Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

Honestly, I would have at most made hash or edibles out of any plant that been in a ventilated place with moldy buds.

So I gave my plant to my neighbor.

He's going to make "shatter" out of it.

I will grow another Ghost Rose in September.
Meanwhile, I can redo my closet a bit.
I'll mount that fan on the ceiling, add another circulation fan, and make more sheilds for the strips that don't have one.

 

[PCBuds]

I'm storing the planter in the closet until September.

I decided to leave the root stalk in the planter until I start my next seed. I left the bubbler plugged in and filled the planter with water figuring that it will keep my bioherd happy with lots of food, water and oxygen.

The air pump only draws 0.6 Watts when it is turned down to low, so I don't mind leaving it running, and I don't think I'll wear it out with it turned down.

 

[PCBuds]

I'm still debating about where to mount my white fan.
I still want to mount it above the ceiling strips, but I think it might be better to aim it down to blow on the plant?

My bottom branches had no mold and were much closer to the two circulation fans in the closet.

I'm thinking that wind blowing on the plant is more important than exhausting air out at the top which doesn't really move the plant around.

The plant before this last one had no mold and I didn't have my bottom exhaust fan on for the entire grow.

The only real air exchange was from convection from the bottom to top of the closet.

If I have the ceiling fan blowing down on the plant, it should probably do a better job of drying up condensation and it will keep more heat and CO2 in the closet.

I've got my wine bubbling off CO2 and I don't want to just blow it all out of the closet.

The fan does pivot, so maybe I can mount it so that it can point down or out of the closet?

 

[exploziv]

Bro that soil might be bad if kept waterlogged. Try to keep it moist at most. Don't think u can keep it alive that way. You could plant a cover crop like alfaalfa and give it 20w of power or a sunny wimdow if you want it alive. The bacteria needs sugars exuded by the plants roots in order to survive and multiply.

 

[PCBuds]

Bro that soil might be bad if kept waterlogged. Try to keep it moist at most. Don't think u can keep it alive that way. You could plant a cover crop like alfaalfa and give it 20w of power or a sunny wimdow if you want it alive. The bacteria needs sugars exuded by the plants roots in order to survive and multiply.

That's a good idea.
Maybe I'll buy some seeds at the dollar store. They have flower and vegetable seeds, but I don't think they have alfalfa. Lol

And other good choices for flowers or vegetables?

 

[exploziv]

Any plant will do to keep it going, but some alfaalfa or other of legumes family would be ideal. Other things that would be nice would be crimson clover, peas, sunflowers, beets, radishes, any cereals. Even a flower mix should do it man. They could even have a covercrop mix, or a bee/insect flower mix. They all good ultimately for your scope and you can also plan them in the garden for insects if you find any like that.

 

[Mitsuharu]

Maybe I'll buy some seeds at the dollar store. They have flower and vegetable seeds, but I don't think they have alfalfa.

I heard from a mysterious man in the street there's something called online-shopping... but psssst!

 

[PCBuds]

I heard from a mysterious man in the street there's something called online-shopping... but psssst!

Yeah, but I have to spend $35 to get free shipping, then wait a week or two.

There's a Dollarama just down the street from me.
I got this,..

I'm going to grow me some tomatoes.
Apparently tomatoes have almost the same nutritional needs as cannabis.

I don't mind using some lights if I get some tomatoes out of it.

I don't think that I'd wanna eat alfalfa. Lol

 

[exploziv]

Bro I tell you now they gonna be some freakin' expensive tomatoes! Don't ask me how I know hahahah!
Basil would have been a safer bet. And faster harvest! Well you can still add some around the tomato plant(s), they grow well togheter.

 

[PCBuds]

Bro I tell you now they gonna be some freakin' expensive tomatoes! Don't ask me how I know hahahah!

Yeah, that's true. lol
But I don't have to give them the full 365 Watts.

Basil would have been a safer bet. And faster harvest! Well you can still add some around the tomato plant(s), they grow well togheter.

I think I've got some grass seed in the garage too.

 

[DunHav`nFun]

Hey PC........When you start back growin dope , the WORST thing you could possibly do is to aim a fan directly at your plant , and why ?......Take it from an old fart that learned the hard way in that what happens with direct constant air blastin the plant is it causes the plant to sweat / transpire constantly that in turn causes excess nutrient uptake guaranteed and also you`ll end up with a PH imbalance and ultimate lockout that will cause imminent crop death if not rectified.......and I know.....

You`re in a damn closet growin 1 plant , but if you can find a way to make the airflow AROUND , below and above said plant , there will be more than enough circulating THROUGH the plant as a byproduct without making the circadian rythym of suckin juice and sweatin out what it didn`t use during lights out go wonky and sideways.....and.....

If there`s no wayta use air extraction twice per minute in such a small area , after end of stretch is done and over and full swellage is in force , you can start removing all large fanleaves with a stem and keep takin em out as they keep poppin up SO the plant ca have as much airflow through the plant as possible during late bloomage......Just like......

Growin maters , and yeah......when I first started growin dope outside in the mid 70`s ALL we had was mater fertilizer and the shit turned out amazing , so yeah again as Explosiv stated above , those will be some pricy maters , but what the hell.....You`ll have a buncha maters when it`s all said and done......IF you bought "determinate" seeds guaranteed you`ll needta clean out the insides for max airflow or else you`ll get all kinds of fungus and blossom end rot in smalll close quarters withe excess humidity and lack of airflow.....

Determinate varieties grow and flower all at once with 1 harvest and the plant dies.....Indeterminate varieties keep growing and putting out flowers and fruit till the first frost , but since you`d be growin inside you could keep harveyin maters till the cows come home........anyways.....If you need any help with growin maters , I`m as experienced as it comes Bro.....always gladta help.....so.....

Good luck and.....

Peace.....DHF........

 

[PCBuds]

Hey PC........When you start back growin dope , the WORST thing you could possibly do is to aim a fan directly at your plant , and why ?......Take it from an old fart that learned the hardf way in that what happens with direct constant air blastin the plant is it causes the plant to sweat / transpire constantly that in turn causes excess nutrient uptake guaranteed and also you`ll end up with a PH imbalance and ultimate lockout that will cause imminent crop death if not rectified.......and I know.....

You`re in a damn closet growin 1 plant , but if you can find a way to make the airflow AROUND , below and above said plant , there will be more than enough circulating THROUGH the plant as a byproduct without making the circadian rythym of suckin juice and sweatin out what it didn`t use during lights out go wonky and sideways.....and.....

If there`s no wayta use air extraction twice per minute in such a small area , after end of stretch is done and over and full swellage is in force , you can start removing all large fanleaves with a stem and keep takin em out as they keep poppin up SO the plant ca have as much airflow through the plant as possible during late bloomage......Just like......

OK, I will set up the fan to blow out of the closet at the top above the ceiling light strips. The other exhaust fan is blowing in and through a furnace filter at the bottom of the closet.

I have no idea how much volume they move however, especially with the way I will have them set up.

Having the ceiling fan blowing out at the top will also help to keep the temperature more consistent from days to nights.

Growin maters , and yeah......when I first started growin dope outside in the mid 70`s ALL we had was mater fertilizer and the shit turned out amazing , so yeah again as Explosiv stated above , those will be some pricy maters , but what the hell.....You`ll have a buncha maters when it`s all said and done......IF you bought "determinate" seeds guaranteed you`ll needta clean out the insides for max airflow or else you`ll get all kinds of fungus and blossom end rot in smalll close quarters withe excess humidity and lack of airflow.....

Determinate varieties grow and flower all at once with 1 harvest and the plant dies.....Indeterminate varieties keep growing and putting out flowers and fruit till the first frost , but since you`d be growin inside you could keep harveyin maters till the cows come home........anyways.....If you need any help with growin maters , I`m as experienced as it comes Bro.....always gladta help.....so.....

Good luck and.....

Peace.....DHF........

I decided to buy some basil off ebay,..

It ships from Ontario so should be here in less than a week.

I decided that growing $2 worth of tomatoes that costs me $50 in electricity was a bit ridiculous. Lol


I can use this adjustable panel I made and run it at about 20 Watts so it doesn't cost too much.

 

[goingrey]

A lot of people seem to have success with those circulator fans. Maybe it's how you set it up, not blowing straight into any plants but somehow just getting the air moving?

I just use the "overpowered" extractor at the top like @DunHav`nFun suggests. Mainly because there's no space in the tent for any extra fans. Passive intake at the bottom.

What's a tomato rocket? I looked up their website but it doesn't really say. Huge box for some seeds.

 

[PCBuds]

A lot of people seem to have success with those circulator fans. Maybe it's how you set it up, not blowing straight into any plants but somehow just getting the air moving?

I just use the "overpowered" extractor at the top like @DunHav`nFun suggests. Mainly because there's no space in the tent for any extra fans. Passive intake at the bottom.

I have a "powered intake" at the bottom blowing through a furnace filter.

I wanted air blowing into the closet so that the closet was slightly pressurized so that air blows out any cracks and leaks and doesn't bring dust into the closet.

I will use the second fan at the top to blow hot air out to increase the flow.

I can feel air blowing through the furnace filter, but it is 2 feet square and hard to judge how much air is moving.
The fan has no cfm numbers in the instructions.

What's a tomato rocket? I looked up their website but it doesn't really say. Huge box for some seeds.

I don't really know??
It's a bunch of seeds in some kind of substrate that you plant directly into the soil and water it.

They didn't have many seeds to pick from, but they had another box with flower seeds in it.
I went to Walmart and they no longer have their seed rack out.
It was there a month or so ago.

 

[piramidon]

...Meanwhile, I can redo my closet a bit...

I say while you're at it, give it a good wash with chlorine, that will kill anything that lives. I mean wash every mm of it!
And if you wanna keep dust out of closet just build a dust trap - just like the light trap, only for dust.
And it's a lot easier to maintain the right pressure in your box while keeping the passive intake instead of complications and difficult calculus with many fans in a sophisticated configuration. Remember KISS - keep it simple, silly.
As ventilation you need only one fan to draw out the used air (permanent or timed, your choice) and two more little fans in opposite corners to circulate air inside, just make sure they blow in the same direction 4 a good mix. Don't even need them angled up or anything, the convection will do that for ya.

 

[PCBuds]

I say while you're at it, give it a good wash with chlorine, that will kill anything that lives. I mean wash every mm of it!
And if you wanna keep dust out of closet just build a dust trap - just like the light trap, only for dust.
And it's a lot easier to maintain the right pressure in your box while keeping the passive intake instead of complications and difficult calculus with many fans in a sophisticated configuration. Remember KISS - keep it simple, silly.
As ventilation you need only one fan to draw out the used air (permanent or timed, your choice) and two more little fans in opposite corners to circulate air inside, just make sure they blow in the same direction 4 a good mix. Don't even need them angled up or anything, the convection will do that for ya.

I've got some bleach, so I can scrub things down.

Things are working pretty good right now with the filtered air blowing in at the bottom.
Adding the second fan at the top is easy to do, and I originally had the first fan installed at the top.

Having both fans working together should increase my air exchange in the closet from bottom to top.

I have fans instead of a blower, so if I have a fan failure I still have convection happening because the hot air can still move through the fan blades.
I gave the closet a smoke test with the bottom fan turned off, and there is draw though the fan and filter into the closet when the lights were on heating up the closet.
I clean and oil my fans regularly and that first fan has been running for a couple of years now in total.
The white clip on fans use 11.5 Watts on low and 14 Watts on high, so adding another fan does use much more power.

I will get that second circulation fan installed as well and mount it higher up in the closet.

So things should be quite fail safe and quite simple.
I'm going to replace my furnace filter again which will help with airflow as well.

As far as KISS goes, the simplest thing that I could do is just not grow I the summer. Lol

That's the only time that I have mold issues.

I even had mold on my window plant about a year or so ago.
The temperature was up to 34°C last week and again coming up this week, with a humidex of 44°C.

It's a bit cooler in the house but it's still really sticky.

 

[PCBuds]

I took my plant off the window sill and took some pictures,..

A few leaves got too close to the lights,..

 

[PCBuds]

 

[brickweeder]

Hey PCB, is that EMT the u r using for your flow level indicator? If not, what kind of metal and coating does it have? I'm thinking that it could start throwing metal ions into your soil once you start fertilizing...

 

[PCBuds]

Hey PCB, is that EMT the u r using for your flow level indicator? If not, what kind of metal and coating does it have? I'm thinking that it could start throwing metal ions into your soil once you start fertilizing...

I'm not quite sure what you mean?
(Extruded Metal Tubing??)

I have a metal tube running down to the bottom of the planter with a cork bobber to show me the water level at the bottom of the planter.

The metal tube is from a windsurfing boom and is some sort of alloy that very light and strong and is saltwater proof.
EDIT: It's anodized on the outside of the tube, but the liquid gets inside the tube as well.

It's probably got some aluminum in it but lots of magnesium as well.

I know aluminum can be bad, but I think it's quite chemical proof.

I can try to look down the tube to look for corrosion but I don't want to pull it out to inspect it because I won't be able to reinstall it without emptying the whole planter.

I did have the planter emptied two plants ago when I installed the bubbler tubing and the metal tube showed no signs of corrosion.