Fncg's Grow 0.5/1.0 Hempy 2L Perpetual Sea of Green

[fncg]

Well, I screwed up.

Installed a new GFCI plug on the outlet that runs my light and mover, and apparently it doesn't like something in the ballast.

My girls have been in the dark for probably 3 days.

They still look about the same as they did before, so other than probably putting a dent in my final yield, I suspect they'll be okay.

Very frustrated though, I really want to be better than making mistakes like that.

*sigh*

My gf makes me go shower whenever I come in from the grow room now. They're way sticky and smelly.

Today is day 32 for the first batch, and 17 for the second. I have a bunch of clones ready to transplant as well, to keep a ~2.5 week rotation going. Need to make space for them.

How much area can a 1kw light cover?

 

[Propa Gator]

I wouldn't try to cover more than 4 X 4, due to distribution inequalities. Old rule of thumb, one lb per light. That's about .5 g/watt, and would please me if I ran a k-watt. You should do better, running 4/sqft SoG.

I'd prefer my girl to go into the grow room after her shower, for my 2nd favorite perfume.
Fewer showers is #1

 

[fncg]

Thanks PG.

I'm at about 4x4 right now, actually 3 1/2 by 4 1/2 feet under the light, which is on a mover cycling back and forth about 30 inches total.

I've got a 400w HPS ballast and bulb as well, that's not up yet. Need to get a reflector and light rail brackets for it.

But I've found a bigger problem.

MOLD.

Fuck. Temperatures between 65-85 degrees, humidity in the 70% range, and probably not enough air movement. The drywall under the table I built for the plants has black mold spots everywhere on it. Even my framing has green shit growing, like it was a salad left in the fridge too long. It's surface right now, but I need to get some ventilation in this building NOW before it digs in. Researching vent fans, homebuilt filter setups (We can clearly smell the plants now from ~30 feet away from the building) and other solutions.

Also, I've lost most of the clones from the last batch. Didn't get them transplanted in time, and they dried out. I might be able to save 6 tall ones in the next day or two.

Frustrating week, overall.

I need a

 

[Mrgivemethat]

Dang fncg hate to hear about the mold but at least u got a bowl and while your smokin that bowl head over to my grow just did a flower room update. And canna cookies

 

[Propa Gator]

Thanks PG.

I'm at about 4x4 right now, actually 3 1/2 by 4 1/2 feet under the light, which is on a mover cycling back and forth about 30 inches total.

I've got a 400w HPS ballast and bulb as well, that's not up yet. Need to get a reflector and light rail brackets for it.

But I've found a bigger problem.

MOLD.

Fuck. Temperatures between 65-85 degrees, humidity in the 70% range, and probably not enough air movement. The drywall under the table I built for the plants has black mold spots everywhere on it. Even my framing has green shit growing, like it was a salad left in the fridge too long. It's surface right now, but I need to get some ventilation in this building NOW before it digs in. Researching vent fans, homebuilt filter setups (We can clearly smell the plants now from ~30 feet away from the building) and other solutions.

Also, I've lost most of the clones from the last batch. Didn't get them transplanted in time, and they dried out. I might be able to save 6 tall ones in the next day or two.

Frustrating week, overall.

I need a

Yeah, you need carbon filtration. More than that you need lower humidity, like half. My RH has been 25 to 35% and surface mold ain't happening. This is normal winter condition in a cheaply heated building like where I live. Not fair? What is? IMO, you either must buy a dehumidifier or your source air to ventilate with must come way, waay down. Colder is drier. Chemicals and tricks won't work if conditions remain kind to contagion.
Too bad the fix is going to cost you, but that's the way it is

BTW, a dehumidified sealed growroom has a greatly reduced olfactory footprint.

 

[fncg]

Sitting next to me in the car is a 1500cfm attic fan, an air filter, and 9 pounds of carbon pellets. Got some work to do tonight, gonna build me an exhaust filter and open up a couple of the vents I shut off last month.

 

[Truth Seeker]

yay! the man with a plan

 

[fncg]

Fan is installed, box built around it, carbon filter system ENGAGE.

I need sleep.

 

[Propa Gator]

Fan is installed, box built around it, carbon filter system ENGAGE.

I need sleep.

BIG attaboy

 

[fncg]

Too wiped out for a big picture post last night, so we'll catch up a bit now.

There was an existing hole in the apex of the end wall of the grow room, about 6-8" across. I had blocked that off, trying to keep it nice and warm inside, and control odor leaking out. I'm a hundred yards or so from my neighbors through the woods, and I'm certainly not the only grower in this canyon, but no reason to advertise. That worked for a couple of weeks, but it had gotten to the point that we could smell the girls easily 30 feet away from the building, and the radius seemed to expand daily. Also, the humidity inside led to a rapid mold problem. So step 1, remove the block-off panel, open up the hole a little for the 16" diameter vent fan, and put up some support framing.

The fan is a gable vent fan from Home Depot, cost just over $80 and moves a ton of air. It's rated at 1540cfm, but I suspect that will be significantly decreased by pulling through a filter and a couple inches of carbon pellets. For all the air that this fan moves, it's impressively quiet. From outside the grow room, you can't hear it more than 10 feet away, and even then only if you're standing on the side of the building where it exhausts. Inside the room, the sound level is roughly equal to the whoosh of a little desk fan at full speed.

Get some 3/4" by 1" furring strips, a tube of liquid nails, and put up a frame around the hole to build my air box off of.

Now, to deal with all this extra that I cut out, can't have the air just blowing into the walls or bypassing the fan. HD also sells this great rigid foam insulation, the stuff is about $15 for a 4x8' sheet and it's strong enough to build light structures out of. Rough cut foam piece for fan surround.

Put into place, marked hole for fan, cut out and glued everything in.

Next step is to run a couple wood strips out to one of the 2x4 rafters, providing support for the bottom of the box. Cut and install a foam piece underneath them, and a vertical baffle to keep all my carbon from getting sucked out by the fan.

Cut a hole approximately 19" x 11" in the foam for the filter hole, trim filter to size, and test fit.

Put up vertical wood pieces, foam side boards, and now we've got a box that's only open on the end. The adhesive used in the earlier stages of the build is hardening up now, so I'm comfortable putting in the first batch of carbon.

Local aquarium supply place had 45 ounce jars of it for $15 each, so I bought 3. Prices seemed comparable to Amazon, etc. Figured 9 pounds spread over about 2 square feet should give me a nice deep layer to filter out any odors, and still allow decent air flow.

Filled up. Ended up at a touch under 2" deep. That should work.

Cut another piece of the foam for the end cap, trimmed it to fit (trimmed too much on the left, but at 2am I wasn't gonna go re-do it) and slide it into place, and we've got an airbox. Any major gaps got expanding foam insulation, which also acts as a very solid adhesive to help hold everything together. Ran the fan all night, came up this morning to seal any cracks and gaps with silicone caulking, and she's tight as a drum now.

 

[fncg]

Defoliated the oldest plants again today. Super sticky leaves. Couple ounces worth.

I made brownies.

 

[NorCaliwood]

Way Cool that fan. I need one for my green house out back. Sorry been awhile since I been thru. So I'm going to catch up abit. From what I just read, you are out in the country more than most. I haven't had any problem with oder so far with any plants. Cept maybe my last Skunk.
Mold that air you gotta have. Gotta. That will be the humidity down alot. You might want to get dehumidifier. I was looking a attic fan at Home Depo or whatever it was. A 24" with built in thermostast. I think it was just a tad larger than yours. Hope shes not to loud. I need to back read alot of your grow.
I see a nice start ya got going. I've always like the SOG method. I know there are people that don't care for it but it works, Bush Masters. It will keep the nodes nice and tight, and stretching down to a min. I use like 3 mills per gallon once as a drench when I put them in flower and that's it. It's works great. People with them wheel grows can't hardly grow without it. Check this out;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onv0BvnmZoQ

Hey those plants are filling in. I guess SOG is one that you really want a uniformed size plants going under each lite. Looks like you getting the hang of it.
Keepem Green

 

[Mark Green]

Love the DIY job man looks great, hope it works for ya! How are the treats you made?

 

[OG13]

FNCG, make sure you clean up all that mold. Use bleach/water and a rag/brush/mop to kill it all. Now you know the bad side of drywall....now they make a paperless variety to eliminate mold environment. I like the DIY fan filter combo. If you don't have a dehumidifier, you need to have air movement.....

 

[420GodsTrichome]

Greengaurd(A.K.A. Greenboard, Purpleboard, or shower rock) is your friend!

 

[fncg]

Mark, thanks. It looks a little hokey to me, but I'm used to the professional stuff we do at work. Had neither time nor materials for that, unfortunately. It's airtight, insulated, and quiet, so I guess that's really the important bit. And the odor has been completely eliminated from outside the grow room.

I didn't have any of the brownies yet. Tonight we'll give them a try.

OG13, cleaning this crap up is definitely on the list. I can feel it drying out already, even after just 36 hours with the fan running.


GT, I'd like to redo the room at some point with greenboard, for sure. But that's a couple months out at least.

Thanks all for checking in, and the support and advice!

 

[Propa Gator]

Frank Llyod Wright made real: "Form follows function"
I'd like to think that he would approve of your engineering.

I'd also say: "This job may not pass anybody's inspection but my own, and I'm happy"

 

[fncg]

Brownie Report:

This is the first real try I've had of my plants, and since I don't really know much about their strain, it was going to be a surprise no matter what. After Tuesday's defoliation of the 12 oldest plants, I had a big double handful of VERY sticky leaves and a couple of little popcorn buds that got trimmed off. Chopped them all up, mixed in with 2 cups of cooking oil, and simmered and stirred for about 45 minutes.

Filtered it twice, and it came out an impressively dark green. If I'm screwing this up at any point, somebody please tell me. These instructions came from a 10-second google search, and making the first recipe that I found.

Mix 2/3 cup of the oil with the brownie mix and eggs and stuff, bake it per instructions, and an hour later we've got goodies.

A little tentative, I smell one. Subtle but very present smell of pot. Not unpleasant. The taste is the same. Eating one, I promise myself that I'm going to give it time to kick in.

Half hour, nothing. 45 minutes, nothing. Perhaps I was too optimistic, and the sticky leaves really don't have any potency yet.

One hour in, somewhat disappointed, I have another one.

90 minutes, feeling a bit of effect, I pour myself a glass of wine and have a third brownie.

Two hours...WHAM

My brain feels heavy. Like physically heavy. It seems to follow slowly when I turn my head. Eyes too. They don't respond quite right. I keep looking over at the clock and giggle that everything doesn't track the way it should. Some part of me tries to attribute the effect to the wine. My girlfriend is very entertained.

2.5 hours: Stand up to go get more wine, definitely WAY dizzy and coordination is off. I walk slowly, close my eyes a moment, and realize that my skin is on my head too tight. Feels funny. I massage my head and it loosens up for a moment. I can feel all the muscles in my face reaching back around to attach to my skull, and the skin stretched over them. Trippy. LOL. I'm talking with the gf about various things, and I'm quite aware that I'm on some sort of philosophical extrapolation, which doesn't quite make sense to me, but I'm too far down the path to remember my starting point.

3 hours: starts to fade. Now just a good buzz, perhaps mostly from the wine.

3.5 hours: Bedtime. I'm out like a light. My arm and shoulder don't hurt.

I think this is gonna be good stuff once it's ripe.

 

[Tacomang]

Yea man it usually takes a little while for an edible to kick in since you're digesting it rather than absorbing through capillaries. That being said they tend to hit like a brick shit-ton and pretty much make me feel the way you described haha. That's the same method I use when cooking, I just use a stick of butter and 2 cups water. Simmer for 30-45 min(I think THCs boiling point is only like 315.) Strain it and cool it in the fridge. The butter will separate from the water and you're set!

I think edibles are much better at overall pain relief, but they make me too dysfunctional! Sounds like you are going to have some good meds

 

[fncg]

I'm still very new at this. There's definitely no way I was going to do anything more complicated than walk to the fridge and back while under the influence of three of those things. lol.

And now, for the plants. It's Day 38 for the oldest ones. The information I've been able to find says these finish in ~9 weeks, or 63 days, so I'm about 60% done at this point. Hoping they start to fill in more, the budsites don't seem to have done much in the last week or so. Hopefully it's a bit of a lull between veg and full-bore flowering.

The garden overall as of tonight:

Weather report with the new fan assembly operating continuously. Conditions still not ideal, too cold now and more humid than I like, but the mold smell is gone.

And a question: Here's one of the plants that got trimmed the other day. Most of them look roughly like this, with regards to overall structure. It seems like I'm going to end up with a lot of little budsites that might not really grow much. Would I be better trimming the smaller lower branches off to allow the plant to focus on making the main ones bigger and more solid, or ??? Thanks.