The Gee Spot - You Finally Found It

[013]

Thank you 013, and am I glad to see you. I was looking something up in my journal and I noticed a remark from you that I hadn't responded to months ago! I'm sorry. It's nice to see you again

Hey Carmen!!

Great to see you too!! Yes typically I’m slammed with stuff during spring, summer and fall seasons but winters are laid back so defs haven’t journaled much at all. Ahh that’s perfectly fine we all are juggling different responsibilities.

 

[Gee64]

Here's something for you to look at Carmen. These two are what I add two each in a ten gallon pot. The N one is a veg spike and the other is a flowering one.

Thanks Stone, I'm tied up with family all day

 

[Gee64]

OK @Carmen Ray here it all is.

Here are a couple spike blends. I use 3 of the flower and 1 of the veg in each pot.

I also use this on the bottom of the pot. 1 tablespoon for a 10 gallon pot.

A layer for mid pot, just under a rootball by about a half inch if uppotting for flower. I don't use this as I sprout in final containers, but I have and it really adds a punch. Again, 1 tablespoon in a 10 gallon pot.

And what I add to each tray of EWC. A tray is 4 gallons of used soil, coco, this, and kitchen scraps. Lots of kitchen scraps.

 

[Carmen Ray]

OK @Carmen Ray here it all is.

Here are a couple spike blends. I use 3 of the flower and 1 of the veg in each pot.

I also use this on the bottom of the pot. 1 tablespoon for a 10 gallon pot.

A layer for mid pot, just under a rootball by about a half inch if uppotting for flower. I don't use this as I sprout in final containers, but I have and it really adds a punch. Again, 1 tablespoon in a 10 gallon pot.

And what I add to each tray of EWC. A tray is 4 gallons of used soil, coco, this, and kitchen scraps. Lots of kitchen scraps.

This is great stuff, thank you Gee!

 

[StoneOtter]

I will wait until the new one arrives and then if they don't want the old one back I will dissect it like a rootball...Oh Yeah!

I also have my Perfectsun Goliath that lost a driver and is only running on half its diodes that needs a dissection too. I would love to have that light back. It grows awesome weed.

Winter stuff

Any chance Stone that your an electronics guy? I may need advice.

I'm trained there and have some experience. Mostly troubleshooting to board level. I'm weak on component level board stuff but wouldn't flinch at helping if I could! I've had a new light arrive with a dead leg that just needed to be plugged in tighter internally.

And 1 part Big Toe! Yeah those look like the same recipes I use. Those are good ones

Right from the book Gee! Hehe, The Big Toe was what the guys called me at work the last ten years. It was a funny page when the office was looking for me!

 

[Gee64]

I'm trained there and have some experience. Mostly troubleshooting to board level. I'm weak on component level board stuff but wouldn't flinch at helping if I could! I've had a new light arrive with a dead leg that just needed to be plugged in tighter internally.

Right from the book Gee! Hehe, The Big Toe was what the guys called me at work the last ten years. It was a funny page when the office was looking for me!

Ok @StoneOtter you asked for it! hehehe

My 1st question: If its a driver issue on my Perfectsun Goliath, is it possible, and if so where would I find a replacement driver, to replace the blown one with?

Is it a fairly easy procedure to replace one?

I'm pretty good with tools but electronics aren't my thing.

I have built many computers, but thats just plugging circuit boards into each other. Is driver replacement trickier than that?

 

[Gee64]

Day47. 9 more until flip
.

4 big plants crushed into a 3 x 3 isn't ideal but the warranty on the light has been submitted for shipping so for now it is what it is.

Im too lazy to pull 6 strip lights out of the 3x3 to put them into the 5x5 only to have to put them back in a few days

Pre flowers are popping all over so thats still happening on schedule.

I brixed a lower leaf and it was 14. It was 12 the other day when the light failed so at least the strip lights are progressing the plant, but normally I expect 17+ at this point.

Don't get me wrong though, under the circumstances I am very happy with 14.

The calcium line was optimally fuzzy, thats the main thing.

I have only topdressed with EWC once so far. I wanted to see the effects of the extra calcium. I am sold on it.

Normally by now I am starting to remedy the crusties but the soil up top is still very loose and fluffy.

If my replacement driver gets here before flip this could be a very nice grow.

 

[Jon]

OK @Carmen Ray here it all is.

Here are a couple spike blends. I use 3 of the flower and 1 of the veg in each pot.

I also use this on the bottom of the pot. 1 tablespoon for a 10 gallon pot.

A layer for mid pot, just under a rootball by about a half inch if uppotting for flower. I don't use this as I sprout in final containers, but I have and it really adds a punch. Again, 1 tablespoon in a 10 gallon pot.

And what I add to each tray of EWC. A tray is 4 gallons of used soil, coco, this, and kitchen scraps. Lots of kitchen scraps.

Whoa. Holy recipe posting Batman! Wow is this awesome. I’m assuming you don’t go as far as traveling to different geographic locations to collect specific bird type feathers for example, so where does one source some of these impossible to make yourself ingredients?

 

[Jon]

Day47. 9 more until flip
.

4 big plants crushed into a 3 x 3 isn't ideal but the warranty on the light has been submitted for shipping so for now it is what it is.

Im too lazy to pull 6 strip lights out of the 3x3 to put them into the 5x5 only to have to put them back in a few days

Pre flowers are popping all over so thats still happening on schedule.

I brixed a lower leaf and it was 14. It was 12 the other day when the light failed so at least the strip lights are progressing the plant, but normally I expect 17+ at this point.

Don't get me wrong though, under the circumstances I am very happy with 14.

The calcium line was optimally fuzzy, thats the main thing.

I have only topdressed with EWC once so far. I wanted to see the effects of the extra calcium. I am sold on it.

Normally by now I am starting to remedy the crusties but the soil up top is still very loose and fluffy.

If my replacement driver gets here before flip this could be a very nice grow.

Awed by the standards you guys keep here. Could be a very nice grow? Omg. What about this currently would NOT fit that description?!!! Why “could be?” For real? The calcium concern? This looks perfect to newbie to the lab eyes.

 

[Jon]

Here’s my Friday night late night ignorance exposing question for the lab.

My understanding to this point:

You establish a myco colony.
Your focus becomes keeping that colony healthy and happy.
That colony feeds the plant.
Everything you do is designed to augment, improve, grow, or maintain that colony.

Here’s the question.

Is every input you provide, such as kelp, EWC, fish ferts, etc…designed/intended/selected so as to feed the colony? Or do some inputs feed the plant directly or differently?

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Gee64]

Whoa. Holy recipe posting Batman! Wow is this awesome. I’m assuming you don’t go as far as traveling to different geographic locations to collect specific bird type feathers for example, so where does one source some of these impossible to make yourself ingredients?

I get most of it at the local feed store and the rest at a local plant center. Kelp can be harvested out here in British Columbia. I havent for years but I will again. Feather meal is a byproduct of the poultry industry so I buy a gunny sac full and it lasts 5 or 6 years. The kelp is the expensive part but its good stuff.

 

[Gee64]

Awed by the standards you guys keep here. Could be a very nice grow? Omg. What about this currently would NOT fit that description?!!! Why “could be?” For real? The calcium concern? This looks perfect to newbie to the lab eyes.

Could be = last grow at about this stage my old LED lost half its diodes. It took 2-3 weeks for the new one to arrive. During that time the lack of photosynthesis crashed my brix and I got thrips.

Its the only time I have ever had bugs. I panicked, eradicated the grow, and tossed all my soil.

So this is a newish mix, as I had my Durban soil, and my general purpose soil.
The Durban soil got tossed.

So I used general purpose soil for this rebuild but it seems to be working well.

So if I get my new driver for this LED that I just bought before brix crash again, Could Be should = success.

Last grow I left the plants under the half dead light, this time I moved them under the strip lights. They are surviving better this time. Brix actually climbed 2 points

As for the calcium, the instruction manual for the new light recommends using extra calcium and magnesium, so I added 25% more, but my soil was already cooked and ready to go, so when I added the extra dolomite, oyster shells, and gypsum, it was mixed in right before planting instead of being cooked in. I was sceptical but it worked nicely. So this is, in many aspects a test run.

 

[Gee64]

Here’s my Friday night late night ignorance exposing question for the lab.

My understanding to this point:

You establish a myco colony.
Your focus becomes keeping that colony healthy and happy.
That colony feeds the plant.
Everything you do is designed to augment, improve, grow, or maintain that colony.

Here’s the question.

Is every input you provide, such as kelp, EWC, fish ferts, etc…designed/intended/selected so as to feed the colony? Or do some inputs feed the plant directly or differently?

I hope that makes sense.

All the inputs that get cooked in are for the plant, not the myco.

Myco gets most of its food from the plant. It likes exudates.

Because it lives in the dark it can't photosynthesize so it has built a symbiotic relationship with the plant. It pokes a hyphae strand into a root pore and gets exudates on a direct transfer from the plant.

In return it uses those exudates to feed various microbes in various places in the soil, bribes them to eat various minerals, etc and then myco absorbs the microbe poop and internally transfers it back to the root in exchange for more exudates.

Its a food manager that takes orders from the plant. It can move nutes through its hyphae system in minutes and hours so its a quick delivery system.

Myco, being a fungus, does have the ability to eat on its own as well, but likes this system better.

So some inputs are to feed the microbes, some to feed the plants, and some to feed myco.

All inputs work best by being run through a microbe, and really work best if a microbe eats some food, then gets eaten by another predator microbe while its belly is full, and the food is twice digested.

So to keep myco happy I serve cold pressed hydrolyzed fish fertilizer weekly. I mix it weak, at 1.5ml per litre of water and hand water in 1 or 2 litres per pot every week. It keeps myco happy and everything else just happens.

Those exudates I speak of, they have the ability to alter ph in the rhizosphere at the areas of microbe mining, so if a certain input needs a higher ph than the 6.2 of the soil, or a lower ph, for better absorbsion by the plant, myco sets this up in the needed area.

As the myco network fills the pot it herds certain microbes that specialized in certain inputs into pockets by using certain exudates as bribery, and the full spectrum network sets up. The pot becomes established.

Then you just regularly water in the fish ferts across the entire pot and myco is very happy. If you bury a dead fish under the leaf litter on top of the soil in the forest, and go back in a couple weeks, you will see it is white with fungii. Myco loves fish.

When brix gets above 12 the plant now has enough sugar to satisfy its every need plus enough to support the exudate system. Sugar is pure energy so the higher the brix the more carbon it has to pass along to myco and microbes and the empire grows as the microbe population gets both larger and healthier.

The rich gets richer.

So when I start a new pot I put all my effort into letting myco establish 1st before I start adding microbe teas. Myco needs to be stronger and better established than microbes or else the lunatics are running the asylum.

 

[StoneOtter]

Ok @StoneOtter you asked for it! hehehe

My 1st question: If its a driver issue on my Perfectsun Goliath, is it possible, and if so where would I find a replacement driver, to replace the blown one with?

Is it a fairly easy procedure to replace one?

I'm pretty good with tools but electronics aren't my thing.

I have built many computers, but thats just plugging circuit boards into each other. Is driver replacement trickier than that?

I love questions! This isn't my field of study but I've looked at it in the past. Unplug and replug all the connectors on the failed unit and try it again. It might come to life. Sometimes the final click just needed to be made. If that doesn't fix it then:

First you need to look at the failed ballast to get some information. You want to buy an exact replacement if possible so a model and serial number for a net search.

If there's no matches or it's not being made anymore then go with Power Capability. There will be power in watts and current and voltage to look for on the failed unit. If you can find the same brand do that but if not, match up the wattage and current not going under the rating you have. Mean Well has a pretty good site with lots of ballasts they call drivers.

If you build PC's you'll be happy to try this I think. My understanding is to match size of units by wattage and current. There will be wiring diagrams. So two wires and a ground for the power feed. Two for output to the light diodes and two for dimming. You may need to make a dimmer up. It's no different than swapping a card in a PC, it needs to be able to do the work.

If things get hairy I'd take the information on the driver and give it to Mean Well for substitution.

Goliath was a sponsor here I think, maybe they can send you a direct replacement.

 

[Jon]

Could be = last grow at about this stage my old LED lost half its diodes. It took 2-3 weeks for the new one to arrive. During that time the lack of photosynthesis crashed my brix and I got thrips.

Its the only time I have ever had bugs. I panicked, eradicated the grow, and tossed all my soil.

So this is a newish mix, as I had my Durban soil, and my general purpose soil.
The Durban soil got tossed.

So I used general purpose soil for this rebuild but it seems to be working well.

So if I get my new driver for this LED that I just bought before brix crash again, Could Be should = success.

Last grow I left the plants under the half dead light, this time I moved them under the strip lights. They are surviving better this time. Brix actually climbed 2 points

As for the calcium, the instruction manual for the new light recommends using extra calcium and magnesium, so I added 25% more, but my soil was already cooked and ready to go, so when I added the extra dolomite, oyster shells, and gypsum, it was mixed in right before planting instead of being cooked in. I was sceptical but it worked nicely. So this is, in many aspects a test run.

Gotcha, thanks for the thorough answer. Seems to be working, jeez. I obviously need to do some brix research cuz that seems very important, you guys toss it around like it’s the word “water,” and I have no clue what it is or how to measure it. I don’t want to be redirected to Google so I’ll do some research before asking questions.

 

[Jon]

I love questions! This isn't my field of study but I've looked at it in the past. Unplug and replug all the connectors on the failed unit and try it again. It might come to life. Sometimes the final click just needed to be made. If that doesn't fix it then:

First you need to look at the failed ballast to get some information. You want to buy an exact replacement if possible so a model and serial number for a net search.

If there's no matches or it's not being made anymore then go with Power Capability. There will be power in watts and current and voltage to look for on the failed unit. If you can find the same brand do that but if not, match up the wattage and current not going under the rating you have. Mean Well has a pretty good site with lots of ballasts they call drivers.

If you build PC's you'll be happy to try this I think. My understanding is to match size of units by wattage and current. There will be wiring diagrams. So two wires and a ground for the power feed. Two for output to the light diodes and two for dimming. You may need to make a dimmer up. It's no different than swapping a card in a PC, it needs to be able to do the work.

If things get hairy I'd take the information on the driver and give it to Mean Well for substitution.

Goliath was a sponsor here I think, maybe they can send you a direct replacement.

Excellent answer @StoneOtter. That’s a good light. Would be my first buy of a sponsor light here if I could. Surprised anything on it went south, his build quality is pretty high.

 

[StoneOtter]

Excellent answer @StoneOtter. That’s a good light. Would be my first buy of a sponsor light here if I could. Surprised anything on it went south, his build quality is pretty high.

I can't tell you how many new bad new parts I've installed in my life Jon. It's not a build quality thing all the time. The shelf has it's darkness in the stockroom some days! Really throws a fuck into your mind when truing to fix something! Stuff breaks, I made my living relying on that! Sometimes it's brand spankin new broke!

 

[Gee64]

I love questions! This isn't my field of study but I've looked at it in the past. Unplug and replug all the connectors on the failed unit and try it again. It might come to life. Sometimes the final click just needed to be made. If that doesn't fix it then:

First you need to look at the failed ballast to get some information. You want to buy an exact replacement if possible so a model and serial number for a net search.

If there's no matches or it's not being made anymore then go with Power Capability. There will be power in watts and current and voltage to look for on the failed unit. If you can find the same brand do that but if not, match up the wattage and current not going under the rating you have. Mean Well has a pretty good site with lots of ballasts they call drivers.

If you build PC's you'll be happy to try this I think. My understanding is to match size of units by wattage and current. There will be wiring diagrams. So two wires and a ground for the power feed. Two for output to the light diodes and two for dimming. You may need to make a dimmer up. It's no different than swapping a card in a PC, it needs to be able to do the work.

If things get hairy I'd take the information on the driver and give it to Mean Well for substitution.

Goliath was a sponsor here I think, maybe they can send you a direct replacement.

Awesome Stuff Stone Thank You. Yeah I thought Perfectsun LED was on our sponsors list but when I looked I couldn't find them. I emailed through their website but didn't get an answer. Maybe its just a connection I will dig into both lights soon.

 

[Graytail]

I can't tell you how many new bad new parts I've installed in my life Jon. It's not a build quality thing all the time. The shelf has it's darkness in the stockroom some days! Really throws a fuck into your mind when truing to fix something! Stuff breaks, I made my living relying on that! Sometimes it's brand spankin new broke!

The supply chain got unreliable for a while. My auto shop had to replace two sets of brake rotors until they found a set that didn't warp. Bad parts are everywhere in the chain.

 

[Gee64]

The supply chain got unreliable for a while. My auto shop had to replace two sets of brake rotors until the found a set that didn't warp. Bad parts are everywhere in the chain.

Yeah I hear you. I work seasonally and usually we spoil partners with company swag but we can't even get ball caps this year. Its a real thing. We do have toilet paper though