Did your power go out during the big storm

[dontknownuttin]

I saw they had many power blackouts last week during the Hurricane. The growers out there that DID NOT HAVE A GENORATOR how did you keep your plants alive?. I was thinking of using a inverter and deep cycle battery from my RV just to run the top feed and bubbles. I would think this could buy time without buying a expensive gen set. I know the water pump on my DWC set up does not use a lot. I also believe the air pump as well could be ran like this for many hours. The 600 watt light no but this could buy time I think. My inverter runs a 80 inch tv for hours so why not a small pump?. My inverter cost me $69.47 how much is a gen set in comparison?

 

[NebulaHaze]

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!

 

[Royal Nugs]

A ups (uninterruptible power supply) commonly used for computers is another alternative. You plug in all your stuff into said ups and if power is lost, the battery kicks in and keeps everything running. You can even set some of them up to alert you via email or text message that the power went out. They can be very pricey so it's not practical for most but if you have brown outs or frequent loss of power it may help.