Diary PCBuds mini-grow

[exploziv]

It probably rot in there..

 

[PCBuds]

And, what's this experiment come to?

It turns out that it lived, got transplanted twice and became my outdoor plant.

I remember using my parts car as a greenhouse, but I thought the seed in the drilled stump croaked?

 

[PCBuds]

This is a cool picture,..
I pulled the shell off with needles.

Weird looking fetus picture.
She's bending over with her ams tucked, and the placenta is laying beside her.
Eeeeewww,..

My other hobby to go along with growing was taking pictures of the grow, especially close-ups.

Trichome pictures were a real challenge to photograph.

 

[PCBuds]

Ok, so lets throw some info up i hope youre like means ok. Ask me to remove if you dont want it here ;

Budget uv: in order to get a decent amount of watts but spread out id do it in 4 levels, with maybe some on top for good measure. There are several deal on aliexpress, ill show some examples later on what to get and what not.

Well use alu u extrusions, can you find a good source of that locally. You can get it cut or cut it yourself. Id try using something like 40cm, 16 inches long sections, a total of 4x3= 12.
Id try for at least 1.5 mm thickness but 2 would be super fine. One inch to 30mm wide with 10mm fins. Fins double as attachment for shield.

Set them up like this: divide the profile in 3 sections an one led in the middle of each section. You can do a bit tighter aswell. Tighter means more intense but also more mixed since youd be using 400/365 in 2:1 sections. Up to you, if going tight you can prolly go with less alu length but width and fins you need to keed the same unless you wanna go bigger. With 12 profiles id have you buying 36 diodes, seems a lot but it aint, theyll run nice and soft and only cost around 1 $.

But youll also need a spare guide pcb in same size, just get one spare for this, infact get a few spares anyways for replacing any future breakage. Youll spend a little now on leds but it will all be worth it, youll see. If you wanna go even further you could also pick up some reds, id suggest a an even splitt of 630 and 660. It can be really nice to compensate the added uv/blue response with some red. Put them on same circuit or a separate one but be sure your number is divideable by 12 so that it works out symmetrically for 2 leds per bar. Try to get same size pcb reds as uv then you can reuse the same guide pcb. Get your metal drill out and place your alus on a wooden surface that can get some holes with no issue. Or even better, fasten the ends in something so you got nothing underneath. Trick here is to just hand fit them, dont worry about marking holes and then drilling on the right spot, its easier to just grab the guide, put it on the alu and drill a hole in the alu aligned with one of the holes/notches. Drop a screw thru it, i use m3 its usually standard but by all means double check. Hold down the guide so it fits snuggly with the screw and then drill the next hole, two is enough. Then go on to the next and next. If you do this by marking it will take ages and youre likely to get the holes a bit missaligned. Sacrifice one pcb and diode to gain an hour or so of working time cause that diode and pcb is likely to short and give problems. All of this can be done without accessing the grow space. Once you have all your holes you wait until harvest time and start installing these with fins facing towards plant space. Use a 2 mm drill to drill thru into the wood, make sure you only drill the minimal needed. Then using short m3 screws you both mount diodes and fasten the alu unchannel with the same m3 screw. You dont need to be extra hard for the diodes, enough tightening so that youll only need wrist strength, not your whole arm or shoulder. If you want extra credit then get some solution so there is air between the wall and the alu, for better dissipation. Coin or similar should do. It will also give you a nice gap to fit in any shielding you may want. Dont do plastic or glass, you want some chicken fence looking thing or similar, fine mesh.

Oops i think i made a misstake. How are you going to solder vertically?

No, youll have to mount the diodes, use screws to hold them in place, no nut needed. Solder diodes, id suggest solid core, 0.75 mm or so. What ever your electric shop can give you but dont do standard 1mm its too thick to be practical. For those who dont know how to solder check a youtube vid; presolder bot pad and wire and then oush them together with your hot point. Measure out wire distance to next diode nice and exactly so that you dont have any slack between. And then solder the next. Once going this shouldnt take more time than a minute per diode with hotpoint solder warm. Its a good idea to leave plenty of extra on each end of the circuit of 3 per alu channel, enough so you can wire each level as a string of 3 channels. That makes 9 (3x 2- 400s and 1 365) diodes to a string (or more if you mix with reds, id suggest budgeting voltage to 4 per uv and 2.2 per red). some of this maybe obvious to you but ill bookmark this post and refer people to it for any needs of instructions.

Now you remove your diodes and screws and now you do the shallow mounting holes with 2mm wooden drill, or just anything a little thinner than m3 screws (i think theyre like 1/8"). Start screwing in screws thru the alu, get some space between alu and wooden wall if you like as mentioned above. Start by attaching the end diodes properly and go over each screw until all is snug but dont use excessive force. Rinse repeat for your 4 levels, you can out the 4 string ontop of everything in the ceiling. Its gonna be ther worst ones cause youll have to set slu to ceiling while the whole solder string wants to fall of. Again, attach the screws of the very ends, to the wood but dont tighten just yet. Get your end diodes and push them into place against the screws already in place and attach the other screw and tighten properly, and finish the middle one last. Obvioulsy take care that you get your string series right, minus to plus with in each alu and also minus to plus between the alus. Dont get yourself into a situation of having fastened down and finished everything only to see that youve got one element where you have minus to minus and have to do it all over again reversing.
You should now have 3 or 4 different levels of right side, back and left. Attach the strings together each ot the levels again from minus to plus so you end up with 3-4 strings. My guess is that the distance from plant dictates a maximum of 350mA per string for short bursts and a fair bit softer for all day or 3-4 hours midday.
For driver: use a proper meanwell cc driver with max current of (numbers of levels) x 350mA. Xlg-m range may be good for this. Or even a hlg50-36B for 4 levels, its cv/cc but it will work as long as dialed down a bit.

Does this make sense to you or have i been wall of texting again without rhinking of comprehension? Quote me on anything unclear. You can of course do a full series setup and snake the connections around but i dont recommend it, anything fails and youll have a hard time finding where and all the uv will go at the same time.

I'm gonna read this later.
It's a mile long.


I don't like homework either so I'm not gonna bother reading through this 5½ year long thread.

If someone else wants to read through it and ask me any questions about it, I'll be glad to try and answer if you can link me to my post to help jog my memory.

There's all kinds of kinda cool pictures to look at, and I think cool pictures aren't just Frosty Colas.

 

[Rocket Soul]

This is a cool picture,..
I pulled the shell off with needles.

Weird looking fetus picture.
She's bending over with her ams tucked, and the placenta is laying beside her.
Eeeeewww,..

View attachment 19087543


My other hobby to go along with growing was taking pictures of the grow, especially close-ups.

Trichome pictures were a real challenge to photograph.

I think i read about this somewhere else, the seed in the trunk. Your reputation precedes you

 

[PCBuds]

I think i read about this somewhere else, the seed in the trunk. Your reputation precedes you

I will admit to nothing.
Mostly because I can't remember.

 

[PCBuds]

I think i read about this somewhere else, the seed in the trunk. Your reputation precedes you

Ohhh,..
Looking at that picture now,..

I'm sure I could have saved it.
It was just way too wet.

Babies don't drink much.
She drown. She wasn't dying of thirst.

 

[PCBuds]

Speaking of forgetting everything,..
Look what I just found,..

I'm gunna grow me another trunk plant !!
Gotta get a seed started,..

All kinds of seeds for starting a lucky plant.

 

[PCBuds]

My next experiment has begun,..

 

[Rocket Soul]

Another would be to try grafting, but maybe hard with autos.

 

[Rocket Soul]

It's fine to post it here if you want.
I'm more inclined to be able to find it if it's here on my thread.

There's no rush.
I'm not sure if I'm even going to grow a plant this year or not.

I've kinda lost interest in growing and I've got 2-3 years worth of weed in storage.

If I could get a UV light that I can use to sterilize water as well as help my plant, then I can justify the expense.

Of course I'll need to take the necessary precautions so I don't blind myself or give myself cancer.

If I know everything that I need to about UV lighting, then I can find safe ways of doing dumb shit with them.

I don't care if I kill a plant, it's kinda fun, as long as I'm not laying dead beside it.

I

I'm gonna read this later.
It's a mile long.


I don't like homework either so I'm not gonna bother reading through this 5½ year long thread.

If someone else wants to read through it and ask me any questions about it, I'll be glad to try and answer if you can link me to my post to help jog my memory.

There's all kinds of kinda cool pictures to look at, and I think cool pictures aren't just Frosty Colas.

Hey

Im wordy and rambling. I went thru every detail of mounting and how to, incase i send someone to the post later. Of course i have a TLDR for you:
Use alu u channel for sinking, 3 pieces per "level", like your strips. And make a string with each level. Id go for 4 strings with some on the roof. Theres a trick for screwing and mounting which saves you time with drilling and gives you more exact holes using a guide pcb, a sacrificial lamb that you use for drilling. Its good to add red at the same time, try to see if you can buy from the same alisupplier, they usually have loads of different stuff in one convenient place. Uv ratios: 400/365 2:1 red 630/660 1:1. You can do separate circuits or everything on one circuit.
Mounting to walls would be tricky: you need to solder each section horizontally, remove, fasten halfway, then pu diodes in place since the screws that fasten doubles as led fastening. A little space between alu and wall helps: air flow and somewhere to fasten your shields. Use a proper cc driver for each string, ill help with that if you like or pm. 350mA absolute max, more due to being close to plants. This is also why you need lots of diodes, for spread of uv around the plant with out being too intense.

This pic shows both good and bad diodes, on the left modern, 2 on the right is bad.

This is what uvb/uvc diodes look like:

Id avoid those for now. Uv for plant and sterilization is not the same, uvc should stay out of your grow space. I think you could just aswell use some other type of sterilization method with your water; just prep a batch a few days before. Or buy a dedicated uv steriliaztion product. Too many things that can go wrong with water and skincancer provoking light.

Even tldr went on for a bit long.

 

[exploziv]

I am sure your replied already in a form or the other to this, but do I need UVA or UVB?

 

[Ca++]

I have a UV light that just floats about. Cost about a tenner. It's proved more satisfying, than effective. I think something like chlorination wipes the floor with it. Typically, people use pool-shock.
I'm feeling I need to go over this myself, before sharing. I have been led to believe that calcium or potassium chloride is right. I have even mixed some up, seen it work, and it costs next to nothing. However, I have reason to question the chemistry, and my test strips said nothing. However I saw it work, and even smelt it happen. I feel conflicted. But you could chase it up.
I mixed just 15g into a liter, no make myself a bottle to use. I dose this bottle, at just 1ml per 10L. It's strong stuff. Lifetime supply for a tenner. I wish you were nearer, so I could post some.

UV has uses for ponds, where chemicals are not welcomed by the fish. It's been used in hydro, but iirc removes the chelates from things like Fe, that are then less available. Products were then sold to address this. It's all spiraling out of control. It's only good for storage tank maintenance, if you had chlorine intolerant plants. Though a soil grower might have a very different take on that, we are only talking tap water levels, and it will gas off. Like the olden days.


You can buy prefabbed UV strips, or special order them. If you are having to make them yourself though, it's an indicator of how many people want them. Studies don't support their use, so be wary of how much time you spend soldering up such things. Or is that soda-ing. Some sort of carbonation, when you don't remove the iron quick enough lol

 

[Rocket Soul]

Really, start with anything lower than 450nm. 420 should be great aswell but havent tried it yet, but its highly photosynthetic, perfect for an extra blue channel :shorter internodes, more transpiration. Theres an issue with blue decreasing yield but weve not really found this to be true in this case; the way 400-430 activates chlorophyll in a way thats deficient in normal led grow lights seems to make up for this. Chlorophyll a and b are both needed for different parts of the process. The way a plant makes up for this is by producing more or less of each but this is not necessarily good for the plant. I cant quite remember the study but theres one balance between the teo which makes the plant think its growing in low light conditions. Which may come with complications.

My first step would be adding 400nm, but weve seen somewhat better results the 400/365 in 2:1: you should always try to add less of deep uva than near uva (400): this hardens the plant a bit in order to take the deeper uva if this makes sense. Why 365? Its the most bioreactive in the uva range. If you google stomata aperture action spectrum and look around youll see a nice graph whit bumps around 280 and 365; these are the most bio reactive parts of the uv but you should not focus only on there, make sure you to have 400 aswell in more quantity. You can of course go 400 only and get some good results in plant health and terp department.
Will this change potency; its not clear, at most marginal. UVB seems to do it but its not where you should start. Id go with 400/365, easy to do with out any bad effects but obviously youre a lot closer with your lights than us.

Ca and me disagree here and have had some discussions about it; i think hes right in the sense that its not hard to get uv wrong. Science is not fully supportive but its a good idea to understand uv as something that both creates and destroys thc. Too much and youll have a lot of new smells and maybe subjective feeling of better but lower yield and and not measurable higher thc rates. Uvb around 280 (use 285nm diodes) will activate the uvr8 gene which increase thc. Pulsed light seems to work better for this as too much and it starts breaking down. In your case your covering a large area with short distance to plants so youll need lots diodes ran softly. 350mA max is my rec here, both for distance and running diodes softer, but even so this 350mA would probably make the plant suffer if done all day. Pulse it at midday and try things out. There will of course be differences in genetics here, some genetics evolved without uv and will have a fit, some love it and you see almost instant plant boner.
Once you get first step right try one uvb diode 285nm and check how the bud reacts and how you like it. Dont go for 280 even if very available, half the output is dangerous with skin cancer etc.

May just make a small test first but following these steps youll have reliable results. I also rec very much to add some red aswell, maybe even in the same string: it made the flavors feel more bright and in your face. In any case this is the one thing id rec making your own tests of in all lighting: standard 3000k 80 cri grows bud really well but the smell is unmistakably less prominent and nice than any of our other near uv/uva supplemented lights. All blind testers have identified the pure white as the less flavour full and least preferable to the rest of buds with uv. Ymmv

Also note: uvb 295 gave us nothing new but seemed to affect the plant positively in health, but in short pulses. I remember touting this uvb to Ca a year or so ago and he was right, didnt push the envelope in this case, i admit my misstake Also worth noting that the effect of uv seems to depend on what spectrum you add it to; to me red heavy gave nicer results than green heavy (like pure white 80cri) but it depends on whta you like. But ill go on trying as long as results get better. Last test with even more uv+ wide red in large doses was not good to all our plants, but some strong genetics love it.
Ill drop a pic of that uv grow if ok:

If you look closely on the trichomes you see too much amber for my taste, i think we over cooked them.

Edit: sorry i thought i was replying to pcb but in the end its just general info with some repetition of my reply to pcb.

 

[PCBuds]

Edit: sorry i thought i was replying to pcb but in the end its just general info with some repetition of my reply to pcb.

I don't mind.
It's everything that I need to know about UV lighting. (I think? I still haven't read it. )

 

[PCBuds]

@exploziv

Is there some way that I can scan through all my uploaded pictures.

I've been going through my thread one page at a time, and it's a PITA.

 

[exploziv]

https://www.icmag.com/members/pcbuds.496675/#xfmgMedia

Might not show those that you uploaded straight to posts, tho.