HushemFlupskluk
Member
Today I present to you ICMAG users my 7th round starting from octobre 1st 2011! Using feminised Northern ligth seeds for the 3rd time in a row. In yet another attempt to optimise my setup.
In this first post I hope to explain to you all clearly what my goals and plans are to realise my dreams of huge leaf mariuana plants. Hopefully everybody already read some of what I posted earlier this ICMAG-forum. In these posts I revealed the effects I had using positive preasure. Read it at https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=213171
Goals;
- A fresh start with new unused soil
- realise an automised climate control with a hygrostate/thermostate.
- A perfect vertical 1 bulb scrog donut. In attempt to save the leafs of scorching.
- Use the positive preasure from start node 4/5 until ~14 days into flower. The period in which I believe this strain is most active in growth.
- Maximum yield of about 1,5 GPW with these seeds. A real score of about 0,78 GPkWh. An improvent of little over 50 % compared to round 6, my previous round.
Plans of setup are devided into subcategories and require some explanation;
- seeds.
Northern Light feminised. 3 or 4 seedlings for flowering in a circle.
- soil, fertilisers and equipment.
100 liter Gold Label special mix, 80 liter of coco-peat, 25 liter of wormcrap and 0,5 liter Guano-Kalong batshit. Handwatered. Using Bac veg and flower fertiliser. The soil is warmed to 24C with a DIY-warming device, connected to a thermo-switch-sensor inserted in the soil. I also GROUND my soil when using this device to guide static electricity away from the plants.
- U.S.I.U. intake-unit device. Air-quality possibilities and psychology.
Ultra Sonic Intake Unit. A plastic 'watertight' box containing a fogger and a watervalve, 300 watt aquariumheating which I barelly used and up to 2 105m3 tube ventilators for active intake. 100mm pipes connect it to the air-in of my tent and a hygro/thermostate will switch the humidifier and heater. This combo is optimised for my 250 watt bulb. I would like to add a 2nd fogger in it and a 3rd 105m3 tubevent to increase it's abilities to cool and humidify.
In the aspect of airquality this device I.M.O. is unique when used as active intake- passive exhaust. Because it enabled me to filter the air of dust and vermin, heat and cool and humidify the air, and it pumps the tent with positive preassure which makes it also difficult for insekts to enter the tent. All functions are applied under full 100 % intake duty off the 2x 105m3 tubevents! To increase positive preasure I simply narrow the exhaust(s) a little more.
The Psychology behind the positive preasure with U.S.I.U. How do leafs increase in size due to positive preasure?
First of all optimal VPD-values can be reached better. But somehow the leafs grew that size that I and others called 'huge'. So why would positive preassure not cause overgrow? This question has got me searching for answers. Where I looked for answers I possibly found one describes below.
Recently I found radar-images of the weather over Europe @ buienradar.nl. These images show weather patterns over time. Under influence of heat and cold the air is dynamic causing winds to blow and clouds to form of the water on the surface. One could notice the High and Low preasure areas and their behaviour. The areas of preasure diffirence also cause a fenomena that can be observed as cloud formations. Clouds drifting over and clouds popping up from nowhere. Why do clouds pop-up from the surface like that?
One who compares the radar images of cloud formations and low and hig preasure areas will find that the clouds pop-up from Lower preasure areas. Cloudy and rainy areas have higher RH values. But these areas are blocked of most direct sunlight. So a plant down in the cloudy/rainy area has better optimals of air-quality, but it has lack of sunlight.
The High preasure areas are sunny and the RH drops quickly. A plant in this area now has enough sunlight, but the air-quality is reduced.
Appearanty in nature a plant mostly lives inbetween semi-semi-optimals causing it to not show the true potentials that are dialed into the genes.
Using U.S.I.U. I now am convinced I was and will be abled to cheat the plants with the real optimals it can generate over this relative small period of time it excists. As said only from node 5 up to ~2 weeks 12/12 from seeds
PS. I hope you get the basic ideas of it. That is that a High preasure very sunny area with HIGH RH is not at the place where I live. This could explain the overgrow also.
PS. Here are the test result optimals of U.S.I.U. as active intake-passive exhaust of 24 hours of lights on during a hotter day/night this summer. I used an in/out temperature/hygro-meter. The values given are the minimals and maximals inside the tent @ 35 cm from the bulb inside the light (naked sensor) @ RH 65 % and outside the tent @ RH 35 % over that period of time.
Min in 22,9C
Min out 20,3C
Max in 27,4C
Max out 25,8C
The temperature diffirence outside the tent - inside the tent @ 35 cm from bulb inside the lightbeam is +2,4C to +2,6C
While the diffirence in temperature Intake U.S.I.U. - exhaust U.S.I.U. is -3C when the fogger is operational.
So far this is the best performance U.S.I.U. can give me
- Homebox S 80cm*80cm*160cm. Ventilation and exhaust. Lamps used and positions, switch equipment and scrog fence.
White walls, 100mm intake valve below and passive intake flaps with dustfilter, 100mm and 125mm exhaust valves, tent parts to hang a lamp and carbonfilter 3x 105m3 included. 2 PC fans are mounted to the tent walls for air circulation.
When the seeds sprout they will be placed under 1 and 2 55 watt veg horizontal lamps. After 14 days veg I will install a 250 watt Phillips master son-t plus horizontally until 14 days 12/12. Then I will scrog the plants and the setup will be vertical.
These lamps are switched with a digital time switch a relay and some random wiring all connected to GROUND from this round on
The poultry fence I used needs replacement. I prefer something stronger and isolated with plastic coating. The fence will be 75 CM in diameter and 75 CM high.
- Options of modifications/tweaks.
For this I have light-dimmers to slow down fans n stuff. To tigh up plants I'll use special equipment and some wire.
- Power-usage totals.
For this I will install a Voltkraft kWh-meter with which I can record the power usage from the first hour.
Plans of progress. Chronolically
Preparation (now)
Until 1st octobre 2011. Purchase soil, seeds. Prepare soil @ 23 C few days before sowing. Prepare 200ml cups for the seeds. Prepare scrog fence #2. Prepare horizontal lamp setups for 55 wat and 250 watt. Prepare carbon filter (year 3 in use).
Sow seeds
1st octobre. In 5 seeds soil. @ 23 C the first few days in darkness.
Sprout seedlings. 2 weeks.
1st week under 1x 55 watt, the 2nd week 2x 55 watt horizontal.
Veg/early flower horizontal. ~4 weeks.
Week 3 and 4 under 250 watt bulb horizontal with reflector and seedlings in 205 liter dirt. 14 days 12/12 go vert after scrog (end week 6). First time grow fertiliser added to the water. Switch to active exhaust. Somewhere in this period after 12/12 the plants will be cut over node 8, twiggs node 1-2-3 and 4 will be cut also leaving node 5, 6 and 7 for production.
Flower from week 7 or day 15 12/12
Carefully start adding flower fertiliser to the water from week 7. Fertiliser until the plants start to drink less noticably ~ 21 days from harvest. Only water from then on.
Late flower from day 50 12/12
Watch soil tensio meter closelly (like before). Only water. Soil nearly dry a day before the harvest.
Harvest day 70 12/12. 1-1-2012?
48 hours darkness before cut down. Weigh the plants. Cut them up and inspect for rot, no twiggs remain and put it in the dry net in the dry room.
Drying app. 5 weeks.
In an attempt to keep the RH @ 50% in the dry room i'll dimm the exhaust to minima in latter drying.
Final weight and GPkWh score
When the twiggs break yars are used for storage. The final weight will be revealed.
Curing. app. 1-2 months.
I want to put mini RH-meters in them to keep an eye on maintaining 50% RH.
Questions remaining for future expansions.
VPD and air preasure.
To get me a VPD-value I use a VPD-calcutaor @ http://www.autogrow.com/vpd_calc.php. This number is a formula of air/leaf temperature and RH numbers, but air-preasure is excluded.
This leaves me with the question; 'what is the optimal VPD/air-preasure for my plants?'
For this number I have to install a barometer and it requires proper logging of the plants progresses under diffirent preasures. B/c if it is true that air-preasure-influence on the plant is underestimated, I have work to do
I prefer a digital barometer with logging functions. I also would have to increase U.S.I.U.'s capacities by 2x or 3x to test all this.
Roots and airsupply of some sort, smartpots/airpots related.
Would an active airsupply to the soil via tubes with holes have a noticable positive effect?
Watersupplies with Blumat drippers.
In what extend would this have possitive effects on my soil life?
Superlumens for the plants.
I would love to play with that some day
Tent-in-tent concept.
A tent-in-tent concept would support me in using U.S.I.U. as active intake-passive exhaust also during flower. By opening up the exhausts I could make sure the positive preasure is minimal. The larger tent will have an active exhaust mounted with carbon filter when needed.
The smaller tent is pumped by U.S.I.U., then in flower the larger tent will activelly suck the air out of the smaller tent preventing the smelly air from leaking outside.
What benefit would this setup have? Thinking about the possibilties compared to the investment and extra space it takes I think the positive preasure is not what a plant in latter flower needs b/c higher preasure air can hold less humidity causing the plants to vaporise less. I fear mold in this setup.
But in extend, the exhausts of the smaller tent could be opened wide enough to get to 1 atmosphere leaving me with an optimal intake-exhaust airfow. And it could offer me extra possibilities in making the unit undetectable with anti-detection foils. All in exchange for little extra power cunsumption in latter flower.
Climate control in my dry room.
To keep the RH @ 50%. Could this improve the cure proces in time? The room would turn into a dry/cure-room. This RH is also the best value to conserve the buds in. How to do this without the smells leaking from the room? Perhaps my room-in-room concept offers solutions.
Later i'll send some pics of the current setup. Writing down these plans took aaages
!
for your reply. I will put the promised data in this thread when I have it.
