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

[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!

 

[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. :big-smile:

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! :smile:

 

[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.

 

[ellz]

Quick update:
I lowered my light a little more to make sure my sprouts were getting enough light. I checked them both with my LUX meter and had readings around 36k - 30k so that's fine. Ideal would be 45k but since they are so young, I want to make sure not to burn them. Also, I had an issue with my Peyote Cookies sprout's Rapid Rooter drying out. I resolved this by moving one of the drip lines close to the base of the Rapid Rooter so it would stay moist but not be flooded. Both sprouts are coming along nicely. The only other issue I'm having is keeping the humidity up above 20% because it's so dry where I live. Until next time, happy growing!

 

[ellz]

Another quick update...
I took the humidifier off the timer and have it running constantly on low. I also put a clip fan on a timer set to come on for 15 minutes every hour on the hour and blow on the plants. This serves two purposes: One, it strengthens the stalk and two, it prevents the humidifier from making it too cool (I have a cool mist humidifier) by blowing away some of the humidity. The temperature swings are crazy from day to night here. Until next time, happy growing!

 

[ellz]

So yesterday (Friday) was nutrient change day and I went with the full strength, week 1 plan from GH. My drain system worked great and I was able to flush my chiller and leave only pH'ed, HydroGuard water in it before the refill. My nutrient pH was 6.07 and the pH of the HydroGuard water was 6.4 so that should be fine. Also, I have my GrowCam up and running and streaming live on YouTube! You can view it at the following link: https://youtu.be/9xRF7e6cGmM (if link isn't live, please check my GrowCam thread for most up to date link).

Also, I made a time-lapse from Friday. This is my first one so it's probably not the best but I'm super excited to know I can do this now! The video is below.



You can also access it directly here: https://youtu.be/GteguOtStbU

Until next time, happy growing!

 

[ellz]

Wanted to share a couple of pictures of how the plants are progressing. Both are doing great, with the OG Kush just a little behind in growth. I plan on topping the Peyote Cookies soon since the 3rd node is now showing. Once it's fully developed, I'll give it a snip so the plant will begin branching out. The same will be done to the OG Kush plant once it has a 3rd node. Other than that, just sitting back and watching nature take its course! Until next time, happy growing!

 

[ellz]

05/26/2020 Update:

Today I topped my Peyote Cookies plant since it was on its 3rd node. The OG Kush probably has a few days to go before I top it. Other than that, things are running smoothly. 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]

Quick update:
Today I trimmed down the legs on my trellis frame because it was a little too tall. Also, while I was outside doing that, I saw a little baby preying mantis running around on the ground so I gently scooped it up and brought it to my plants. I don't know if it stayed but that would be so great if it did! If any of you have been watching my Ellz GrowCam, you may have seen this earlier. If not, better start watching! Link below in the signature. Until next time, happy growing.

 

[ellz]

Yesterday was nutrient day. Did the week 2 schedule. Flushed the chiller with Hydroguard water pH'ed to 6.45 and the nutrient pH was about 5.95-6.05 depending on the jug. Other than that, everything is going good. I noticed both plants have nice long white roots! Good sign. Until next time, happy growing!