep res temps down. My primary concern is that if the nutes don't flow through the coils often enough the coils will freeze. The other option is to appropriate one of my small RedBull refrigerators to the task. I could either put this coil inside it, or disassemble it and put the fridge coils in the res tank.
I'm open to suggestions!

Is water constantly circulating in this system? Wouldn't it make sense to add a separate reservoir that just modulates temperature?

 

[freakbudz420]

Is water constantly circulating in this system? Wouldn't it make sense to add a separate reservoir that just modulates temperature?

There is a separate res on the right side of that picture. That's where the water/nutes are controlled and where the system circulates from. You can just barely see it in the picture and can also see the Grow Boss on the wall above. What a kick ass system.

 

[Rider509]

Is water constantly circulating in this system? Wouldn't it make sense to add a separate reservoir that just modulates temperature?

It would only circulate as needed to keep the reservoir between 66-69F. An additional res would be redundant. All of the grow tubs flow back to the res so it makes sense to do system monitoring and cooling in there.

edit: an RDWC (recirculating deep water culture) is always running and moving water. The chiller would only run on demand.

 

[bignstrange]

Hell ya all caught up man! My I.q. may be a little low to contribute but I'll be here soaking it all in! Yall are my kinda crazy .

Off to a great start, your sheilas are growing super fast already!

 

[Rider509]

Looked at picking up an Inkbird controller but settled on the Bayite BTC211 for this reason. 30A relays. US$35 at Walmart online w/free shipping.

edit: fuck me running backwards. just dawned on me that an AC compressor is an inductive load. a 1500W motor is around a 2HP load. i see fused contacts in my future.

 

[freakbudz420]

What's this controller for Rider?

 

[Rider509]

What’s this controller for Rider?

It's a temp controller. I'm going to pull the guts out of a refrigerator to use as a res chiller. The last grow I was changing freezer gel packs three times a day to keep temps down. I guess I'm getting lazy cuz I don't want to do that again.

 

[freakbudz420]

It's a temp controller. I'm going to pull the guts out of a refrigerator to use as a res chiller. The last grow I was changing freezer gel packs three times a day to keep temps down. I guess I'm getting lazy cuz I don't want to do that again.

So is it like a thermostat? Coil goes into the res and the temp controller runs the compressor?

 

[Scrogdawg]

I wonder if it would have enough effect to draw cold outside air into the reservoir using a couple of big area air stones and an air pump.
???

 

[Archiweedies]

Awesome group of guys watching your grow Rider!
I actually have a suggestion that might allow you to keep your refrigerator mostly intact. I saw a guy double up two fifty foot rolls of garden hose still coiled up. Then he just used rubber grommets, pumped the nutrient solution through the "coils" and back out into the res. He mentioned not using too fast a pump, you want it to be in the refrigerator as long as possible. So you could connect more hose as well.

Might not solve everything but at least you can plug the holes haha and still have a fridge later, plus garden hoses!

 

[Rider509]

Hey, Archiweedies, good to see you! If you go back a page or so you'll see that I thought about a stainless coil doing just that. But after crunching some thermal transfer numbers it's apparent that it'd have to be a hella long coil, like... 100ft! LOL. I found a coil that has 100' of 3/8" O.D. and 20' of 1/4" O.D. 304 stainless for 150 bucks that would do the trick, but if I can drop the fridge coils right in the res I'd rather do that. I'm off to pull one of the fridges apart to see if it's even possible. I'll let ya know.