LSWM's 3k Vert Donut's @ 7000ft!

[LSWM]

Just finished rerouting my ventilation. Instead of going outside, it now goes through the heating ducts to the bottom floor. It's starting to get into the 30's at night here so I figure this will not only heat my house, but keep things more stable upstairs.

Also got a second screen on my 12 plant horizontal tray, which has blown the fuck up. I'm seriously thinking it will pull 1.5-2 #'s and I pretty much just took some neglected plants and bent them over under a screen and flipped them. Since then, I've not neglected them at all, and have done lots of clearing of worthless nodes, but considering the circumstances, I really can't complain.

Been a very productive day so far. Super stoked to see how things continue!

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Yes I ended up stacking two 400 watt 7,500k metal halide bulbs using IC's PVC holder. I ended up with the legs slightly taller at ~17". This is on the DTB#1/WiFi tray and the TW tray. Both in Flower Room #2.

I doubt I actually hit 1 GPW on all these. The trays that are ~6.5 weeks into flower might hit 2 #'s from a 1k but I over vegged them and they have way too many nodes, so I think not only will nug size be down, but so will yield. Although screen coverage is top notch, lol.

These trays @ 2.5-3 weeks are looking much better, nugs are getting way bigger due to proper pruning and training. I took a grip off of them in the week before and first week of flower. Although I think these will be much more likely to break 1 GPW, after adding another 400 watts to each donut, I don't see it happening. 3#'s from 1 tray seems like a pipe dream at the moment. I'd be happy with 1.5 honestly.

So good that u noticed that lack of training and pruning caused a loss and u r correcting it on the next run. So u have trained twice, if needed I trained about 5 times a cycle, so u prob got 3 more times of pulling some big leaves, and weak growth, and branch placement. That's if u overvegged which is a good strategy to max out yield and fill in vert screens. Strain dependent of course if u know ur strain will fill the screen completely when under veg'd then by all means do it that way.

So whats ur stack like 2 400w on top of each other or u running different wattages. Im lost on ur bulbs and layout? I see u say u got 6400w in the flower room, how is that layed out?

 

[LSWM]

So good that u noticed that lack of training and pruning caused a loss and u r correcting it on the next run. So u have trained twice, if needed I trained about 5 times a cycle, so u prob got 3 more times of pulling some big leaves, and weak growth, and branch placement. That's if u overvegged which is a good strategy to max out yield and fill in vert screens. Strain dependent of course if u know ur strain will fill the screen completely when under veg'd then by all means do it that way.

So whats ur stack like 2 400w on top of each other or u running different wattages. Im lost on ur bulbs and layout? I see u say u got 6400w in the flower room, how is that layed out?

No, that would be 800 watts. I'm running 1 400 under a 1k.

I already had this drawn up in sketchup, just had to throw on the labels. Hope this helps.

EDIT: The room looks larger than it is. This is the floor plan, but the ceiling at the top and the bottom of the sketches are vaulted. Dead center it's like 14' to the peak. The trays are all 4'x4'.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

No, that would be 800 watts. I'm running 1 400 under a 1k.

I already had this drawn up in sketchup, just had to throw on the labels. Hope this helps.

Cool. It will be interesting to see if the smaller wattage can still penetrate at the distance u will have to stay away for the 1k. I like equal lighting top and bottom.

 

[LSWM]

With how tall my donuts are, I tend to let the lower stuff grow out under the light otherwise the bulb is too high and it gets hidden by the nugs above them. I dunno how it's gonna work out, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[LSWM]

Well the ventilation changes have certainly heated the house, plus me adding 800 watts to the room, and now my temps are too high... Lol. Hitting ~83*F right night.

I also left the swamp cooler running and it's cracking 75% humidity. I turned the swamp off and got some windows open downstairs, which were fogging up, lol. Definitely not a permanent fix. I've got a 65 pint and a 30 pint dehuey's on standby if needed. I'm thinking that I may need to wait another week or two for it to get colder before switching the ventilation... Too late, lol.

We'll see how the room does tonight and I'll make the necessary changes tomorrow.

 

[LSWM]

Apparently it's humid outside at night too? Hygrometer normally won't even register outside, now it's saying %65.

Definitely going to take more fiddling to get this straightened out. I wish I had the extra funds for humidity and temp controllers but I don't at the moment. I'd like to flip these flower rooms too this winter which I'm assuming will require some extra environmental control.

I'm just going to wing it for now, probably send my ventilation back outside.

 

[LSWM]

Absolutely no way I can divert the heat downstairs until it gets colder. When I do I'll definitely need dehumidification, which will add even more heat to the situation. I may just keep the place vented and add lights to keep temps up as it gets colder.

I wish I had the $$ to set up a heat exchanger or air handler. Could use cold tap water as a source, and it would cool and dehumidify. Maybe in a month or two when funds are more abundant.

 

[Miraculous Meds]

Maybe divert heat downstairs and as a back up have an exhaust fan set on a temp stat or humidistat with a electronic damper. Not the cheapest as far as start up for more fans and controls. but way more efficient. This time of the year is always challenging like this.

 

[LSWM]

That's all money I don't have! I thought of all of that. I even have extra 8 and 6 inch fans, but I'm not sure how to set them up to handle the situation. Dampers and XXXXstats are a must for this situation.

I've gone back and forth like ten times today. Vented without CO2 is looking like it may be my best bet to run the wattage I want to this winter. The growth I'm seeing at >50% humidity during stretch is amazing. I'm thinking I can crack 1 GPW without CO2 and run more wattage this way. I doubt that adding CO2 and keeping wattage the same would be an overall increase in yield vs adding more lights.

I guess 10kw on flip and vented is the new plan for this winter. I really wanted to seal things up and run CO2 but it's just not going to work I don't believe. Once I have some more $$$ I can purchase another carbon filter or two and that will increase my ventilation options, but until then I'm just going to keep winging it, lmfao.

 

[DunHav`nFun]

Once you dial every aspect of environment and can`t up yields any more , THEN add CO2 supplements and up your room temps to high 80`s low 90`s to increase plant metabolism during lights on and actually make use of said CO2 supplements above ambient concentrations....IOW....

Air exchange twice per minute is yo friend , and as long as yas can keep RH near 70% till end of stretch and as close to below 50% till end of cycle , you`ll be on your way to dialin in said grow area WITHOUT CO2 supplements using what`s in the air we breathe.....

Plants eat CO2 and shit Oxygen lights on , but they also shit OUT excess CO2 not used during lights on as WELL as excess RH during lights off , and that`s where your RH spikes/increases came from during lights off that was noticed.....anyways...

That`s just 1 pc of the puzzle taken care of....so...

Good luck and holler if I can help when the time comes......

Peace...DHF........

 

[Miraculous Meds]

As long as u keep ur temps and humidity in the zones fred said, co2 being pulled in the room from fresh air in enough to hit better than gpw. I think fred was doing 1.5 without extra co2, I was too. but I did have a gas heater on pilot only just incase I needed a little warmth added for winter time lights off, so I did have that benefit. Plus as a friend reminded me, exhausting the built up co2 from dark time.

 

[LSWM]

Saw a flying insect fly into my home this evening. I successfully identified him as a green lacewing immediately, captured him and released him into my garden. I doubt he does any work, as the larvae are the one that are primarily predacious.

Cool to see that is why there are probably very few spider mites in my area. Green Lacewings are supposed to keep mites heavily in check.

I'm still having an issue with fungus gnats. I've been using mosquito bits in my reservoir but they keep coming. Plants don't seem to mind other than the random dead/stuck gnats I've found on my nugs at 7 weeks... Oh well, a couple insects to pull off during trim isn't the worst thing.

 

[DunHav`nFun]

The active ingrefient in mosquito dunks is BTI/bacillus thurengensis Israeli/sp , but it has a short shelf life of a yr or less , and when the dunks don`t get rid of fungus gnats completely either mixed in the rez or crumbled and top dressed on each container , is cuz the shit`s old...

Gnatrol WDG/"water dispersion granules" are the new and improved version of what was almost taken off the shelves and discontinued due to what`s stated above about shelf life , but the granules last over 2 yrs and will kick the lil bastards ass guaranteed...

Just food for thought in the future.....

Good luck.....DHF........

 

[Mister_D]

SM90 @ 5ml per gal. works great for eliminating a gnat problem in short order

 

[LSWM]

The active ingrefient in mosquito dunks is BTI/bacillus thurengensis Israeli/sp , but it has a short shelf life of a yr or less , and when the dunks don`t get rid of fungus gnats completely either mixed in the rez or crumbled and top dressed on each container , is cuz the shit`s old...

Gnatrol WDG/"water dispersion granules" are the new and improved version of what was almost taken off the shelves and discontinued due to what`s stated above about shelf life , but the granules last over 2 yrs and will kick the lil bastards ass guaranteed...

Just food for thought in the future.....

Good luck.....DHF........

Gnatrol is vastly more expensive than the dunks or bits. Even when taking concentration into account.

Thanks for the heads up on shelf life because I just contacted Amazon and had them refund me for my purchase. They wanted me to return a half empty container, but after being difficult, explaining I had no printer and they would need to mail me return labels, they just gave me the refund.

Same seller sent me a used 'like new' condition Intermatic T-104 and the time clock was broken. This was after I had already purchased mosquito bits from them. Guess they are getting negative feedback from me!

 

[Ichabod Crane]

You need to treat the bottom of the pots as well as the top. It will take awhile for the nattrol to get to the bottom of the pot. The nats like it moist and will go to the holes at the bottom of your pots as well as the top. Unless you are reusing your media it may not help you because your nat controlling bacteria are stuck at the top of the pots. So you may have to do a bottom feed to get the bacteria to the bottom were the nats will move it around naturally.

 

[LSWM]

You need to treat the bottom of the pots as well as the top. It will take awhile for the nattrol to get to the bottom of the pot. The nats like it moist and will go to the holes at the bottom of your pots as well as the top. Unless you are reusing your media it may not help you because your nat controlling bacteria are stuck at the top of the pots. So you may have to do a bottom feed to get the bacteria to the bottom were the nats will move it around naturally.

I've been back and forth this morning about various treatments. I could just cover the tops of the pots so nothing gets in or out of the top of the pot, I was thinking about top dressing with neem seed cake, or about using some Azamax and just hand watering it. Maybe a 3 pronged attack?

I think I'm going to pick up some bayer treee and shrub (Imid) and use it on my veg/clones as well, simply as a preventative measure.

SM90 @ 5ml per gal. works great for eliminating a gnat problem in short order

Totally missed your reply at first D. I may go this route, but isn't SM90 just coriander oil? I have seen clackamos coot post about Integrated Pest Management somewhere and he mentioned a variety of oils to be used as a spray or soil drench.

 

[LSWM]

Nutrifield SM-90

Ingredients:
1% coriander oil
94% sulphonated canola oil solution
5% triethanolamine

I can source all of these ingredients on Ebay. For ~$50 I can make a gallon of the stuff.

Coriander Oil
Triethanolamine
Sulphonated "Turkey Red" Castor Oil

EDIT: That looks to be a waste of time as 4 liters of SM-90 is $59 on Amazon...

 

[LSWM]

I'm thinking about buying a gallon of SM-90 as well as some Clove and Thyme essential oils, then adding them to the SM-90. Maybe use a slightly lower dosage.

The Adam Dunn show had Clackamas Coot on their show and they were advertising build a soil, and their essential oil mix. It's got Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Lemon Grass, Thyme, Clove, and Ginger oil in it.

You can find itn the essential oil mix HERE. And you can find the episode of the Adam Dunn show HERE. The episode has a load of great information if you can handle how bad the production is due to people being just way too high while doing their discussions.