That's actually a good setup. You add CO2?my grow is now in a unheated garage in michigan.the garage was insulated by previous owner.when i built my veg and flower rooms using osb for the walls,i insulated with fiberglass r13 inside the previously insulated garage.my mini split runs but minimal even in winter.my dehumidifer stablizes the temps since humidity spikes during lights out and 200 watts of cxb do not add enough on their own in veg to heat both rooms.i exchange air between both rooms with 2 6 inch vortex style fans.the mini split is cooling not heating in winter.lights on in flower is around 2000 watts and 200 watts in veg.dehumidifier does a real good job adding heat during lights out.
yesi have a on demand water heater hooked up to a titan apollo 3 co2 controller.That's actually a good setup. You add CO2?
Nice!yesi have a on demand water heater hooked up to a titan apollo 3 co2 controller.
I know you do a lot of experimenting and comparison grows, so you wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't found for yourself that it worked for you. Sorry, I haven't followed this thread regularly so I don't know if you've discussed this already... but what benefit have you found from defoliation?WARNING: If you do not like defoliation, and it sickens you to see stripped down plants, please leave the thread now and come back in 2-3 days you will not be happy with tonight's pics.
To explain it as simple and short as I can the basics is the defoliation allowing light lower let's side and lower growth explode as fan leaves grow back and it's another method to bush out your plants but without having to top or fim which stresses the plants more. I never topped those two GG#4 clones and look at them.I know you do a lot of experimenting and comparison grows, so you wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't found for yourself that it worked for you. Sorry, I haven't followed this thread regularly so I don't know if you've discussed this already... but what benefit have you found from defoliation?
Cool, I can see how that could work. There are so many ways to go about this depending on the outcome you're after. I've only defoliated as a response to PM, so I had no point of comparison. Have you done a side by side comparison with two of the same strain, one defoliated and the other not? The part I hesitate about is the idea that defoliation is less stressful than topping and fim'ing. They all seem stressful to me.To explain it as simple and short as I can the basics is the defoliation allowing light lower let's side and lower growth explode as fan leaves grow back and it's another method to bush out your plants but without having to top or fim which stresses the plants more. I never topped those two GG#4 clones and look at them.
In one of my other threads you can see where I grew three sour hound auto's in the same tent side by side. One I left alone, the other I defoliated only, the third was topped and defoliated. The plant left alone yielded me the least, the topped and defoliated the plant the most, and the plant just defoliated in between the other two.Cool, I can see how that could work. There are so many ways to go about this depending on the outcome you're after. I've only defoliated as a response to PM, so I had no point of comparison. Have you done a side by side comparison with two of the same strain, one defoliated and the other not? The part I hesitate about is the idea that defoliation is less stressful than topping and fim'ing. They all seem stressful to me.
For an indoor grow, it's not as big an issue because if I stress the plant and it needs recovery time I can allow for that. In an outdoor grow where I live (a short season with a sort of weather induced hard stop around October 1st) anything that stresses the plant to the point of slowing down it's finish time would be a problem. Also, stressed plants are more susceptible to disease, which happens here at the wet end of the season. I guess that all has made me more interested in low stress growing techniques.
I respect that you try things and go with what works for you, that's why I asked. I think there are probably a lot of ways to get results. For instance, I've tried doing staggered harvests where I take the top colas when they are ready and then lower the lights and let the rest of the plant have more time to finish. I've had mixed results with that, and it can add weeks to a grow so I'm always open to other techniques. The thing is, it seems some strains will grow almost no matter what you do to them, so I'm trying to average multiple data points from various grows.In one of my other threads you can see where I grew three sour hound auto's in the same tent side by side. One I left alone, the other I defoliated only, the third was topped and defoliated. The plant left alone yielded me the least, the topped and defoliated the plant the most, and the plant just defoliated in between the other two.
For me now it's really more of a habit to prevent PM and what not and help with air flow. We all have different styles and not everything fits everyone. This fits in with my growing and the way I like to see my plants grow out is all. It's not for everyone and I understand that. I am simply showing what I do in this thread, not trying to convince anyone to do the same. I am very aware that I do several things that are not the "norm", especially with the auto's, but this is just me and what continues to work for me. Every grow since my move has continued to get better quality and yield wise. So until I hit a plateau of some kind I will keep doing what I'm doing. I have been trying this time to only top once or not at all and defoliate and see how it goes and well, you see how the Gorilla Glue girls are coming along. You can also see my ghost pepper plant which I topped, mainlined, and defoliated before tossing outside in the other thread. My brother bought a seedling from the same place the same day and his plant is no where near mine in size and structure.
Ok rant over
PS- Ask @Tim Fox how his defoliating has gone with his Narcotic Kush
I have tried that too and agree with your findings. Why I stopped messing with it. If you're going to open upp a plant and get light down lower it's best (IMO) to do it from the get go in flower. You can tell where bud sights will be so it doesn't take much to tie back a few branches or super crop the taller ones etc.I respect that you try things and go with what works for you, that's why I asked. I think there are probably a lot of ways to get results. For instance, I've tried doing staggered harvests where I take the top colas when they are ready and then lower the lights and let the rest of the plant have more time to finish. I've had mixed results with that, and it can add weeks to a grow so I'm always open to other techniques. The thing is, it seems some strains will grow almost no matter what you do to them, so I'm trying to average multiple data points from various grows.
Thanks for the reply, it's all good info.
i have an 18 gallon tote that is filled 2/3 with water.the utility pump is in there.the controller turns pump on and is only on for maybe 15 to 30 seconds.the hot water is returned to the tote.i tried a 5 gallon bucket but the water would get too hot and the water heater would not turn on then.Nice!
What do you do with the hot water?