So, update time. Yeah, I'm soooo bummed the Magic Merlin crashed and burned, but it's going to make for some happy hash makers! Meanwhile, the rest of the room looks great- all five are ripening and thickening, some are looking more like monster chunks against an open mesh, others more like a lumpy, curving green flying carpet o' buds, lol- yeah, that would be the Blue Dream!
So while the Magic Merlin was in trouble, she threw stress nanners- and they seeded. So, the room could be seed weed, which would piss me off, indeed! Oh well, move forward. The ultimate cause of this was poor design of the RDWC hoses in this room. Since this was my first multi group tubsite setup, I thought I could get away with one hose back to the control bucket from each pair of tubs. This turned out badly, so the rule is always two or more, to thwart clogs.
In this case, the clog backed up the water in the tub, it overfilled and drowned the stem, causing the stem to rot. It wasn't bad luck, and tracing all the way back to root causes teaches lessons that lead to continual improvement.
On to happier subjects! With some help and more wrestling, I completed my first four trellis Super Silo; this one stands six feet above the tubsites, about five feet in diameter, has four tubsites and presents 100 ft² to two thouies, one hung from the ceiling and the other standing on a tripod in the middle. So, this one is two feet taller and one foot wider than the two plant, 50 ft² silo. In other words, double the interior growing space, complete with double the watts to light it- but not double the footprint. INTERESTING!
I bought a big fan to blow upwards through the center, to bring cool air from floor level and blow it upwards to both move heat from the bulbs out of the canopy, and provide a breeze on the plants. If this isn't sufficient, I'll add an 8" duct inlet collar on a 90 degree angle- and SUCK the heat from directly above the bulbs and stuff it right through the Icebox exchanger! This would be in addition to the first fan blowing from beneath.
I'm skipping the light mover for the moment because I want the thing up and running. If I can retrofit during the run I will- or just wait. With two bulbs, the light distribution pattern is going to be much better than with just one in any case. I'm lining the ceiling with Mylar, and beneath, covering the area around the sides of the fan and tripod beneath, I'm using more rigid reflective insulation board.
So, top and bottom will be covered in reflective materials and of course all the walls are directly in range, and 30" from a bare bulb. I'm thinkin' it's gotta be a nice place for some girls to hang out and do some personal growth... Might be nice for plants, too. LOL
I have a trophy crew in the veg tent bursting out of every seam- and growing directly into the MH thouie in the adjust-a-wing! High time to get them into their places! Tomorrow, the leak test will be finished- already went around it twice tonight, sometimes a drip is just slooow, lol