LED and BUD QUALITY

[greyfader]

thinking about the problem of inaccurate reading using organic ferts you might consider using a small amount of mineral salt ferts for a short time to help you get a feel for the right organic dose.

take maybe a 1/2 strength dose of organic ferts into a known quantity of water and then add mineral ferts until you get a reading of about 200 ppm or ec .4.

then using the same quantity of water and the same dose of mineral ferts raise or lower the organic ferts until you get close to what you want to see on the plants.

do that level long enough to make sure it is repeatable, then drop the mineral ferts and bump up the organic ferts slightly until you maintain the same performance.

 

[Rocket Soul]

if you increase air flow with fans to the point where a bic butane lighter blows out anywhere in the room you won't get bud rot.

also, if you run your room a/c on the low fan setting it will remove more moisture from the air than on the high fan setting.

i know this sounds counter-intuitive but i learned it from a pro hvac installer. what happens is the slower airflow over the a/c coils creates a longer contact time and therefore removes more water from the air.

if you have a programmable grow room a/c you should have it begin dropping temperature 2 hours before lights out to help remove a little more moisture before the dark period begins.

airflow is critical. every leaf on every plant should show some slight movement. this laminar flow helps keep what moisture there is from accumulating on the plant and mixed into the air mass of the room instead.

i you are using led lighting the lights on ambient temp should be around 86f or 30 c.

i like rh to be around 60% lights on and 50% lights off but the quicker you pull the rh down upon lights off the better.

i like that app. i'll check it out. i need one that reports co2 as well.

+ 1 on the airflow. This is why we grow big plants with long naked trunks: moving air above and below cannopy has made budrot and om an thing of the past in our grow. Not seen it in over a year, sometimes i dry and cure though.

Btw, can anyone help out with ideas for swinging fans but reducing wattage? If i understand correctly theres a lot of power getting lost and dc fans are more effective.
Or opinions on smaller but more intense or larger but less intense fans? We need to anything to reduce unnecessary wattage.

@Scfarmer maybe some smaller dc fans pushing air around the pots could help? Not direct towards leaves and cannopy, just generally pushing air around in a "diffused" way. Not sure if viable but why not try? Small dc fans can move a lot of air using little wattage.

 

[Scfarmer]

thinking about the problem of inaccurate reading using organic ferts you might consider using a small amount of mineral salt ferts for a short time to help you get a feel for the right organic dose.

take maybe a 1/2 strength dose of organic ferts into a known quantity of water and then add mineral ferts until you get a reading of about 200 ppm or ec .4.

then using the same quantity of water and the same dose of mineral ferts raise or lower the organic ferts until you get close to what you want to see on the plants.

do that level long enough to make sure it is repeatable, then drop the mineral ferts and bump up the organic ferts slightly until you maintain the same performance.

Only one flaw in that , my base water is 0.5EC because I live in a really high mineral area ., I think il just go with it at 3/4 the recommended dose and see how plants react, measure that EC and adjust a little

 

[Rocket Soul]

Only one flaw in that , my base water is 0.5EC because I live in a really high mineral area ., I think il just go with it at 3/4 the recommended dose and see how plants react, measure that EC and adjust a little

Have you considered collecting rain water? If i understand right you have an abundance...

 

[Scfarmer]

Cheers for the insights. I did have air moving like that but I was worried about too much direct air on the plants messing up transpiration so I turned some of the fans down/off then the bus rot set in but I was still in 80-90 humidity at that point.

Annoying thing about reading conflicting information online. Due to the height restrictions and letting my plants get way to tall I cant get my fans airflow that far above the canopy. Basically I was on holiday during the stretch period and I came home to a jungle.
Next one I will though.
No room AC I'm literally in a tight roof space with roof shaped tents.
The only way I can really get my temps up to that level is to reduce my extraction rate, I'd rather not run heaters. I am going to get another dehumidifier for my other tent though.
With 400w led 315w CMH I'm barely hitting 26c right now.
680w led and 315 CMH I'm hitting 27 but average is more like 26 again

if you increase air flow with fans to the point where a bic butane lighter blows out anywhere in the room you won't get bud rot.

also, if you run your room a/c on the low fan setting it will remove more moisture from the air than on the high fan setting.

i know this sounds counter-intuitive but i learned it from a pro hvac installer. what happens is the slower airflow over the a/c coils creates a longer contact time and therefore removes more water from the air.

if you have a programmable grow room a/c you should have it begin dropping temperature 2 hours before lights out to help remove a little more moisture before the dark period begins.

airflow is critical. every leaf on every plant should show some slight movement. this laminar flow helps keep what moisture there is from accumulating on the plant and mixed into the air mass of the room instead.

i you are using led lighting the lights on ambient temp should be around 86f or 30 c.

i like rh to be around 60% lights on and 50% lights off but the quicker you pull the rh down upon lights off the better.

i like that app. i'll check it out. i need one that reports co2 as well.

 

[Scfarmer]

Have you considered collecting rain water? If i understand right you have an abundance...

I could, however it's getting it upto my grow space that's a pain the ass. Atmo I just tap it off my central heating gravity tank.

 

[Ca++]

ideas for swinging fans but reducing wattage? If i understand correctly theres a lot of power getting lost and dc fans are more effective.
Or opinions on smaller but more intense or larger but less intense fans? We need to anything to reduce unnecessary wattage.

You might be able to save 75% of your power consumption, and over 50% is very likely. I would need to order quite a few though, to get a good price. The cost is keeping them out of the mainstream, but some can still be found on the highstreet. Meaco probably do one. It's EC motors you want. They plug in the wall like any other, then take care of the AC to DC conversion themselves, and distribute the power internally, using positional sensing and wave shaping. The AC fan is dead really, but this has pushed there price down so much, they keep the market. A 7" clip fan is about $3 now. The EC version might be $15. Only legislation will really make them get to our shelves. Today, they are still a novelty on the highstreet, in $150 stand fans that are covered in useless buttons and lights. As yet, they are not set for external grow controllers, but likely have a useless remote and phone app. They don't tend to say what they are though, as consumers would glaze over. It's things like lots of speed settings that give them away. Selected electronically, not with clunky switches. I just bumped a fan thread, and somebody has posted something close, that's not for a stand, but maybe a wall. Buyer beware though, I have not seen one personally, and did buy similar, only to find they had still cheaped out on the motor. It went in the bin, and wasn't cheap. Just a pretender.

Edit: I have messaged my supplier about EC stand fans with the usb-c port for external controllers. I'm pretty sure they don't exist yet, but it will wake them up. I should get some options for you soon. Need many? You may wish to PM, as might anyone else interested in a production run. I could arrange individual contact with my guy, to total the orders to a decent minimum. Then they could ship to different locations. We need never know who eachother are.

 

[Rocket Soul]

Its

You might be able to save 75% of your power consumption, and over 50% is very likely. I would need to order quite a few though, to get a good price. The cost is keeping them out of the mainstream, but some can still be found on the highstreet. Meaco probably do one. It's EC motors you want. They plug in the wall like any other, then take care of the AC to DC conversion themselves, and distribute the power internally, using positional sensing and wave shaping. The AC fan is dead really, but this has pushed there price down so much, they keep the market. A 7" clip fan is about $3 now. The EC version might be $15. Only legislation will really make them get to our shelves. Today, they are still a novelty on the highstreet, in $150 stand fans that are covered in useless buttons and lights. As yet, they are not set for external grow controllers, but likely have a useless remote and phone app. They don't tend to say what they are though, as consumers would glaze over. It's things like lots of speed settings that give them away. Selected electronically, not with clunky switches. I just bumped a fan thread, and somebody has posted something close, that's not for a stand, but maybe a wall. Buyer beware though, I have not seen one personally, and did buy similar, only to find they had still cheaped out on the motor. It went in the bin, and wasn't cheap. Just a pretender.

Edit: I have messaged my supplier about EC stand fans with the usb-c port for external controllers. I'm pretty sure they don't exist yet, but it will wake them up. I should get some options for you soon. Need many? You may wish to PM, as might anyone else interested in a production run. I could arrange individual contact with my guy, to total the orders to a decent minimum. Then they could ship to different locations. We need never know who eachother are.

Thx Ca, stellar stuff. Not inplace to make an order yet cause im far from the grow for a while. But the advice is very appreciated, thinking forward. Ill hit you up for info on those fans.
Do you or anyone know if preferable; say 30w fan 12" or 30 w 6"? Had a small fan but same powered as the big floor fan: they probably moved the same amount of air. But the small would dry me in no time after showers (poor mans AC in spanish heat wave, get wet and then fan dry). Just trying to figure out based on lateral experience