Power Outages

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Hello GWE,

Bit of an absence for a few days since our power was taken out yesterday by a huge flash t storm here in Maine, lots of trees down on power lines and such, nearly killed my plants with power going off half way through their 12/12 and as some know they are approaching their fourth week of flipping and just into flowering so it was a stressful time.
unfortunately my internet is still down and may be for some time so apologies to anyone trying to reach me via email or telephone. I am trying to use connection when at work such as nw, but is limited.

Here are a few pics of the girls current progress after the storm. Thankfully looking ok so far..

[Redwasp]

I'm sure all will turn out well. Looking nice so far.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Thank you, internet painfully slow on phone, had more pics but it only posted one, will try the rest.

[Canuck147]

All you gotta do now is watch those buds phatten up. Looks great!

How long was the power out? They are photos?

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Canuck147. Power was out for about 9 hours, they had about 5 hrs light at that time so I readjusted their schedule a bit to compensate. Temps are a lot lower at last so no need for the ac. Yes they are photos... here are some pics we took when I took them out to make a short video for my YouTube channel.

[Crow]

I lost 8 hours of my light schedule in the same storm. 20 minutes of fury beat up our local trees (and some house) pretty badly. My little grow didn't suffer, thank you. They are still vegging (for another week) and are happy even though I have had to jump lots of times through the summer to improve my set up. What's a little power outage? - they said to me Take care, my brother.

Crow

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Thank you Brother Crow, glad you’re ok also, yes it was really bad, hail and zero visibility in seconds, our car which was hit last weekend by a New Yorker narrowly missed being crushed by a large oak bow.. talk soon brother. Peace.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Took them out for a size comparison and for video diary.

[hycheese]

Did you hire Angus Young as your trimmer? He's doing a good job.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Video to be uploaded to my you tube channel so will add link here.

https://youtu.be/bVMsPilL9uQ

[Potted]

Nicely saved, I lost a whole grow with sandy, a whole week with no electricity it sucked, taught me a lesson tho. Went out and got myself a generator.
I have used it during power outages since. A wise investment for sure, 😎

[NAKEDGARDENER]

Agreed, this is exactly what I will do also Potted. I thought my luck was too good after 4 months of no outages then bam. Lol

[hycheese]

During the infamous ice storm of naught nine, I used a cheap $99 Harbor Freight 800-watt generator to get by for two weeks keeping my refrigerator, TV, computer, and lights going for about a pint of gas per hour.

I now have a 2200 watt inverter generator from NorthernTool that can be carried like a suitcase (50lbs?) has electric start and remote control for about $700, it too sips gas and the 1.1-gallon tanks lasts about 5 hours.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

hycheese. Sounds great, I will be looking into that, my issue however with gas driven is where I can put it, my grow room and home is not on ground level, the neighborhood very quiet at night so sound travels as if it’s right outside your door, noisy gas driven generators cannot be placed on a wooden roof, which is where I would have to put it and would negate my home insurance instantly so anything I can find that can be used without it making noise or at least too much, and not run risk of fire is what I needed. This is main reason I’m looking into wind and solar right now but it takes thousands of dollars as you know to equip a home fully with this type of system. In the end we are going to be going totally off grid, but those plans are over the next ten year period, in the end I will probably just have to play gambit with outages for a while yet.

[hycheese]

Ever since I spent the several thousand needed to install a battery backup solar array and generator we have not had the monthly power outages that once plagued our area. I tell the neighbors they have me to thank for that.

One thing you have to watch out for in a power outage or zombie apocalypse is that they know from the sound & lights that you have cold beers and a place for them to plug in their cpap machine and get all the fat drunkards sleeping in your living room - there go all the cheese balls too.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

My compound with tunnels and concrete bunkers, and habitat buried into a hill are all in stock and I think I’d quite likely end up using the solar array as some kind of modified directional solar magnifier.. Let there be light, and they were fried lmao

[Potted]

If power is lost in your area,U wouldn’t b the only one firing up a generator. I wouldn’t worry about the noise,my main concern would b getting more gas. Do the gas stations have generator back up? Pumps won’t work without it. Thanks hycheese, I know I’m not in your neighborhood but that could just explain the reason I haven’t lost power lately.

[NAKEDGARDENER]

I found this post as a reply By Nebula Haze a couple of years back... some great advice really. I am using foam insulation in my grow room lined with Mylar.

By Nebula Haze.

There are lots of things you can do to prepare for an outage! Inverters that plug into the cigarette lighter on your car can be a good backup source of energy, but you need to be able to reach your grow space from your car with an extension cord, and they only provide up to about 250-300W of power, so it'd be more for pumps and a small backup light than an actual grow light. Gas powered generators are another way to power things until electricity comes back (if you live in an area where the power goes out a lot I could see how a generator could be almost necessary)! But other than that....

Emergency Ideas for a Power Outage

• Grow Lights - The most important thing is your plant gets some amount of light during its regular light period. A plant left alone completely in the dark for more than a day starts deteriorating quickly but you'll slow this process down by giving them even low levels of light! Even periodically flashing a flashlight over the plant for a few minutes in regular intervals can help plants maintain their regular light cycles. As far as things to get ahead of time to prepare in case you need a little extra light in an emergency, they have battery-powered lanterns that last a long time on batteries (though you'll have to remember to turn them off before their dark period). I've also heard of people using battery powered Christmas lights, flameless candles, etc. Your plants will obviously do better with full lights on, but your main goal is to prevent them from being in the dark for long stretches of time during their "day" period. With all the other stress that may be happening, you want them to think it's a cloudy day, not the end of the world! For those wondering if vegetative plants will start flowering after a day of darkness, don't worry, one day isn't going to make a difference, and honestly your plant can handle a lot. But when the power goes out you want to try to cover all your bases as best you can.

• Temperature - A common reason for the electricity to go out is winter weather, and this often comes along with freezing cold temperatures. When your heat and grow lights go out, your cannabis plants may be exposed to cold temperatures. Each strain is different, but most cannabis plants start showing symptoms when the temperature reaches 40-50°F and lower, and freezing temperatures can be lethal! When you've lost power, the name of the game is heat conservation since producing heat generally takes a lot of electricity. If possible, try to insulate the plant in some way while it's still warm from the lights. Even throwing some blankets over the tent can help. Make sure plants are not sitting directly on a cold floor (like concrete), because if you can keep the roots a little warmer the plant will be more resilient to the cold. Just like with the rest of the house, avoid opening and closing any doors to the outside so you let as little cold air in as possible. Try to limit peeking so you can so you don't let out heat from the grow space.

• DWC / Hydro growers -The main problem when the power goes out in a hydroponic / DWC setup is roots die from lack of oxygen. You normally have air being bubbled through the tank but when the air stone shuts off, the root's source of oxygen stops. The first step is to temporarily lower the water level to about half the normal level to help your plant roots get more oxygen. If the electricity stays off for more than a few hours, drain out all the water out and then pour the it back in, like doing a reservoir change without actually changing the water. This will provide a lot of air to your roots as well as temporarily oxygenate the water. Doing that every few hours while the electricity is out it helps them survive longer. If it's getting really cold and you have access to a wood stove, you might consider heating up just a little of the water before you add it back, to help keep the water temperature above 55°F (never add hot water directly to tank, mix in with cold water before pumping back into tank!). If the roots stay warm it will help the plants survive even if the air is cold. Although it's important to provide oxygen, never, ever let any part of the roots dry out, that's probably worse than no oxygen! Note: If possible, try to invest ahead of time in a battery-powered air pump (originally meant for shipping fish) and a pack of D batteries. These battery powered air pump/stones give your plant roots air for up to 24 hours per battery change, which means they'll last as long as you have batteries for them! That way you don't have to do anything every few hours to keep your plants alive!

Don't give up until your plant is dead! You might be surprised at what they can survive!

[Crow]

I have a Milwaukee work light. Mine is an 18v LED - TOWER - a telescoping light tripod with a swivel head, that easily lights up a 16' x 16' room. Did I say - LEDs? Can be bought locally for you NAKEDGARDENER at Ames, or a bit less expensive on line if you shop. I bought mine as a job light but it has proven to be a perfect solution to lighting during our too frequent outages. Much less expensive than a generator. One fully charged 18v battery will run about 8 hours on the low setting (still a lot of light). There are 2 other levels of power. Would be smart to rig up some way to charge the batteries during an outage. OR buy one or 2 more batteries. This, however is an expensive alternative unless you are running multiple 18v Milwaukee tools (as I do - I have 4 batteries). There are smaller versions of these LED lights too that use a smaller battery and are more portable.

Having said all that -I agree with Potted - no neighbor can rightfully complain about you firing up a generator during an outage. I heard them all around my neighborhood this last time around - only because it's summer time and we had our windows open. In the winter time no sound issues at all. In any event, if you must, offer to run a cord over to your neighbors house so that they too can share in the adventure. Setting up a decent size gas generator to run more than a few lights will involve an electrician and a transfer box in your house. Worth it if you can do it. We have such a set up and so can have running water (keeps the well pump going), the refrigerator and plenty of lights. No stove though - even the microwave complains off the generator but we do have a wood stove which allows for some cooking. Still, I would consider us very fortunate if we could afford a whole house generator sitting out in the yard on a concrete pad always ready to burst into action. Oh well...

Happy growing!

Crow