bigbluesky
Member
Hey folks,
Wanted to share my science experiment, see if I find anyone who has attempted similar.
Back story is I built a shed with a 45 degree southern wall / roof made of glass, so it is a effectively a greenhouse. I have been growing heirloom tomatoes for a couple of years, and wanted to see if I could get tomatoes growing the winter. Then I decided it would be fun to grow some cannabis.
So this summer I started adding insulation and temperature management systems to greenhouse:
1. Insulation
2. Magnesium oxide board (mold and moisture resistance)
3. Radiant solar water heating (from evacuated tube system that also heats water heater in house)
4. Heat sink system in greenhouse (150 gallons of water in two bags pumped through a radiator (honda del sol) and fan, all solar PV driven).
During sunny days the temperature heats up and with the thermostats installed, the fans and pumps kick on and transfer heat from the air in the greenhouse to the water in the bags. The bags are encased in a 'deck-bench'. At night when temps drop, the fan and pump kick back on (driven by battery that was charged by solar panel) and heat is transferred from the water to the air.
So I have three alleged Strawberry Cough clones growing there now along with some bamboo, several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and a bunch of other stuff. I put them in the greenhouse on January 2nd when they were about 12 inches tall--now they are close to two feet. I want to keep them in veg state a bit longer--initially, I wanted to keep them in veg state so as to reduce the amount of environmental shocks: temperature varies from 55-79, light is from the sun about 65% of PAR versus no glazing. I keep a single LED on them from about 6pm till 10pm to keep them in veg.
So far, these are easily the fastest growing things in the greenhouse. They don't mind 55 degree temps. Mostly it has been solar heated. Although during the "arctic vortex" I had to add a 400watt heater when the sun didn't shine for 3 days and temps were in the single digits.
I have built a giant grow sack / bag with some tie downs and burlap: about 16" by 48" by 36", and this can always be expanded.
I want optimize beginning flowering period to account for two things: 1) the increasing height of the sun each day. The sun maxes at about 28 degrees or so today, and gets higher each day, and more direct sun in the greenhouse each day. I can control the photoperiod through the insulating foam boards that I can put up and take down each night / morning, so day length isn't that critical. So the higher the sun, the more of the sun and would conclude--as a newbie--that this would be better for flowering. 2) the amount of space in the greenhouse. I am going to train the plant along a nylon screen--so this would be ScrOG screen of green, and will angle it at about 45-60 degrees to fit the space and match the sun.
This is where I have a question: how much will strawberry cough grow (in inches) once I have switched to 12 hours + of darkness?
Wanted to share my science experiment, see if I find anyone who has attempted similar.
Back story is I built a shed with a 45 degree southern wall / roof made of glass, so it is a effectively a greenhouse. I have been growing heirloom tomatoes for a couple of years, and wanted to see if I could get tomatoes growing the winter. Then I decided it would be fun to grow some cannabis.
So this summer I started adding insulation and temperature management systems to greenhouse:
1. Insulation
2. Magnesium oxide board (mold and moisture resistance)
3. Radiant solar water heating (from evacuated tube system that also heats water heater in house)
4. Heat sink system in greenhouse (150 gallons of water in two bags pumped through a radiator (honda del sol) and fan, all solar PV driven).
During sunny days the temperature heats up and with the thermostats installed, the fans and pumps kick on and transfer heat from the air in the greenhouse to the water in the bags. The bags are encased in a 'deck-bench'. At night when temps drop, the fan and pump kick back on (driven by battery that was charged by solar panel) and heat is transferred from the water to the air.
So I have three alleged Strawberry Cough clones growing there now along with some bamboo, several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and a bunch of other stuff. I put them in the greenhouse on January 2nd when they were about 12 inches tall--now they are close to two feet. I want to keep them in veg state a bit longer--initially, I wanted to keep them in veg state so as to reduce the amount of environmental shocks: temperature varies from 55-79, light is from the sun about 65% of PAR versus no glazing. I keep a single LED on them from about 6pm till 10pm to keep them in veg.
So far, these are easily the fastest growing things in the greenhouse. They don't mind 55 degree temps. Mostly it has been solar heated. Although during the "arctic vortex" I had to add a 400watt heater when the sun didn't shine for 3 days and temps were in the single digits.
I have built a giant grow sack / bag with some tie downs and burlap: about 16" by 48" by 36", and this can always be expanded.
I want optimize beginning flowering period to account for two things: 1) the increasing height of the sun each day. The sun maxes at about 28 degrees or so today, and gets higher each day, and more direct sun in the greenhouse each day. I can control the photoperiod through the insulating foam boards that I can put up and take down each night / morning, so day length isn't that critical. So the higher the sun, the more of the sun and would conclude--as a newbie--that this would be better for flowering. 2) the amount of space in the greenhouse. I am going to train the plant along a nylon screen--so this would be ScrOG screen of green, and will angle it at about 45-60 degrees to fit the space and match the sun.
This is where I have a question: how much will strawberry cough grow (in inches) once I have switched to 12 hours + of darkness?
