Simple grow room gadgets that make you life easier

[marshallbdg]

why the hell have i never thought of this :')

[Smallgrow]

I’ve got two items that pop to mind…

A dollar store gardening kneeling mat to save the knees. They come in all shapes and sizes. I like this one because the foam is wrapped in fabric and doesn’t break off.

And a remote bucket for my in tent dehumidifier. Which allows me to empty the tank without accessing the unit , which is not possible during a grow. Ignore the irrigation line it just sits there in case of a leak.
You could also use the same technique to increase your reservoir capacity for less frequent emptying. I’ve used a garbage can at work, now that’s a reservoir

[golfnrl]

I was skeptical of the moisture meter. And also wondering why I hadn't thought of it. I have it set on the Wood setting. Following the Groves Bags advice, I press the probes of the meter into the bud as close to the stem as I can get, or touching the stem, or both. The bigger the bud the harder it is to get close to the stem, but that's a good problem to have I guess.

I like the bud cup. Very handy, durable and reusable. Also use their LST clips. The yellow color makes them easy to see. I have had my eye on their fabric pots but haven't really checked out their grow advice. I'll give it a look.

[Smallgrow]

Where are you sticking the probes of the moister meter into golfnrl ? Buds , stocks?

I like bud trainer products , I use their fabric pots and LST Clips.
A couple grows ago I got the cups, and I like them too. Good quality and some nice little features. I’m sure you could make your own but I’m happy to support them.
Bud Trainer also has some pretty good grow techniques explained very well on their website.

[golfnrl]

I had forgotten about this thread...thx Ckbrew for resurrecting it. I tried Groves bags looking for a way to avoid burping jars. That led me to a moisture meter. $50usd at Homer's. 10-12% seems to give me that 'snap' needed to know when the buds are ready to jar up. I've used it twice...so far so good. I ran across the Bud Trainer cups looking for an alternative to solo cups for sprouting MJ. They're not a hack but do work great. Nothing against solo cups.

[Gator]

I really like the plastic l.s.t. clips,I have 100 of them, plenty enough for 6 plants

[Pyrokill]

I used the rings of a couple of cages like that on my outside grow last summer. Just tied the branches down and they grew flat and more open all the way up. Worked great. Helped during a couple windstorms also, more structure.

Another thing I can add may not be for everyone, I soldered on a water outlet on my main in the basement and ran a hose in the floor/basement ceiling to the tent. Saved lots of 5 gallon jug trips for sure.

[Orggrwr]

Love the tomato cage tie down idea! Kinda pissed at myself for not thinking about that years ago.

[Ckbrew]

his thread needs to be kicked up again. Show your simple gadgets or hacks that make your life easier.

Here are the rings I use in the pots to spread and tie down the branches of the plants. They are just the top ring and 3 legs from a light gauge tomato cage. After pressing into the soil a small cut is made in the side of the pot near each leg and a wire gets put over the ring. This is to hold the ring down. With out the wire the plant will pull the ring out of the pot.

[Bluey]

Perhaps an extension cord to get the drivers off the top of the light as that produces a lot of heat. If the cord is long enough you can get them out of the room into a cooler place which will work wonders for the light, the driver and the room. I run my drivers in my office which hangs around 65⁰F to 72⁰F and I've removed 4 very inefficient flood lights I was using so my existing air-conditioning can cope with maintaining climate.

[SoOrbudgal]

Excellent thinking

[Ckbrew]

In an attempt to keep the drivers cool on the LED lights, I have been salvaging heat sinks from computers and other things. I put them on the drivers to help keep them cool. There is also a dedicated fan blowing air down on the driver and light.



From computers


From an old wood stove fan

[Bootsy]

The Power Meter is one of my fav's too. This is not really a gadget, but something I have used with much success over time. For lights which give off quite a bit of heat, getting your exhaust nearby, and especially over top will catch a lot of the heat before it dissipates. For example, see the photo, in which I taped a piece of flex ducting to the tent exhaust outlet and ran it the 16 inches over to the ballast of the 250W LED light and got to reduce my 6 inch AC Infinity from speed 5 to 3. I forget the difference in wattage, but it was quite a bit so saving that much energy. AND - that much less air going through the filter which has a finite life would make it last longer, and for me in winter it reduces the amount of humidification needed. If you're having heat issues, almost a no cost thing to try??

[Ckbrew]

And this little gadget that keeps track of power use, watts being drawn and a few other things. I would recommend this brand over others due to improvements. Backlit readout, total Kwh used memory, pigtail extension so it can be plugged in tight spaces. I've always been curious how much power was used per season. I didn't start at the beginning but I can estimate based on data.

[Ckbrew]

Time to kick this thread back up. I think I have posted my watering tube/funnel, but I have improved it. I added a ball of stainless steel scrubby to the delivery end. Just stuff it in the end of the tube. This acts to diffuse the water stream as it exits so no more divits in the top of the media, but due to the large surface area, the water passes through quickly.