New Grower intro

[ShaggyGrower]

Bud vid: 

 

[Cannabissapean]

Rour Reed Rearry Rooks Rood, Reggy.

 

I had often wondered if Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo had had anything to do with cannabis.  Well, I found pictures that show that outside the studio, they certainly did.

 

You need an Avatar, ShaggyGrower.  Maybe look here if you are so inclined to remain with the theme of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo.  LOL

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shaggy+and+cannabis&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5zdvxr6LXAhWF2RoKHdeLA-QQ7AkIRw&biw=1600&bih=751

 

 

[ShaggyGrower]

Watered & flushed with water ph 6.54; ec 0.644; ppm 322. Near-end run off was ph 7.22; ec 0.666; ppm 333 (+11 ppm more than went in only).

[ShaggyGrower]

Oooh, it rained last night, and I have a full water butt. Ph 7.45 and ec 0.076/36ppm. Just couple of drops of ph down and it's where I want it. Excellent.  I can't remember a time I've been this happy my water butt is full 

Like my choice of avatar, @Cannabissapean?

A question. If one is having an issue with temps, humidity and light wattage, what should give first?  ie, is it more important to get humidity down, or to get temperature down, or keep lights on high wattage?

Additionally, I'm trying to keep my big tent humidity down (30%-40%).  I have a dehumidifier, but the lowest dry setting is 40%-45%.  There are two other settings called Laundry, one Turbo and one Saving.  Both suck 4l of moisture out of the air over a night but at the expense of expelling hot air into the tent.  So, daytime temps with lights on are 75-83, and night time temps with lights off; fans remaining on; and dehumidifier on Turbo is 72-80 - humidity ~ 30%-40%.

 

I guess the solution would be to cut a hole in my tent and fashion an exhaust for the hot dehumidifier air at some point in the future.
 

[ShaggyGrower]

Interesting. 86 degrees Fahrenheit is apparently perfect top canopy leaf temperature.

 

http://magazine.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/january-2017/the-key-to-maximum-yield.aspx

[Cannabissapean]

Rool Ravatar, Reggy

[ShaggyGrower]

Rank you. 

[Cannabissapean]

On 4.11.2017 at 8:07 AM, ShaggyGrower said:

A question. If one is having an issue with temps, humidity and light wattage, what should give first?  ie, is it more important to get humidity down, or to get temperature down, or keep lights on high wattage?

Additionally, I'm trying to keep my big tent humidity down (30%-40%).  I have a dehumidifier, but the lowest dry setting is 40%-45%.  There are two other settings called Laundry, one Turbo and one Saving.  Both suck 4l of moisture out of the air over a night but at the expense of expelling hot air into the tent.  So, daytime temps with lights on are 75-83, and night time temps with lights off; fans remaining on; and dehumidifier on Turbo is 72-80 - humidity ~ 30%-40%.

 

I guess the solution would be to cut a hole in my tent and fashion an exhaust for the hot dehumidifier air at some point in the future.
 

 

While I was reading your post, I couldn't help but to question whether your exhaust ventilator might not be working.  Then I finally read the last line, which confirmed my assumption. 

 

Exhaust ventilation would solve virtually all those problems, I think.  Additionally, if you were to regulate the exhaust fan (on-off and/or fast-slow) based on input from sensors (ie., temperature, humidity, time-of-day, etc.), you could refine the results that the exhaust fan creates.

 

Besides that, simply having an exhaust fan will improve conditions for your plants by providing them with a constant supply of ambient CO2 that seeps in from the outside.  Without an exhaust fan, the CO2 inside the tent is quickly depleted by the plant, causing photosynthesis to simply stop until the next time the tent is opened.

[ShaggyGrower]

Thanks Cannabissapean.  The dehumidifier I have is similar to an Eco Air DD122FW.  I think I'll cut a hole the size of its vent and fashion some rectangular ducting from its vent to outside the tent.  I have a 428m3/hour extraction unit in the (1.2m x 1.2m x 2.0m) tent connected to a carbon filter and its ducting points out of the window.  Alas, even though that's a lot of sucking (and I assume a lot of new CO2) and it makes the tent concave (negative pressure), it clearly does not remove enough of the hot air the dehumidifier is creating (~11°C extra at night compared to not on at night).  Next year I'll start to add more kit such as sensors connected to regulators, hopefully you can offer some tips 

[Cannabissapean]

I assume that the extractor is sucking on the filter, and that the filter is located as high in the tent as possible?

 

If the extraction/filter is not sucking air out of the highest point in the tent, then you will have heat build-up.

 

Additionally, usually tent manufacturers provide vents low in the tent wall somewhere that can be opened.  Those openings in my tents have also a fabric screen to keep pests out when the flap is opened.  I adjust the size of the opening to fine-tune the humidity level against the strength of the suction.

 

 

 

 

Concaving sides of tent?   Most tent manufacturers sell additional side braces especially for that purpose;  they are similar to the top bracing if your tent has those.

Using inexpensive gardening sticks or bamboo sticks and the creative use of cable ties, you can fashion a similar solution.

 

If you are especially eager to expand the inner volume of the tent against the sucking action of the extractor, consider using a small diameter PVC electrical- or water-pipe curled into a circle or 3/4 circle and lashed to the internal braces of the tent.  The circular shape will hold the tent in a more convex shape.

 

 

[ShaggyGrower]

Yes, extractor is sucking on the filter and both are in the top back of my tent.

I have three vents low on three sides with fabric screens.  I have only one open - the one under the window which is ajar and lets in outside air.

Regarding concaving sides of the tent, yes, the side are being sucked in ~ 5-10cm each side in the middle (so I think the extractor is sucking a lot [I got one size up from the one recommended for my size tent).  It's not an issue atm, but I'll need those extra cm's with my other grow soon so will fashion braces as you suggest - Duct tape & cardboard.

Equipment list (from Growell):

 

BAY6 XL Grow Tent (120cm x 120cm x 200cm)
600 Watt BAY6 Dual Spectrum Lamp (250w; 400w; 600w, 660w digital ballast)

Eco Extraction Kit 3 - (428m3/hour) (Systemair RVK Extractor Fan;  Prima Klima Eco Carbon Filter, & ducting)

One large one small fan

Dehumidifier as mentioned.

Accuread Temperature and Humidity Meter

 

 

[slimjim]

Hi.

Lets start with a question, where exactly is your exhaust?

What i mean is, is the exhausted air in the same room as your tent,

if so this could be part or all of the problem. Air wether intake or

exhaust must come from different places, its fine to have a passive

intake but the exhaust needs to go out of your tents room and leave

window open and try to funnel the fresh towards the intake.

This is a simple beginners mistake one which many of us have

experienced some simply not heat issues but mold with rising RH

with using recycled air.

Hope this can help you solve a problem bro if already set up like i

explained, then you need funnel cooler air in from somewhere else

PEACE and good luck

 

 

[slimjim]

p.s. the straighter the ducting the quicker the air flow

[ShaggyGrower]

Hi slimjim,

Thanks for the advice.  As can be seen in the photo's, the exhaust from the extractor points out of the window.  The dehumidifier exhaust stays in the tent.  This I will rectify by cutting a hole in my tent at dehumidifier vent height and fashioning some ducting so the dehumidifier expel hot air out of the tent while still sucking in air from the tent. I will only be able to get it to vent into the room the tent is in, so not a perfect solution, but the vent will be on the opposite side to the passive intake, so I think will be mixed with cooler room air and be ok - we'll see.

[ShaggyGrower]

I have been very wary about cutting a hole in my tent, however, I've done the deed and I'm rather pleased with the results (see photo's).  Tonight I'll get an idea of temps and humidity with the modified setup.

[Cannabissapean]

21 hours ago, ShaggyGrower said:

 

 

Aha, now I see the problem.  Your exhaust pipe is only pointing toward a window that is partially open.  That is why the heat is building-up in the room. 

 

This is the same as venting into the same room that the tent is sitting in.  It accomplishes virtually nothing to improve the reduction of temperature and humidity, and it it is only minimally efficient at replacing the Oxygen-rich air with ambient CO2. 

[ShaggyGrower]

Thanks @Cannabissapean.  The window is partially open at night, and sometimes during the day when the tent is getting below optimum temperature or I'm out and don't want to be burgled (cat or human). Mostly it is fully open during the day.  Ambient air temperature in the room the tent is in stays at between 18-22°C (night/day).  The room the tent is in is a spare room, so is connected to outside via that window, and to the rest of the flat via a door that is always open so a small draught is created.

 

My new setup last night did not work as I had the dehumidifier setting on max Dry, which is only 40-45% humidity (got to 47% last night).  Not enough for what I need.  I'll try tonight on Laundry mode which has had it down to 23%.  I'll monitor the temperature and humidity in the tent and in the room the tent is in and report back.  I'm put the probe-end of the tents temp/humidity sensor in the only fabric air vent that is open, to get an air-in temperature.  I'm fairly sure air-in is ~50-65°C (night/day)..

Flushed them this morning with ph in of 6.20; ec 0.060; ppm 30.  3 x volume of pot.  ph out 7.6!; ec 0.440; ppm 220.

 

There must be a block of calcium or something stuck in the pot me thinks to make the r/o go alkaline all the time.  ec/ppm tells me there are still nutrients in the medium. 

 

I've been defoliating the nearly-all-yellow leaves as they turn nearly-all-yellow.  I'm noticing more white pistles and ever growing calyx's.  These buds are now looking like the ones I see others post on the internet/seed brochures.

[Cannabissapean]

Have you tried putting the dehumidifier outside of the tent to dehumidify the room that the tent sits in?

[ShaggyGrower]

3 minutes ago, Cannabissapean said:

Have you tried putting the dehumidifier outside of the tent to dehumidify the room that the tent sits in?

 

No, not tried that yet.  I'll see how it goes on Laundry setting tonight as pictured - with the intake inside the tent and the outlet pushing hot air outside the tent into the room the tent is in.  All the reviews I've read say the dehumidifier I have does NOT heat up the room on purpose to more quickly evaporate the water in the laundry one is trying to dry, but I suspect that's exactly how it works.

FYI, just had a look at the newly positioned temperature probe data.  Canopy ambient air temp inside tent is 78.2°C (600w HPS setting), in room tent is in it is 72°C. Probe in air temperature 62°C. Humidity 37%. Window is open.  I'll close window for an hour and look at data again.

[ShaggyGrower]

Snipped a little lower bud on each plant; wet trimmed; and have hung under the HPS to dry out a little.  Granted, not what one is supposed to do, but I'm doing it to learn, ie, to learn what a not-quite-flushed-yet & quick-dried budlet(s) smells/tastes/smokes like.

[slimjim]

Just a concerned brother asks,

Having exhaust of the dehumidifier out the tent is

that not bypassing the carbon filter?

[Cannabissapean]

Jim, you are right, if the dehumidifier is still in the tent.

 

I was trying to encourage Shaggy to seal-up the output of the extractor and set the dehumidifier completely outside the tent. 

 

Personally, I think that all these problems will be resolved if he would find a way to seal that output exhaust pipe to the outside.  Then he might not even need the dehumidifier.

[ShaggyGrower]

Thanks @slimjim - doh! You're correct, the dehumidifier set up like that does miss out the carbon filter.

 

Results of last nights experiment. Window on latch: Canopy temp ~68ºC, probe temp 65 ºC, room temperature 72ºC.  Dehumidifier on Laundry mode and not much water sucked out of air.  Pretty convinced now Laundry mode tries to heat the air in the room to suck moister out of it.  Humidity was 39-47% during the night, somewhat higher than the ~30% I'm aiming for but not really bad.

 

I think I'm between a rock and a hard place.  I can't see a way of sealing the output exhaust ducting to the outside without some major hole-in-the-wall works (which is not going to happen) or hanging the ducting out of the window which would likely look a bit dodgy to passers by. I'll try the latter tonight when it's dark - sunset at 4.21pm, girls go to bed at 5.15pm so should be ok.  So, tonight is hanging extractor fan ducting out of window with dehumidifier on Laundry mode in the door-shut-room the tent is in but not the actual tent, night.

Going back to my original question, which should give first - temperature or humidity or light wattage (day) or temperature or humidity (night)?

It looks like I am going to have to make a choice between being able to get lower humidity but at the expense of higher night temperature, or leave the humidity higher than I'd like but temperatures keep low at night.  I'm guessing the answer will be low humidity at this stage of late flower as bud rot is more of a concern at this late stage.

[ShaggyGrower]

19 hours ago, ShaggyGrower said:

Snipped a little lower bud on each plant; wet trimmed; and have hung under the HPS to dry out a little.  Granted, not what one is supposed to do, but I'm doing it to learn, ie, to learn what a not-quite-flushed-yet & quick-dried budlet(s) smells/tastes/smokes like.

Twas an interesting smoke.  Stuck the buds under the grill for a bit to dry further. Smoked minty, almost menthol.

[ShaggyGrower]

On ‎07‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 8:30 PM, Cannabissapean said:

Jim, you are right, if the dehumidifier is still in the tent.

 

I was trying to encourage Shaggy to seal-up the output of the extractor and set the dehumidifier completely outside the tent. 

 

Personally, I think that all these problems will be resolved if he would find a way to seal that output exhaust pipe to the outside.  Then he might not even need the dehumidifier.

Well, I set up the dehumidifier outside the tent ..... and forgot to replug it in - doh!

Temps with window open a crack starting an hour before lights out: probe in 63.8-70.1°C; canopy 66.5-78.°C (HPS on 400w); Humidity 33-46%.

 

I was testing how far the window need to be open for the extractor air to go out and cold air to come in.  When it's open a crack (as in the photo, an inch), not much goes out/in although some.  6 inches and a big difference is made with the probe showing 57.5°C about half an hour after the sun had set. 

 

This being a spare-room grow, I guess I'll have to cope with non-idea conditions.