Ace Sativas own Old Toker

OK.....obviously by my previous long winded response... I'm back. My house is still standing, there was no smell of pot growing, no cops in the driveway and my temp/humidity tracking software indicates that the temps and humidity were within the correct ranges while I was gone. My plants are all still alive (pics tomorrow) and mostly doing well. No DTW liquid in the catch basins....so my pump timings seem to have worked correctly. All good news.

Checked the Ph in the rez and it was 6.08. Was 6.02 when I left. I don't think my cheap Ph meter is accurate enough to correctly analyze that small of a difference in Ph. Anyway...added a small amount of Ph down and brought the Ph to 5.98....supposedly. Close enough for me....and about where I wanted it.

Fed all the plants until each had maybe half a gallon of runoff water in their catch basins. Vacuumed up the runoff and then increased the feed times so that there will be more runoff before lights out. I'll adjust the auto DTW times for the pump tomorrow so that I return to my usual 5-10% daily runoff...that was working successfully for me. Although, I have to say.....the plants don't seem any worse for wear with the last 4 days of not getting enough water to cause runoff. May have to experiment with the DTNW - Drip To Non Waste in the future....like when I go out of town again. Some people swear by it.

Of the two plants that were not drinking as heavily....one looks completely fine....the other has some (very few) lighter green leaves towards the bottom of the plant. Hopefully the lower Ph will supply more nitrogen and correct the lighter leaves....if that is the problem. One thing for sure....I'm done pruning it and the other one. The others may get some more pruning tomorrow night.

Hope all of you and your families had a wonderful Easter! Thanks for following my grow and all the help/suggestions.

So you don't want to run the electricity through the high temp shutdown which is what you would have to do to have your light plugged into it. That's where you're risking the fire. Your Zephyr most likely stopped working because it was on the verge of causing a fire. So if you Google 20 amp relay contactor from Grainger. You can use that with the high temperature shutdown. How good are you with wiring electrical? If you're using that Intermatic I would assume you have some skill. What I would do is get a cheap circuit breaker box from Home Depot which is approximately $22 pull the workings out and put the relay contactor inside of their. Then take something like a white ungrounded extension cord and cut it and connect it to the sides of the relay contactor plug that into your high temperature shutdown and plug your high temperature shutdown into a digital plug-in timer. That's how I run my stuff and I love it. It's pretty foolproof although I wouldn't go with the cap high temperature shutdown. I had issues with that plus cap went out of business years ago so I couldn't imagine how old that is. The digital timers are great because if your power goes out or the breaker that's powering the timer trips your timer still keeps perfect time so when the power resume your schedule won't be messed up.

Lighting contoller

Lighting contoller

This is what I prefer to do. This is how you make a good lighting controller. I got a small breaker box and put a 40 amp relay contactor from Granger inside of it. I wire the incoming power across the relay contactor and then connect it to the main inputs for the breaker box. On the sides of the relay contactor you attach an ungrounded extension cord using female Spade connectors. That extension cord will be the trigger which will cause the relay contactor to energize this breaker box. Off the breakers you want to wire 220 volt Outlets to power your ballasts or whatever you need for your air conditioner. Find your air conditioner probably isn't meant to be cycled on and off often if at all.

I hope this picture helps and let me know if you have any questions although I may not see them in your thread

Thank you Lammy! This may be beyond my skill/tech level....but on the surface it doesn't sound too difficult. I use 120 for my ballast and have 20 amp breakers. Use the digital timers for my DTW pump and air pump. Too bad somebody (you) doesn't make heavy duty connectors with timers or relays already wired in. I'm fairly sure there are quite a few people using the light weight ones just because they don't want to mess with DIY wiring projects.

Let me give this some thought and try to decide if I can do it. Don't want to screw it up and create my own worse fire hazard.

Thanks again for the help!

Day 45 of 12/12.....and time for another group of amateur photos by OT. Not going to apologize for them again....by now anybody still reading this thread can't possibly have high photo standards. Hopefully this slips by without Seeded seeing these. Anyone interested in top notch photos should check out some of his posts. Amazing.

Hopefully you can see the yellowing of a few leaves on one of the GTs. Any ideas would be welcome....preferably not "end of the world" diagnoses though. I would prefer something along the lines of....."those few yellow leaves...hardly worth noticing....nothing to worry about". Just sayin"....

1st = GT #2
2nd = GT #1 with some yellow leaves
3rd = Zam #1 & Malawi #1 (bush)
4th = PH #2 and GT #2

I think the lines in the pics are from your ballast, try taking a couple pics before your lights come on. Glad to see everything is all right and they survived your abandonment.
How many more weeks do you figure for most of them?
Oh and those few yellow leaves...hardly worth noticing....nothing to worry about
Should bounce back a bit with the better feeding again.

Peace GG

gorilla ganja said:

Glad to see everything is all right and they survived your abandonment.

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Abandonment? I prefer to think I was giving them a few days of undisturbed rest.

How many more weeks do you figure for most of them?

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I think quite a few. According to Ace:
Malawi = 10-13wks
GT = 11-14wks
Zam = 11-14wks
PH = 13-16 wks
From what I've read from previous grows those low end estimates may be optimistic unless you stumble upon an early pheno or prefer to take your sativas early. Allowing for all my newb mistakes and whatever stalling/slowing my pruning adventure induced...I'm going to plan for the high side. So somewhere starting about 13-14 weeks. Still a LONG way to go. I'm fairly sure with that much time (and another 4 day trip coming up) I can still find a way to kill them.

Oh and those few yellow leaves...hardly worth noticing....nothing to worry about
Should bounce back a bit with the better feeding again.

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That's what I'm talking about! Great minds think a like....it's uncanny how you just seem tuned into my thoughts.
Hopefully it really isn't anything too severe. If it increases I think I might increase the feed strength for that plant. I am currently feeding on the light side at 1.2EC but maybe she is a little hungry.

They look wild OT!:yay:
From my small experience with GTs,they like being constantly fed,not much but every time(I hand water twice a week),especially at this stage of development.I don't know how this info helps for your method of feeding,but I'd say up the EC a just bit ,although she would not have problem finishing with less leaves.But,as you say,if you aim for the high end of estimated flowering time(good thinking),better give her some.

Syd Barrett said:

I don't know how this info helps for your method of feeding,but I'd say up the EC a just bit ,although she would not have problem finishing with less leaves.

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Thanks Syd! I'm feeding on the low side because I have such a potentially wide spectrum of sativas. Two each of four strains. Thought I'd find a reasonably safe sativa EC and then adjust/supplement if an individual strain/pheno needed something different. So far the 1.2EC has been working for all of them. Still not sure whether this one GT needs more nitrogen or whether it's a response to me reducing the quantity of her feed while I was out of town. Unless she starts showing a more dramatic yellowing I'm going to wait and see whether returning to the DTW with 5-10% runoff solves the issue. In the mean time....she can certainly afford to lose a few leaves.
Appreciate the suggestion!

Any suggestions on RH at this point? Currently mostly keeping within the VPD chart....78-80 temps during lights on with mid to high 60s RH. Dark is 68/69 (steady) temps with RH under 60...generally mid to upper 50s. Not sure whether with this many heavily foliated plants whether I should abandon the VPD and just lower the RH for fear of mold.

Any suggestions/opinions.....and yes....once again....bad opinions are welcome so DWD, GG and Syd feel free to weigh-in....not that you guys have demonstrated any previous concern for giving bad advice.

I always shoot for the humidity to be about 50 to 55% but I haven't had a problem with mold in so long. Most ballast you can just get a different cord to switch it over to 220 volt. If you wired up something like my lighting controller you could run your air conditioner through it as well so that it only came on during lights on.

Sunlight sells premade lighting controllers. I've never owned one my understanding is that they took a few shortcuts

Lammy said:

I always shoot for the humidity to be about 50 to 55% but I haven't had a problem with mold in so long.

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50/55% lights out....or all the time?

Most ballast you can just get a different cord to switch it over to 220 volt.

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Yah....I have a Harvest Pro 902440 that is switchable . The problem is that I don't have a 220 outlet....and I think the solution to that is either I go into the electrical panel and switch stuff out/around.....or I call an electrician who doesn't mind working next to my tent. Neither of those choices work for me. Don't know any electricians I trust...and a man must know his limitations. Screwing around with 220 is definitely beyond mine.

If you wired up something like my lighting controller you could run your air conditioner through it as well so that it only came on during lights on.

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Where I live the AC needs to run almost constantly....both lights on and off...with some rare breaks in Jan/Feb.

Sunlight sells premade lighting controllers. I've never owned one my understanding is that they took a few shortcuts

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Thanks!! I'll check these out. I appreciate the guidance! God knows I need it.

I think it is very early to worry about mold with those satties.After 2-3 weeks though I would personally forget vpd charts and would aim for the 50 or lower for the dark cycle.I also think that we don't care that much about their perfect metabolism for their last weeks (but that is just a hunch ),at least I want them to take the hint that they should be finishing...60s would be fine for those gals in the daytime ,they are tropical sativas anyway,right?Good ventilation is most important!There are also claims that low rh helps with trichome production.

Syd Barrett said:

I think it is very early to worry about mold with those satties.After 2-3 weeks though I would personally forget vpd charts and would aim for the 50 or lower for the dark cycle.I also think that we don't care that much about their perfect metabolism for their last weeks (but that is just a hunch ),at least I want them to take the hint that they should be finishing...60s would be fine for those gals in the daytime ,they are tropical sativas anyway,right?Good ventilation is most important!There are also claims that low rh helps with trichome production.

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Thanks Syd! Unless someone else has a reason not to.....guess I'll continue to adhere to the VPD guidelines and wait until about week 10 before trying to keep the RH below 50%.

I try to keep the humidity constant day and night and throughout the entire growth cycle. But people say that they want a little higher humidity during vegetative growth and early flower. But I just set my equipment for 50 to 55.

220 volt isn't any more difficult to Wire than 120 volt. And really there's not much to wiring that lighting controller that I have pictured. You can practically see everything that's going on with it aside from the gauge of the wire is used. And the people at Home Depot could tell you what gauge you need. I always go with the bigger size wire than the minimum. All I'm saying is it's not that hard and with everything you've done I'm sure you're compedant enough to do it. if I was there I could explain that to you in a half hour. I just mentioned plugging the air conditioner into the lighting controller because I thought that's what you were using the Zephyr for. But your thread grows pretty quick so I didn't really read all of it. perhaps you wanted a temperature probe to maintain a more accurate temperature. You can get window air conditioners that have remote controls that sense the temperature and relay it to the air conditioner. They are really nice when it works. I've got some bigger rooms that I use that in and if it weren't for that remote it would just cool the one corner of the room with the air conditioner is. I'm sure you know but absent the temperature sensing remote your best bet is to put the fan on high on the air conditioner and turn off the Econo mode so that it runs continuously. The fan that is

Morning, OT; my girls aren't giving up the stretch so I was just reading back on RTP's thread to see when you went to flower and how long yours've been flowering/stretching and had a mighty laugh or two... remember way back when you were just a newbie, and in your innocence you said you wanted to keep 'em under 25" and they were already at 18"?

More seriously and all problems aside, they must be flowering like mad about now. How long have they been at it? Can you fit your camera in the jungle for a shot or two? If not just poke a selfie stick in the middle and take a few photos of the melee. I picture it like the Calcio Storico in there (Worth googling if you don't know it; oddest sporting event ever)

Lammy said:

..I just set my equipment for 50 to 55.

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Thank you. I actually used a humidifier to increase the RH% when the ladies were just young girls and still vegging. My dehumidifier is in my "lung" room and has been set to 55% since the 4th week of 12/12. That manages to keep the humidity below 60% during lights out.....most of the time. I've noticed something interesting about the humidity % during lights out. For the first hour (or so) the RH% drops down below 60%.....and then for the next 3/4 hours it climbs into the low 60s. After those 3 or 4 hours...back down to the mid/high 50s and stays steady at that % until lights on. Not sure what the girls are doing during that period....but they seem to be working up a sweat.

..I'm saying is it's not that hard and with everything you've done I'm sure you're competent enough to do it.

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Appreciate the vote of confidence Brother.....but it just ain't me.

..if I was there I could explain that to you in a half hour.

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Sh*t.....if you were here YOU could do it in 15 minutes while I was loading up a jar of last Summer's Malawi for you to add to your stash.

I just mentioned plugging the air conditioner into the lighting controller because I thought that's what you were using the Zephyr for.

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Yah....I seem to be all over the place on what I want to accomplish with which device. Before I left for the Easter weekend I thought what I needed was something to control the AC during lights on/off. I've since realized that unless it gets relatively (for Fla) cold outside (below 50F) ....just setting the AC at 69F (along with all my fans) works fine for both lights on and off. No need to get too tricky.

But your thread grows pretty quick so I didn't really read all of it.

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WTF?? What better use of your time could there possibly be than reading my stoned newbie rants? Ask DWD...he went back and read the ones from the beginning of Feb. Very sad.

..perhaps you wanted a temperature probe to maintain a more accurate temperature.

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No.....here is where my perceived needs changed. While out of town I realized my BIGGEST fear was fire. If my grow died for some other reason....I'd be disappointed....but I'd try again. Wasn't too worried about the electricity, or scrubber not cleaning the air too much...my neighbors are a good distance away and I doubt they'd notice the smell out here in the woods. No....my primary concern was/is fire. Which is why I am NOW trying to turn off the ballast if it gets too hot in the tent. While I realize that certainly won't eliminate the possibility of a fire, I think switching off the leading cause of heat might at least mitigate the chances. My next grow....I think I'm actually going to look at something that would extinguish a fire. There are a few products....but currently outside my already out of control budget.

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions....I really do appreciate them.....even if there is no chance in hell that I'm playing around with 220.

deepwaterdude said:

Morning, OT; my girls aren't giving up the stretch so I was just reading back on RTP's thread to see when you went to flower and how long yours've been flowering/stretching and had a mighty laugh or two... remember way back when you were just a newbie, and in your innocence you said you wanted to keep 'em under 25" and they were already at 18"?

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You know DWD.....nothing brings me greater satisfaction than knowing you are enjoying my mistakes. I am actually a MUCH better grower than it may seem in those early posts....but I am bored with one dialed-in perfect grow after another and now I just make sh*t up to allow the less talented growers to feel good about themselves. Seems to be working.

Can you fit your camera in the jungle for a shot or two?

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Sure....will do tonight.....did you see Sunday's pics? Any strain in particular you're interested in? Or just an overall picture to remind you not to allow your ladies to reach my "Calcio Storico" level of insanity?

OK.....DWD...these pics are for you. Hope they serve as proper motivation to get in there and prune/tie down those plants.

They are looking mighty fine OT. What size is that bulb?
You will have plenty of sticky bud coming soon. I really think you might just pull this off.

Peace GG