Micro Adventures with Mr. Sparkle

Oh Yes very nice Mr. Sparkle!

On your diy smart pots; are they solid fabric on the bottom, or are there any holes like those in a traditional pot? That's brilliant btw and thanks! Will be whipping some up to replace solos. I like the idea of having a lot more surface to outside air exposure.

One more thing, and sorry for double posting, is that a flood tray at the bottom, diy as well? Would you mind speaking some on that? I was thinking making one out of plexiglass and silicone or some rtv..

doams said:

Great info very helpful yet still dont fully understand how exactly is carbon placed inside carbon filter is it like horizontally or vertically placed inside?

plants look healthy and its the best pc case Ive seen good sir!

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Its poured in through the top of the filter there is mesh on the front and back with carbon in-between, and it sits over the fan, so the fan is in a sucking type situation, ill pop one out and take a picture as really it does only take less than 3secs to remove a filter because of the magnets.

And thanks btw

ReikoX said:

You may try letting them dry "on the vine" if it's only a week or two. Basically put them somewhere dark and leave them until you get back. They should slowly die, then start drying. May even still be wet when you get back.

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I read this last night, great idea i didn't even think of it, and was like ah that will work, but then this morning realized i want to reveg the cherry bomb, so its gonna have to be chopped anyways, but it will work for the Lemon Kush clone, if its done in a couple days, which its looking like it wont be.

CannaBruh said:

Oh Yes very nice Mr. Sparkle!

On your diy smart pots; are they solid fabric on the bottom, or are there any holes like those in a traditional pot? That's brilliant btw and thanks! Will be whipping some up to replace solos. I like the idea of having a lot more surface to outside air exposure.

Click to expand...

CannaBruh said:

One more thing, and sorry for double posting, is that a flood tray at the bottom, diy as well? Would you mind speaking some on that? I was thinking making one out of plexiglass and silicone or some rtv..

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Yep solid fabric on the bottom same as the sides, the roots just go straight through which i sometimes scrape off if they get too crazy, ill take a picture later of one of the mother plants to show you all.

The issue is when i have the pots super close together, they don't air prune, specifically because they don't have contact with air, and proceed to throw out fuzzy air roots in mass due to the high humidity in between the pots, which isn't really a problem, they can just die back sometimes when plants are shifted or moved in between the boxes, and can cause issues, so with scraping the excess off it also causes them to throw more roots out in the medium. But its debatable if its necessary.

As for the tray yes its DIY and made out of galvanized tin the same stuff i made my carbon filters and hole blocking plates out of. Ive made trays in the past out of old containers, custom made sealed wood ones, and have even thermo-formed my own plastic ones in the past, but for the tools at hand when i built these it was the easiest.

There made from galvanized joist linings, which are for making air ducts between floor joists in houses and can be found at most big box home reno stores. They typically come in 16"x36" sheets and can be had for $5-7 dollars, aka the cheapest metal sheeting i could find easily available.

All i did was cut it out in the dimensions i needed, think an unfolded box just without one side as its essentially a box with no top, but then i just folded it over a sharp edge to make the walls and also had some extra tabs running the length of the edges which i then just riveted together, silicone the corners, and gave a quick spray paint after scuffing up the surface, as the paint wont stick otherwise.

Now if your lucky you might be able to just buy straight ducting in the size you want your tray to be, which you will just need to cut off the top and fold up the ends.

But its like the included photo, just without the bottom box, top tab, left and right most tabs, and made to your own dimensions.

doams said:

Are you maybe willing to make a simple drawing for me for better understanding when you will have time for this still dont fully get it?

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Apart from what i said above here are the pics to accompany them

Here is the front side with mesh



And here's the backside, with the mesh as well, the carbon is located in between and is filled in the top which you can see taped shut, also in this picture you can see the magnets i use to attach the filter to the case, and the 120mm fan goes into the recess of the filter, "this side of the mesh"

CannaBruh said:

Oh Yes very nice Mr. Sparkle!

On your diy smart pots; are they solid fabric on the bottom

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Also said above here is a picture of how crazy the roots can get when they dont airprune, this is the C99 mother that was in the corner that i re-vegged in the previous timeline photos

To post even more pictures tonight.

Decided to chop the Cherry Bomb as it was done, and the Auto Mazar as it was done doing its thing with all the issues throw at it still could've waited a bit longer, but i was done with it for this round.

Also threw in a couple extra shots per my normal style.

Auto Mazar - Dutch Passion Seeds (badly grown due to issues)




Cherry Bomb - Bomb Seeds ,was topped once obviously




A picture of just the tops




And here's a close up

Those look tasty!

& See all this attention those DIY micro fabric pots are getting. I believe that you mentioned that you will be making some new pots in the near future. I am putting in a vote that you show some disclosure pics.

Navigator said:

Those look tasty!

& See all this attention those DIY micro fabric pots are getting. I believe that you mentioned that you will be making some new pots in the near future. I am putting in a vote that you show some disclosure pics.

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Thanks Navigator

truthfully any pot works, they all have their advantages and disadvantages, only reason i went fabric was for the ease of watering in trays, and air pruning of roots, as with plastic pots they tend to float if there is too much water, plus little air circulation, and roots just circle the bottom, downside to fabric is they require watering more often, and are more of a pain to fill and empty.

But when i make a couple more bags i'll take some pics.

Mr. Sparkle said:

4. 12V Valve for dumping Nutrient mix into tray, when my soil sensor say it's too dry, and yes gravity fed.

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How do you deal with runoff or there is no runoff at all? /there is just the right amount of feed going into that tray where pots are placed?

btw thinking about sewing some pots together
never sewed before will be interesting for sure

forgot to ask from what kind of textile are you making those pots?
is mulching textile any good for that?
thinking about ordering some for the start..

thx.

another thing I like are those led lights.
enough light without the need to move seedlings up as with cfls.
Can you elaborate on the lights a bit?

Think I will have to switch to leds after seeing your results good thing is that this bag of coco will last some time by using small pots like Ive seen here..

I'm loving the variety of strains that you're coming up with. I was going to go scrog for my next round, however I'm really tempted to just splurge on some varieties and solo cup hempy it a few- maybe 12/12 from seed. But I've heard mixed things about that.

Beautiful boxes Mr Sparkle. Thanks for sharing! You've inspired me to build my own arduino controlled PC case and start growing again after many years. It has been a lot of fun so far and a great learning experience. Arduino has been so much more accessible than I had imagined, I only wish I'd started sooner.

Since it was my first project I got an UNO with an SD RTC shield for simplicity. I've got a DHT22 for temp and humidity, YL-69 for soil moisture, 2xVero 18s @ 500mA, 120mm fan @ 12v pulling through a DIY carbon filter, and 140mm fan @ 5v blowing on the girls. I took a guess at what case you had by the photos, whether or not I got it right I'm quite happy with what I bought. Everything fits inside the front panel and is easily accessed if I need to make modifications.

I've got a lot of work to do still. The carbon filter needs a rethink and the relay will eventually be wired in direct so I can get rid of the duplex outlet and gain some space. The solenoid drainage valve is working but I haven't sorted out where the rez will go or whether I really need the flow meter (I like spreadsheets...). I'm hoping I can fit something around 1.5L inside the case at the back for stealth, but not so sure that will work out. Eventually I'll spend some time cleaning everything up and closing off all of the light leaks, but it isn't currently a priority.

Love those tiny fabric pots you have. I've been handsewing some of them in a rectangle, but they don't seem to hold their shape very well. You think making a round pot holds the shape better? Also, I read somewhere you use 400ml and 800ml pots, do you see a notable difference in yield?

Below in attachment the problem I have with my handsewn pot. How do you cut the round shape by the way?

Well i'm back after a week of being away, i'll answer some of the questions in another post.


So update: Took pictures Friday a week ago and some this morning

Some things survived some flourished and some didn't.

We'll start with Bogan:

Last friday they were doing decent, but with the week being away a couple issues popped up, well really just one.

Most of the plants got watered except 3 of the autoflowers, my guess and something i noticed before i left but didn't have time to address was my trays when propped up on one side and due to their construction don't have a perfectly flat bottom, so when water flows down it instead of being even it goes the path of least resistance which is the center as the trays droop a bit.

So the three auto flowers at the very end were pretty much bone dry when i got back, the auto Mazar probably won't make it, go figure, but the auto chemdog and think different will, the dark devil had the soil sensor in its pot so it was decent, but not great.

Solution and ideas are to cut out a piece of wood the exact same size of the tray and put it under it so it has a flat surface to sit on. Also possibly maybe make some water diversion channels to flow the water evenly but we will see.

Also the Cherry bomb is already re-vegging and the lemon kush mother was a little dry.


Friday a week ago


Today after some trimming of dead leaves and rearranging.






Ashla: Went pretty decent, on friday i noticed a couple of the plants were growing too tall and didn't have time to address them so i just pinched their stems and bent them over.

Now after i got back it was jungle, alot of the plants grew too tall, the seedlings stretched so much they hit the roof and started coming back down, and grew into the circulation fan which then proceeded to get beat by it and left a fan shape hole in the canopy lol.

So i chopped back the seedlings, removed a bunch of fan leaves, and leaves that grew into the LED's which got burnt and rearranged things.But in general Ashla did well, and also had a more even watering than bogan but i'm still going to tweak it.

Also the plants i was drying are well dry... too dry for me but that was expected. I'll try them later.

Friday a week ago


Today after some trimming, arranging, and topping.

doams said:

How do you deal with runoff or there is no runoff at all?

btw thinking about sewing some pots together
never sewed before will be interesting for sure

forgot to ask from what kind of textile are you making those pots?
is mulching textile any good for that?.

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Zero Runoff ppm is in the 600-650 range throughout the grow, then after i chop i flush the soil and reuse it and i do a quick flush before throwing in new plants, but that helps settle the medium and flush out smaller particles.

Read post #47 and #50

and mulching textile could work, it will stop the roots though, and i don't know how well it will work for water transfer.

As for the LED's just some COB's attached to some heatsinks with thermal epoxy, specifics aren't really important they were just what worked or were cheapest/best at the time, ive had excellent result from cfl's in the past

Evil_Monkey said:

I'm loving the variety of strains that you're coming up with. I was going to go scrog for my next round, however I'm really tempted to just splurge on some varieties and solo cup hempy it a few- maybe 12/12 from seed. But I've heard mixed things about that.

Click to expand...

Its nice to try a bunch of different varieties, as it allows you to find what you really like, and you can re-veg at the end, 12/12 from seed works and have done it many times, but for me it causes the plants to stretch a bit more than i would like but still excelent results, but doing only two-three weeks of veg time (18/6) gives me better plants.

DaKine9 said:

Beautiful boxes Mr Sparkle. Thanks for sharing! You've inspired me to build my own arduino controlled PC case and start growing again after many years. It has been a lot of fun so far and a great learning experience. Arduino has been so much more accessible than I had imagined, I only wish I'd started sooner.

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Thanks Dakine

Looks like the same case "Corsair 330R" Well Bogan is one of those anyways, and awesome start , yeah the arduinos take a bit to get into but very easy and cheap to do so.

I have everything tucked in behind those top three drive inserts

Your YL-69 soil sensor will fail fyi, probably in less than a week, reason why i have my custom build ones, the issue is the sensor corrodes due to electrolysis, same way they electroplate stuff such as chrome, gold, silver or copper plating.

What i changed was going to beefier sensor probes aka finishing nails that take longer to corrode due to the amount of metal, and i changed the programming to only cause the sensor to turn on and have electricity going to it just before it takes a sensor reading, so it turns on for literally less than a second then shuts off till the next time it takes a reading, which currently is every 2hrs, so say if the sensor is always on for say 10 mins its equivalent with my programming to be running 50days.

Also for the solenoid valve and running a reservoir inside, one issue i ran into is the valve needs to have some static pressure above it to operate, it can't be even with the bottom of your res or there won't be enough pressure for it to easily open, or at least mine can't, so the one box has about 6" from the bottom of the res to the valve and the other 8" and even in between them my programmed open valve times are different as those two inches makes a difference in how fast the water come out.

Also for the light proofing in the front im using some black foam air filter foam cut to fit where that bottom screen goes, it blocks light pretty good and i can take a picture if you would like.

But awesome start just need to paint the inside white, close up the holes and get things like the ballast and electrical box out of the main chamber and you'll have a great base.

ouroboros said:

Love those tiny fabric pots you have. I've been handsewing some of them in a rectangle, but they don't seem to hold their shape very well. You think making a round pot holds the shape better? Also, I read somewhere you use 400ml and 800ml pots, do you see a notable difference in yield?

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Even though we would like to have square fabric pots, without internal cross bracing and even still they will always try and be round, just the way physics work with non rigid materials, so i just went with round pots, as for cutting them just scissors for the round base which i made a template for, and a rectangle for the sides, ill make up a bag tonight and takes pictures for you all, so you can see what i do.

As for the 400ml vs 800ml, same yield when working out full box yield, the difference, is 400ml allows me to run more strains through when hunting for genetics through seeds. with 800ml i can run 7-9 plants depending on the box, and 400ml i can run 14-17 plants depending on the box. The 800ml allow me to grow bigger plants but they need more handling to behave in a small space, aka i top them and prune or lst them, where as the 400ml, if things go right i only remove the odd fan leaf but otherwise don't touch them.

Here's some photos of how i make a fabric pot.

This is one of my 400ml small ones

First is what my supplies are and the fabric already precut, you can use anything for marking out your fabric, but talc pens/pencils work pretty good i just had a sharpie paint pen handy. Also in the picture is my round circle template which is made out of cardboard and has the measurements in centimeters for the rectangle i need to cut which is the circumference of the circle plus a bit extra on one side and the height of the pot plus a bit on the other, just makes it easier for me, but for a template anything can work that's round such as a glass or bottle, but i made mine to a specific width for my application and easily have the same template for future use.




Next i lay the circle on top of the rectangle slight down from the edge so i can pinch it later and start my stitch, normally i wouldn't stop and start the stitch like in the photos and can do this all in two stitches "bottom and side", but i did this for demonstration purposes



Here we keep spinning the circle while feeding it in so its even with the edge which causes it to start to lift up and come back on itself, but were halfway done the bottom



Here were done the bottom and im demonstrating how i just line up the edges for the side all i do is pinch it together then just run a stitch down the edge while locking it at the end

Then i cut cut off the tread ends, and trim the excess fabric close to the stitch on the side edge and bottom, and cut a tiny bit of the top for the height i want and were done.

you can flip it inside out now if you want it to be more aesthetically pleasing but that doesn't matter to me, as i don't make it a habit to show off my fabric pots and plants to the world..... which i guess is what i'm doing right now...

Just fill with your mix of choice and give it a decent pat down a couple times which makes it actually circular instead of how it looks below with the fabric wrinkles and such and then your ready for seed or clone.

This is what I'm talking about! Thanks for posting.
Got that sewing machine. Now just need to learn how to use the thing.

Thx for the suggestions Mr Sparkle. I'll put them to use once I get another day to work on the box. I'd read about the electrolysis issue, so I'm running the YL-69 from a digital pin that gets set high briefly for the reading. So far so good, I'll see how long it lasts.

very nice!