a ppk for a 6 plant limit

[Dr.RedWhite]

12 volt deer feeder timer 6 settings a day for 0 to 30 seconds, 12 volt battery, battery maintainer charger or solar panel and a solenoid from a 1978 ford truck. The pump is a boat sump pump 1200 GPH from Harbor freight. The pump is very adequate for 6 sites and cheap too $20. Timer is $35. solenoid $12. and battery maintainer $9. Lawn tractor battery $34. So yes I would be in the market for a $35. timer!

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Timer question:

I have been looking at timers for this application and am beginning to think I may want to build my own in order to get the functionality I would like for a reasonable cost.

Then reality set in.... The time involved, materials cost and shipping make it less attractive to take on when I only need 3 of them. If I was going to build 30-40 of them it would be worth while.

The time I have in mind would have two receptacles and support a 20 amp load. It would have two controls. One for "on time" that can be set from 0-255 seconds in one second increments. The second one for "off time" can be set from 0 to 255 minutes in one minute increments.

Simple & reasonably priced($35?). Well... Simple to me... I have been counting in binary for 00011110 years.

The settings would be made via 2 dip switches (pic below) one for "on time" the other for "off time".

Do you all think this would be of interest to other growers?

Thanks.

price point n simplicity are nice. but ur kind of re inventing the wheel here. whats the advantage, just cheaper? also I don't like the idea of only four hours for off time. I like total function ability, so I can change it to whatever I want.

to me the digital timers have my interest. can set to whatever schedule u want, n more accurate than the dial/dimmer timers.

 

[Dr.RedWhite]

The deer feeder timers are digital and I'd bet you could power one with a AC to DC charger and use a solenoid to run any AC pump. Hmmmmm. I would even bet the 12 volt truck solenoid could be flipped with DC and run AC. Tests too follow. The cheap AC digital timers are vulnerable to power interruptions often temporarily blowing their little minds which does not happen with battery powered deer feeder timers. Running a DC boat sump pump may have benefits of it's own actually.

 

[gmanwho]

The deer feeder timers are digital and I'd bet you could power one with a AC to DC charger and use a solenoid to run any AC pump. Hmmmmm. I would even bet the 12 volt truck solenoid could be flipped with DC and run AC. Tests too follow. The cheap AC digital timers are vulnerable to power interruptions often temporarily blowing their little minds which does not happen with battery powered deer feeder timers. Running a DC boat sump pump may have benefits of it's own actually.

eliminate the ac power surges or line noise by getting a UPS,uninterruptible power supply. they will "Clean" the power an regulate up or down to meet 120v or close. any electronics place have them an they usually are used for computers.

you can buy a " Definite Purpose relay" cheap, i paid $18 a piece for 60 amp models when i built my light timer box. (black rectangle box inside the top of the panel)

definite purpose relays are used to start ac units or larger electrical motors, compressors etc.....anything with electrical loads. models can carry anywhere from 15amps to 300amps. 2pole up to 4pole i seen, an usually rated for 600v.

model depend it the activating solenoids on the relays, which is run buy the timer of your choice, can be for 12v dc, 24v ac, 120v ac power, 240v ac, 308 ac etc...


hope any of that info could help u out...

bsafe

 

[RamCTD1027]

What's up guys and gals?

Been a while since I stopped in to see how everyone is doing. Super busy with a new job and a commute to my remote grow about 1hr away.

I have been taking pictures of my first PPK grow but have yet to have thr chance to document everything. I plan to document the entire grow when I get the time so that I can hopefully help educate other people and have others learn from my mistakes.

With that said, I am in need of help from others who have maybe experiences what I am going thru right now. PPK growing has been incredible. I can't make it to my grow every day due to work and location so this style of growing had been incredible. I have had some hiccups along the way but they have all been my fault and I know this current issue is my fault as well.

As background, I am running ten of the 7gal feed dishes on top of the 70qt muck buckets in a 15x15 room with 8000w vertical cooled by a 3-ton minisplit. Temps are around 80 during the day and 70 at night with humidity around 65 percent. I know I need with get the humidity more in line with the VPD chart but I don't suspect that is my problem right now. I had been running Jacks+calnit at 1.2 EC with pH around 6.0 but moved towards 1.5-1.6 EC with pH around 6.0 somewhere around day 21 in flower.

I'm at day 32 and I'm seeing some pretty bad yellowing on the majority of the plants with some brown spotting as well. This seemed to start within the last week and has gotten progressively worse. The plants are large and are closer to the lights than I would prefer but I don't suspect this is light bleaching. Could this be a potassium issue?

What can/should I do to fix this? I'm so far into this now and I would hate to see things go completely to the shitter.

Please help me out.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

I don't see the tell tell orange rust type spots that ca def presents.

really all u parameters are in check. what is ur low rh during the lights on hours? that's a tell if u have vpd issues. It might be, but if ur up at 65% lights on, no way is it a prob. it becomes a real prob when ur running 80f n 40%rh or lower, sucks em dry out the leaf n u get all kinds of wacky deficiencies.

check the myname stitch thread n diagnose that yellowing from the tip of leaf toward the petiole. that's a specific issue that might clue u into what area the problem is coming from, cause its not ur nutrients, ph, temps, or high rh.

when u see issues like this its good to take a moment n look for pests. I always check the leaf n new growth tips for broads/cyclamens (doesn't look like them), n check the root zone for fg n ra, of course if u have little flys u know u got them already. (ur damage does look like it could be from root problems, so worth checking out!).

 

[RamCTD1027]

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't suspect a Ca issue but I question whether or not I have a potassium issue. I do some yellowing and spots that seems typical of potassium issues.

As far as root born pest, what's the best practice to check for them? I've never dealt with them before and I really hope I don't have to I really hope that's not the issue but I'll be at the grow tomorrow so I wanna look into everything possible.

As far as RH, I believe the minimum is in the low 60's but I'll double check that tomorrow. Night time RH has been spiking higher than I'd like but I will be putting in a new dehumidifier tomorrow.

What else should I look into tomorrow?

Any other thoughts on the issue? This is killing me.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't suspect a Ca issue but I question whether or not I have a potassium issue. I do some yellowing and spots that seems typical of potassium issues.

As far as root born pest, what's the best practice to check for them? I've never dealt with them before and I really hope I don't have to I really hope that's not the issue but I'll be at the grow tomorrow so I wanna look into everything possible.

As far as RH, I believe the minimum is in the low 60's but I'll double check that tomorrow. Night time RH has been spiking higher than I'd like but I will be putting in a new dehumidifier tomorrow.

What else should I look into tomorrow?

Any other thoughts on the issue? This is killing me.

look closely at the mediums surface n the edge n rim of the pot. ra can be very tiny n hard to see. u should see movement then can scope or zoom in n identify if needed. if u don't see any on the weak plants, then flood one of them n give it a minute, then check again. u can put some yellow sticky traps at the medium surface, to capture adult fliers to reduce population n identify if needed. Its worth spending 15 or 20 minutes looking at a couple of the weaker plants like this. if u want some more detail check out the first post of the fungus gnat or winged root aphid thread.

If u think u have a potassium issue, n u cant find pests, n u know ur nutrients n ph are good, what else can cause the deficiency. look it up in the mynamestich thread n try n make sense of what else causes the deficiency.


other than that, maybe d9 will chime in with something to check with the ppk function wise? im leaning towards a root issue not letting them take up the nutrients.

Staying too wet or too dry will cause this kind of problem too.

 

[RamCTD1027]

Speaking of root troubles, I did notice this the other day....

The roots are growing down into thr bottom bucket and filling it up a significant amount. Last I checked, they were all pearly white and healthy but is this a problem? I know this system wasn't designed to have roots growing in the bottom bucket.

 

[RamCTD1027]

I haven't had the chance to read thru the entire 219 pages of the root aphid thread but after the few pages I did read, it sounds like that could be my problem.

Is there anything I can do to help the plants along at day 35?

What should I do with the plants I have in veg?

 

[oti$]

In veg you can use bayer tree and shrub(blue bottle@lowes/hd) root drench. Its poison, but effective and i think its out of the plants after 60 days but don't quote me on that part. For the flowering plants a very hot water root drench every coule days for a week or so. Some varieties show less stress than others. I used both techniques for an infestation last summer. The bastards really killed the quality and yield, but they made it to harvest and, although not the best quality, the product sold. Good luck!

 

[oti$]

Bayer tree and shrub is very effective killing RA's and i have heard of it being used in flower, but I'd advise against it, especially if your buds are used as medicine. Also, the hot water root drench or the aphids or both stressed the plants enough to prolong my harvest by several weeks.

 

[Dr.RedWhite]

Other than the leaf discoloration the plants look pretty good. Roots into the bottom in quantity might be an issue. Are you just topping off your reservoir? Are you using RO water? If not what is in your tap that the plants don't use may be giving you an artificially high EC yet the plants won't be getting what they need.

 

[delta9nxs]

hey ram, it's either root aphids or the containers aren't draining right.

dig down into the medium of the worst one and watch it drain. it should completely drain in less than 5 minutes.

i would tear off the roots in the bottom container, if possible.

i would also change the solution just to be sure, but i don't think it's a deficiency.

 

[RamCTD1027]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

When I get there today, I plan to check for root aphids. If I do in fact have them, is there anything I can do at 35 days into flower?

I will also check drainage. The plants are huge so it's hard to left them but I will make it happen.

As far as removing roots growing into the bottom bucket, should I remove them at this stage in flower (35 days)? Will it cause any adverse affects?

I did notice some potential drainage problems last week but it wasn't talking any more than 2-3 minutes.

I will also change the nuts.

I hope I can take care of this and still get a decent harvest.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

When I get there today, I plan to check for root aphids. If I do in fact have them, is there anything I can do at 35 days into flower?

I will also check drainage. The plants are huge so it's hard to left them but I will make it happen.

As far as removing roots growing into the bottom bucket, should I remove them at this stage in flower (35 days)? Will it cause any adverse affects?

I did notice some potential drainage problems last week but it wasn't talking any more than 2-3 minutes.

I will also change the nuts.

I hope I can take care of this and still get a decent harvest.

slow down n confirm u have them or not. if u do, post in the fg n ra thread, n we will get u some help over there. some ideas to get u going if u do have ra, are yellow sticky traps for flying adults. they turn into fliers if the population is severe, so they can spread to different plants. spray the medium surface with pyrethrin, n do a pyrethrin flush for a contact kill. u can use flushes or dunks such as safer soap, n neem/aza, but they generally slow the plant down, don't have the best kill rate, n throw off ph in the medium, n cause phytotoxicity. og biowar is supposed to be effective n safe for flower. and id ask for other natural remedies for flower in the fg/thread. I don't want to go into any more detail till u confirm u have them, since drainage (too wet/lack of oxygen in the root zone) could be ur problem.

Id pull those roots. the system isn't designed to have them there. we aren't providing fresh oxygen n controlling the water temp, so its not good to keep them there.

u can still pull a decent harvest, just cant fix the damage that's been done. but u can mitigate how bad the problem persists.

 

[av8or]

Agreed. I had a similar issue with a Sour D that had roots growing in the bottom bucket. It yellowed around 30 days and kinda stayed that way till harvest (21 ounces). Smoke is great so I have no complaints. If it isn't root aphids of fungus gnats, then I'd say it's an issue where most of the plant is getting the required o2 from the roots in the top bucket but that the slight drowning occurring in the bottom bucket is causing partial issues. It would make sense that it doesn't completely present as an o2 deficiency because the majority of the roots are still doing ok. I wonder if there's something to this or maybe coincidence. Science smart people...please chime in.

 

[av8or]

6.5 gallon tops

6.5 gallon tops

Oooook, so I've finally gotten around to the picture tutorial for building the "newest" (whatever that means) iteration of this device. I can't post all million pics at once so bear with me through the next couple posts.


Parts list:

6.5 little giant tub (coastal farm and ranch)

27 gallon tuff tub from lowes or home depot (with yellow lid!)

3" pvc, cut into 8-10" lengths

Tom Cap, 3", http://www.homedepot.com/p/RectorSe...V-Inside-Fit-Cleanout-Adapter-97482/100141128

Snap in drain, 3", http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sioux-Chief-3-in-Snap-in-Drain-845-3PPK/202313209

27 gallon tub, http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-27-Gal-Storage-Tote-in-Black-5-Pack-HDX27GONLINE-5/206126311

Reflectix, as much as needed, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix-24-in-x-100-ft-Double-Reflective-Insulation-BP24100/202851855

Reflective tape for ducting



Tools:

Drill motor

Unibit / step bit

1/8" drill bit

3" hole saw

3 1/2 or 4" hole saw (I used a 6", don't tell anyone)

Phillips head #2 bit

Some small stainless steel machine screws about an inch long




Process:

Step One....you gotta get you a box

Step Two...cut a hole in that booooooox

Step Three...put your.........wait a minute, wrong instructions. Let me try that again.



1. Drill a hole in the middle of the bottom of the top bucket.

2. Put Tom Cap in the hole, remove the plug from it and throw it away or use as a pain-free ninja star.

3. Cut a small piece of vent screen out and put it either in the floor drain or use the floor drain to press the screen into the 3" diameter pvc wick that is cut to 8" in length.

 

[av8or]

4. Drill pilot holes into both the wick and the drain caps (at the same time, unlike the picture). One on each side (180 degrees from each other) of the wick will suffice.

5. Press all components together and screw in set screw to where you drilled the pilot holes.

6. Enjoy your handiwork.

 

[av8or]

7. Wrap 27 gallon tote in reflictix

8. Wrap 6.5 gallon tub in reflectix

9. Make a super slick halo like we did

10. Cut a hole in the reflectix where you put the wick through the lid (directly in the middle, in case there is some confusion here)

11. Put all pieces together so that it looks like the room below and the super sweet outdoor experiment does.