5x5 LED - T-Time grow time

[T-Time]

And they somehow happy again


No day goes without any improvements so I cleaned up all the extension lead mess. SmartSwitch labled as "Lights" is supplying power to main lights , pump that cools them and top fans.


I was thinking before to shield all the smart switches from the plants. Does anyone know does those switches need wifi to work or do they store programs on them and once done they dont need any network to work ? Need to do some research myself but maybe someone have that knowledge and could chime in, that would be great

 

[Rocket Soul]

Im still not able to figure out your lighting, is it all above or some on the sides? Your setup is well impressive, its great to see someone make this work so well. Whenever i mention this to my more experienced grower-friend he says it would be a major hassle to make work out with airmovement and all.

Edit, i had a better look in the first posts and i thinkni understand. Side lighting, from the front, right? But also something from the back end of the box?
Also how do you work out the hanging "height" or is width a better word? What kind of distance between cobs and plabts and at what wattage? Did you ever see bleaching leaves as it seems you have them quite close.

 

[T-Time]

Pretty simple really.

Bars are hanged in front of plants about 30cm (12") away from them. There is 50cm (19.7") gap between each bar and 20 cobs are mounted ~38cm (15") apart. Top and bottom bar is tilted inwards maybe 30°. Lights are cooled from the res at the bottom. Water goes inline through each bar and gets cooled by the car radiator before it goes back to the res. Radiator is mounted on the tent intake so all the heat is taken out from the lights and put back into tent space. At the very bottom theres is tent exhaust with a motorised air damper , connected to thermostat that I programe. If it gets too hot, damper is opening up the exhaust and cooling the tent. If its too cold , thermostat is closing (not fully) air damper and the temps are rising. Its nice lil system to controll the temps inside. I was worried more about light efficiency but I think it will pay off more to keep the plants cosy , rather then the lights super cool. They are getting cooled anyway but when damper is in closed position (30°) , cooling is limited by air flow that goes through the radiator. Water temp never gets over 35°C.
There are two 16" fans at the top pushing the air (against it own will) to the bottom. I might add third one later.
Lights are 1000 wall watts but ~950W when accounting for a driver losses. When ladies get flipped and show any sights of flower, they're getting full power.

No sight of bleaching other then odd leaf that gets too close to the lights.
I hope it makes sense

Quick drawing for You

 

[Rocket Soul]

Pretty simple really.

Bars are hanged in front of plants about 30cm (12") away from them. There is 50cm (19.7") gap between each bar and 20 cobs are mounted ~38cm (15") apart. Top and bottom bar is tilted inwards maybe 30°. Lights are cooled from the res at the bottom. Water goes inline through each bar and gets cooled by the car radiator before it goes back to the res. Radiator is mounted on the tent intake so all the heat is taken out from the lights and put back into tent space. At the very bottom theres is tent exhaust with a motorised air damper , connected to thermostat that I programe. If it gets too hot, damper is opening up the exhaust and cooling the tent. If its too cold , thermostat is closing (not fully) air damper and the temps are rising. Its nice lil system to controll the temps inside. I was worried more about light efficiency but I think it will pay off more to keep the plants cosy , rather then the lights super cool. They are getting cooled anyway but when damper is in closed position (30°) , cooling is limited by air flow that goes through the radiator. Water temp never gets over 35°C.
There are two 16" fans at the top pushing the air (against it own will) to the bottom. I might add third one later.
Lights are 1000 wall watts but ~950W when accounting for a driver losses. When ladies get flipped and show any sights of flower, they're getting full power.

No sight of bleaching other then odd leaf that gets too close to the lights.
I hope it makes sense

Quick drawing for You
View attachment 4188595

Impressive setup! Especially the bit of using the heat from watercooling to control the temps inside. Not sure i get all of it, whats the point of closing and opening the exhaust when you could achieve the same by controlling the exhaust fanspeed with a thermostat?

 

[T-Time]

Impressive setup! Especially the bit of using the heat from watercooling to control the temps inside. Not sure i get all of it, whats the point of closing and opening the exhaust when you could achieve the same by controlling the exhaust fanspeed with a thermostat?

Thanks RS
TD-silent cant be slowed down unfortunately and I wont go for anything else as they are too loud so it is what it is. For now ...

 

[lukio]

TD-silent cant be slowed down

i slow mine down, bro.

 

[T-Time]

i slow mine down, bro.

What do You use ?
Do You have any thermostat build in ?

 

[lukio]

nah i just run em half speed in veg and turn them up in flower. use these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILENT-FAN-SPEED-CONTROLLER-VENTILATION-HYDROPONICS/170283484665?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

got two 6 inchers wired into one box at the mo, works a treat.

i dont have a thermostat

 

[T-Time]

I would like to have some automation so there would be less of my input.
SMS Hybrid controller is pretty spendy for my taste. I have already air damper that does the same thing. I think I will stay with my setup for now.

Thanks for showing me other options anyway fellas

 

[T-Time]

Does anyone know whats inside Canna D-Block bottle ?
I recently bought one but am having an afterthought if its safe to use alongside mycos and bennies.
Any thought on that one?

Think, I will be flipping in a day or two.

 

[lukio]

think youre meant to start using that kinda product from the start. mid run may cause problems if i remember correctly....? im not hundred percent though

 

[T-Time]

think youre meant to start using that kinda product from the start. mid run may cause problems if i remember correctly....? im not hundred percent though

You are right. If the salts are acumutaled in the medium then it could be problem when they are all released at once. I think I did good job giving them enough runoff since start , so dont think that would be a problem.

On the other note.
I was thinking for a while that once smartpots breathe on the sides they dont on the bottom and tried to think a solution to a problem (or creating problem to introduce solution ?) and found those IKEA LÄMPLIG stand for hot pots/pans. They would raise pots just 5-8mm, but there would be full air circulation around the pot and in winter time pots wouldnt stand on cold metal at lights out. At 1.50€ each, it's not that expensive not to try and they fit exactly inside the trays. Winning

What do You think ? Overthinking it a bit ?

 

[lukio]

thats a great shout. recently been trying those root pouch/pot things and raising them like that is something thats annoyed me! was thinking about buying oven grills or some kinda mesh to raise em, but...ive decide to stick with airpots cause theyre raised and are easier to pot up AND re use...unless thats just me...my re potting of those pouches is ummmm not the smoothest, hahah!

 

[T-Time]

Yup, there are pros and cons as to everything.
Option of raising the bottom of airpots is great! You can get 18L pot and install the bottom couple of levels higher adjusting their capacity or just air prune roots so they wouldnt stand in the saucers. I just hated how messy they were, soil everywhere. Especially when hand watering.
Im vegging in standard pots so up potting isnt a big deal but I know what You're talking about. They dont slide out fabric pots easily. Whatever works for You mate

Next time I'll cut those pots to make them even smaller , gaining some height in the process. I dont thing they filled the 8L pots with roots yet and Im switiching soon so that extra coco is a waste. That thread that You send me send gave me few good ideas. Went through 131pages in few days, theres so much great info there !!!!I
If anyone want to grow in coco I would recommend reading this one https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241341

 

[T-Time]

Flipped to 11.5/12.5 today.

 

[T-Time]

Noticed my runoff EC is about 0.2-0.3 smaller then what I put in. Is that normal ?

I stopped using D-Block from Canna. It was causing PH rise in the res. I've got no response from Canna whats in the bottle and if its safe for fungi and bacteria.
I've wrote to MegaCrop and TNC as well.

MC said their product is compatible with any other product on the market so it should be safe to use it with D-Block.

TNC reply was:
"I can't find much info on it, but it appears to be an Ammonium polycarboxylate solution, a detergent.
I don't imagine this will be good for the biology. It may be better to ask Canna directly on this one."

I dont like adjusting PH every day and now am not sure if its a good idea to use it with other products. Will keep it for cleaning job after every round and inline filter will have to do for the blockages.

As is today:
EC: 1.15
Temp 31°C
RH 61%

Hard to get them all in one shot...

 

[Rocket Soul]

Noticed my runoff EC is about 0.2-0.3 smaller then what I put in. Is that normal ?

I stopped using D-Block from Canna. It was causing PH rise in the res. I've got no response from Canna whats in the bottle and if its safe for fungi and bacteria.
I've wrote to MegaCrop and TNC as well.

MC said their product is compatible with any other product on the market so it should be safe to use it with D-Block.

TNC reply was:
"I can't find much info on it, but it appears to be an Ammonium polycarboxylate solution, a detergent.
I don't imagine this will be good for the biology. It may be better to ask Canna directly on this one."

I dont like adjusting PH every day and now am not sure if its a good idea to use it with other products. Will keep it for cleaning job after every round and inline filter will have to do for the blockages.

As is today:
EC: 1.15
Temp 31°C
RH 61%

Hard to get them all in one shot...
View attachment 4192623

Using Megacrop and TNC together? Which TNC product, bactorr?
Id love to hear your opinion. How do you use the bennies? In the res directly or brewing a tea? How long do you figure its safe to leave a res of nutes with TNC in it?
Megacrop and TNC bennies sounds like a very nice KISS combo.

 

[T-Time]

Using Megacrop and TNC together? Which TNC product, bactorr?
Id love to hear your opinion. How do you use the bennies? In the res directly or brewing a tea? How long do you figure its safe to leave a res of nutes with TNC in it?
Megacrop and TNC bennies sounds like a very nice KISS combo.

Mycorr MAX when repoting straight to the coco and Bactorr fed by hand every two weeks. There is only MC in the res. Bennies would make a mess in it.

 

[T-Time]

Filling the space nicely. Since switch to multifeed (since flip fed 3x a day) they definitely speeded up.

Funny how I run EC @ 1.2 this run at same stage as last run was @2.5! It must be the switch from Xtreme Gardening to TNC mykos as the rest is pretty much the same
Saving on nutes big time!!! That 10kg bag of MC will last me 20years now insted od 10

 

[ttystikk]

How are the water cooled lights working?