Amy Gardner’s High Brix Dreams

Extraction

I know, that somewhere in my life there is a 120mm Silenx PC fan. It’s likely in one of the boxes of studio equipment that I can’t get to right now. We’ve looked everywhere else and it hasn’t surfaced yet. So - plan B was born, and it gave rise to plan C... but I’m getting ahead of us.

We’re on day 11 since the Blue Dream woke up. Extraction for the tent was actually in place on day 7, I just haven’t been up to posting about it yet. I still have some tweaking to do to get the basic environmentals to settle. I realise there’ll be tweaking to do as the pant develops too. So for now I’m trying to stabilise it as best as possible. I’m hoping for input and guidance here - I’m not at all experienced with growing indoors so environmental management is new to me. I’ve read a lot about it - but that’s just theory and anecdote. Now I need to make it happen.

I can’t buy an extraction fan so I was always going to be DIYing it. This project is about doing it for no new cost whatsoever - use only what is here now.

I’ve therefore done a lot of reading and watching videos about working with PC fans. Plan A thwarted by boxes, we move to plan B, which involved this:

A broken laptop stand had these awesome fans attached to the back with plug-in USB power (5v). I salvaged the fan section and pulled them out.


They are wired together really well, and have a little plug for power input and a darling little switch (I love mini things :) )



So these seemed a perfect plan B

I did a lot of reading about fan stacking and was thinking to rack them at either end of a tube and fit the plug and the switch into the tube between them. Originally I thought mailing tube - but the one I was thinking of had some photographic images in it that cant go anywhere else right now. No worries, left over plumbing pipe will maybe be even better. SO I had a whole design and plan for how I was going to do it and then 2 problems presented themselves. 1. It was going to require a bit more drilling, and a little hacksaw, and my hands/forearms are still recovering from the light build. 2. A bit more reading about stacking and, getting deeper in, I began to understand that while it can work, there’s a whole pressure and flow relationship involved, so there is optimum distance between the fans required to really make it efficient. Otherwise it’s just making more noise, and possibly even impeding airflow. I could do it, but I’d need to have the fans just the right distance apart. The margins here are so fine, you’d really need to measure your fans pressure etc to get it precise. I could tell, by holding the fans different distances apart in front of my face, that there was a sweet spot for sure. But it was fleeting, and fook trying to get that just right, right?

Enter plan C

The fans went back in their case section (open on one side, grilled on the other - sounds like I’m cooking something, but I’m no LadyG. You really don’t want me making your food!).


I took some insulating foam stuff left over form building the big shed, and a small cardboard box, some gaffers tape, cutting blade and scissors and went to work.






It’s not pretty, but it’s sealed well enough and it sucks some air!







I’m running it at the lowest possible voltage.


And even then, at this stage of the grow its pulling a bit too hard. I spent a few days trying different timings and have it set now for 30mins on 30mins off, and I have one fan partially blocked. Set like this my humidity fluctuates between 41-58, and most often between 45-51 (depending on whether the other fan in the tent is running or not). If I let both fans rip all the time, it gets super dry in there, like down to 36 at one point, while I was experimenting.

So that experimenting leads me to this - there were times when the conditions were fluctuating wildly as I was figuring it out. Never for very long, maybe an hour or so worth either really high or really low humidity. There were also a couple of nights that got a little too cold (15-16ºC) but I’m on top of that now :thumb: (it gets down to 18ºC - so still a bit cold).

This was obviously not ideal for a new seedling, and it’s looking a little funky. Mostly the second leaves, they’re all wiggly twisty. I did see a whole lot of Blue Dream babies (when I google searched) with the exact same look going on so clearly its a possible thing. But there were some without it too, so I’m guessing the strain has a tendency to do this under a certain kinds of stress, which I’m assuming here is environmental. If its not the humidity and temp fluctuation, could it perhaps be the light? I did move it up off the floor to help with the low overnight temps. Here, have a look at today - it’s been 3 feet from the light for a good many days now, and I can’t remember if the funky leaves started before or after I did that. (Oops)


The petioles are looking not so nice light green anymore either... I’m starting to think it’s possible the first drench will need to be a TP, but there’s some time to go yet... :popcorn::hmmmm::popcorn:

Poor thing, I also had a clumsy moment of dropping the Accurite on it - for like a split second, but still. Bit of a rough start its getting :p (I’ll need to factor in periods of clumsiness after manual DIY projects and make the tent clumsy proof at those times ;) )

I’m not at all stressed at all about any of this. Just seeking guidance. There’s always another seed, right? and this is my learning how to grow indoors trip - so everything is a good.

Back to the extraction unit. I’m pretty happy with how much air it’s pulling - which is actually too much right now, so... I’m thinking it’s ripe for a little addition. I think I’m going to purchase some activated carbon and make a little scrubber for it. I dont need to scrub the smell really - I’m on acres. But it might be nice to reduce it a bit, seeing as I sleep in the room where the tent is, and sometimes we’ve had to put off getting work done here until certain smells are contained in jars, so it can’t hurt and it sounds like a fun project. I’m going to base it on this one here, that another 420 member called @HashAssassin (who doesn’t seem to be here anymore) made back in 2011
DIY Can-Filter

If I make it so I can adjust how much scrubbing goes on or how much air it can take in, it might help me control the extraction rate a bit. And hopefully I’ll find that both fans full on all the time is excellent extraction during flowering, and that covering the scrubber part reduces it enough for during early veg. So that’s the plan going forward. For now I thing I have it stabilised, but it still gets a little bit colder than I’d like overnight (17-19ºC). Would turning the heat mat on overnight help with this? The pot is about half a foot off the ground, on a crate so it wouldn’t be touching the heat mat. Or is that just going to be a waste of electricity?

Thank y’all for reading (or looking). Hoping someone will have some insight about the seedling stress, if that’s indeed what it is.

:love:
:Namaste:
 
I've only grown with Doc's Kit in this particular century, so I don't know what to compare with, but my experience is that once a seedling unfolds a couple pair, it's gonna go about its business, thankyouverymuch. I don't think I ever had one that didn't thrive at this stage. From watching others, it would seem that one of the worst things you can do now is get all in its business n stuff. People want to water or mist or give it "just a touch" of nutes, etc. Hands off, please. :Namaste:

It occurs to me that seedlings are vulnerable outdoors - never thought about the difference.

The best thing you can do is watch it do its seedling thing. You can gather clues for later but don't mess with things now. Lift the pot every day to test the weight. When it's obviously lighter, toss a little water over the dry topsoil. Anything that you could/should do has to wait until later, when we can actually intervene and help. This is the time period when the roots and the biota build their interdependencies. They'll work out anything that needs to be worked out.

Nice fan rig! I admired in particular, the cut flange pieces for the cardboard and tube. :) So it's enough to suck the walls in, eh? That surprises me. I've considered using puter fans but wondered how much air they actually draw. Impressive!

You could just fill the bottom of that PVC tube with a few inches of charcoal couldn't you? :hmmmm:
 
:thanks:
Oh I’m absolutely not planning on, or thinking about touching the plant at this stage! :thumb: Maybe I misrepresented myself...

Am mostly talking about environmental control, and whether the fact that it’s been a way off at times while I worked it out could make that wiggly leaf happen. And whether temps of 17ºC overnight is too cold, and if so - would turning the heat mat on make any difference. None of which would involve me touching la seedling :battingeyelashes: I know I’m weeks away from the first drench. So the questions were environmental, not kit related as such

I have no doubt there’re all kinds a roots getting going down there. ANd yep, I’m checking it’s weight everyday :thumb: (although my actual strength fluctuates so I’m having to guess a bit there - it’s drying out very very slowly so far as I can tell).

:Namaste:
 
17 is chilly, yes, but I don't like the idea of warming live plants from underneath. Heating soil for unsprouted seeds makes perfect sense, but once they're up they're looking for heat from above. When I sprouted with CFLS that worked ideally - at 2 inches the bulbs heated the plants and the topsoil, just like nature.

But this is also exactly the time of year when they're used to cold soil and cool temps at night, so ... seems more good than bad. I have no science for my opinion though.

Are day temps into the 26-28 range? Warmer days will definitely promote faster growth and day/night ranges much higher than 7-8 degrees will affect some things, but you're not far off and I've seen healthy starts with much higher ranges of 10+ degrees.

This is the stage where I know I can ignore them. It's boring. In a week or two they'll need water. Then they'll be boring some more. And then they'll finally be big enough to train and fiddle with! :yahoo:
 
Congratulations on your Photo of the month,:thumb: you have an eye for it:yahoo::slide::slide::bongrip::Namaste:
don't like the idea of warming live plants from underneath. Heating soil for unsprouted seeds makes perfect sense, but once they're up they're looking for heat from above.
Yeah - good, thanks. That makes sense. It is between 23-26ºC during the day (it’s actually heating my room a bit, I’ve been able to run the aircon lower than usual, bonus)

:thanks: Agin... :battingeyelashes:
 
water or mist or give it "just a tou...
Reading that again, it’s possible there were times it was too close to the humidifier output, before I had fan going. I moved it away eventually, but there were a few days where I didn’t notice this was happening ... so it might’ve got too much mist when I wasn’t looking... they’re very separated now. :thumb:
 
I’ll have to check out the early bubba hash!

Yes Morglie citrus of some kind is there for sure, but mine is currently more like slightly overripe citrus. I’ve been having trouble placing it, but orange might just fit the bill. It’s not a great smelling jar ;)
Mine is orange like the zest off a fresh peel. But that's fairly light over a dark mushroom like smell. Mines not a great smelling jar either. It does the job, but Early Bubba Hash is so much tastier. Plus if I overindulge, it knocks me out like I expect it to.
 
Hey Amy, nice DIY work on the fans... I have tried in the past to use some of those, and they always seem to burn up fairly quickly... Looks really good on your tent though, kinda ingenious if you think about it.... I am also Super Happy you got started, that way I have some Great outdoor porn to look at while I am stuck in Miles of snow.. LOL ... Green days to ya girl, and to all
 
How is the light with your fan setup? It looks like a great build, but it looks like light is getting through. Is there a way to block it, so that you don't have light leaks once you get into flower?
:thumb: I plan to fashion a little hood for it at some stage. The room it’s in is also very dark, so the potential for light leak is low. I’ll still protect against it tho. Have some minor issues to address there re the tent too. The vent at the bottom have no light protection at all!

I should’ve mentioned the hood in the post - I’m sure you won’t be the last person to notice that :)

Hey Amy, nice DIY work on the fans... I have tried in the past to use some of those, and they always seem to burn up fairly quickly... Looks really good on your tent though, kinda ingenious if you think about it.... I am also Super Happy you got started, that way I have some Great outdoor porn to look at while I am stuck in Miles of snow.. LOL ... Green days to ya girl, and to all

Thanks Hacker :) I’m happy too. I’m looking forward to getting back outside! Just let the environment do what it does and mitigate against disaster. :thumb:

I’ll get this indoor thing going tho.

I made some minor environmental tweaks yesterday and it’s a little better again.
:surf:
 
always seem to burn up fairly quickly...
I missed this before... am hoping that running them at nearly half their usual voltage (ie running them slow) will extend their life. In any case, if they do burn out, I’ll replace them with a big single one and mount it into the pipe, like my plan A was going to do (with the fan I can’t find). They were free, so if they burn out there’s no loss, except maybe to the planet... because of the waste, the plastic waste... it’s so bad:oops::( human plastic waste.. have any of you seen some of the images of beaches that are literally thick plastic waste soup... really sad, and kinda scary. ... gee that was a tangent (I’m always slipping into rabbit holes ;) )
 
Hi Amy and all. Just passing through to see how the BD was doing. She looks like almost every other sprout to me. As GT said she's gonna be boring for a few weeks. I like the way she looks .....good job.
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I know! I was just thinking how I’ve watched Duggs through 2 grows this year already, and your second brix run is well underway. It clicks along! It wont be long before I need to be getting my summer farming preparations underway.

The environment seems stabilised for now (unless I fail to notice that the little humidifier is nearly out of water :rolleyes: (wasn’t for long). Other than that I’m between 45-55% :slide:. ANd daytime temps 24-26ºC, with drops to 17º overnight - but I don’t know when exactly, or for how long.

There’s always a humidity spike overnight though, to 61% so nothing too alarming. I’ve noticed people mention that there is a humidity spike after lights out, so I have the extraction fan set to stat on about 10-15 minutes after lights out. Before I did this it was spiking to the high 70s so leaving the fan running a bit made a big difference. Perhaps I should run it for a bit longer after lights out...:hmmmm:

How do y’all manage that?
:Namaste:
 
I love the concept of law. We only find and create the boundaries of law - be it formal or informal (social conventions etc) - by overstepping them at times. Over time this is how law is shaped. If we don’t want to be only subject to law we have to engage in probing its boundaries. TBH I was quite deliberate about approaching the DIY post in regards to that. It’s an area of very nerdy interest for me (the play of law and transgression, but that’s many late night conversations :) ).

:Namaste:

I was on this page again and remembered that I had wanted to respond to this at the time. This is serious philosophical stuff now ... :D ...

We should all take some spare stoned moments sometime, to contemplate what a law is all about and what are its results.

In the end, after a law has been violated and the perpetrator apprehended, what has happened? The perp is given a bunch of rules about the procedure of the law and he/she is processed, etc. The penalty is fixed within a range of fines and detention - no beatings or scarring or permanent damage, no public humiliation or exile. Often the living conditions in detention are healthier and safer than the place the perp came from. The victim? ... well, still the victim, no special attention, etc. If NOT for the law, what would likely have happened? It's likely that the perp would have had some very ugly things happen to him/her. It would be swift and harsh and declarative, with no "protections" other than an intervention by any other people at the scene. The victim would have then been figuratively embraced by the community as a demonstration that "this cannot stand". It would provide a natural and nuturing human closure to the crime.

But that of course, goes very badly over time. Vigilantism is an ugly thing. No can do - can't have that chit.

However, what we forget, every time we think another law is a routinely good idea, is that the law prevents natural human interfaces, which are far more likely to produce results for the community. Laws protect the perps from retribution by the community. Laws don't protect victims because perps don't obey laws. Law should be more of a last resort than a first. Most laws end up, on balance, just screwing things up. I repeat, perps don't care about laws, while ironically, they're the ones that benefit most from laws.

:Namaste:
 
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