Loadshedding

[Apoche Alypse]

Hi guys,

I couldn't find any threads related to loadshedding and hope I'm asking in the correct category. 

I've been speaking to other growers about loadshedding and everyone says it's impossible to grow indoor with loadshedding. Well, I don't agree that it's impossible, it's harder but not impossible because I've been growing through loadshedding for years now. 2022 was the worst year thus far to grow with the amount of loadshedding we've been having. My yields suffered a lot and the last grow with stage 6 caused much stress to my plants and for the first time I had a major problem with seeds in my bud. 

For my current run I got a 100w rechargeable led that I use when LS hits. I hope this will reduce stress so that they don't push out seeds again. 

My biggest problem with LS is keeping RH under control because it sometimes goes above 90% when the fans go off. 

So anyway, this is the only place I trust to get solid answers to my questions. What do you guys think about growing during LS, is it impossible? What do you guys do to mitigate the effects of LS? Is everyone still doing indoor during power crisis or am I crazy? I'm starting to think the people I'm speaking to don't fully understand the grow cycle of the plant or maybe it's me that's confused. 

TIA for your feedback, happy new year and may you harvest abundantly.

[Ill_Evan]

46 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

What do you guys think about growing during LS, is it impossible?

At permanent stage 6 it's gonna be hard. If it were somebody new I would tell them to start really small so that if they got really into it they can at least then invest in a small trolley inverter for the whole system and keep it small scale. For somebody growing not just for themselves then it's gonna be an issue. At this time I'd probably push towards outdoor/greenhouse if I hadn't already put so much into the indoor space already. 

52 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

What do you guys do to mitigate the effects of LS?

Live in an area excluded from loadshedding, and when the cables get stolen from time to time use a inverter/battery/solar system.

Even then, if the power is out for a day and it's cloudy outside the batteries would only last about 4 hours and that's running maybe at 25% light output. What I usually do if I expect a long time with no power is I at the very least run the ventilation and then put the lighting schedule to run on/off in 3 hour intervals if in veg stage. If in flower stage I leave the schedule as is. 

1 hour ago, Apoche Alypse said:

Is everyone still doing indoor during power crisis or am I crazy?

Oh yeah dude. Guys are making plans out here. The indoor must flow. 

[CoolJ]

I'm not usually worried about LS in my area with max 2 hours out twice a day but now with stage 6 it might cause some issues but my main concern was the RH spike and stagnant air I got a small rechargeable fan that helps airflow I'm looking to add another just to get air moving abit more but haven't had any PM issues yet. 

[Apoche Alypse]

57 minutes ago, Ill_Evan said:

permanent stage 6 it's gonna be hard. If it were somebody new I would tell them to start really small so that if they got really into it they can at least then invest in a small trolley inverter for the whole system and keep it small scale. For somebody growing not just for themselves then it's gonna be an issue. At this time I'd probably push towards outdoor/greenhouse if I hadn't already put so much into the indoor space already. 

Stage 6 is going to be really tough and eskom forecast for the year is looking bleak. I haven't considered an inverter before, I heard it's quite pricey and my wife already says I treat my plants better than I treat her and the kids, now I'm gonna come home with an inverter to keep them lit while I sit with her in the dark, so will probably need to get 2, lol. But that's good idea. 

 

1 hour ago, Ill_Evan said:

and when the cables get stolen from time to time use a inverter/battery/solar system

Battery not a bad idea to keep a fan running, but solar is definitely out of the budget. 

 

1 hour ago, Ill_Evan said:

yeah dude. Guys are making plans out here. The indoor must flow.

You know what I'm saying bro, this is South Africa, ons maak n plan, lol. We can't just give up.

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

only started growing indoor a few days ago, so cant give opinion yet. still no battery backup yet as well. apparently they are working on reducing load shedding by doing maintenance or some shit so hope stage 6 disappears in a few months.

im still not sure how we are supposed to go through flower with load shedding, someone on this forum said indoors is possible and i bought 2 lights. maybe some kind of 4/4 light cycle? im sure some maths will be involved?

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

3 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

I haven't considered an inverter before, I heard it's quite pricey and my wife already says I treat my plants better than I treat her and the kids, now I'm gonna come home with an inverter to keep them lit while I sit with her in the dark, so will probably need to get 2, lol.

lol hoor hoor

[Apoche Alypse]

36 minutes ago, CoolJ said:

I'm not usually worried about LS in my area with max 2 hours out twice a day but now with stage 6 it might cause some issues but my main concern was the RH spike and stagnant air I got a small rechargeable fan that helps airflow I'm looking to add another just to get air moving abit more but haven't had any PM issues yet. 

Same here bro, I didn't really feel it with normal LS but stage 6 is another story, now I've got the light and RH to worry about. You say you use a rechargeable fan to keep air moving. What size fan? One of those small ones? Does it help to reduce RH? That'll be a great solution if it can work in my grow space. 

[CoolJ]

11 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

Same here bro, I didn't really feel it with normal LS but stage 6 is another story, now I've got the light and RH to worry about. You say you use a rechargeable fan to keep air moving. What size fan? One of those small ones? Does it help to reduce RH? That'll be a great solution if it can work in my grow space. 

Its small one see below, doesn't bring RH down much but at least the air doesn't stand still in the tent. 

[Apoche Alypse]

9 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

apparently they are working on reducing load shedding by doing maintenance or some shit so hope stage 6 disappears in a few months.

I really hope that's true bro, nevermind the growing, I don't see how we or the economy gonna survive permanent stage 6.

 

11 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

still not sure how we are supposed to go through flower with load shedding, someone on this forum said indoors is possible

It's definitely still possible to grow indoor, I was just doubting myself because everyone said it's not possible, even though I've been growing through LS all this time. 

The way I understand it is that canna doesn't depend on light to flower, it needs a 12 hour uninterrupted dark period to flower, the light period is just to support the the growth and bulk of the flower, so loadshedding minimises the light received which reduces yield and quality. But with stage 6, it just stresses the plant out way too much so you need to make a plan with some kind of supplementary light just to keep them in their cycle. 

Good luck with your new grow, hope it works out.

[Apoche Alypse]

5 minutes ago, CoolJ said:

Its small one see below, doesn't bring RH down much but at least the air doesn't stand still in the tent. 

That's a decent size, will definitely look at getting one, it's a battle against pm, need all the help I can get. 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

im planning on having a dehu sometime feb/march to deal with the rh during lights off. im wondering will it help to reduce rh to low 50s during lights on, or will it just creep up back to 90 during lights off

[Ill_Evan]

29 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

im planning on having a dehu sometime feb/march to deal with the rh during lights off. im wondering will it help to reduce rh to low 50s during lights on, or will it just creep up back to 90 during lights off

Humidity will always vary with the weather. Right now it's pegged in the low 30's for me lights on or off. As soon as it starts raining again or I am in late flower, that's when I'll slap the humidifier on to max and let it do it's thing. 

Edit: The biggest factor to humidity in a tent is ventilation. You have to suck the air out of the tent and then preferably outside a window. If it's just blasting the air back into the room you will definitely need a dehumidifier regardless to manage the general environment. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Ill_Evan

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

5 minutes ago, Ill_Evan said:

Humidity will always vary with the weather. Right now it's pegged in the low 30's for me lights on or off. As soon as it starts raining again or I am in late flower, that's when I'll slap the humidifier on to max and let it do it's thing. 

i will be in late flower come late march with 12 plants in a 1.8x1.5 area ,rh 49 temp 26.9 currently with 2 600w hps lights what kind of rh can i expect at that time without a dehu

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

24 minutes ago, Ill_Evan said:

The biggest factor to humidity in a tent is ventilation. You have to suck the air out of the tent and then preferably outside a window. If it's just blasting the air back into the room you will definitely need a dehumidifier regardless to manage the general environment. 

the room has 3 vents to outside. 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

side question @Apoche Alypsewhy don't you grow outdoor and skip the inverted all together

[Apoche Alypse]

34 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

side question @Apoche Alypsewhy don't you grow outdoor and skip the inverted all together

Yes I do grow outdoor as well, in fact I have a little greenhouse setup. I veg them indoor, the loadshedding doesn't have a big effect during veg, then I flower them in the greenhouse most of the year. But indoor is where I really get the most out my plants, ito quality so I don't want to give up on it. 

[GreenGalaxyFarm]

yes veg is very important stage as well to get optimal results

edit; i have either a cat or dog who eats fan leaves off of my plants outside. and then there's the wind damage they contend with green house sounds about good, did you construct yourself?have log?

Edited January 12, 2023 by GreenGalaxyFarm

[Apoche Alypse]

45 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

i will be in late flower come late march with 12 plants in a 1.8x1.5 area ,rh 49 temp 26.9 currently with 2 600w hps lights what kind of rh can i expect at that time without a dehu

In cape Town I find that humidity usually picks up around that time of the year, a few years ago I had a big problem with pm on my outdoor plants during this time. It might be different if you're in another part of SA. If you can get a dehumidifier before then it'll be a big help to keep RH down,especially if you gonna be in late flower. 

[Apoche Alypse]

6 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

yes veg is very important stage as well to get optimal results

edit; i have either a cat or dog who eats fan leaves off of my plants outside. and then there's the wind damage they contend with green house sounds about good, did you construct yourself?have log?

Greenhouse will definitely help with wind and uninvited visitors. Yep I built it myself, nothing fancy, just basic to keep the wind at bay and try to minimize pollination from anyone growing males in the area. 

But here's a link from this forum from someone who shared their log with us. 

 

[Weskush]

Howzit guys. Ive got a couple of clones in a humidity dome on a shelf in the garage. 30w led floodlight on 18/6 timer. With loadshedding, this throws a bit of a fork in the cork of course.How many hours of interruption in light cycles will have a significant effect on my clones? 

[Apoche Alypse]

1 minute ago, Weskush said:

Howzit guys. Ive got a couple of clones in a humidity dome on a shelf in the garage. 30w led floodlight on 18/6 timer. With loadshedding, this throws a bit of a fork in the cork of course.How many hours of interruption in light cycles will have a significant effect on my clones? 

Howsit Bro, I was just speaking to my cousin about this today. He was worried about his clones not rooting because of LS. I haven't had any problems with clones though, I keep the lights on 24/7 for mine, I use those cheap 100w globes (R12 each), So even if LS is 4 hours it still doesn't affect the rooting. I don't know what the threshold is before they get affected but maybe keep your lights on 24hrs, they should be fine. I have some in the dome at the moment and they're starting to root after just over a week. 

[CoolJ]

7 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

Howsit Bro, I was just speaking to my cousin about this today. He was worried about his clones not rooting because of LS. I haven't had any problems with clones though, I keep the lights on 24/7 for mine, I use those cheap 100w globes (R12 each), So even if LS is 4 hours it still doesn't affect the rooting. I don't know what the threshold is before they get affected but maybe keep your lights on 24hrs, they should be fine. I have some in the dome at the moment and they're starting to root after just over a week. 

That's what I'm doing with my veg plants now with stage 6, lights on 24/7 and let LS determine the dark periods will see how things are end of month and see when to flip. 

[CoolJ]

1 hour ago, Ill_Evan said:

Humidity will always vary with the weather. Right now it's pegged in the low 30's for me lights on or off. As soon as it starts raining again or I am in late flower, that's when I'll slap the humidifier on to max and let it do it's thing. 

Edit: The biggest factor to humidity in a tent is ventilation. You have to suck the air out of the tent and then preferably outside a window. If it's just blasting the air back into the room you will definitely need a dehumidifier regardless to manage the general environment. 

100% agreed on both points. I first tried to use the dehu in the tent but didn't notice much difference because I was was just exhausting into the room. Now I try to control the RH of the room and that brings down the RH in the tent. 

[Ill_Evan]

13 hours ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

i will be in late flower come late march with 12 plants in a 1.8x1.5 area ,rh 49 temp 26.9 currently with 2 600w hps lights what kind of rh can i expect at that time without a dehu

Roughly up to 60% in my experience, which isn't terrible but also not totally optimal. If it were to spike higher at any point you'd be at risk of PM at the worst time, hence I use the dehumidifier at that time to make sure it doesn't go any higher than 50% at the very least. 

 

12 hours ago, Weskush said:

How many hours of interruption in light cycles will have a significant effect on my clones? 

Anything more than 6 straight hours of uninterrupted darkness will start to cause problems. Do as @Apoche Alypse said and just run 24/7, you'll get the recommended darkness periods for clones/veg whenever loadshedding hits. 

[Prom]

Is also a bit strain depended how they behave. Most strains are not to difficult, some go flower when you just take off 2 hours light time.. my JetFuel is one of those... rest didn't cause me to much stress with Stage 6.

During day i empty the veg tent outside. With the flower tent I take the hit and just vent by hand. Sleep gets a bit the issue