Al B. FAQt

Al, are these any good?
Digital PH Meter Hydroponic Tester Aquarium Monitor Spa - eBay (item 230282678809 end time Aug-25-08 09:37:50 PDT)
EC Meter Water Test Orchid Plants Hydroponics Aquarium - eBay (item 310076957648 end time Aug-25-08 19:04:28 PDT)


This next one I don't know if it is the same thing that I've already showed ya.
Nutrient Truncheon Wand EC/PPM/CF Meter Hydroponic NR! - eBay (item 220271730034 end time Aug-24-08 05:47:49 PDT)

HM Digital TDS-3 Meter w/Case, TDS3,Temp, ppm,Tester - eBay (item 270267048725 end time Aug-26-08 08:39:49 PDT)
CO2 Regulator Solenoid - eBay (item 220271417437 end time Aug-27-08 10:56:48 PDT)

Have some more just in case thats not enough
Im still trying to figure out how to get my temps down. My problebma is location, location, location. Im upstairs with sorry insolation and even a more sorry a/c unit. I just wish there was something I could build to keep the room cool. I'll be better off when get my own place... with a basement.

temps around 78f rh 51

Chumlie said:

Al, are these any good?

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I would not buy cheap Chinese meters- especially not the knock offs of well known good products like the Bluelab Truncheon.

You can buy the cheap meters and they may work for a while but they won't last long. Better to buy well and buy once.

No need to parade every ebay listing you can find at me.

newportbeach949 said:

temps around 78f rh 51

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What's the nute strength & pH?

Sorry man, just trying to get by with the cheap stuff untill I can afford the good things. Right now I'm just practicing on dirt seed for later when I'm good I can buy the good ones, and it want be wasted.

Did you check out that regulator, I think I found a tank for it.
5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank | BeverageFactory.com

Hey, forget that regulator. I just thought about it, it don't have a silinoid on it.

al i got my ppm meter and i ot the blue labs one that measures ph ppm ec something else and temp i got my ph to 5.8 but i need some ph up apparently my nutes lower it alor so it was hard to get the ppm right and ph without ph up i only have the h down i was gonna do the 1400 but that just seems hig im gonna give it a couple days at 1100 and if thaty looks dificient ill add some more but heres the thing i dont know what mix of blom/calmag like how to judge how much of each one i need to add to get to the magic pm nember if you have input i also got my vent working so im now at 79-80 farenheit and ive grown good dank with higher temps 4 times so far also my water temp is 73 is this too high if so how much are chillers i cant afford one till i get harvest out again

Chumlie said:

Sorry man, just trying to get by with the cheap stuff untill I can afford the good things.

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Practise is always good, but if you can't fully trust your metering, problems may pop up that are caused by a cheap meter slowly gaining inaccuracy. You may not immediately identify the cause as a lying meter. Time counts when solving problems in a grow.

Good metering is a smart investment. My Bluelab Truncheon meter is 8 years old. They're a bit more now, but I paid about $90 for this one years back. That's $11.25 per year and getting cheaper! My Eutech pHScan1 meters (I have 2) are 5 and 7 years old and I replace electrodes on them every 2 years. About $112, new tips are about $60, tips are user-replaceable so the units don't ever have to leave here for factory service.

Did you check out that regulator, I think I found a tank for it.
5 lb. Aluminum Co2 Tank | BeverageFactory.com

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I'd rent an E sized (20lb?) cylinder, about $100/year. Find out how often you use that up before investing in your own tank. Remember that tanks have a service life, usually 10 years, after which time retails can refuse to fill them. It's probably financially smarter to own your own tank, but make sure the one you buy is big enough to keep you from having to fill too frequently.

Punctuate much, there btm? Sentences- they're more than just a good idea!

bigtittymilf said:

al i got my ppm meter and i ot the blue labs one that measures ph ppm ec something else and temp

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I wasn't aware that Bluelab has a pH & ppm combo meter- is that what you're trying to tell me?

i got my ph to 5.8 but i need some ph up apparently my nutes lower it alor so it was hard to get the ppm right and ph without ph up

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So you mixed nutes with plain water and got 5.8? No problem, you're there.

i only have the h down i was gonna do the 1400 but that just seems hig im gonna give it a couple days at 1100 and if thaty looks dificient ill add some more

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1400 is not high. It's in the middle of the bell curve. 1100 is a little low but probably won't show deficiencies, at least not immediately.

but heres the thing i dont know what mix of blom/calmag like how to judge how much of each one i need to add to get to the magic pm nember

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Don't use ANY CalMag unless you have correctly diagnosed Ca & Mg deficiencies. Both elements are in your nutes and in your tapwater. If you see a Ca or Mg deficiency, it could equally be caused by incorrect pH.

Check this chart stolen from St0ney on gardensecure.com

if you have input i also got my vent working so im not at 79-80 farenheit and ive grown good dank with higher temps 4 times so far

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So, what is the spread of temps indicated by your peak-memory thermometer right now?

also my water temp is 73 is this too high

if so how much are chillers i cant afford one till i get harvest out again

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Yes, but not terrible. Water loses most of its dissolved O2 at and above 25C (77F). It holds most O2 at 19C (67F) and down. You can cool your nutes with freezer packs or you can buy a nute chiller, search Google, you'll get a number of retailers sellling them.

i havent checked the spread i have to go fuck with the thermometer and see how to use it. yeah blue lab makes it it was 300 exacty for the meter and the calibration fluid. ill see if i can find a link to the meter its really nice one. i did see some mag def and everytime from my tap water i have had to add cal mag even in soil. and actually hen i mixed with nutes apparently botanicare nutes lower h so i had to get my ppm right but it dropped my ph to 4.8 so i had to add more tap water to raise it some and it dropped my pm to like 1100 so i just went with that.

Bluelab Combo Meter

here is the meter that i have it was worth every penny.

enjoy the punctuation dick lol lol lol just kidding man you have been more help to me than anyone else on the website.

i ment to say i am NOW at 79-80f but i hit the wrong button.

Im going to that damn blue lab; I'll just have save fifty buck out of this check and fifty out of two more. I can save to get it I just wish there was a closer place to get one cuz its the shipping that gets me when all added together. First Im going to have buy another 2' fluro.

Well you know I have the week older plant than the rest, and its coming up on its third week. Thats the time to change it to full ferts. Well should I change it or should I keep it the same for another week so the others can katsup What is your opion on watering and using ferts for couple week old seedlings anyways?

the blue lab combo meter is AWSOME you will be very happy with it i got mine form hydroshop i wont order anthing but i dont mind driving to shop its in another state so i dont have to wory aout local popo scopng it out

I'm not worried about the pigs in that way just don't want to pay the extra. Hey Al I know what I forgot to ask you. Did I read in one these post you asking for birth control pills for your plants? Whats that about? If you didn't please correct me.

lol yeah break up a yaz in the water everyday just make sure you dont miss a day or they will fuck up thier hormones and get really bitchy lol

What do the males do...loose there balls.

Al-
I found a evaporative cooler digital controller 115v--14 max amp with 2speed fan controller at Ace Hardware. Can this be used for my fans?(can fans)? The un it cost is $34.95 at ACE
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bigtittymilf said:

i havent checked the spread i have to go fuck with the thermometer and see how to use it.

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ok, it's usually not much harder than a reset button to clear the high & low values.

yeah blue lab makes it it was 300 exacty for the meter and the calibration fluid. ill see if i can find a link to the meter its really nice one.

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That looks NICE. The beauty of this particular combo meter is that it has not only separate electrodes but they'd be user replaceable, too. Well spotted. That's so cool I may just have to have one myself.

I hope it's as good as their TDS Truncheon. My TDS Truncheon is now 8 years old. However, Bluelab's recently introduced pHTruncheon was a dud. I had 3 of them before I gave up. Would not calibrate, gave error mesages when the unit was no more than a week old. My hydro wholesaler is taking returns on the pHT by the cartonload.

i did see some mag def and everytime from my tap water i have had to add cal mag even in soil. and actually hen i mixed with nutes apparently botanicare nutes lower h so i had to get my ppm right but it dropped my ph to 4.8 so i had to add more tap water to raise it some and it dropped my pm to like 1100 so i just went with that.

Click to expand...

Wracking my brain over this one. It would seem like low pH causing the Mg def, but you're shooting for 5.8, right? Any hydro nute mix will have Mg in quantities just behind those for N, P & K. Tapwater has quite a lot in most places, not enough to grow plants with, but certainly some, and the plants will use it.

here is the meter that i have it was worth every penny.

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I agree with you, looks pretty schmick.

enjoy the punctuation dick lol lol lol just kidding man you have been more help to me than anyone else on the website.

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You are SO much easier for me to read when you punctuate. I really do appreciate it. Gets your message across much better. I don't have to double up and ask for clarifications. Thank you for helping me help you.

i ment to say i am NOW at 79-80f but i hit the wrong button.

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Ah, OK, sounds reasonable, if that's your top temp. I know you've gotten crops through at higher temps in the past but you really will be impressed with what happens when you get the temps down to a steady 24-26C. You may have gotten a few outstanding producing plants and a few ordinary ones. Get the temps in the middle of the bell curve and more of them will do better.

Chumlie said:

Im going to that damn blue lab; I'll just have save fifty buck out of this check and fifty out of two more.

Click to expand...

Just one question- how much is an oz of bud in your area? How long would that last you?

What is your opion on watering and using ferts for couple week old seedlings anyways?

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Give 1/4 strength nutes when they seedlings have their 2nd set of 'true' leaves (3-bladed leaves). Go to 1/2 the following week and full boot thereafter.

Chumlie said:

Hey Al I know what I forgot to ask you. Did I read in one these post you asking for birth control pills for your plants? Whats that about? If you didn't please correct me.

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It was a wisecrack.

Putting BCPs on your plants yields little more than a pregnant girlfriend.

bigtittymilf said:

lol yeah break up a yaz in the water everyday just make sure you dont miss a day or they will fuck up thier hormones and get really bitchy lol

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Not enough dough in the world to pay me to be a chick. Love women to death, all the same glad they have to take care of the apparatus of feminininininity instead of me.

DR. VonDankenstine said:

Al-
I found a evaporative cooler digital controller 115v--14 max amp with 2speed fan controller at Ace Hardware. Can this be used for my fans?(can fans)?

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It'd probably work great as a thermostat for your fans, it sure has enough current switching capability, could switch a wind tunnel with 14A capacity.

As a side note, while we're on a related topic, we don't want any evap coolers in a grow room. They cool by putting water into the air and it's usually a battle to keep RH down in a grow.

Thank you- I was looking at the unit the other day. I do have an humidifier in my veg room---completely separate from flowering room--keeps my veg room at 40-45%RH. Have you built an electronic FUCT.tm humidifier controller yet? I could use one for my flowering room----get on it man.

Wow, you must have Sahara-like ambient air conds! You'd have one of those hen's-teeth rare ops that actually could benefit from a swamp cooler!

I'll get the design dept over at Fuct Engineering™ to get right on top of that humidistat. Considering the Fuct™ tradition of under-engineering and avoiding responsibility for innovation, I guess the first thing they'd need to find is a humidistat.

Woddya expect from an outfit named Fuct Engineering™? The drafting department is out back with the machinist, choofing a bucket bong. The stores girl had 2 hash brownies for breakfast and is too busy grooving to pirated MP3s to put up the parts inbound. I/T hooked up the mainframe's UPS to the air pumps in the grow op down in the car park. Everything's just Fu... errr.. well, you know.

i got my ww seed and im ready for em i just need 2 finish my ebb n flow system i was thinking of starting 6 plants in the rainforest do i can get it at my hydro store 4 100 dollars is that a good investment oh and i want to start with my 400 watt hps since its my first grow is that good??