ReikoX's Workshop Rebuild 2020

[ReikoX]

Today I finished the wire management behind the driver cab. I use some self adhesive ziptie mounts to keep the wires close to the door. Then, i wired up the drivers' dimmer wires to my Bluefish controller. I also installed a latch to keep the driver cab closed.

I sowed a clover cover crop and added a layer of straw mulch. I then watered it in with a coconut water tea. I setup my timers and LED controllerto run at a max of 70% with a simulated sunrise/sunset with the far reds on for 15 minutes before and after sunrise.

 

[Guest]

 

[ReikoX]

I've been trying to dial in my environment for the last few day.


To recap, my initial tests were will all lights at 100% intensity, resulting in a total of 50 W per square foot. The fan speed was set to 5, the fan setpoint was 77*F, and the AC in the lung room was set to 75*F. After an hour or two, the temperature at the probe was up to 90*F, I did not take a soil temperature reading. So I bumped the fan speed to 10 and it dropped the probe sensor to 88*F. So, I installed a circulation fan and lowered the fan's temperature probe to about 1/2 way between the soil and the light.


Once I got the dimmer wires connected to the controller, I was able to run the lights with a simulated sunrise/sunset. Running with a max intensity of 70% the max soil temperature was 86-88*F (depending on which thermometer I use) after 9 hours. It then quickly cooled off as the lights began ramping down in the evening. The mother room was running at the same time, so I went ahead and set them so that the mother room runs during the day and the main room remains on at night. I've also lowered the AC in the lung room to 72*F. So far it seems to be keeping up, in theory the 5,000 BTU unit should cool 1200 watts. I may also set my max fan speed to 6, but when I set it to 10 it was too loud.


I have been doing some mathematical modeling of the lights, as a way of helping me dial in my environment. The first thing I did was calculate the kilowatt hours (kWh) that are used in a day for both veg and flower settings. For veg, I came up with about 12 kWh with an average of 662 Watts. For flowering, I came up with about 8 kWh with the same average of 662 Watts. Both run a max wattage of 876 over 24 square feet, or 36.5 W/ft2 for half of the day cycle.


From there I was looking at DLI charts and noticed that at the beginning of the growing season in the spring, DLI was very similar to the end of the growing season in the fall. Based on that, I came up with some settings using an 18 hour day that uses a similar kWh as flowering. I settled on settings that gave me about 7.6 kWh with a max of 556 Watts and an average of 425 Watts.


I noticed one of the lights didn't turn off at the right time, I double checked my timer and it should have worked. I was logging in at the exact moment it should have switched, so it may have just been a delay. I will see if this was a one-time issue. I also had my Bluefish set to the wrong time zone, so instead of having just the far red on, I had all the supplemental lighting on around 50%. That's been fixed and I will be double checking everything during the next cycle using the early veg settings. No need to blast the clover cover crop with a ton of light before it has even sprouted.

 

[hellfire]

This has been a very informative thread, great work :yay:

 

[ReikoX]

Running my early veg settings everything looks good. Temp maintained well, AC was keeping up. Far Red only for last 15 minutes of the cycle.

 

[ReikoX]

I got some brown paper at lowes to make my pattern for the no-till beds. It turns out it is was a lot thicker than the grocery bags, so I decided to use it with my paper pot maker and see how it goes. I was able to fit 36 in a standard 10x20" tray. I filled them with coco and dunked 40 or so Juanita la Lagrimosa x Lowryder2 seeds in water. The plan is to make F2s, 12 plants in each bed culling any early males or off types.

 

[Guest]

Efficient method for a seed increase

 

[ReikoX]

I gave the Durban Poison seedlings a small drink of tap water today. They were looking a bit long, so I added a fan and lowered the light. They will likely get their first dose of food tonight.

There is one one I've been trying to help along, but it hasn't done a whole lot yet. Not sure whats going on there, but I got my shipment of LITFA, so I'll use that for a little longer.

 

[ReikoX]

I fed the Durban Poison 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of MegaCrop with some silica. PH was around 7 using the drops. When I went to check on them later, one was bent over. I guess it was too close to the fan.

After 48 hours the majority of the Juanita la Lagrimosa x Lowryder2 seeds cracked. I planted them and watered them in with some aloe and fulvic.

I had a Skywalker Kush, Cherry Tart, and Zak Haze clones ready for 10 oz. cups. Got those transplanted, sprinkling some mycos on the roots and watering in with aloe and fulvic.

I watered the beds with 3.5 gallons of water. I love the smell of freshly watered soil. The clover is starting to come up too.

Finally, I setup my CO2 monitor in the lung room. It started out at at 1000PPM while I was in there, but quickly dropped to about 500 PPM after I left. The temperature stayed pretty stable at 72°F.

 

[ReikoX]

Since the workshop is nearly complete, I decided it was time to dig out the e-nail and rig from storage. I'm a little disappointed in myself for putting it away dirty, but It is clean now. I forgot how smooth hits are from this thing.

The good
I got some movement going on the Juanita la Lagrimosa x Lowryder2 seeds. So far so good.

The bad
The Ghost Rose are coming up on 45 days since germination. I have been doing some pinching and bending to keep them under control. I only have 24" from the bottom of the shelf to the light. I need to start looking for male flowers as these tend to throw the odd one on the lower nodes.

The ugly
The mother plants are not happy with all the flushing and increased light intensity. When I added the second strip, I didn't lower the intensity. The clones I moved to a different shelf seemed to have the same issue. I lowered the intensity on those two shelves, hopefully that takes care of the issue.

 

[Safe Gardener]

As others have said, this thread is extremely helpful with all the details. I’m house hunting now and would love to duplicate this room. Great job on the room, custom lights, and all the details shared with the ICMAG community.

 

[ReikoX]

Thanks man, it has been a lot of work. It is, at least, a labor of love. Now I get to the fun part, growing and dialing in the new room.

 

[exploziv]

Can't belive I missed this thread. Looking good, man! Can't wait to see what you're doing in there!

 

[FunkBomb]

What a great buildout. Its been a while since I've seen something this glorious on IC. Big harvests are coming your way.

-Funk

 

[ReikoX]

And we are down to two Durban Poison in the 16oz cups. I think they will need another feeding soon. So far they are growing slowly, but surely. Here's hoping for a male and a female.

Had 100% germination of the Juanita la Lagrimosa x Lowryder2. I did have one goofball that germinated upside down. I flipped it over, but the tap root may have died out.

Watered the beds with some EWC extract and reetha glycerin extract. I had some coffee filters that must have some cotton in them. They have been through my worm bin twice without fully decomposing. So I removed them and put them aside in an old coffee can. A couple nights ago I added 3.5 gallons of water to it and let it set for about 24 hours out of laziness. Last night I filtered the water and sprayed the pots. This should add some humic and fulvic acids, some microbes, and some calcium and other nutrients.

I also watered the autos with some banana, squash, papaya ferment and silica. I did an inspection on the lower nodes and did not see any male flowers yet. I will continue to be diligent, they are at 7 weeks from sprout now.

 

[ReikoX]

Today I went through my sticker collection and started putting them on the inside of the flower room door. I may have to trade some seeds for more stickers.

The hour I spent in there increased the CO2 from 700 to 1500 PPM. I always knew I was full of hot air.

 

[buzzmobile]

Proof positive. Breathe on!

 

[ReikoX]

Transplanted the Juanita la Lagrimosa x Lowryder2 seedlings. One damped off, a couple looked dry after transplant. They got watered with a water and a few drops of Dr. Bronner's as a wetting agent.

I transplanted the rest of the clones that had roots to 10 oz. paper cups. In total I had 3/3 Zak Haze, 2/3 Cherry Tart, 1/3 Skywalker Kush, and 0/2 Juanita root. RIP Juanita, may I find an even better specimen in your progeny.

 

[ReikoX]

Took some clones today. Just for my records, from left to right ICookies in orange, Skywalker OG in green, Zak Haze in blue, Jabba's Stash in purple, and Cherry Tart in red.

While I was at it I cleaned up my mothers. They are looking much better now that I lowered the light levels.

When I put the trimmings from my mothers in the worm bin, I grabbed a handful to toss in the no-till beds.

 

[Guest]

Bro how do you make the ferment?