Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[PCBuds]

That's given me a good chuckle. More than a horse, and it still wouldn't move

I had a dirtbike when I was a teenager and used to love the mud.
I used to shoot 30 foot rooster tails of muck.

My ebike is useless in the mud.
However another guy has the same ebike. He removed the fenders and put on knobby tires.
That would probably have worked for me.
Just keep the wheels spinning to keep the tread clear and I probably could have made it through the mud.
Maybe even a small rooster tail?

Watch your battery over winter. Half charged for best life expectancy, but some BMS units will trickle that down below the LVC. They usually don't run off pack voltage, but instead just a few cells. Regular use allows balancing, but in storage, the BMS can pull them cells down to nothing. Then it can't charge, as it's brain dead, and has dangerous cells from over depletion. I suggest a long charge every months or two, for time balancing. Then a run, so you are not storing at 100%, where they age quite a lot faster than at 50%

The owners manual says to store the battery at 40%-60% charge, and charge the battery for half an hour once a month.
That's what I did last winter.
I did actually fully charge the battery once and discharged it with four 100 Watt incandescent bulbs hooked up in parallel to make about a 60 Watt load.

It's about as technical as growing

I'm loving the electronics side of my new hobby. That's what I studied in school, and that's what was the most interesting thing for me with growing as well.
Getting the LED strips and power supplies all figured out and connected.

PS,.. if anyone ever decides to buy LED strips, get a proper MeanWell CC CV LED driver.
My regular voltage supplies are a PITA.

A MeanWell CC CV LED driver can also be used to properly and safely charge a lithium battery, and I bought myself a bench power supply that I'm using to charge my batteries.
I could use it to run my LED strips as well.

I also bought this buck converter which pretty much converts any DC voltage input to any DC voltage output.

I could use it to convert my 48 volt ebike battery to 12 volts to run an air pump or lights, or turn it down to 5 volts to make a USB charger.

I used to buy all kinds of stupid stuff related to growing, like that Agar for $30 that didn't work out.
Now I'm buying all kinds of dumb shit for my e-bike instead.

 

[PCBuds]

I realized that I got ahead of myself and turned off the side lights.
I want a tall plant so I want her to reach for the lights.

She was lowering her leaves to see the light.
No incentive to reach up.

So I turned off the side lights and turned up the ceiling lights

 

[PCBuds]

 

[PCBuds]

I don't think that this is a madder plant??

The other lucky plant looks like a madder,..

I guess that it doesn't matter though.

 

[PCBuds]

My plant is coming along nicely,..

The newer leaves look a little pale, but they seem to darken up as they get older.

 

[Ca++]

Are you running a bit dry?

I could do with some of that prismatic cover. Did you chop up a 600x600?

 

[PCBuds]

Are you running a bit dry?

Yeah, the humidity is quite low, but the plant seems to be doing OK.
I've had issues in the past with trying to raise the humidity, so I'm just kinda ignoring it.
I did hang a wet towel, and I have been spraying the plant and the top of the media several times a day.

I've found that having proper humidity isn't nearly as important as PH and TDS. My plants get really messed up when the PH is off.

My hygrometers are crap, and all give different readings. One is reading 37%, another 48%, and the other is at 58%. I just take an average of the three to get an idea.

Soon the plant will be big enough to humidify the closet herself.

I could do with some of that prismatic cover. Did you chop up a 600x600?

I assume that you mean the shields covering the LED strips?

I cut up a shield from an old fluorescent light fixture into strips. That was a real PITA. The plastic kept breaking. I ended up using my grinder with a cut-off disk and kinda had to melt through the plastic. Every saw that I tried would shatter the plastic.
I tried drilling the holes to mount them, and several broke in half. I ended up using my soldering iron to melt the holes.

I didn't want the plant rubbing up directly on the strips. Your not supposed to even touch the LED chips with your fingers.

 

[PCBuds]

More plant pictures,..

 

[PCBuds]

Pictures from today.

She's about 21" tall now.

The humidity is looking better and she's starting to get thirsty. About a liter a day now.

 

[marijuanamat]

How to make the most complicated grow room in the world..LOL.. How much has all this cost and how much time have you put in to it? Please be honest.

 

[PCBuds]

How much has all this cost and how much time have you put in to it? Please be honest.

I've spent thousands of dollars but I did waste a lot of money on dumb stuff that I didn't need, and making changes as a I go. (Like switching from CFL to Led.)


But, to give you a rough idea of how much everything in the closet costs, I looked up the prices of a bunch of things that I've used.
I didn't go with the latest and greatest LED strips, and went with cheaper slightly older model. The newer ones are more than twice as expensive.

I've got 48 LED strips in the closet.

I used regular voltage supplies and don't recommend them.

I suggest a proper MeanWell LED driver, or at least a power supply where you can adjust the current as well as the voltage.

Here's a bunch of things that I bought on Amazon, but I feel that the most important thing in my closet is the LED strips.
They really help the most in growing a HUGE plant.

 

[PCBuds]

 

[PCBuds]

 

[PCBuds]

WOW !!

She's got her stretch on !!
More than 3 inches in less than 24 hours !!

 

[PCBuds]

Does anyone know what my lucky is?
I was thinking that it was a madder, but the leaves are HUGE !!

 

[PCBuds]

This is the madder plant that I'm familiar with,..

@goingrey
I tried downloading a plant identifier App, but they all wanted my credit card info even though they were free ?? (for 10 days, cancel any time. )

 

[goingrey]

This is the madder plant that I'm familiar with,..

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@goingrey
I tried downloading a plant identifier App, but they all wanted my credit card info even though they were free ?? (for 10 days, cancel any time. )

Sounds like a scam. I just used some website, didn't download any app.

 

[PCBuds]

Sounds like a scam. I just used some website, didn't download any app.

I'll try that.

 

[PCBuds]

Does anyone know what my lucky is?
I was thinking that it was a madder, but the leaves are HUGE !!

I found this picture of my last plant and the madder plant does appear to have pretty big leaves.

And my new lucky plant just blossomed a familiar little flower,..

My plant is over 2 feet tall now.
She's getting pretty thirsty.

 

[PCBuds]

She grew another 4 inches in 24 hours.

She's starting to flower so I turned on half the side lights, and I'll switch to bloom nutes shortly.

She's got about 13 inches to go before she hits the ceiling lights.

I don't want her to hit the ceiling, so I figure if I turn on the side lights and switch to bloom nutes, she might stop stretching so much, and switch to flowering.
I don't want to have to top her.