What are the complete optimum conditions for an indoor grow room?

[DRMedical420]

Hi All,

So I'm also building an enclosed grow space with hydroponics & quantum boards, the aim is to grow in the best possible way that is available to science right now.

Some of the questions I have are:

1) Are there any other gasses in the air besides O2 (root) and Co2 (leaves) that the plant will need in a recirculating system?

2) Would it be best to evacuate the daytime enriched Co2 air with fresh outside air when crossing over to the night cycle? (Not exactly completely closed off but I wanted redundancy is anything such as the AC were to fail.)

3) Running an oxygen generator into the hydro tubs through a diffuser air stone in conjunction with the regular air pump and stone. Has anyone heard of someone adding O2 to the water and what effects has it had?

4) UB-V What is the best light on the market for finishing up the flower and trichome production? What are the best practices in this time with the UB-V? Eg. hanging height vs the main lighting, Period of time for optimal trichome production?

5) Which is the best automatic controller for a 20 plant room with regards to climate control? eg. Co2, O2, humidity...etc

Looking forward to the knowledge and thank you in advance!

 

[Rosti]

I’ll try my best to answer these for you but others will jump in as well I’m sure.

1. Not to my knowledge, no. The only other gas that I’ve heard mention of is ethylene, it’s a plant hormone... it would be unnecessary to pump this into your grow room, but maybe you can do some research on it and see what you think.

2. I’ve never paid much attention to
Co2 levels so I’m not really qualified to answer this one but if your pumping in extra co2 I assume you would want to keep it trapped in your sealed room otherwise your just wasting the co2 you’ve spent money pumping into the room.... even if your not pumping Co2 I still suggest leaving that window closed at all times but that’s just me.

3. Again outside my realm of expertise... but I’m confused if you are talking about an O2 concentrator or a big multi stage oxygen generator.. either way it’s an unnecessary addition to the room. You are already feeding your buckets o2 with the air pump and stone, that will be enough...just so you know there is such a thing as too much oxygen in your reservoir ... plant growth will slow way down and Ph could drop rapidly if you provide and excessive amount of oxygen to the roots.

4. I think your referring to UV-B, or just ultraviolet light in general... best bet is too look at BudgetLED. They provide incredible lights and they will customize the board for you pretty much anyway you want it. You can have different spectrums on the same board as well as adding in UV-A, UV-B, and IR diodes. My light is a combination of spectrums with Blues, reds, UV’s and IR diodes added to my light and it is hands down my favorite fixture. Grows better nugs then my HLG’s, so I highly suggest giving them a look.

5. I can’t really answer this one for you because nothing I do is automated.. BUT if I were to go that route I would look into
Cloud line AC infinity fans (the one that monitors the rh and temperature) you can set the highs and lows for the temperatures and humidity you want and it will kick on and off when it falls out of the parameters you set. Also if your going Rdwc I’d suggest looking into a blue lab guardian or something like that. I’d use one if I was recirculating... Other little bits of advice I can give is too make sure you have all the equipment you need.. fans, humidifiers, dehueys, AC’s (including back ups in case of equipment failure) to dial in your environment and keep it steady. Hopefully I was able to provide you with some of the answers you were looking for, if you have anymore questions just ask.

 

[Rexer]

Bubblinbuds gave you some great info, and while Im still newbie level I've done some research into the automation. Bluelab products are something you'll want to look at, the AC infinity fans, and a company called Titan controls (good quality but pricey). A cheap alternative that works are Inkbird controllers (which I use). I can view and adjust my temperature remotely.
If your like me a camera will also probably be something that your going to look at, just be aware that if you grow photo period plants, the IR lights off the camera may cause issues (my IRs are turned off and Im growing autos).

Af far as O2 enrichment, there is a product I came across in my research, basically in place of a noisy air pump and airstone it's O2 emitters, but they dont have the longevity of airstones....thus I didn't look to hard into them.

As far as the C02, a sealed grow is the way to go....dont vent your money out the window if you can avoid it.

 

[DRMedical420]

Ethylene (C2H4 )
Ethylene gas has many interesting aspects, both positive and negative. Little data exists regarding cannabis and ethylene gas, but application or buildup of the gas in most plant-growth stages can be detrimental. It can inhibit growth, maturation, and cannabinoid and essential oil production.

Ethylene is a hydrocarbon. It is a colorless, flammable gas with a slight sweet and musty odor at elevated levels, and is widely used in the chemical industry. Ethylene is a natural plant hormone used in agriculture to force the ripening of fruits. It is present in trace amounts throughout a plant’s life, stimulating or regulating the ripening of fruit, the opening of flowers and the abscission (shedding) of leaves.

Ethylene production also can be induced by a variety of external influences, such as physical wounding, environmental stress and certain chemicals (including auxin). Environmental influences such as excessive or under watering, extreme temperatures (both hot and cold), pest and disease/pathogen attack can induce ethylene production. When plants are over watered, roots suffer from a lack of oxygen and become stressed, inducing the plant to produce ethylene. Many growers also have found out the hard way that carbon dioxide burners and the exhaust fumes from inefficient greenhouse heaters can raise the ethylene concentration to 0.05 ppm, causing delay in flowering of commercial crops.

Here is a list of responses plants can have to ethylene:

1. Stimulates seedling triple response, thickening and shortening of hypocotyl with pronounced apical hook
2. Stimulates arabidopsis hypocotyl elongation
3. Stimulates leaf and flower senescence (aging)
4. Stimulates senescence of mature xylem cells in preparation for plant use
5. Induces leaf abscission (shedding)
6. Induces seed germination
7. Induces root hair growth, increasing the efficiency of water and mineral absorption
8. Induces growth of adventitious roots during flooding
9. Stimulates fruit ripening
10. Induces a climacteric rise in respiration in some fruit/plants, which causes a release of additional ethylene
11. Affects gravitropism (the direction in which stems and roots grow)
12. Inhibits stem growth, and stimulates stem and cell broadening and lateral branch growth outside of seedling stage
13. Interferes with auxin transport (with high auxin concentrations)
14. Inhibits shoot growth and stomata closing

(Source: Some of the above points were excerpted or adapted from Wikipedia.)

Plants can be induced to flower either by treatment with ethylene gas in the chamber or by placing a banana peel next to a plant in an enclosed area.

Again, little research has been performed regarding cannabis. The ethylene influences listed show that there are many possible positive uses for ethylene gas application in specific growth stages.

Ethylene meters are an unnecessary expense; a CO2 monitor and an oxygen monitor are all that are needed when CO2, oxygen, humidity, temperatures and ventilation are properly maintained. If all other parameters are within their desired set points, the likelihood of an ethylene buildup is very minimal. But now that you know the damage ethylene gas is capable of, be vigilant and observant.

I once observed a very healthy, ripe crop of 200 indoor cannabis plants seemingly spontaneously shed all their large fan leaves the day of harvest, and any leaves left fell off when the plant was cut. This eliminated 25 percent of the hand de-leafing without compromising quality or quantity. The growing environment was completely hermetically sealed. Based on observation, I can only surmise that ethylene buildup caused the shedding of leaves, although without an ethylene meter, I had no way to confirm that. However, if a grower could induce the plants to drop larger leaves at will and eliminate 25 percent of de-leafing labor, that would certainly be a cost—saving advantage.

Ethylene is a natural, organic gas, not some devious synthetic chemical. Your grandmother probably ripened fruit with ethylene gas from a banana many years ago. Think of ethylene, when used strategically, as a “Jeffrey.” As explained in the movie “Get Him to the Greek,” “Who could be afraid of a Jeffrey? Jeffrey is just a nice bloke down the road, inne?”


Questions:

What can lead to increases levels of Ethylene gas? (Primarily which equipment can produce such gas?)

What is the ideal level for Ethylene gas?

If I have a sealed grow room, how to monitor levels?

 

[The Happy One]

It's posts like this that make me giddy all over. The mere thought of a self-defolation on a room full of ready to harvest ladies is almost more than I can handle.
Interesting my friend. Bravo!

 

[DRMedical420]

There is something that I haven't seen anyone speaking about as I haven't been able to find scientific data on usage of the cannabis plant and the gas known as Ethylene gas?

Can anyone give me some info on the issues concerning the buildup of Ethylene gas in a sealed room environment?