DankFiend

to be honest he wasn't using it and so I twisted his arm. I'm persuasive like that and have grown using this same light before when I tested it for him.

I promised a narrative to go with the pictures above... so here is it. Gear Tent: Mammoth 120 pro (120x120) Light: 630w LED (space was too small for my Gavita so I am using someones Fluence Vipr) Genetics (for now) 4 Platinum Garlic (1 in an organic mix) 1 Blue Cheese (organic) (All from seed) System I have 3 platinum garlic under a scrog screen, fed from a 30 litre Rez. The plants are in dutch pots. I have never used them before but I built something similar for my first hydro grow. I used basic garden irrigation for drainage and for the top feed. There is a small Rez at the bottom of the pot for the plant to wick nutrient solution from, so I dropped some old air curtains I had in there (which seems to be working well). I flood the system for about 15minutes when the lights come on, then do another 6 spaced 10 minute feeds while the lights are on. And finally 1 more feed midway through lights off. Given that there is a Rez at the bottom of the pot, this might be excessive, and makes the temperature issues more of a hassle...so might adjust for now. Feeding TA 3 part and folia feeding nurtiflex vulvic Anticipated problems The carbon filter I have is done for, so I took it off. Although I can change the carbon I prefer just buying a new one. I will do this at the start of the month, but it is going to create temperature issues when I attach it. The light I am using - although LED - still puts out a lot of heat for the space, so its better to resolve this while still in veg. The Rez is small and its heating up. This means that I need a chiller. The discipline of regular topoff and ice packs has been working because I have been at my desk with the Rez next to me, but it's getting old quickly. This is probably my next purchase. Unanticipated problems One of the platinum garlic plants is showing rust spots on the middle leaves. Given the location and the fact that it does not rub off I inclined to think its a Magnesium deficiency rather than fungal. Last week I also noticed that my PH meter was off, so I was probably running the solution a bit too acidic. I have therefore been when running at a ph of 6.2/6.3 to see if that helps and did a folia feed with some Cal/Mag. When lights went out I also gave some GH bio-protect.

Yeah, I remember the pic. Wish I had friends with aquariums . Where the rand is at the moment means the stuff on amazon that are worth buying are running around the same price. But let me look around some more tonight before bitting the bullet. Will chill by topping off and with icepacks till then.

I did see that. but anything over a few grand I prefer to buy something new, especially when I don't understand the tech (and can't look under the hood), and also where I can't send it back with a nasty letter of complaint when the shit doesn't do what it was meant to. for someone willing to go that way, an aquarium forum is a good idea which never even crossed my mind. the chiller I am considering for 8, I found on jungle aquatics and is the same (or a newer version) of the one for 6500 (above). The extra 1500 for advantage of being able to collect it nearby, and for getting a new unit, seems to make more sense in my case.

although I can put a bar fridge under my desk, run the cooling line through the freezer and keep water and beers in the fridge for drinking. Than its more than a chiller, its also still a fridge

I have seen this done as a diy solution online. and a bar fridge would be cheaper. I wonder though about the long term cost befit ratio here - especially since the bar fridge is likely to take up a lot of space. decided to just fork out 8 grand on one, since every time I do hydro I complain that I need one.

@Prom @CreX Thanks for the notes. How been doing the ice packs and toping up with water from the fridge (which making sure I don't push the the temp down too much). Will try to do the order tonight then. Hopefully stuff arrives before the city get hotter,

Oh shit. Didn't know they ship to sa. Any idea how long the wait is? This is perfect but I am already bumping into temp issues so was hoping for a today kind of solution.

Hey gang, any ideas on where I can get the best deal on a chiller?

Will narrate all this when I have some time.

I got the first mission started about 2/3 weeks ago. growing from seed so not ideal for what I am trying. will post pictures...

Monster compressor you got there. this is going to be fun to watch. What's the genetics for the maiden run? You mentioned "pancake stompers, sugarcane or platinum punch". Interesting line up. be nice to run clones off a single pheno across the system so your plants chow with uniformity this run - especially if you going to be testing all the lukkar tech you mentioned for dialling in an automating the feeding.

Between now and the end of the year, I am chained to my desk. For 12 hours, everyday, I have to be here. Working. Luckily, pandemic habits mean I can do this work from my desk at home. The payoff is also a good one, and as the new year gets started, work stops for me. Then, sometime in the middle of January, I get to load up my car and take a long road trip with no marked out plan or final destination. And for this trip I am going to need weed. It's been a while since I grew anything (not since lockdown started and I shifted homes), and to be honest I miss it. It is the closest thing I have to therapy, and without a grow to invest my anxiety and obsessiveness into, I carry these into places they don't belong. Growing though takes time...time that would otherwise be spent at my desk. The solution I am going to be documenting is a cramped grow, like my first grow...a grow literally right next to my desk. Things have already begun to roll. I went into my store and pulled out some very basic gear. Good gear - but basic. The focus is essentials. I had to buy a new tent and some pots for this job, but just about everything else was just waiting to be plugged in. I probably need a chiller, but like my first grow, I am solving problems on the go. This diary (and grow) is therefore devoted to simplicity and utility in the art of growing weed - an art best experienced by learning it all over again. From scratch.

Really nice set up. The level of the solution in the control Rez will also tell you the level across the system. Digital auto top off is of course better.

not sure yet. I'm not too excited to grow out any of the clones I have. I have a few seeds, and a new attitude purchase will be fun (in spite of the state of the rand). One issue is that I prefer doing hydro with clones so they chow more uniformly - so I will probably grow out one of the chemdawg girls I a did the last round in a dwc rig, and then mix shit up in the autopots from the seeds I have (I think I have something called peyote, a few more blue cheese, and some free seeds from older orders). suggestions if I do an order?

my last run on dwc, in summer hurt, which is why I was waiting for winter. I ended u dropping bottles of frozen water into the Rez to bring temps down. Hoping winter an zircon will do the trick, otherwise will figure out some kind of chiller solution. as its just for three plants it should be doable.

just did an update. the one blue cheese is still not done - the more cheese leaning one (annoyed by that). the one I chopped is pretty nice tasting (more on the berry side) and has a easy high (nice mix of cheese and berry in that respect). filled three and half console jars, but there is a fair bit of shit that didn't get enough light - which answers a question I had a about the extent of fluence lights penetration of the canopy. Still it's a good light and I didn't do badly overall (which means I can take my time sorting the new set up). The outdoor sorbet yield was good, and a bud I took early tasted like its going to be special. A bit annoyed now, because I don't have a clone of it or the other stand out phenotype I found among the stuff I grew indoor. Im still figuring out if I want to go RDWC or something else next, but the next challenged is figuring out how I light proof the the room. ill ask for advice with that. Hows your blue cheese looking?

nice, simple drain solution

It's been a minutes since my last update and a bit has happened since then. For one, I chopped one blue cheese plant. Taste was nice (more berry than cheese), yield was so so. On the whole, it didn't redeem barney's genetics but I am not unhappy with the results. However, there is still another phenotype under the light that might still save their rep (will post pics when I do a close out post for this round after I chop next week. This last week the outdoor sorbet has been the story and I had a bit of a struggle with everything being so wet again. although I would have liked to have left her another week, I decided last night not to risk it and started chopping around 4pm. Just as well. As I was getting into it the rain started to threaten again so I took the remaining branches, tied them together and shifted the operation inside. Luckily I had some help - but even with two of us doing the trimming (really badly), at 4am we were still not done and we only stopped working when I got loadshed. this means I didn't go to work today and only just finished hanging the last buds now. They look good, and the yield looks like it might turn out to be massive. Because there was so much, and trimming was such a mission, I threw lots of the lower buds together with the sugar leaves, so I should be able to make a fair amount of decent hash as well. I am also going to need a lot more curing bottles. Now I start getting things ready for the next round.

During veg, if there is load shedding simply run the lights 20/4 (rather than 18/6). In flower I just leave it 12/12

I have a reaction as well. I don't think its the leave edges. I will post a pic one day. any weed (including the buds) will give me a mild rash if it touches skin above the palm - the rash last a few hours - and itches.

(silly, bored comment in this thread: )

I grow ganja, bru...Growing ganja is an art - an art that even people shit at art can do. It takes a special kind of craft - one of binding yourself to another life, to try to make for it the best form of life. Its a neurotics therapy and I am extremely neurotic - but when I have a grow going and have time to sit and have a joint with my plants, I am not anxious anymore and my negativity and obsessiveness is absorbed there. It's my point of entry to a secret life filled with clandestine projects, experiments, adventures and even anonymous encounters...beautifully seditious pleasures (will I lose that when its legal for reaI?). There is also always something new to learn, or an idea I want to try to implement (the next time round). And I am always getting better. Wiser even - because I am learning the limits of my control over the grow. But I also complain about my grow all the time. Bitch! the truth is I hate my grow, and I wish that fucking thing would get done already... It is a trap binding me to a place - "be there everyday". A labour of obligation that is never done. The promise of more that will only pay out in full the next time around. An obsession that costs and now a different source of anxiety (because who knows when the cops are going to come knocking on the door (again)). Then it happens...a broken cola, an infestation, lockout... and my grow breaks my heart. I want nothing to do with this bitch... So I am done (almost). The grow will soon be chopped...but like a junkie jonesing for a needle, all I can think about is which girls are going under my new 1000w Gavita next, and which system will be crafted to nurture them through my training. But I am taking my time and testing the patience of my still fulll jars. I'm not going to overdose. Not again.

damn!

Thanks for the comments guys So I can't say I got a good read on the smells yet, and I really only go begrudgingly into the grow room to do my chores at the moment- as I am also trying to finish a big work project...but I promise to do a proper review of both blue cheese phenotypes (as well as the OG Kush and Chemdawg) once I get to the end. How are yours looking? @CreXSo I have had some problems with this grow - PM, Budrot and Thrips. I caught everything early and managed to deal with the problems as the arose (except for the thrips - which is going to hurt the overall yield). But if I am honest, all were products of laziness and me abandoning practices like clearing runoff or cleaning the grow room. One thing that also became clear is that I need to manage the RH better. @Bospatrollie2So I should have labeled the picture. The girl you're talking about is the OG Kush. She wasn't bad yielder given that I grew her in a 10l bag and fed her organic nutrients. I think I got a slightly better yield though off one of the chemdawg plants (also in 10l bags). So I need to decide which if the two I scrog next - it will probably be the chemdawg though as the OG Kush took long time to finish and could have gone at least another week when I chopped her (not sure what was going on there. one cola got damaged in flower, but still). So there are a few things I have decided for the next grow. first, no more growing in bags (too much work, and 10l bags only make sense for big sea of green grows). I have also decided that autopots are not for me, and I am shifting back to home made hydro for my main stash - as it also makes it easier to automate things. The autopots I will use like I used the bags - that is, use them for the plants I grow looking for worthwhile phenotypes to keep etc. Next grow the LED light goes to a veg tent. Not flowing in a tent and instead, I am going to light proof the grow room. However I will keep the 1,5x1,5 meter frame of the tent so I cane double the size of my scrog. Finally the next light I want to try is gavita 1000w. Its in the box, waiting...