Hiho

[Prom]

Hi guys and gals.. wanted to say Hi and present myself. No South African, just here since 2001.. here = CT

 

Had my first joint 34 years ago, planted my first seeds 32 years ago and ran my first indoor setup 26 years ago. Love weed.. can't deny it.. Uhh and I am a non-alcoholic.. for me is just weed, nothing else

I have 3 tents:

2.4x2.4 4/20 lights (vegetative section runs over 12v battery inverter, Mars 144 Veg setting, one 100Ah battery runs one 144 3.5 hours,  Eskom)

1.2x1.2 12/12 lights

1.2x60 dry tent with AC inside, 18C, 50% 

Using Mars lights (TS-3000(3) and 144(2))

 

If I have to describe me in 3 words: Quality over Quantity

My preferred smoke: GSC

Total Autoflower fanatic.. only do feminized, when the strain has no Auto version yet. But you can't beat potency of a Auto, pumping 20 hours (or more) of energy inside is a huge difference.

I grow hydro (rock wool) or Soil (Freedom Farms, green bag), never done coco ^^ a bit the opinion.. you want it easy, you go soil, you don't have the balls to go hydro, you go coco

 

Happy growing

[The Canna Cart]

Greetings brother. 

[CreX]

Hahaha what's uuuuuup!!! 

Hit us up with some pics yo! 

[SkunkPharm]

Howzit, ja each to his own I quess. Show some pics. 

[SkunkPharm]

12 hours ago, Prom said:

Hi guys and gals.. wanted to say Hi and present myself. No South African, just here since 2001.. here = CT

 

Had my first joint 34 years ago, planted my first seeds 32 years ago and ran my first indoor setup 26 years ago. Love weed.. can't deny it.. Uhh and I am a non-alcoholic.. for me is just weed, nothing else

I have 3 tents:

2.4x2.4 4/20 lights (vegetative section runs over 12v battery inverter, Mars 144 Veg setting, one 100Ah battery runs one 144 3.5 hours,  Eskom)

1.2x1.2 12/12 lights

1.2x60 dry tent with AC inside, 18C, 50% 

Using Mars lights (TS-3000(3) and 144(2))

 

If I have to describe me in 3 words: Quality over Quantity

My preferred smoke: GSC

Total Autoflower fanatic.. only do feminized, when the strain has no Auto version yet. But you can't beat potency of a Auto, pumping 20 hours (or more) of energy inside is a huge difference.

I grow hydro (rock wool) or Soil (Freedom Farms, green bag), never done coco ^^ a bit the opinion.. you want it easy, you go soil, you don't have the balls to go hydro, you go coco

 

Happy growing

How much power does the 144 pull in veg setting? Do you only run the light on the battery or do you run some fans with it? Good to have a you here to give advise on eskom's shit. What inverter di you run with tje battery?

[Prom]

I didn't measure the draw exactly. Battery is rather old, made a test, worked ^^ so I went with it.

I use a 100AH Lead Crystal Battery I bought 9 years ago for my 3d printer.. to compensate for Eskon outages 

Fully charged, I had the battery running with a 144, Veg only, for 3.5 hours and the 1000w inverter didn't went safety shut down. After 2.5 hours Eskom time, the battery charger tells me, 3/4 empty, as soon as it kicks back in. My next step are solar panels, at least have no cost during day time for power, not sure I wanna store 24/7. The 144 has build in ventilation and doesn't really heat up only on veg

Costs: 100AH battery (about 2500 for a normal car battery or 3800 for a Lead Crystal dry battery (doesn't mind if you completely empty it, charges back to full with no hassle), 800 bugs Inverter 1000w (takealot).. I over sized mine, so it runs more efficient on low draw.. cooler. A grow light able only to do veg mode to save one buttload of battery power. Isn't that expensive if you calculate. Have a batch of germinated Gelato's in.. and don't give a damn about Eskom  and 2 144 light up 1.2x1.2 (4x4).. what is my veg section in the big tent

My tents ventilation is 12V too, my hydro tent (1.2x60) running a arduino system, giving me the top, medium and bottom temp, humidity and OK for all systems (fans and fertilizer flow) to my tablet. It also automatically mixes my hydro fertilizer(1ml exact), PH regulates it (0.1 exact) and when done, pumps it in the main tank for circulation ( that includes PH changes in the main tank, main tank PH is checked by the system every hour and lets me know if needed). Does the ratio mixing automatically for the week plan i selected, when I germinated the seeds, 8-14 week plan selectable. At the end I just want to play with the plants ^^ and clean out after each batch. Rest.. working on a laser distance sensor setup, so the light is always on the right distance (stepper motor), without me fiddling with it and the CO2 generators get 50% emptied and refilled with sugar water each day. I am a programmer and drone specialist, I really enjoy automating my stuff. 

At the moment i swap the light by hand, when Eskom goes down. I have the relays and volt sensors on order (post office here drives you nuts) to let the arduino system do the switch.  I get lazy ^^

 

Hope that helped a little bit to get an idea how simple it is to take Eskom out of the picture.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Prom
Forgot to answer 144 fan question ^^ build in

[PsyCLown]

Welcome!

 

Enjoy your stay!   

In terms of potency, I have yet to see an autoflower reach potency levels which the photoperiods reach.

The higher autoflowers I have seen have been around 26% THC - while still respectable, not the over 30% which is now being seen on some photoperiod strains.

 

With that being said, auto's certainly have their place and I will most likely be growing more in the future  

[Prom]

I should say.. from my opinion and growing experiences, i call myself a intermediate grower. I live at a really windy spot.. good to have no issue with spider mites, but still, not helping with keeping things on the plant 

I pull my hat in front any hobby grower reaching 30% with outdoor..  i fail miserably with outdoor. looks nice but never reaches my indoor potency. Strangely I also have way less hassle to determine when to harvest indoor. 

Also a short note to the hydro tent.. my better half send me shopping before I finished ^^ Not that you think I am a god walking among mortals. The system isn't perfect yet and I blew 42 pristine seeds on the software so far  but standing at 42 dead plants since December.. so fingers crossed, I have a working setup by April. Last time I was at Brackenfell, Hydroponics, had a chat with the guys, they would even consider to offer it, once it runs smooth. As mentioned, Post Office is driving me nuts  have a order i made in October and still wait for for my new set of measuring pumps. They should finalize my mixing tank and give the exact amounts I need. So that tent is not listed.. as is more killing things right now hehehe

The battery backup runs smooth since beginning of January. Can really recommend that and the cost.. if you need the light, yes, bit harsher ^^ but battery and inverter are 3000 Rand.. a batch of new seeds ^^ really worth it. With the Mars 144 you still have the option to run it flowering mode too and use the space till the end. So for tents 1.2x0.6 to 1.2x1.2 (2 lights), they are a great choice (in regards to eskom). Flowering stage, I prefer full spectrum boards. 

Something else I forgot to mention in regards to Eskom.. you actually do not need a grow light to cheat the light receptors on your plant and keep the inner clock. You get those battery driven LED lamps at PnP, bulky little blocks. you can plug them into the power socket and they go automatically on, if the plug has no power anymore. 2 of those per 1.2x1.2 area, fix installed pointing down, should keep your plants inner light circle on! I just had the stuff anyhow to run the veg light as usual. But just enough light inside your tent should work. If your wallet doesn't has the load.. that is the cheapest option to show Eskom the finger.. and they activate without any switching by them self. Plants will just not grow during that time.

 

So.. enough typing ^^ time to pamper the babies  

 

Pic of one of my out door plants from last year.. looked good.. was okisch to smoke (Jack Herer)

 

 

 

[Prom]

White Widow Auto, indoor.. about 3 weeks out

 

[Prom]

As Eskom just had me down.. made a pic of the 144 running.. as you see.. doesn't need much  as soon as the Gelatos flower, I dump the next 10 seeds in the glass. The 8 Autos have just to endure ^^ I ran into my 1000w generator.. not starting, but I might service it to keep the Ts3000s going too. Sheet says, they draw 480 max.. so 2.. might be a close call but 1 for sure.  Generator is digital output, so the electricity is hopefully clean enough to run those lights.. will find out over the weekend... they state clear on the lamp.. only regulated power as input.

The 12v battery also runs the fans for the TS-3000's to keep their cool, i turn those off during power failure. Nice lights, they make light.. but what makes a lot of light, creates heat. If you think into getting those.. they need their own fan and will bring heat. I had a 144 running in a 1.2x0.6 (for a home size tent, i would go for that size, easiest to reach each plant.. and you get 8 autos in) without any extraction fan going, just opened all exits and put mosquito netting in. Fan for inside circulation.. never went over 26, as long as the room was not over 26. So the 144 isn't really creating that much heat. Nice lamp.. would be my recommendation for a beginner to start and doesn't uses to much electricity either. 

 

[SkunkPharm]

Thank you

Sent from my VTR-L09 using Tapatalk

[Prom]

If you run fems, I would just go with white light.. enough light will trick your plants.. just not grow anymore. Autos... they have a rather short veg phase, and when Eskom shuts you down 1-2 times a day, after a week you lost a day, after 2 weeks.. 2.. that is serious grow time for Autos. Only reason I power a grow light and take the hassle. Fems you decide when you want to go flower, so you lose 1-2 days if you just use normal LED backup lights you get easy in SA ^^ all super markets have them. The 220 plug in and auto start with a power failure, needs no manual switching at all, easy and cheap solution. If you have Autos.. running a veg light just makes sense, but isn't also imperative.