Grow Journal - Second Indoor Grow: 600W HPS/MH, strain TBD...

[ellz]

So a couple of updates...
Today I decided to take the water pump off the timer and run it 24/7 because I also turned on the water chiller and I figured it would be better to have the water always flowing for the chiller to work properly. Otherwise, it would just be taking the temp from what the water was in the unit and not in the reservoir. I also decided to put the humidifier on the timer because when the light is on, the humidity drops due to the cooling fan but once the light and fan go off, the humidity level quickly rises so what I have done is set the timer to turn on the humidifier for the entire time the light and fan are on then come on for 15 minutes every hour until the light comes back on.

Other issues that I will need to address: There is a good amount of light from the LED display on the water chiller so I will likely be taping it off or at least rigging up a cover for that part. Originally, I planned on installing a 3-way ball valve between the water chiller output and the 6-port drip manifold but the valve I bought was for PEX tubing so I'm, waiting on a barb version to arrive. This addition would allow me to choose to either have the water go back in to the reservoir or (with the turn of a switch) I can have it run to a drain bucket which would allow me to effectively drain the system AND the chiller during nutrient changes. Obviously, I can't suck all the water out with the internal pump because it would burn the pump out once the water was sucked up so I plan on draining most of the water, then adding about 5 gallons of plain, pHed water, run that until it's almost empty then turn off the pump and drain the rest of the reservoir with my handheld pump. That way, the only thing left in the system is the plain pHed water that is left over in the water chiller which will simply blend in to the nutrient water I add.

Overall, the plants are progressing pretty steadily even though you can't see anything above the surface. The one on the right has basically shed its shell and should be sprouting up any day now. The one on the left isn't doing that great. It could be because I stunted it when I broke the tap root. Worst case is I only grow one plant this time or throw in a substitute (although it won't be on the same schedule so that would likely be a bad choice). That's about it for now. Until next time, happy growing!

[ellz]

Checked on the plants and my seed on the right is about to pop up above the surface. The seed on the left on the other hand, has no activity. I gently lifted it out of the Rapid Rooter with a pick and saw that it appears to be either dead or stunted so bad it won't do anything. The broken taproot is still in the bottom and the shell is still mostly in tact other than the hole where the taproot came out. So I'm thinking it may be dead. If so, I'd like to pull it out and replace it with something else while there is still time to do so. I'm going to go try to get a picture but basically it just looks like a seed with a white spot on one side and nothing else. The white spot being the broken taproot. Anyone have any thoughts?

[ellz]

Here are the pictures of each plant as they sit right now...

Left seed:............................................. .................................................. .Right seed:

[ellz]

So today, as if I'm not having enough problems with a seed that won't sprout, the surge strip apparently was tripped by something and was off for who knows how long meaning EVERYTHING was off. No water, no air stones, no nothing. The sprout on the right is looking like it was stressed. I turned everything back on and will check it throughout the night but I desperately need another line or two run to my garage. Here's hoping we get a bailout like the billionaires did!

[ellz]

Update:
I remove the rapid rooter with the seed that wasn't doing anything and replaced it with a New rapid rooter that I pre-soaked and dropped an OG Kush seed in (got it from a batch I bought recently). I then took the rapid rooter with the seed that wasn't doing anything and placed it into a net pot that had some extra rocks in it to see if it would come back. I also covered the new seed as well as the one that wasn't doing anything with plastic cups in an effort to create a mini greenhouse for them.

[ellz]

I decided to disconnect the water chiller and install my custom built cooler to see how it performs. It probably won't be a viable option but we'll see. Here's what it looks like:

[ellz]

So, as I thought, the cooler was not effective at all. The temp just kept going up in the reservoir so I decided to reinstall the chiller but this time, I plugged it into an extension cord that is plugged in to a separate outlet so hopefully there won't be any more trips on the surge strip. While I had the chiller disconnected I also cut a piece of reflective bubble insulation to fit the in and out port of the chiller and then I reinstalled the fittings. This will not only block the light but also act as a shield should a leak occur. Below is a photo of how I left the room before I came in for the night.

Oh, and if you're wondering what the 4 wood blocks are on each net pot, those are lock downs to keep the pots from rising when the roots start expanding. I learned that from my last grow.

[ellz]

So a couple of updates:
Swapped the humidifier time schedule to come on every 15 minutes when the light is on and then once an hour for 15 minutes when it's dark.

Determined that the cause of my tripped surge strip was having the chiller plugged in. It's now on it's own plug via an extension cord.

Removed the space heater as I should not need it until the fall.

Until next time, happy growing!

[Aevin1387]

A good idea is to use something like a kill-a-watt to check your combined power draw. With my current grow, I can run everything but my lights on one breaker, but the lights had to be routed to a different breaker. The dehumidifier and space heater combined were pushing the amperage to 14A.

[ellz]

2 week update:
I planted my Peyote Cookies seed 2 weeks ago today. It has since sprouted above the Rapid Rooter. The left seed was swapped with OG Kush since the PC seed never developed. It still hasn't sprouted. So, since I have one newborn and one not quite born, I decided to do a half-strength mixture of the Week 1 nutrients (using the GH Flora Recirculating Feeding Schedule) plus a full strength batch of Hydroguard. My water's pH was slightly high after adding all the nutrients so I added 1/2 tsp of pH down and it's down to 6.12 now. Since there were no nutrients in the water I drained, I simply drained it with my handheld pump. I also installed my 3-way valve that will allow me to drain most of the water using the internal pump (which will help flush out the chiller). I've attached a photo of it below. Other than that, just waiting on nature to happen.

Until next time, happy growing!

[ellz]

Went and checked on everything today and I noticed a pungent smell in the garage. It was much stronger in the room. The humidity had gotten up to about 62% while the light was off and may have caused the room to get musky. The light just came back on at 8pm so I'll try to check it again after the fan has been running for a while. I can't run the fan while the light is off because it gets too cold and too dry. I probably never noticed it before because I didn't add nutrients to the mix. The reservoir temp is around 68ºF according to my chiller and the thermometer nearby so I don't think the water is funky or anything. I think it's just that before I had plain water and Hydroguard and now I've added a few nutrients which do smell kind of pungent. Fingers crossed that's all it is. I didn't have this issue with my cabinet because it stayed pretty warm so I left the fan on all the time.

As for the seedlings...not much change in the Peyote Cookies sprout. The OG Kush seed appears to have at least cracked open so I'm hoping to see a sprout from it in a couple of days. I've been keeping a clear plastic cup over it to both shield some of the light and to try to up the humidity and temp just over the Rapid Rooter.

Until next time, happy growing!

[ellz]

Just a quick update...
The Peyote Cookies seedling is getting bigger by the day. Not a huge growth spurt but it was obvious that the serrated leaves were longer than yesterday. Also, the OG Kush seed is almost above the Rapid Rooter's surface so I removed the plastic cup that was covering it (to help block some of the light and up the humidity) and let it go naturally like the other seedling. The funky smell wasn't there today and coincidentally neither was the humidity so it's definitely tied to that. The humidifier had run out of water before the light went off so it wasn't adding too much with the vent fan off. The temperature outside today was 90ºF so my room finally got up to the upper 70s with the light and fan off. Also, the fan is on the lowest speed so I can crank it up when the real heat arrives if need be.

I am concerned about my water chiller because the water's temp shows 68ºF on the unit but the temp probe in the reservoir showed 72ºF. The probe itself could be getting old. It was from last grow and has some residue built up on it. Later on, I'm going to try to go use my fancy pH meter to check the water temp. The only problem is it takes a while for the reading to settle. I sat there for about 5 minutes earlier and it just kept dropping from its initial reading of 75ºF (which clearly wasn't accurate). Fortunately, the chiller is returnable until June 7, so I have some time to find out if it is in fact working. The only reason I even question it is because when it arrived, it was sitting upside down on my porch and the bottom of the box (which was now on the top) was wide open. The product box says in big writing not to turn it upside down. Basically I let it sit for a day before using it (to let the refrigerant settle). It is a sealed system so technically there shouldn't be any leakage issues. We'll see.

Until next time, happy growing!

[ellz]

I was out of commission for a day because of my back injury years ago and basically spent all day yesterday in bed but I got out to check on my plants today and the OG Kush had really shot up! It's sticking up about 3 inches above the Rapid Rooter (which means it wants more light) so I lowered the light down a ways. I checked it with the LUX meter and got 19k on the OG Kush sprout and 15k on the Pey. Cookies sprout. So I will probably drop them even lower until I can get a higher reading (shooting for around 40k LUX).

Another set back (as if the camera getting lost, my new glass bong that I just bought breaking, my tire going flat, my A/C unit going out and my back pain WEREN'T enough)...
The water chiller doesn't seem to be chilling! It is set to 64ºF, shows a water temp of 66ºF and yet my temperature probe and my pH meter that reads temperature both show a reservoir temperature of 72.9ºF! I set the chiller down to 60ºF to see what that does and have contacted the company to see if they can help. If this thing won't chill any better than my homemade one will, I'm sending it back! It cost me over $300!! Hopefully it's a defective unit or something. We'll see.

Until next time, happy growing!

[ellz]

Wanted to also add some pictures from today...

[ellz]

UPDATE:
I think I know why the chiller isn't chilling. The drip system isn't letting enough water back into the reservoir so the water is sitting in the chiller and once that small amount is "cooled" the chiller shuts off. So my solution to this is to install a 3-way splitter on my return line to the reservoir, along with an on/off valve. That will allow me to run one line to my drip manifold and one into the reservoir and I can control how much flows with the on/off valve. I tested it by swapping drain/reservoir valve to drain and letting the water flow back into the reservoir. Sure enough, the water in the chiller began rapidly rising meaning there wasn't enough water flowing back into the res to keep it cool. If that doesn't fix it, I'll come up with something. At least I know I can chill the water now.

[ellz]

Okay, so after rigging up a drain-back valve system, I think I have my water temp problem fixed. The chiller and the temp probe now match! As you can see in the picture below, I installed a 3-way splitter that sends one line to my drip manifold and the other to my drain-back valve. The valve is turned to about half way so that there is good flow to both the reservoir and the manifold.