5Lbs/1Kw Challenge-The Quest for 80 Zips with Galactic Grape

[aerokrafter]

Day 39 Bloom Update

Unit:


Bud:


Side:


My bottom leaves are getting a lil raggedy, but still holding out great, tho I have culled some as you can see.

The colas are starting to fill - we still have a month to go!


My Ace in the Hole!
　
　
I just installed a Hydrogen Pro. It was pretty easy to set up. The only thing they left out of the kit was 5/8 to ½ couplings. It still puts out some heat so I’m ordering the Ice cap - another heat exchanger to remove more heat.

I’m only using a 50 gallon res - it’s going to require an upgrade - The water got almost bathwater hot by the end of the light cycle. It was 88 today and this really is a glorified hot water heater - it's gonna have to do better. I'm going to daisey chain another 50 gallons and see if that helps.

I have changed my room ventilation considerably. I’m starting with 2 hour room flushes to clear the room of excess humidity and heat. I’ll bump this to hourly if I see any problems with those two factors. The good thing is that the generator is only on for about seven minutes total per hour. If I can get another 10% from this - we still have a good chance at bumping epic numbers.
　
Extra ventilation:

　
I have multiple fans blowing, but the middle of the cube concerns me. The bud density and lack of air flow is asking for trouble. My solution is a cheap box fan blowing up from the bottom through the middle part of the canopy. This will help with two things; first, blowing the air up around the buds will help with preventing mold and second, push even more CO2 up through the plants. I’m taking a risk of blowing junk up from the floor onto the buds, however keeping a clean bloom room has many benefits. This should not pose a problem.
　
　
- R.Fortune

Automated RO water top off would be fine for a single unit - but it gets complicated with more. I think I would miss the fill up time tho. I use the time to check spray lines and closely inspect the plants. It’s just one of the good habits that is easy to keep when you ritualize chores.

I have always been a believer in aggressive ventilation. The bloom room can exchange the total air volume in minutes. I have multiple wall fans that caress the plants in a constant breeze 24 hrs a day. CO2 in the past only gave me about 10% over regular ventilation. I could really use it now!
　

- shredGnar

I agree there is still quite a bit of heat coming out - I’m going to try the icecap thingy. I hope I have a better experience than you had. I appreciate the heads up. I kinda jumped at this with only minimal research - the gadgety kitsch appealed to me. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been bitten by the bleeding edge and my fascination for shiny things. We shall see.


Thank you all for your questions and comments.

-AK

 

[aerokrafter]

CO2 Generator Fun Update

I dialed the hydrogen down to low burner and kept the high water flow. Within a few hours the water temp was up to 120.

I happened to have an extra Aqualogic 1/2 hp drop in chiller. So I am trying this first before I add another 50 gallons of res. This seems to be working, but the chiller is always on while the unit is on.

If you are thinking about trying the Hydrogen Pro, consider adding a substantial chunk to your budget. In their video showing how to set it up - they don't mention that anything bigger than a tent is going to take a lot more than a 50 gallon res to cool it. And frankly this thing is designed for a lot larger space than that. That chiller I pulled off the shelf costs almost twice as much as the entire generator setup. And that may not be enough - a bigger res looks likely before serious heat hits. Walking into this unprepared could be costly. I would not recommend this unit unless you are sure you are ready to deal with these issues. I had an inkling - what we are doing here is feeding the plants the vapors from a tug of war between a refridgerator and a hot water heater. It's not going to be cheap.

I have moved to hourly room air dumps and now my temp and humidity averages are just a few degrees higher than before. I'm bumping Zone in all reses tonight as a precaution.

Younger plants in the room took a big jump right away. A couple more days will be needed for the GLG to respond in kind. Here's hoping all this is worth it in the end!

As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

-AK

 

[abellguy]

One thing you can try AK if you haven't is run your chiller on a loop to the rez. If it can be a taller narrower its a little better at buffering the cold water at bottom and the dump from the hot water at top. So a pump from somewhere near the top to chiller dump to bottom of rez. then another pump to pump from dead bottom to whatever needs cold water then dump to top of rezi. The bigger you make your rezi and the faster the pump to the chiller the colder the water will stay. I just happen to have a 180 gallon upright from my Liquid Lumens I don't use anymore that would be perfect for you but I am sure your not close so best of luck. If you have any questions about how to setup let me know. Hope your able to get your temps under control

ETA: I used to run as small as a 1/4HP chiller on the 180 rezi with four lights and it would only go to about 77 deg after a light cycle starting from 68 deg to give you an idea of systems. But when I got the 1HP then it would actually cycle and go off and stay basically at 68 w/ a 3 deg drift but I would set it for like 74.

 

[ekomsi]

the fan leaves are huge bro, good luck on that harvest goal

 

[aerokrafter]

R. Fortune, a good friend of this thread for all his questions and research, has started a fantastic thread of his own. He is doing a step by step build-a-long of an aeroflo clone.

Check it out here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=239623

I know many have expressed interest in this. Here is your chance.

Help support quality threads here on ICMag by taking a moment to see what he's up to. It takes considerable effort and dedication to produce threads of this nature. Our encouragement can only help.

Thanx to Mr. Fortune for doing this for the community.

-AK

 

[Scottish Research]

R. Fortune, a good friend of this thread for all his questions and research, has started a fantastic thread of his own. He is doing a step by step build-a-long of an aeroflo clone.

Check it out here: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=239623

I know many have expressed interest in this. Here is your chance.

Help support quality threads here on ICMag by taking a moment to see what he's up to. It takes considerable effort and dedication to produce threads of this nature. Our encouragement can only help.

Thanx to Mr. Fortune for doing this for the community.

-AK

Thank you for the inspiration to do this!

R.Fortune

 

[farmhouse cat]

CO2 Generator Fun Update

I dialed the hydrogen down to low burner and kept the high water flow. Within a few hours the water temp was up to 120.

I happened to have an extra Aqualogic 1/2 hp drop in chiller. So I am trying this first before I add another 50 gallons of res. This seems to be working, but the chiller is always on while the unit is on.

If you are thinking about trying the Hydrogen Pro, consider adding a substantial chunk to your budget. In their video showing how to set it up - they don't mention that anything bigger than a tent is going to take a lot more than a 50 gallon res to cool it. And frankly this thing is designed for a lot larger space than that. That chiller I pulled off the shelf costs almost twice as much as the entire generator setup. And that may not be enough - a bigger res looks likely before serious heat hits. Walking into this unprepared could be costly. I would not recommend this unit unless you are sure you are ready to deal with these issues. I had an inkling - what we are doing here is feeding the plants the vapors from a tug of war between a refridgerator and a hot water heater. It's not going to be cheap.

I have moved to hourly room air dumps and now my temp and humidity averages are just a few degrees higher than before. I'm bumping Zone in all reses tonight as a precaution.

Younger plants in the room took a big jump right away. A couple more days will be needed for the GLG to respond in kind. Here's hoping all this is worth it in the end!

As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

-AK

Did you ever think about running drain to waste with the Hydrogen pro? If your room is sealed tight the amount of water waste is really very minimal. Also, if you could, mount the generator outside of the room and duct it in. I ran this way for a couple years and it worked great. Just a thought. Anyway great thread!

 

[Yikesy]

Not to be the debby-downer in this thread, but I've been growing a looooong time, and I don't see how you are going to get anywhere in the realm of 5 pounds dry from this setup. It's possible that I speed read through your post and misunderstood, but I seriously doubt the validity of your statements if you purposefully said you previously got 4 pounds from this same setup. Even with the highest yielding strain, I really don't believe it's possible.

5 pounds immediately after harvest, still wet, I could see, but not bone dry. There's no way.

 

[guest845704]

great grow man!

 

[aerokrafter]

Day 42 Bloom Update

Unit:


Side:


Budz:


Track Plant:


Data:


The plants look a little bedraggled because my main inlet fan took a dump and the room got up to 109. I got a few pistols that browned across the room and rezes hit temps of 88! I'm glad I bumped the Zone a couple days ago! Anyways - pulled a new fan off the shelf and everything is back down to normal. Most of the time when one of these big fans dies it gives some warning - a vibration or noise - nothing this time - it just quit. Luckily we have 28 days to recover.

My big fan leaves are still hangin in, tho I'm still loosing a couple a day. From now on the growth focus will be lateral bud growth. If the growth pattern holds true from the test plants these buds are on track to be around 6-7 inches in diameter at finish. There is still quite a bit of room left in the canopy. We need the buds to get at least twice as wide. The CO2 is helping - its easier to see in other units where the plants are younger. Comparing shots from 3 days ago shows a definate bump. However I am concerned that we will loose a couple days growth at a critical time from todays fiasco.

The CO2 generator is still running hot. I'm adding a second rez for the system this week. I'm putting the chiller on a loop simular to what abellguy suggested. I knew adding CO2 would throw a bit of a wrench in things, but the last several days have been interesting to say the least. Dealing with problems as they occur is just part of the life. Overcoming these tests is where the growth of the grower comes from.


- abellguy

I'm looking around town for a larger rez. I will loop the chiller in the 50 gallon one I have. Thanx for the help!


- farmhouse cat

Water here is very expensive and I envisioned this thing having to go through a lot of it. Ducting it into the room might be my next step if I continue to have issues. The drain to waste would prolly be my last resort - tho its comforting to know the waste volume is less than I thought. You really helped expand my options to consider!


As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

-AK

 

[smoooth]

Starting to chunk up! Looking great man you got a way with the plants

 

[Scottish Research]

Have you thought about using portable AC's? I would like to have some system redundancies in my ventilation / cooling system, in case something breaks there is a back up.

That 1/2 hp chiller should cool that 50 gal reservoir by at least 30 degrees F. I can't believe how expensive those things are.

97 % humidity this morning. Almost there. This weather makes me feel real grungy.

The flowers are looking great AK!

R.Fortune

 

[Randall Stevens]

Great shows aero!
Excellent info and reads across the board. I'm pulling for you to hit your mark. I was wondering why you don't use a mini-split to control temps and do periodic air exchanges. Thank you for your insights.

 

[funknug420]

this will be very interesting to see, everything looks amazing. best of luck to ya!

 

[vanilla moon]

girls are splodin! looking good, whatcha think? gonna make 5 lbs even with that 109 deg period?

 

[Steven HashKing]

Excellent!

Excellent!

Well, I'm a little later to the party than I would have liked to be, but it's just starting to get real interesting. aerokrafter, I'd just like to give you props for your meticulousness and willingness to share with us. You've already won the way I see it, because even if you don't hit your numbers mark, you've already gotten the attention of alot of people to follow your wisdom and stimulate their own thinking. The first men on the moon didn't get there by rationalising it couldn't be done just because no one had done it before!

I think you are similar to me in that it's about the journey and seeing how far you can push the limits, perhaps moreso than the end tangible result. I will enjoy reading all of your posts now and must say I appreciate the few out there like you who do come here peacefully and with alot to bring to the table.

I'm going to send you something on HP-aero that I think you'll like. You are just the type of guy who I'd guess is a perfect candidate for it.

Much respect!

 

[S2B]

lol...gotta love the internet

 

[Swampwater]

So your co2 generator is water-cooled? Interesting, I've never seen one before. Having that much extra water in the room seems almost counter productive, I would think beefing up the AC and using a standard burner might be a better option? I don't know anything about those so I can't really speak on it.
Maybe it's just cause the room I ran co2 burners in was so big that I didn't notice, but I've never noticed them putting off enough heat to make a difference. And everything I've read, co2 works better with higher temps(although there's lots of conflicting reports on this). I remember reading of one account where the guy swears that 95deg is optimal for co2.
If I my ask- why didn't you just use tank/injector co2 for that small of a space?
Running a tank in a 4x8 tent at 1250ppm, I could get 2-3wks from a tank. It was definitely a learning curve to get the environment under control though, I had to beef up my dehui and the fans air cooling my lights(I didnt have any available amps for dedicated ac). Even then, I still couldn't get my temps below 87 in the summer, and sometimes it got up in the 90's. Funny thing was, the plants thrived in the heat. But It's one of those things I wouldn't recommend.
This is one of those plants- the cola pictured was at 7.5wks, with 2.5wks left to go.

 

[Ground Up]

So your co2 generator is water-cooled? Interesting, I've never seen one before. Having that much extra water in the room seems almost counter productive, I would think beefing up the AC and using a standard burner might be a better option? I don't know anything about those so I can't really speak on it.
Maybe it's just cause the room I ran co2 burners in was so big that I didn't notice, but I've never noticed them putting off enough heat to make a difference. And everything I've read, co2 works better with higher temps(although there's lots of conflicting reports on this). I remember reading of one account where the guy swears that 95deg is optimal for co2.
If I my ask- why didn't you just use tank/injector co2 for that small of a space?
Running a tank in a 4x8 tent at 1250ppm, I could get 2-3wks from a tank. It was definitely a learning curve to get the environment under control though, I had to beef up my dehui and the fans air cooling my lights(I didnt have any available amps for dedicated ac). Even then, I still couldn't get my temps below 87 in the summer, and sometimes it got up in the 90's. Funny thing was, the plants thrived in the heat. But It's one of those things I wouldn't recommend.
This is one of those plants- the cola pictured was at 7.5wks, with 2.5wks left to go.
[URL="https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=38025&pictureid=900209&thumb=1"]View Image[/URL]

people talk about running temps to 95 deg.... then ask them about yield... they say oh it was huge... i have seen epic fails also.. soil/meduim temps are high, then they nail it with nutes to fix.... geez.... it good times lol

 

[Ground Up]

So your co2 generator is water-cooled? Interesting, I've never seen one before. Having that much extra water in the room seems almost counter productive, I would think beefing up the AC and using a standard burner might be a better option? I don't know anything about those so I can't really speak on it.
Maybe it's just cause the room I ran co2 burners in was so big that I didn't notice, but I've never noticed them putting off enough heat to make a difference. And everything I've read, co2 works better with higher temps(although there's lots of conflicting reports on this). I remember reading of one account where the guy swears that 95deg is optimal for co2.
If I my ask- why didn't you just use tank/injector co2 for that small of a space?
Running a tank in a 4x8 tent at 1250ppm, I could get 2-3wks from a tank. It was definitely a learning curve to get the environment under control though, I had to beef up my dehui and the fans air cooling my lights(I didnt have any available amps for dedicated ac). Even then, I still couldn't get my temps below 87 in the summer, and sometimes it got up in the 90's. Funny thing was, the plants thrived in the heat. But It's one of those things I wouldn't recommend.
This is one of those plants- the cola pictured was at 7.5wks, with 2.5wks left to go.
[URL="https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=38025&pictureid=900209&thumb=1"]View Image[/URL]

Swamp what strain is that??