S420

really nice !!

On 12/18/2018 at 9:09 PM, CG420za said:

Don't spray anything on the flowers bru

Ye I figured so I havent touched them. Wouldnt wana ruin good bud.

Since the start of flower on my cheese, I have refrained from using foliar sprays like seaweed and neem oil. Today I noticed 1 or 2 bugs running around on the soil and 1 or 2 knats flying around. I am a bit afraid of insects getting into the buds. I applied some neem oil to the top soil on the cheese and did top soil + foliar on the smaller plants that are still in veg.  Should I do foliar neem on the buds as well as a preventative measure (I really dont want to contaminate the buds)? I need some advice from the pros, how does one do preventative pest management during flowering.   

Week 7 Cheese XXL

15 hours ago, greenkush said:

Not everyone can go bashing holes into walls to install an aircon for a grow tent, those portable units work perfectly fine. I use one in my house and it keeps it cool.

Making a hole in the wall aint an option for me either.  They  do work really good in tents 

35 minutes ago, greenkush said:

Mind linking it here please

https://www.takealot.com/russell-hobbs-10000btu-portable-aircon/PLID41125397

here are pics of the setup in my tent

On 12/5/2018 at 1:28 PM, greenkush said:

Portable aircons actually dry out the air with their internal dehumidification function. 

I currently run my lights at night, but I will be bringing on my other 600 watt panels so may find heat and issue and as such will be investing in one. Ideally I'd like to connect to to a humidistat. I will be building a make shift air scoop over the AC and run it into one of the vents, I won't actually keep the AC inside. 

This unit has the option to switch the dehumidifier off or on I thought that was pretty neat.

4 hours ago, Budwizer said:

I duct the ac waste to an outside box. My carbon filter and exhaust fan sit inside that box. I have a separate air filter box and another duct fan pushing in fresh air.

The aircon runs permanently, either heating or cooling, depending on the outside temperature. 

Only problem I have, is that the combination of ac fan and exhaust duct fan, overcomes the ability of the intake fan to keep the pressure more or less even, so my tent sucks in a lot. I use fan speed controllers on both the intake and exhaust duct fans,  but even when I’m running the exhaust at low speed, the aircon still overpowers the intake. I’m going to work on heavily modifying the AC for my next run, so I can have it outside my tent. I’m losing a third of my grow space with the aircon inside the tent. 

The Ac will become part of the intake system, with its waste air out of the grow environment circuit. So, intake air will flow from my filter, to the aircon, be warmed or cooled, and on to the tent. All I have to do is build a plenum for the aircon intake, and extend the temperature sensor into the tent ( and find a place to put the damn thing).

This way, I’ll have more control over the inlet pressure, and can balance it out better with the exhaust speed controller.

My tent is also sucking in alot. (even without the AC it sucks in if i turn up the damn extractor) These AC's are extremely strong at extracting air they completely overpower the extractor fans. For me ducting the AC outlet to the intake is a no go because the garage collects too much dust from the ceiling and this will clog it up eventually. Also the air outside the tent is always hot in the garage so I am sure I will be running an extra 1000w all the time. In my case I got lucky the 10000 btu unit is about the size of my carbon bed filter (just taller) its even smaller than the air cooler I had in there ( Half its size) so space is not an issue at all. I myself do not run an intake fan , I have sealed up the tents vent holes and allow it to intake air from a duct i have running to the outside. 

4 hours ago, Budwizer said:

Interested to see how you rigged the intake and exhaust. Any chance of a picture?

The setup didnt work well. I originally bought a 6' Y piece and moved the carbon filter to outside the tent. I then fed both exhausts into the Y piece. This turned out not to work so well when temps got really bad, it was fine during the few days of rainy weather but total failure when temps got over 32 (turns out the AC exhaust blows out with so much power it forces hot air back into the tent even against the extractor fans backpressure ). The only viable way forward that I can see , would be too buy another carbon bed filter for the AC. I am not willing to make mods to the AC It cost too much to mess around with. I tested feeding the AC exhaust directly into the tent exhaust and this is working fine for me atm. The downside is that I have to disconnect the ac exhaust when im not using the AC. Until I get another carbon filter I will have to do this manually else my neighbors will smell it. 

ok so update to my thread. I have fitted the aircon into the tent and it works like a charm. I have rigged it in such a way that I can run with or without the aircon while still keeping both exhausts through the carbon filter. I tried the aircon exhaust without the carbon filter and it just caused the place to stink up. The unit works 100% heating or cooling the tent to whatever I set it to.  The heater mode is cool for those cold nights cos it automatically switches on and off when needed.  So far I can see the effect on my plants they really were struggling with the heat. 

Looking at last week vs this week bud size 

Week 6 Cheese XXL Auto

Super Silver Haze Veg Week 3

Jacky's Girl Scout Cookies Veg Week 2

I received my seeds in the 

On 11/26/2018 at 10:17 AM, SkunkPharm said:

Hi Guys, l have been watching the posts here and was quite apprehensive to buy again from GSR. But the deals on Friday was really good. So went ahead and bought. I looks like they did change there courier service from DSV to Fastway. I recieved my seeds this morning. No issues with the delivery.

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk
 

One of the orders I placed was mishandled or packed badly. Both of the black boxes like above had opened up in transit. This essentially mixed up my strains. With regards to the delays and bad service. I know that they had some issues being understaffed and it seems like this has been resolved as I have noticed some new names responding to queries etc. They have always included a little extra gift for me and even discounted the delivery fee on one of my orders to make up for the delays. I would say I am still a fan and I appreciate the acknowledgment and friendly response to my angry emails when they make me wait for so long. I will still be buying from them in future. 

4 hours ago, McB said:

understand why deficiencies occur, don't panic when they do. keep it simple, nature is simple, we are emulating nature.

water on a schedule, not "every now and then", dont cheap out on nutes, soil or fans, shit, dont cheap out, period.

as in life " dont sweat the petty stuff and dont pet the sweaty stuff"

 

lastly, failure is also a result, learn from mistakes, thats how we all started

 

Its like with all babies , us daddys get excited quickly  

20 minutes ago, Budwizer said:

You sound like a first time grower. Nothing wrong with that, we were all first timers. The common thing amongst first timers though, is that they all ( me included) make way too much of everything. I guess pretty much like first time parents do. 

90cm is quite far, unless you’re running very powerful lights. If you’re worried about it, try 60cm. For the wattage you stated, I’m comfortable recommending 45cm.

Yeah never grown like this before ( We used to grow some plants in between crops on our farm ). Its been totally new growing indoor were things like lighting, ph, temp and humidity are all controlled. Ive set it to 45cm and changed the light rotations to lights on during the day to try it out. Today was rough I saw temps of about 33.5 even with the aircooler running on full with icepacks in the water tank. My AC arrives Saturday (Cant wait !!).  I am noticing what u mentioned about the angles as I lower the light. I see why you changed your lenses. The spread is not really great the lower you go.  Oh and btw I dont think the true wattage is 360w per light. I believe its more like 256w. 

On 11/26/2018 at 10:36 PM, SouthernSmoker95 said:

So guys ventilation is obviously an issue here, what can be done to resolve?

As for CFLs not so keen on them because I'd hate to put in the effort and land up with airy af pop corn bud, I want some beautiful nugs a man can be proud of.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk
 

Can you maybe run some '6 ducting from the room to a window or through the ceiling. Might have to cut a whole in the door and fit a fan there to suck air into the grow area. These are the simplest fixes to ventilation I would say. 

On 12/4/2018 at 7:17 PM, Chrislovesdagga said:

Well at least your dog didn't destroy everything..... I have a greyhound almost 1 yr old, it first got into the locked parking bay when I forgot to lock the side gate, he chewed my plant, so I moved it out on top of those cube water tanks, got home today to see he got to everything there as well....

I lost over R2000 and Im chucking the freedom farm soil away too, so got to count that too, guess I'm done growing, thinking I'm done with my dog too, anyone looking for a dog for Christmas? He kinda keeps you on your toes

Sent from my ALE-L02 using Tapatalk
 

Man I feel u I have  Rhodesian ridgeback who chewed up the cover for my PH meter (the one thats suppose to keep the damn probe moist all the time). He is my physical security and best friend in one so i cant get rid of him . Your doggy sounds like he works for the K9 unit cos he goes for the actual plants . 

2 hours ago, Pvt_sToNeR said:

Was no joke about to send you the link 

https://www.takealot.com/russell-hobbs-10000btu-portable-aircon/PLID41125397

Great minds !!

2 hours ago, Budwizer said:

When I say day temps, I mean lights on. Doesn’t matter whether that’s real nighttime or daytime. Your system will run more efficiently if you run lights on during the daytime. Use the heat of the day while the lights are on, set the aircon to 30, cooling.

At night drop the aircon to 25, still cooling.

On cold days, set the aircon to heating.

During the winter months, my aircon will run heating permanently. 

Don’t ignore my advice regarding RH. In veg and early flower, you need to be above 50%.

I have a PAR meter, to set the distance for my lights. They’re at approximately 30cm, and I have multiple overlapping. Your lights are different to mine. You can’t run the same distance I am. I’d recommend 45cm for yours, without knowing your setup.

 

I hear u about the RH thing. In dry climate it takes both a humidifier and aircooler running in humid mode to keep it at 40-50 / waiting for the aircon to arrive then ill deal with the RH issues. I bought a backup pond ultrasonic fogger to add more humidity that I can try. With regards to the temps, If i run my lights during the day the temp will go over 32 degrees. hopefully the AC is going to be the answer to that then I can switch my light cycle.  I will give 45cm a try on my lights ( i ended up going into the grow tent at like 2 am and raising them back to the 90 cm they were set to , just so afraid of burning them or stressing them). 

On 12/4/2018 at 7:12 PM, Budwizer said:

2 x 3KVA double conversion online UPS, and 3KVA genie for the win. 

Heres where LED scores BIG points. Keep the lights on, don’t worry about heat. 

 

Better get get used to it dudes. It’s not going away, and it’s gonna get worse. Think carefully where you wanna spend your next R10k for upgrades.

Word dude , that next spend might just have to go into backup power. 

Out of interest I have chosen this AC unit (was on special with 37% off). I like the self evaporator ( means no draining of water, better power efficiency and hopefully no issues with dehumidifying). 

What's in the box
x 1 Portable Aircon
x 1 Remote Control
x 1 Exhaust Hose
x 1 Window Kit

2 hours ago, Budwizer said:

There is a lot of info on the net regarding growing this plant. Much of that info is outdated, but regurgitated as gospel.

You could run 30 deg with HPS and not have major issues. Trick is balancing the most important factors- heat, humidity, light intensity, substrate EC, substrate moisure level, substrate pH.

LEDs don’t radiate much infrared, which HPS ( and the sun) does. That infrared energy (heat) is one of the drivers of photosynthetic processes, used by the plant to manufacture sugars. You need to achieve a LST (leaf surface temperature) of 27 deg plus or minus. If your cab is running at 28 ambient with led, your probably only hitting 24 deg LST. Your plants aren’t performing at their best. 

I’m still getting my head around a lot of this myself, but my results are proving this new info correct. I have pretty good control of RH, which is an important factor. 

I have lowered my daytime ambient temps from 31 to 29 for the last two weeks of flower, nighttime ambient temp from 25 to 24. RH from 60 to 40 day and night. My system runs +-5 points from those goals.

I’d say it’s working.

Looks really good nice and frosty. It looks like I am mostly worried for nothing , my day night temps are almost the same as yours just a bit higher 32 degrees or so atm during the day with the lights off (the new ac arrives this weekend so that should help bring it down during the day). Would u recommend i set the AC to 29 degrees to regulate it at that temp ? Also would you mind please posting some pics that show ur light distance from your plant tops , I am busy trying to figure out the sweet spot and Im not seeing many led setups that show the actual light distance. Love the results I see on your picture though. 

4 hours ago, Budwizer said:

Get LED lights 

You have to run 30+ degrees for optimal growth, and transpiration.

Much easier and cheaper to control humidity than fighting hot temps.

Seriously, these are the same plants as my SOTM entry. Record flowering time, and looking to be my best yield ever.

Wow they are looking lovely. Im not sure if the info I am reading is incorrect cos it seems I have it all wrong if what you are saying is true. I read that flowering temp shouldnt exceed 28 degrees or it effects thc yield. I dont want to have all my hard work ruined by temperatures that are too high. Also I am already using LED lights , 2 x appollo 8 360w. 

7 hours ago, greenkush said:

Portable aircons actually dry out the air with their internal dehumidification function. 

I currently run my lights at night, but I will be bringing on my other 600 watt panels so may find heat and issue and as such will be investing in one. Ideally I'd like to connect to to a humidistat. I will be building a make shift air scoop over the AC and run it into one of the vents, I won't actually keep the AC inside. 

I have seen this mod on some setups on youtube. I am of the feeling that this will work out extremely inefficient cost wise since the air outside the room will be sucked into the system. I am not an expert but my line of thinking is that when placed inside the tent the unit will have to work less since the air inside the tent will eventually get cooler over time running the AC. The intake air will be cooler and less power will be required on the long run. I havent worked out what I am going to do but i think it will be something along the lines of running the exhaust hose into the interior carbon airfilter or directly outside the tent. Ive read that the downside is that this may effect the back pressure in the system but I will try to equalise it using the exhaust fan to suck the air out faster. I can guarantee that if I run the AC from the outside of my tent  t will draw maximum power all the time that the AC is on. Give or take at full draw this should be an extra 1000 watts to the setup if not managed. 

On 12/3/2018 at 1:49 PM, McB said:

any time, have just spent a few weeks with it in varying stages of repair and upgrade on my desk.
 regarding coverage, that's where the lense angle comes in , the 120 lense would give me a wider but less powerful grow area.

 i treat(and view) mine as i would a 250w hps, keep it roughly 40cm away from canopy, currently in a 1x1m tent.

 

happiness wise, its a mixed bag.

i experienced very short plants, cal mag defs and stunted growth

 that said i had a mindless obsession with Autos that may well also have been partially to blame for overly touchy plants and low yields. 

i foolishly opted to add 730nm  infra red to the spectrum trying to boost photosynthesis without properly understanding the emerson effect and i think i did yield a lot of damage.

those have been removed and replaced with blues, the warm whites i chose have also been binned for daylight 6500k diodes. so time will tell

Pics of spectrum changes attached

Top 4 updated bottom 4 old spectrum

 the panel will now serve as veg light (attached pic) and potentially late flower spectrum booster if i get power hungry enough.

looking at your plants the cheese seem to be perfectly happy under the leds, with the younger plants they look to be staying quite squat, something i noticed with my apollo

 

 

 

I decided to  try lowering the light again and there was visible heat stress on the leaves even at 50 cm. The serrations on the leaves definitely start curling upwards. Now I am worried this first grow on this setup is not getting enough light. Is grow light distance really such a big thing on LED lights. I read somewhere the penetration on LEDS is excellent which is why they recommend hanging it even higher when plants are in seedling stage. That said I also read that light strength is inversely proportional to distance with losses increasing exponentially as the distance is increased.  I really dont know what to do now. I saw a video where a guy lowered the light but angled his fans to cool the area under the light. Soo many options dont know what to do or if the risk is even worth it. In the pictures your plants look nice and healthy and bushy , I was wondering what kind of max height you are getting on non auto flowers.