Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Yesterday evening I pulled my old axial fan I was using for room exhaust and replaced it with a modified Blizzard fan. The old fan was one of those 4" 120v giant PC-style fans, moved probably less than 50cfm. So even with the 1000w light air cooled and exhausted to another area, the cab temps in my 3' x 5' grow room were in the low 90s (°F)... too warm! The Blizzard fan had stopped working in its original form but once I got the plastic housing removed I found that the power cord had been crimped where it entered the plastic base. Removed everything except the fan itself, rewired the power cord to fix the crimp, and stripped out the gearbox that controlled the oscillation (don't need that anymore). After removing the 4" axial fan, I enlarged the exhaust hole in the grow cab to around 9" and mounted the 8" Blizzard fan so that the blades are just about flush with the cab bulkhead. Tested it during last nights light cycle and cab temps are stable @ 81°F, mission accomplished! The only thing about the Blizz is that its somewhat loud mounted directly to a stud as it is... I may be able to acoustically isolate it a little using foam and such. Also I'll need to keep an eye on the motor itself, it was quite warm this AM after almost 12 continuous hours on. But at least now I can close the door of the grow chamber, which means the rest of the bedroom is again available for domestic use, which makes Goldberry happy.

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

nice work getting the temps down, try using some rubber spacers on the fan where you mount it and that should keep the noise down a bit,

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Girls are starting to take off it seems, now they're each about 6" tall and putting out new growth like mad. I think they're finally responding to the transplant to the 2L bottles. I can see through the plastic that their roots have worked their way down to the nutes at the bottom, so I'm guessing the growth spurt is thanks to that. At this rate, they'll be ready for transplant into the 5 gallon hempy bux in a week or two. They just needed someone to believe in them!

Recently found out that the young wife of a friend has cancer, docs discovered it just a couple weeks ago but after further testing it seems to be more widespread than originally thought. Aggressive chemo will commence ASAP. Her oncologist told her in private that he recommends cannabis (we are in a non MMJ state). All of a sudden shit is getting real, its easy for someone as blessed as Tom and Goldberry to forget that its not just about getting buzzed and relaxing at the end of the day, this herb is a powerful gift from the Almighty.... His blessing put here on this earth, born of His infinite wisdom and love for mankind. The agents of Babylon have taken it upon themselves to destroy this blessing, they've said in their hearts that they alone know good and evil... but they shall not prevail. We will overgrow the governments, show mercy and compassion to those who would oppose us and destroy evil with love.

I dedicate this grow to that poor girl whose life is about to be shattered, and God willing these little green rambunctious girls will bring her comfort and healing during the dark hours before her.

People sometimes it becomes painfully clear that this is bigger than us. Especially for those of you in non MMJ states, please look around you and ask yourselves if there is anyone who needs your medicine, is there someone next door or down the street who desperately needs healing that through your skills and knowledge you can provide. We here are blessed with abilities and intellect that can help mankind. Let us use these gifts and become something greater.

Peace!

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Transplanted the girls into the 5 gallon hempies. Went somewhere between 3-4:1 perlite/vermiculite. Watered thoroughly. Note to self: get shop vac!

Experiencing heat issues in the grow closet. Temps were previously in the low 80's, now inexplicably hovering in the upper 80's °F. Blizzard fan was a great exercise in DIY, ultimately not the solution. Rather than spending another $100 on another inline fan, think I may experiment with using my current inline fan to suck the air through the light and out, retaining the passive intakes.

GLR is still in place, plants are about 10" tall. Suddenly they seem small, sitting in their bigger buckets. Still allot of room to veg and train. I drilled 3/8" holes all around the perimeter of the buckets just under the rim, about 16 in all. These should provide enough tie down points for LST. Found florists wire that I think will work well, rigid yet very flexible, 18" long, and super cheap! $0.97 for a 30-pack. Looks similar to what Light Addict is using.

Peace!

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

The last couple of days Tom has been working on ventilation. Trying everything I can think of to get these temps down, but nothing seems to be working. Here is a breakdown of what I've done:

Cut a 6" circular vent in the ceiling. Ran a 6" insulated flex duct from the fan inlet to the ceiling vent. Fan was still pushing the same way, through a 4" reducer through the wall of the cab down into the light and into the wall cavity. Last night I let it do that, sucking the air from the attic space and pushing down through the light and into the wall. Ambient temps up in the attic last night was about 65°F. The cab still topped out and stabilized at 88°-92°F (depending on which thermometer I choose to believe). Still to hot!

This morning I finished the intake run-never intended to let the fan suck untreated air from the attic, just experimenting. So what I did was cut a 10"x4" hole for a register in the ceiling of a coat closet out in the hallway. The door on this closet is bi-fold so plenty of room for air exchange in or out of the closet. Connected this register in the attic to the 6" circular duct over by the grow cab with 6" insulated flex duct. I did not test this configuration for temps, as I figured with a ~15ft duct run with air slightly warmer than last nights outdoor temps (~70°F as opposed to 65°F), it pretty much had to be a little less effective than my test run last night.

Then I reversed the fan to be sucking through the light and pushing out this duct run. Its still sucking through a 4" reducer so I know this decreases the effectiveness. Also I am aware that sucking hot air will reduce the lifespan of the fan, and more importantly that this would potentially allow stinky air to leak into the light fixture and be vented into the house (I don't have a carbon filter at the time being so its a moot point). Nevertheless, I tried it anyway just hoping to get the temps down. No joy! I've run the light for an hour or so today during the 'midnight' GLR on cycle, and temps are still topping out at near 90°F. I will admit, all that work and modification to my dwelling with only a 4° difference is frustrating.

I will not whine, but will ask in my most nonwhiny voice: I need advice!

Two things I can think:
1) need a new reflector, with 6" ducts instead of 4", or
2) maybe a 1000w is just to big for a 3'x5'x8' space without dedicated A/C, regardless of how well ventilated.

What do you think? Not looking for a surefire answer, just your thoughts and opinions based on your own experiences.

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

its fine to push the air past the bulb as long as the hood is sealed properly, if its not sealed then you just going to push the hot air into the room as well as pushing it out the room, so sucking the air past the bulb is a good option if you dont have the hood or a good seal on the ducting,

i suffer with temps a lot in the summer so have to have the grow door slightly open a few inches, now we are in autumn/winter i can leave the door closed most the day but temps still creep up so still open the door a few inches, that works ok for me as i dont have the option of cutting holes as im using a brick built cupboard so cant punch holes through it,

sounds like your really struggling with the temps, glr helps keep the temps down as the light is on for a lot less but if the room still gets hot after an hour of the light been on then you dont really have many options, would raising the light help or is the whole room heating up. im not much help with the fans or vents as ive not had to try things like that because i cant so had to make do with having the door open when the lights are on, so have the lights on when i know im awake and off at night, that way i know im up to open the door when the light comes on or after its been on an hour or 2,

as for the light it depends how many plants you want to grow and how big you want the plants, my room is 3ft by 3ft and floor to ceiling high and im using a 400 dual spectrum hps, i recon a 600watt would do me better but i dont think id go any higher as temps would be way to high. my hoods an open batwing type so got no cooling at all and thats why i really suffer with high temps

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

I was reading in my old journal from last year, and found this:

There are also little aluminum tabs over each port on the interior side of the reflector, I have read advice suggesting to cut them off to improve airflow. But I am hesitant to make such permanent and irreversible mods to them until I've at least hooked up a fan and tried them out.

After I removed the glass this afternoon, frustrated because I can't seem to get the temps down, I noticed a soft whistling sound. Dawned on me that, even with a 4" port, these little tabs restrict airflow to damn near nothing. No wonder all the more modern reflectors have them set end-to-end, rather than side-to-side. Pried them out, temps are back down to mid 80's, woohoo!

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

nice, sounds like you got it sorted,

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

@donpaul: thanks for doing by to give your advice bro, I haven't had much time for posting lately, just reading a few moments here and there. your space is very similar to mine as far as footprint, I do have an advantage of being able to run ducts, thank goodness otherwise I could never even dream of using a 1000w in such a small space. I think what I've been dealing with is the RADIANT heat in the small grow space, the convective heat is being effectively removed by air cooling. In other words, if my space was 5x8 or larger I bet my temps would be in the 70's. I got 2 of these Sunleaves switchable magnetic ballasts along with 2 Super Sun I reflectors for free, hard to beat that deal, but I've considered trying to trade one of them for a 600w or a 400w... 400w ideally that way I could try out Ceramic Metal Halide. Also as you've heard me complain, a light as large as this 1000w could benefit greatly from 6" or 8" air flanges, aligned end-to-end instead of the 4" side-to-side ports these hoods have. Although taking out the metal tabs that were blocking the 4" holes did greatly improve the flow.

As we are beginning to have cooler weather now, the temps probably won't be such an issue. They hover from 82°-84° now, depending on which thermometer I choose to believe, and I'd bet by December it will come down to the upper 70's.

Eventually, I'd like to go from this one fan system (one 6" fan sucking through the light, handling light-cooling and cab ventilation) to a 2 fan system with the 6" cooling the lights and another inline with a scrubber handing the cab air. To that goal, I found a free 20 amp circuit close to the grow room! Its labeled 'computer' on the breaker panel and as far as I can tell its only hooked to a single outlet in a nearby bedroom. That's awesome, because I could just pull that wire via the attic and move it over 10ft or so and run it to the grow room. Then I'd have a dedicated 20A for this big light + fan whilst reserving the outlets on the 15A circuit in the grow room for cab ventilation and better yet, mothers and clones! The only reason I thought that I wouldn't be able to mother/clone in the same room was because I lacked another circuit to safely pull several more amps, this 15A circuit bring pretty much maxed out with a 1000w light, ~200w fan plus ~30w table fan for circulation.

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

i could do with a different light myself, dont think i could get away with a 1000watt light but im sure a 600watt light would give me the results im looking for as i grow bigger plants now so i woud benefit from the 600watt dual spec hid if they do a 600watt dual spectrum hps, im getting great results with these dual spectrum bulbs and they work well for both veg and flower but then ive not tried a hps bulb or mh bulb so cant really compare them until i try them.

my only concerns with going with a bigger light is the distance from the plants, if i had a 600watt light that didnt have a sealed hood then would i actually benefit as the 600watt light would need to be further away from the plants so maybe i would not gain anything.

also i found a hotel thats been knocked down and its got a load of hid lights around the outside of the hotel that used to shine up to light the sides of the hotel up and the signs, the bulbs look bigger than 400watt so might be 600 or 1000watts, but the whole unit including the ballast is totally enclosed and i could not see where they would have a fan inside, now these lights have to be sealed because their being used outdoors in all weathers, so clearly their is something that stops the light from over heating if its sealed up like that, surelly the bulb would get really hot as the reflecter and bulb is totally sealed to stop moisture and rain getting in, so i might pick a few of these lights up and rip one apart and have a look whats going on inside, i could even extend the wire from the ballast to the bulb holder so the ballast would then not be enclosed in the hood,

i know their industrial lights but with a proper grow bulb they should grow plants with no problems, so might pick a few of these up, the bloke said they all work or was working when they was switched off, chances are the bulbs are old and been on for many life hours so will need replacing, but if they are hid lights then surely using a dedicated grow hid bulb would be the same as using a regular ballast and bulb, i was just amazed at how big the bulb was and no sort of vent of fan fitted to the unit as its totally sealed up, where the bulb and reflector is it all sealed with no vents or tubes that could move air about so not sure how they got around the heat issue with them,

so ill pick a couple up i think and rip one apart and see how they work, they could be 600watt lights so that would be ideal but ive read that industrial hids are not good for growing, but im thinking as long as the bulb is replaced with a grow bulb then they should be the same as any other ballast of the same watt, but ill have to look into it more and see if their worth using.

led's are also another option im looking into but prices put me off but i know they would pay for themselves over a few grows so might go down that road when i see some good results from the led journals im following

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

hey don Paul anything you can scavenge for free deserves mad props in my thinking... anyone with $ can go spend $5k on equipment but the master is the one who grows stinky sticky buds with free second hand supplies. The goodwill building supplies store in my town has a bunch of those security lights! I think the ones I've seen there are 1000w MHs, the enclosures are not the sealed kind like you're describing at the old hotel I think they must have been indoors like in a gym or something. If I didn't already have free 1000w switchable ballasts/reflectors then I would definitely be scoring some of those! When it comes to adapting the fixtures to have a remote ballast, yes I've seen several DIY tutorials on this site and others about how to do that... I remember reading that you should make sure the lamp cord is rated correctly (i.e., thick enough) to handle the current... 600v is the figure that sticks out in my mind, and I think I recall them saying that 14\2 Romex (typical house wire) was not sufficient. I don't endorse any other site usually, but there was a thread by a guy with username Mad Penguin that was excellent electrical info, the guy is an experienced electrician and very big on safety, it was an excellent read and full of DIY tips. Very helpful for me since I've had a ton of experience with 12v DC electrical (car stereos, etc) but 120v AC was like a whole different mystery world to me, and of course the lamp cord going from ballast to socket is stepped up current. Since reading on this topic, I've learned so much about AC that I've been able to fix a few non-grow-related things around the house, switches and dimmers and whatnot, and that makes my Goldberry happy.

Just one thing, as I think you already said before, I wouldn't think about any kind of HID until you can run a duct or three into your grow space... just no way to keep the temps reasonable without it. At least that's been my experience. If you do get one of those second hand ballasts, please post your findings so we can learn from it too!

LEDs have never been a serious consideration in my mind, the first few years they seemed ineffective but as the technology has advanced and I've definitely seen some awesome grows with them lately, its the expense that keeps me out of that market. Another turn off for me has been the heat, it seems that the really effective, high output systems put off a ton of heat, requiring fans and such, so to me that is similar to the requirements for HID and with the added expense, just doesn't tip the equation in my reckoning. If anyone reading this is experienced with LEDs cares to disagree, by all means please set me straight! I do think with the way the technology is progressing, its only a matter of time before we'll all be using LEDs talking about 'remember back when we used those, what do you call them, HID lamps?' But for me right now LEDs aren't part of my grow plans.

As always, thanks for stopping by don Paul!

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Its been a little over a week since I put the girls in hempy buckets. They are finally starting to perk! They were looking fairly wimpy for some days there, I've read from other posters that this is pretty normal, and that once the roots reach the 'rez' they will really take off!

I also think the heat was too much for them for a few days while I got the ventilation sorted out, low 90s a couple of times, not enough to kill them but enough to stunt their growth a little.

I also had some sort of nutrient deficiency, the stalks were streaking purple all the way up the stems and from the charts I was thinking magnesium. I've been foliar feeding a very light concentration of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) so that may have helped.

Ok guys, Tom has finally broken down and admitted to himself and others that he absolutely needs a PH pen!

I've never used one before, had great results anyway, I'm not one of those growers that insist no one grow without one, but I'm here to agree with what I've heard many many growers say-growing, especially hydro, without a PH tester is like flying blind!

I suspect that the extremely slow growth of these 2 girls may be because of lockout due to high PH. I know from my DWC grow years back, using a ph test strip that I begged from someone else, that the tap water around these parts is relatively high in PH, somewhere around 7.0 after nutes. So any deficiency I may have is likely to be due to lockout, rather than just not enough nutes. So, Toms mission today is to order one of those nifty pens that you all seem to keep in your shirt pocket at all times!

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

led lights are im pretty sure going to be the future of growing, prices are a bit high for me at the minute though unless they are proven to produce better results than a hid light, i currently use a 400watt dual spec hps and thats ok in the room im using, any bigger and id need a cooled hood and vents.

ive got a ph pen and i think ive used it 3 times, i never test the ph of my soil plants or test the ph of what i feed them and ive not had any problems else i would test, the only time i have used it is to test the ph of my tap water which comes out at 7.0, then i tested my old nutrients i was using when i started growing a dwc set up, then i tested the new nutrients the other day as a member was getting low ph readings.

so even though i do the odd dwc grow i never actually check the ph, if i had problems then i would but i find with soil the ph dont need testing as the soil acts as a buffer and it sorts itself out, at least thats what i think happens as ive not had any problems with soil, my dwc is the same i just feed it as i do the soil plants and not getting any signs of problems, maybe its because my tap water is 7.0 and the nute companies use that as a standard measure to set their nutes up to, not to sure though but ive not had any issues so not tested the ph at all throughout all my grows.

i know with hydro and dwc it is best to check and adjust the ph to get it in the right range else you can have lock outs but so far mine seems ok so i can only think its to do with the tap water been stable at 7.0.

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

that's cool dp, I've also done DWC with no ph tester, let the record show it IS possible. Sometimes on these sites people engage in platitudes saying 'if you don't have a ph pen, don't even try to grow' and it makes me think those guys only have a narrow vision of the full spectrum of what growing can be. Just like you read people saying stuff like 'forget about CFLs, waste of time' and then you'll see journals where guys are growing killer ganj under a few hundred Watts of CFL. I say, if its growing, you're doing something right, and weed is a very forgiving mistress, compared to other houseplants.

 

[donpaul.p]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

my first grow was cfls and i was pulling 2 to 3oz per plant, i still use cfls now for seedlings and clones and even got plants vegging under just 2 cfls at the minute because my flowering plants have taken a bit longer than i thought, cfls keep node spacing very tight so always use them for clones and seedlings.

i dont own a ppm meter so never tested that at all, but if i had problems then i guess it would be nice to have them. soil plants i know buffer the ph a lot better and as long as you dont over water then ph should not be an issue, i know ph is more critical in dwc and hydro but until i have problems i wont be checking it, why change something that clearly works, maybe if i adjust the ph then ill have problems like all the growers that adjust ph with ph up and down, i dont adjust and i dont have problems.

when i do then ill look at testing what the problem is, but not had any problems in 3 to 4 years, the only issue i did have was the res temp was to warm as the light was shining on the res, so i used cardboard and placed it on top of the pot the plant was rooted in and this kept it cool and not had a problem since then.

plus people need to realise ph changes and can change in a matter of hours, when Spimp told me the dogget simpson nutrients where giving low ph readings i decided to check and i mixed a batch and he was right the ph was on the low side, but i left the nutrients sitting in a jug and tested it every 30min and slowly the ph was rising, within 12 hours the ph was where it needed to be, then i tested the ph in my res and again it was in the right area,

 

[Tom Bombodil]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Hello to all! sorry has been a long time since any update, I'm sure you were all worried sick about me!

So here's the deal... had something come up back in November, had to shut the lights off for 2 weeks! After coming back to it, I thought I'd give it a shot and throw them into flower, just a super long transition period right? Well, this is a downright amazing plant folks, they bounced back in just a couple weeks. The bad news is that they both turned male! I'm assuming due to the stress.

So now, several weeks later, the BOYS are just dripping pollen! I'm going to harvest this boy powder from my Western Winds and Malawi Gold, to save for future runs. Hopefully if I can actually pull off a female run, I can hand pollinate them to propagate these 2 varieties plus some crosses.

Good to be back folks!

 

[David Bowman]

re: Tom Bombodil's Malawi Gold & Western Winds Bumble in the Jungle

Thanks for sharing your grow with us.

I’m moving this to Completed Journals now.

Have you started a new grow you would like to share with us?

If so, please feel free to start a new journal here: Journals in Progress

In the future, whenever you complete a journal, please use the Report Post feature found at the bottom left of every post, so we can be alerted to move it for you.

Hope all is well in your world.

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