Warm feet for my plants

[Fridge]

Hi everyone,

yesterday evening I was thinking about how I can improve my outdoor grow.

Let me quickly explain how I got to my idea. I do germinate my seeds according to the moon. I checked and saw that fullmoon this year will be either on 1st of October or 31st of October if i remember correctly. Now germinating on the 1st of October is a bit of a gamble when it comes to night temps in the Western Cape. Last year I germinated in the end of September and we had quite a few nights that were around 10 degrees celsius, which can slow down growth. I grow a combination of Autoflowers and photoperiod plants so I am especially worried about the Autos as the do not forgive any mistake. I had decent results after all, but I think it might have been better to just wait a month for higher night temperatures... However I know it will be tough for me to wait for the 31st of october this year. I just want to plant asap because I am addicated to growing ! This is why I tried to come up with a solution. I think the most important thing is to keep the temperature around the roots around 20 degrees at night (correct me if you feel I am wrong here).

Ok so now this is my idea. I thought of using an aquarium heater in a water reservoir to keep the water around 20 degrees. A pump will pump water trough some tubing which will go directly through the soil in my fabric pots and will then be diverted back into the waterreservoir. So basically the heated water will circulate and keep the temperature around the roots at a nice temperature. I googled a bit and found a company that already did some research on this and it looks quite promising. Below you'll find a link if you're interested (it's going to be a PDF File).

http://rootssat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Roots-Heating-Cooling-Cannabis-FINAL.pdf

I will also add a little drawing I made soon for better understanding.

What do you think about this? Is it nonsense? Have you tried doing something like that already? Thanks a lot for your input.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Fridgedoor
Addad drawing for better understanding

[Bakstein420]

You could try using heat cable, rig it to a thermostat with a probe in the soil.

 https://rebelpets.co.za/shop/all-products/reptile-and-exotics/reptile-heating/reptile-heat-cable-20w-6-6m/

Take the above and connect to a sonoff. 

[SkunkPharm]

Just germinate indoors. Rather spend the cash on a decent veg light.

[ORGANinc.]

10 minutes ago, SkunkPharm said:

Just germinate indoors. Rather spend the cash on a decent veg light.

 @Fridgedoor and the bug bites... 

[SkunkPharm]

And If you have the light you can veg your plants in feb to start flower in late march. Then you have less issues with plants seeding. Some people still grows males. Fuck knows why.

[CreX]

If you wanted to insulate your outdoor pots, I wouldn't use the aquarium heater for that... I mean... Your idea is sound and should work... But it's not necessary for outdoor. 

I would rather make a foam barrier for your outdoor pots. 

You using fabric pots or plastic currently? 

This will be easier with plastic pots. 

Anyways, what you do is build a cardboard frame around the pot, leaving about 5cm on each side. 

Then you put your pot in a plastic bag so that the pot fits snug in the bag, then back into the box frame you made. 

Then get a tube of expands foam from builders, I think they have a range that's like 125 for 700ml. 

Spray that in between your gap and let it set. 

Bobs your Aunty and fannys your aunt, you have a cooler box for your pots to retain heat way better. 

I would do this over the pump and heater 

[Fridge]

Thanks guys for the input it's much appreciated .

What I normally do is germinate the seeds inside but put them out not long after the seedlings broke through the surface. 

Buying new things at the moment isn't an option (have been retrenched due to covid) so I need to make use of what I can use that's already available. 

However I like Crex's idea as I think these items are fairly cheap, so I might go that route...

I am not so much worried about my photoperiod plants, it's more something I have in mind for the Autoflowers.

Back to brainstorming. I am sure I will come up with more stuff.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Fridgedoor

[afternoon blazer]

1 hour ago, Fridgedoor said:

Thanks guys for the input it's much appreciated .

What I normally do is germinate the seeds inside but put them out not long after the seedlings broke through the surface. 

Buying new things at the moment isn't an option (have been retrenched due to covid) so I need to make use of what I can use that's already available. 

However I like Crex's idea as I think these items are fairly cheap, so I might go that route...

I am not so much worried about my photoperiod plants, it's more something I have in mind for the Autoflowers.

Back to brainstorming. I am sure I will come up with more stuff.

Howzit bro. Just some 2c.

I believe autos handle cold alot better then photo plants. 

So shouldnt u be worrying more about the temps for the photos?

[Fridge]

51 minutes ago, afternoon blazer said:

Howzit bro. Just some 2c.

I believe autos handle cold alot better then photo plants. 

So shouldnt u be worrying more about the temps for the photos?

Hi bro,

the photos have plenty of time to recover and are generally more forgiving when it comes to grower mistakes. When an Autoflower gets stunted you'll possibly end up with very little yield.

Yes, it's possible that autos are not as sensitive to lower temperatures due to the ruderalis genetics, but in general the rule of thumb is to try and not go lower than 15 degrees Celsius. Last season I grew them during coolish night temperatures and it went well. What I try to do this season is to fine tune my grow as much as possible.