Ventilation Explained Part 1 - Ventilating your growing area Correctly ventilating your growing area is a vital part of greenhouse/grow room design. Adequate ventilation in the grow room is important for a number of reasons – temperature, humidity, disease and odor control, and fresh/stale air exchange. The calculations that are used to correctly design a ventilation system can be quite complex and require numerous known variables. The purpose of this article is to simplify these calculations while helping you to better understand grow room ventilation. How to size your exhaust fan There are many calculations on the web for sizing a fan for ventilating grow rooms; however, what these calculations fail to take into consideration is the friction loss on carbon filters, increased temperatures from HID lights and CO2, etc. The following calculation can be used as a guide for sizing an exhaust fan for a growing area (keep in mind that this calculation will give you the lowest required CFM required to ventilate the grow room): Step 1 – Room Volume First the volume of the room needs to be calculated. To calculate multiply length x width x height of growing area e.g. A room that is 8' x 8' x 8' will have a volume of 512 cubic feet. Step 2 – CFM Required The fan should be able to adequately exchange the air in a grow room once every three minutes. Therefore, 512 cubic feet/3 minutes = 171 cfm. This will be the absolute minimum cfm for exchanging the air in a grow room. Step 3 – Additional factors Unfortunately, the minimum cfm needed to ventilate a grow room is never quite that simple. Once the grower has calculated the minimum cfm required for their grow room the following additional factors need to be considered: Number of HID lights – add 5% per air cooled light or 10-15% per non-air cooled light. CO2 – add 5% for rooms with CO2 enrichment Filters – if a carbon filter is to be used with the exhaust system then add 20% Ambient temperature – for hot climates (such as Southern California) add 25%, for hot and humid climates (such as Florida) add up to 40%. Example 1: In our 8’ x 8’ room we have 2 x 1000w air cooled lights, and we plan to use a carbon filter. We also plan to use CO2 in this room. The ambient temperature is 90°F, however, we will be using air from another room that is air-conditioned. Minimum Required CFM to ventilate room: (CFM required for room – step 2) + (CFM required for room – step 2 x 10% (2 air cooled lights)) + (CFM required for room – step 2 x 5% (CO2)) + (CFM required for room – step 2 x 20% (Carbon Filter)) + (Ambient Temperature 0 (Air coming from air-conditioned room)). = (171cfm) + (171cfm x 10%) + (171cfm x 5%) + (171cfm x 20%) + ( 0 ) = 231cfm – this is the absolute minimum cfm required to ventilate your room. The next step would be to match the closest fan to this CFM. As we are using a carbon filter we will need to match the fan with the filter so that the fan that will neatly fit onto the filter. The filter that we will use is a Dutch Breeze Carbon Filter - DFS4. The DFS4 has a 6" flange. Our options for 6" fans are as follows: - Eco Plus 6” – 440cfm - Fantech 6” – 252cfm - Fantech 6” XL – 392cfm - Elicient 150B – 309cfm The DFS4 filter has a cfm rating of 255-309, so the fan that we will choose for our room will be the Elicient 6” fan. This will be an ideal fan for this room and carbon filter, since the extra cfm will help compensate for the small amount of ducting we may have to run. If only step one and two was used (the calculation that is most commonly displayed on garden websites) then the grower would have chosen a 4” fan and a 4” carbon filter; the grower would have soon found out that this fan and carbon filter would have been inadequate for their grow room. Example 2: If all the variables are kept the same and we changed the room size from 8’ x 8’ to a 12’ x 12’ then the minimum required CFM would be 519 cfm, thus the fan would be Fantech 8” XL, Elicient 8” or EcoPlus 8” and the DFS5 or DFS6 Dutch Breeze carbon filter. The Very Important and Often Overlooked Intake Port It is very important to understand that you can't simply put an exhaust fan in a sealed room and expect to suck air out of it. You absolutely must have some kind of opening in the room to allow fresh air to replace the air you are exhausting. If you don't understand this concept, just put your finger over one end of a straw and try sucking out of the other end - you'll find that the walls of the straw collapse inward and that you can't suck any air out. If you were to poke a small hole somewhere in the straw, you will find that you can now suck air through it; the bigger the hole, the more air you can suck. Obviously, any fan you install in your grow room isn't going to be powerful enough to create enough negative pressure to suck the walls inward, but what will happen is that your fan will draw more energy, make more noise, run hotter, break down much sooner than it should, and finally, suck very little (if any) air out of the room. An intake port can be anything from a gap under the door to an open window - even a hole in the wall. The best place for an intake port is diagonally opposite from your exhaust fan; that way, air has to pass across the entire room - very efficient. You can put a piece of screen over the opening to keep insects and animals out, a piece of A/C filter to keep dust out, or a Louvered Shutter or Backdraft Damper that opens when the fan turns on and closes when it turns off. You can also use a Motorized Damper. This gets installed in-line with your ducting and is plugged into whatever device controls your exhaust fan. When your fan turns on, it allows air to pass. When your fan shuts off, it seals completely, preventing CO2, air, odor, etc. from passing. You can get creative with these devices and use one fan to control two rooms, etc. One last note about intake ports - you will see much better results from your exhaust system if you install a second fan to create an active (as opposed to passive) intake system. Normally, when your exhaust fan sucks air out of your room, air is passively going to get sucked back into the room. By installing a second fan on the intake side, you will reduce the amount of negative pressure created in the grow room, thereby cutting down greatly on the amount of work the exhaust fan has to do and allowing much more air to pass. Ideally, the intake fan should be the same size as the exhaust fan, but it can be a little smaller if necessary. If you're not sure or you don't want to spend the money, start out with just an exhaust fan. If it's not performing as well as you thought it would, try adding an intake fan - you'll smile when you see the difference! Fan and Carbon Filter Placement If no carbon filter is being used then place the fan at the highest possible point in the room; the reason for this that hot air rises and it is the hot air that needs to be exhausted. Also, place the fan on the opposite side of your intake. The negative pressure that the fan creates in the room will pull air from the intake opening across the garden and towards the fan. This will bring the fresh air over the plants while displacing the old stale air. If a carbon filter is being used then place the fan on top of the filter. There are two options that a grower can use with the carbon filter: 1) Suck through the filter or 2) Blow through the filter. Sucking air through filter is the preferred method. Carbon filters should be placed on the floor standing upright or hung horizontally from the ceiling. Place the fan and filter in the room opposite the intake port. From the fan, attach ducting so as to exhaust the scrubbed air out the room. Keep the ducting as short as possible and avoid any bends in the ducting. Keeping the ducting as short and as straight as possible will reduce the friction loss and noise. Blowing through the filter is a less commonly used method of exhausting. The benefit is that the fan can be placed at the highest point in the room and the hot air is sucked out of the room and forced through the filter. However, if you're using the fan/filter combination as part of your exhaust system (as opposed to just an odor scrubber), it will need to be placed outside of the growing area. Before using a carbon filter for the first time always take the filter outside and then first suck, then blow through it before installing it in your growing area. This will blow out any carbon dust which is created in the filter during transport. During normal operation always keep the dust sock on the filter; this stops large dust particles from blocking the filter and will help prolong the life of the filter. Air Circulation Always provide your plants with adequate air movement and circulation in the grow room. Air circulation within the room eliminates stale spots and also reduces the formation of micro-climates within the leaf canopy. If air circulation in the grow room is poor then the micro-climate in between the plants increases in humidity and temperature. This can result in mildew and insect problems, as well as less deficiencies. For adequate air circulation use a wall mounted fan; 2-3 fans will provide sufficient air movement. Never switch these fans off unless you are spraying or fogging your room

Types of Lights for Cannabis Growing - Different Marijuana Lighting SourcesLight for cannabis plants Without light, cannabis plants cannot grow. In the countries in which marijuana grows best, the sun is the source of light. The amount of light and the length of the growing season in these countries results in huge tree-like cannabis plants. In most parts of North America, however, the sun is not generally intense enough for long enough periods of time to produce the same size and quality of cannabis plants that grow with ease in Latin America and other tropical countries. Sunshine is most intense at the equator where it is closest to the earth. Some of the largest, resin-coated buds in the world grow beneath this blazing sun. So what’s this got to do with indoor growing? Plenty. Light is one of the most basic needs of all cannabis plants and the most often mismanaged. Even the most experienced growers forget about the basic needs of a cannabis plant, especially light. The answer to the problem of lack of sun, especially in the winter months, shortness of the growing season, and other problems is to grow indoor under simulated conditions. The rule of thumb seems to be the more light, the better. The common incandescent light bulb emits some of the frequencies of light the cannabis plant can use, but it also emits a high percentage of far red and infra-red light which cause the cannabis plant to concentrate its growth on the stem. This results in the cannabis plant stretching toward the light bulb until it becomes so tall and spindly that it just weakly topples over. There are several brands of bulb type. One is the incandescent cannabis plant spot light which emits higher amounts of red and blue light than the common light bulb. It is an improvement, but has it drawbacks. it is hot, for example, and cannot be placed close to the cannabis plants. Consequently, the cannabis plant has to stretch upwards again and is in danger of becoming elongated and falling over. The red bands of light seem to encourage stem growth which is not desirable in growing marijuana. The idea is to encourage foliage growth for obvious reasons. Flourescent light tubes range in size from one to eight feet in length so you can set up a growing area almost anywhere. There are two types of flourescent lights; standard and the wide spectrum. They can be used in conjunction with one another, but the wide spectrum lights are not sufficient on their own. The wide spectrum lights were designed as a supplementary light source and are cheaper than the standard lights. Wide spectrum lights emit the same bands of light as the standard but the standard emit higher concentrations of red and blue bands that the cannabis plants need to grow. The wide spectrum lights also emit infra-red, the effect of which on stem growth we have already discussed. If you are planning to grow on a large scale, you might be interested to know that the regular fluorescent lamps and fixtures, the type that are used in commercial lighting, work well when used along with the grow lights. These commercial lights are called cool whites, and are the cheapest of the fluorescent lights we have mentioned. They emit as much blue light as the standard grow lights and the blue light is what the cannabis plants use in foliage growth. Intensity Now we come to the question of intensity. Both the standard and wide spectrum lamps come in three intensities: regular output, high output, and very high output. You can grow a crop of cannabis plants under the regular output lamps. The difference in using the HO or VHO lamps is the time it takes to grow a crop. Under a VHO lamp, the cannabis plants grow at a rate that is about three times the rate at which they grow under the standard lamps. People have been known to get a cannabis plant that is four feet tall in two months under one of these lights. Under the VHO lights, one may have to raise the lights every day which means a growth rate of ate least two inches a day. The only drawback is the expense of the VHO lamps and fixtures. The VHO lamps and fixtures are almost twice the price of the standard. Now that you have your lights up, you might be curious about the amount of light to give you cannabis plants per day. The maturation date of your cannabis plants is dependent on how much light they receive per day. The longer the dark period per day, the sooner the cannabis plant will bloom. Generally speaking, the less dark per day the better during the first six months of the cannabis plant's life. If your cannabis plants receive 12 hours of light per day they will probably mature in 2 to 2.5 months. If they get 16 hours of light per day they will probably be blooming in 3.5 to 4 months. With 18 hours of light per day, they will flower in 4.5 to 5 months. Its a good idea to put your lights on a timer to ensure that the amount of light received each day remains constant. Energy Emissions In Arbitrary Color Bands 40 Watt Flourescent Lamps In Watts and Percent of Total Emissions Daylight Cool White Gro-Lux GroLux WS Light Type Band Watts % Watts % Watts % Watts % Ultra-Violet -380 0.186 2.15 0.16 1.68 0.10 1.42 0.27 3.16 Violet 380-430 0.832 9.60 0.72 7.57 0.70 9.67 1.07 12.48 Blue 430-490 2.418 27.91 1.98 20.78 1.96 27.07 1.22 14.29 Green 490-560 2.372 27.38 2.35 24.67 1.02 14.02 1.24 14.49 Yellow 560-590 1.259 14.53 1.74 18.27 0.10 1.42 0.83 9.77 Orange 590-630 1.144 13.21 1.69 17.75 0.44 6.05 1.36 15.93 Red 630-700 0.452 6.22 0.81 8.47 2.86 39.55 1.86 21.78 Far Red 700-780 0.130 1.53 0.07 0.81 0.06 0.80 0.69 8.10 Total 8.890 100.0 9.52 100.0 7.24 100.0 8.54 100.0 Grow Light Guide Horticultural lighting systems allow you to extend the growing season by providing your cannabis plants with an indoor equivalent to sunlight. This is a great advantage for those of you who appreciate having a year-round supply of fresh flowers, veggies and herbs. Artificial lighting is also a great way to jump-start spring by starting your seedlings months ahead of the last frost. There are three main types of horticultural lighting systems. In summary, marijuana has a lust for light. HP sodium lamps produce 20% more light than super metal halides. Horizontal reflectors yield up to 40% more light than vertical reflectors. Hammer or pebble specular, anodized aluminum or white are the most reflective surfaces for hoods. Mirror finish is the absolute worst reflective surface for a hood. Hang 400 watt lamps at 18-24” above garden, 600 and 1000 watt lamps, 24-30” above garden. Use a light meter. Grow the strongest, healthiest cannabis plants that reach their maximum potential for resin production. Bright light brings big buds. HID (High Intensity Discharge) Lighting HID lighting is the most efficient way to convert electricity into light that is available to the consumer. There are two types of HID grow lights used for horticultural lighting: HID Light Efficiency Metal Halide - MH Metal halide bulbs produce an abundance of light in the blue spectrum. This color of light promotes cannabis plant growth and is excellent for green leafy growth and keeping cannabis plants compact. It is the best type of light to be used as a primary light source (if no or little natural sunlight is available). The average lifespan is about 10,000 cumulative hours. The bulb will light up beyond this time but due to the gradual decline of light, it is not worth your while to wait for the bulb to finally burn out. If you compare their lumen (brightness) per unit of energy consumed, metal halides produce up to 125 lumens per watt compared to 39 lumens per watt with fluorescent lights and 18 lumens per watt for standard incandescent bulbs. High Pressure Sodium - HPS High pressure sodium bulbs emit an orange-red glow. This band of light triggers hormones in cannabis plants to increase flowering/budding in cannabis plants. They are the best lights available for secondary or supplemental lighting (used in conjunction with natural sunlight). This is ideal for greenhouse growing applications. Not only is this a great flowering light, it has two features that make it a more economical choice. Their average lifespan is twice that of metal halides, but after 18,000 hours of use, they will start to draw more electricity than their rated watts while gradually producing less light. HPS bulbs are very efficient. They produce up to 140 lumens per watt. Their disadvantage is they are deficient in the blue spectrum. If a gardener were to start a young cannabis plant under a HPS bulb, she/he would see impressive vertical growth. In fact, probably too impressive. Most cannabis plants would grow up thin and lanky and in no time you will have to prune your cannabis plant back before it grows into the light fixture. The exception to this is using a HPS light in a greenhouse. Sunlight is high in the blue spectrum which would offset any stretching caused by HPS bulbs. Common manufacturers of metal halide and high pressure (HP) sodium lights include Philips, General Electric, Iwasaki, Venture, and Osram/Sylvania. Many of the manufacturers buy and use the same components, often manufactured by competitors. Most often the bulbs have the exact same technical statistics. Lighting Chart - A guide for wattage per square foot. HID Light Output Primary Growing Area Supplemental Area 100 watts 2' x 2' 3' x 3' 250 watts 3' x 3' 4' x 4' 400 watts 4' x 4' 6' x 6' 600 watts 6' x 6' 8' x 8' 1000 watts 8' x 8' 12' x 12' HID Lighting Helpful Tips Hanging height: Due to the heat that is emitted from these types of fixtures, you should hang them according to size. Smaller wattage systems (100 and 250) should be hung about 2 feet from the tops of the cannabis plants. Medium wattage systems (400 and 600) should be hung around 3 feet from the top of the cannabis plants. High wattage systems (1000 and up) should be placed at least 4 to 5 feet from the cannabis plant tops. How long should lights run? This depends on the type of cannabis plant. Most cannabis plants and vegetables need about 10 to 12 hours of light to promote growth. cannabis plants that produce fruits or flowers will show improvement with up to 16 hours a day of supplemental light. Fluorescent Lighting This type of light is perfect for starts and seedlings. They are also popular for growing low-light cannabis plants like herbs and African violets. Fluorescent lights are low intensity and need to be placed within 8" (up to 15" for shade loving cannabis plants) of the cannabis plants to be effective. They are a poor light source for flowering and budding primarily because of their low lumen output. Incandescent Lighting These lights are also good for starts and seedlings and provide an inexpensive alternative to HID lights, because they do not require a ballast. These lights are only good for individual cannabis plants or small groups of cannabis plants because of their low lumen output and limited range. The Cost to Run a Lighting System To get the operating cost per hour for a light, take the lights combined wattage, and divide it by 1000 to get the kilowatts used. Then multiply that number by the amount your electric company charges per kilowatt hour. HID lights will use the number of watts it emits per hour, ie; 600w system will use 600 watts per hour (regardless of spectrum). How the Sunlight Effects cannabis plant Growth 200 - 280 nm UVC ultraviolet range which is extremely harmful to cannabis plants because it is highly toxic. 280 - 315 nm Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes cannabis plants colors to fade. 315 - 380 nm Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to cannabis plant growth. 380 - 400 nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected plastics ideally block out any light below this range. 400 - 520 nm This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth) 520 - 610 nm This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption by pigments. 610 - 720 nm This is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding) 720 - 1000 nm There is little absorption by chlorophyll here. Flowering and germination is influenced. At the high end of the band is infrared, which is heat. 1000+ nm WHAT TYPE OF GROW LIGHT SHOULD I USE? Full Spectrum Fluorescents are ideal for starting seeds or cuttings or for low light cannabis plants. They are the most energy efficient grow lights available. Although more efficient than incandescent lights, fluorescents are still much less efficient than High Intensity Discharge (HID) light systems. Larger wattage systems will cover larger areas, and since these bulbs produce greater light intensity they are superior for growing taller cannabis plants. Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS) are the most common HID grow lights. MH bulbs emit a blue-white spectrum, which is more conductive for vegetative growth or starting seeds and clones. HPS bulbs are red-orange in the spectrum, which is ideal for the fruiting and flowering stage of a cannabis plant’s development. Marijuana Lighting Tips Although natural sunlight is the best form of light for growing cannabis plants, their life cycle can be controlled more effectively with artificial lighting The life cycle of the cannabis plant is determined by the daily photoperiod (hours of light per day). A young cannabis plant tends to grow faster if it is grown under continuous light for the first two months of it's development. Although the lamps should be kept as close as possible to the growing leaves, they should never be allowed to touch the cannabis plants. The best light for cannabis plant growth emits high intensities of the blue and red bands of the light spectrum. Fluorescent light is one of the most effective source of artificial light readily available to home growers. Metal Halide lamps are better than most fluorescents, because they radiate more light in the blue and white bands of the light spectrum. If your lights are too hot to touch with your hand, they are probably also too hot to be close to the growing leaves of cannabis plants. The amount of light you supply your cannabis plants depends on the size of the garden, but at least 20 watts per square foot is recommended. Although Metal Halide lamps are generally considered a better light source for marijuana growth, they use a lot more electricity than fluorescents.. Under artificial light, a cannabis plant can grow from three to six feet tall in three to four months. cannabis plants entering the vegetative stage enjoy up to twenty two hours of light per day, while twelve hours or less is required for flowering. The more light you give your cannabis plants, the faster they will grow. Lamps should be fixed to the roof in such a way that they can easily be raised as the cannabis plant grows in height. The use of reflectors ensures that the light is spread more uniformly around the cannabis plants. To increase the humidity of the air in a small, enclosed garden, place a small bowl of water in the grow room. Use a fan to cool down your cannabis plants if the lights in a small grow room raise the temperature too much. cannabis plants grown in conditions of varying daily light patterns will not settle into a regular life cycle and will grow poorly. If there is insufficient light in the grow room, the cannabis plants will often grow tall and thin, in search of the light. Do not "wake up" your cannabis plants by switching on the lights if they are in the dark period of their daily light cycle. cannabis plants grown with a long daily photoperiod, will require more frequent watering than those grown with less light. Although incandescent, or screw-in light-bulbs are usually not suitable for good growth, they can be used in conjunction with fluorescent tubes. If the edges of the leaves near the lights and growing tips start curling up, it usually means that they are getting too hot. A cannabis plant will grow with as little as six hours of light per day, but requires more than twelve hours per day for good strong growth. A cannabis plant grown with insufficient light may sometimes develop disfigured leaves with only one or two blades per leaf. Paint the walls, floor and roof of your grow room white for better reflection of light onto your growing cannabis plants. If you have a few cannabis plants growing unevenly under one light, you could raise the pots of the smallest cannabis plants by placing them on a few bricks. Although easy to control, the daily light photoperiod is the single most important factor influencing the growth of your cannabis plants. cannabis plants require less than twelve hours of light per day for at least two weeks before you can expect to see the first signs of flowers appearing. Never increase the daily light photoperiod to more than twelve hours, once your cannabis plants have started flowering. A cannabis plant grown indoors with lots of light will often grow larger and more potent than a similar cannabis plant growing outdoors in natural light. To increase the amount of light available to the lower branches, you could mount extra fluorescent tubes vertically, onto the walls of your grow room.

After a chat last week with romeu9, superbluehaze and dwfi about various systems as i was looking to change my set up having various things i wanted to consider like power, i have enough plugs as it is and less is better IMO. I have to confess i love my NFT one being the yeild and another is maintaining it which is so easy and wanted the system to have more plants in a system where plants can be moved from veg to flower in a 2 week cycle. After thinking for hours we discovered fogging or fogponics if you want to call it that and decided to delve a little further to see the pro's and cons. Having come up against various problems like how to power more than one ultrasonic transducer from one power source was the main problem as transducers are state of the art little bits of kit that you will see more and more of them as technology grows. Transducers can be powered by using Mhz or 12v causing ultrasound in the water that creates a cool fog/mist which i thought can still be used in cultivating whether it may be adding a jungle like humid enviroment at night or adding hummidity when the lights are on. My thoughts are now on making a clone/seed tray for 12 plant to start them off as they dont have roots straight away fogging the under the lid would be a perfect gentle way of encourging root development before transplant to the bubblers. You have to use filtered water with these little misters or foggers i found this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/mini-fogger-mist-generator-35215?c=so&u=strat15 and it is the business. i will report with a video of it working, then follow up with a complete set up guide although not rocket science. Here are some of the findings, An ultrasonic fogger is a device that uses ultrasonic sound waves to break water into millions of individual water droplets that are then sprayed into the air as a thick fog. Ultrasonic foggers are most often used for Halloween decorations as a replacement to dry ice. The fog produced by an ultrasonic fogger is not created through a boiling process and does not involve heat of any kind. Because of this, the fog is cold and slightly wet but poses no threat to the user. How Does An Ultrasonic Fogger Work An ultrasonic fogger is a relatively small device and consists of a plastic shell, built-in AC/DC adapter, and a metallic ultrasonic transducer plate. The fogger itself is placed under one to four inches of water and a built-in sensor detects its presence and activates the ultrasonic transducer plate. The ultrasonic transducer then vibrates rapidly at ultrasonic speeds and causes water molecules to break apart into individual droplets. These droplets are instantly vaporized into the air, resulting in a thick, cold fog. Current Applications While ultrasonic foggers are most often used as Halloween decorations, they are also used in a wide variety of other applications. For example, ultrasonic foggers are often used in aeroponics to supply gardens and greenhouses with an artificial humidity as well as deliver nutrients to plant roots in order to speed up the growth process. They and are also used in aquariums and other artificial habitats to simulate the natural mist of the tropical rain forests. Ultrasonic foggers can also be used by the elderly in addition to people with breathing problems such as COPD, bronchitis, and emphysema to create ideal humidity levels. Advantages and Disadvantages Ultrasonic foggers are, for the most part, safe, reliable, and effective at vaporizing water. However, ultrasonic foggers vaporize anything that is in the water. This means that any chemicals, viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens that are in the water will be sprayed into the air with the rest of the water and can be breathed in by the user or other people near the device. Because of this, it is important to keep the water tank clean at all times. Ideally, the user should also be using purified water in any ultrasonic fogger system. Competing Technologies While ultrasonic foggers are often categorized as an alternative fogger technology, they are currently the most widely used system for vaporizing water and nutrients due to their efficiency and ease of use. However, there are other systems available that do the same thing through other means. Atomizers, for example, are able to draw water through a small hose and spray it out of a nozzle in a fine mist. This mist, however, is not as good as the fog produced by an ultrasonic fogger and has much larger water droplets. An interview i found from Maximum yeild BGJ: From your research and development, what do you think the major advantages and disadvantages are for using fog in hydroponic applications? Jesse James: The biggest advantages I have discovered are the benefits of a three to five micron water particle. The beauty of such a small particle delivery system is that it is actually small enough to be absorbed directly through the pores of a plant. This allows for a lack of water surface tension normally associated with most nutrient delivery technologies. If there is not a coating of condensation on your root mass, your roots’ oxygen uptake capabilities are exponentially increased. Another benefit of the lack of water surface tension was quite a surprise to us and what we call the “pipe cleaner effect.” Instead of being the smooth white branches we are all familiar with, our roots became super fuzzy, covered in the finest micro roots we had ever seen, which in turn increased the root surface area and nutrient uptake capabilities. For us, fogponics has drastically reduced time cycles for propagation by cutting, vegetative state and bloom times. Fogponics has also become the major factor for lowering our nutrient consumption. On average, we only use between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the manufacturer's recommended dosage (that is 80 to 90 per cent less nutrient). I think the major disadvantage of fog is that if the system fails, the plants will also fail - rapidly. Because the roots are drier than with conventional systems, they will dry out faster in the event of a system failure. For this reason, our units are built with a redundant standard aeroponic sprayer back-up system that should be powered on a separate breaker and tied into a root zone humidity sensor. BGJ: What is next for you and your company as it relates to fog technologies? Jesse James: In addition to our current propagation system we will be adding a full cycle (cutting-to-harvest) system and a couple of fog mod kits to convert existing systems into fogponics. I am also eagerly anticipating going large scale, setting up some fogponics greenhouse systems. With less cost, increased absorption and amplified growth rates, the proof is in the fog. With all of the changes that are occurring in the hydroponics industry, these will definitely be two companies to keep your eye on. This all got me very intrested indeed and i continue to research. Hey Fuzzy you could even get some fish in there!

from what i know there are some hidden gems out there, i had the chance to smoke some pot over there and i would put it in the same catagory as the hymilaian gold very resionus and a great smoke...well worht a visit Hunters!

Bubba kush day 20 of flowering reaching for the stars nice tight spacing of the internodes another fine specimine from the GHS team. Way more rapid development than the ice dream i put this down to being right under the cooltube....might i add the cool tube soon to be ditched in favour of the diamond reflector! you will even see the little pheno is thriving!

You can find the first part of the ice dream test here www.strainhunters.com/portal/content/h3rbalizer-ice-dream-arjans-haze-1-27-10-10 Ice Dream day 54 of flowering and been on plain water for the last 4 days and already the leaves yellowing on the plants and i just pick some of them off. the smaller pheno is almost ready as the trichromes are going amber although i will leave them longer till they darken more and start falling over, then it will be harvest time. the room temp has been increased to 30c and the light will be reduced to 11 hrs in the next few days humidity is 72% and all looking good.

Lets get this show on the road! Today i received 19 x Ice Dream feminised and 10 x Arjan's Haze #1 regular. . Being the first seed tester to receive the regular seeds of the Arjan's haze they will be tested for the following Phenotypes, good structure uniform internode, healthy stem and for production, smell, resin, calyx-to-leaf ratio. Dropped 10 of the arjans haze in the good old H2O this afternoon and 6 of the ice Dream in a seperate glass, would have done more if i had the space. Posted yesterday and arrived in the UK today now thats what i call service, cheers Franco. If you have a close look at the Arjan's Haze on the left you will see some dark spotting on the seeds The next step for the seeds will be moved under a 250w CFL light for a few weeks due to the other room being in flower for the next 4 weeks, or i convince the wife i need another tent, dont worry ill have it before the end of next week and then that veg room will support a 600w MH for the rest of the veg stage, so lets just say 1 week under the CFL or my soon to be seeding room lol. Grow room 1.2mx1.2mx2.2m New room 2.0mx1.5x1.5m used for veg/SCROG 2x RUK fans 5" carbon filter 600w cooltube My reason for the MH over the HPS in the veg stage is when it comes to flowering with the HPS, the bud sites are much closer and the plant wont strech as much under the MH unlike the HPS. Full canna Aqua range will be used in a GT205 for 4 plants and started in ph balanced rockwool cubes and the rest of the plants will be potted in rockwool for ease of movment between rooms for the tests. Stay tuned, H3rbalizer.

Last week i had 10 Exodus Cheese seeds drop through my letterbox with a load of nutrients from Franco that will also be used in the Exodus test. Usually it would be a clone dropping through my letterbox if i was growing Exodus in the past. Clones are sent all around the world rather than growen from seed due to the dormant genes that made it easier to clone, as the correct genes have never been captured so that the seeds could be distributed. Original clone's from the Exodus boys back in the 80 's made their way to all corners of the world for growers to enjoy and i don't doubt for one minute generations of these plants from the 80's are still out there being preserved of the plant with the illusive genes. What Franco and Arjan have done here is quite amazing stuff in my eyes, not only fem seeds but captured the genes and i thank you once again for the chance to test and very much looking forward to the end product , great work put in to this by the greenhouse team! Picked out 6 of the best seeds, dropped them in the H20 at 13.00hrs, updates of grow room spec, fedding, temps and eC will follow as we go!

Split right through my nail to the otherside of my finger, if it was the otherway in the blade it would have been bye bye finger pushed back together and send on my way with tape lol.

Loving your efforts Romeu, following this post all the way buddy!

the smoke is amazing dust....creeper is the word to describe it, the taller pheno even tastes like trainwreck while the smaller of the 5 is a more pungent cheese smoke having all the charecteristics of it's ancestor not so much couch lock compared to the trainwreck tasting sativa like plant, it is more euphoric down to the fact it was a one stage harvest where it could have been split but decided on the euphoric smoke for a change.

That terrace should be packed Romeu room for plenty more!

Well the exodus was ready on day 48 i have no idea why so it was time for harvest i was chatting to dust about this and sensi seeds give their cheese 45 days so i had no option but to harvest. I have decided to get rid of the cooltube as i dont think it perform as good as the Diamond shade so i cant wait to see the results in the future. From the 5 plants i got a dried 12 oz ftrom the 5, was expecting more but we all do eh! here is the vid from the day of harvest, ignore the graphics as elektro fucked up

They sure do love that terrace!

Nice dust....looks like a nice pheno you have there looks like the indica one syn and i have smells verry different from the others.

the PH on the soil looks too high from what i can see...has it got all the other stuff like wormcastings pearlite.....with the pot situation look for net pots will help the rootsystem big time for outdoors, used in buckets mostly

Cheers tokage i normally make cookies or cake from the butter i make from the trimmings can be found in the cooking with cannabis section

Thank you Romeu, smells amazing out the 5 plants 3 very different smells and very nice indeed

looking great mate nice and healthy let the porn begin! you might want to support them with canes, i started to use them and so much easier to manage!

ok ok i will keep it down never had a problem before my thinking advice taken!

Some of us were lucky enough to get some of Frankosteins potion that he kindly send for test's so was wondering if anyone could answer a few questions. The bag is enough for a 10 lt mix most of us wont use 10lt to start with so i propose to weigh out the mix in to 1/4 feeds and go with 2.5 lt of water for each one until i require more feed. how long would the feed last if made up and left to sit before use? As this is an all in one start to finish feed should i add rizotonic, cannazyme, npk and boost as i normaly would and just replace the feed as if it were A&B? H3rbalizer

Day 33 of flower, starting to come on now with the addition of the boost.and rasing the EC up to 1.8, reduced the ammount of NPK so feeding as follows with canna products. The feed will continue like this for the next week then gradually reducing down stopping NPK and boost before the magic 14 days. The smell is intense and very very sticky buds. 25ml of A+B 20ml boost 15ml NPK EC 1.8 PH 5.8 Temp 28 Humidity 50-60 % and will be increased to around 70 mark

Seems to be some sort of problem some users are getting a prompt to save an image of Arjan and franco that looks the small outline image that is on the controll panel, this prompt happens on every page when browsing the site, Toaor has this too and would be intresting to see how many others quite annoying really tried everything to block this with no results! one of the reasons i have been on less due to this problem.

just watch your markings mate so obvious make it undisturbed as you can you should beable to find them no problem now

Man thats well nice, hope my ones fill out like them!