Dont miss this one!!!! Computer controlled Grow

danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
( I HAVE POSTED THIS HERE AS A LINK FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN WATCHING AND DISCUSSING AN AUTOMATED GROW SYSTEM FROM START TO FINISH. THIS IS MY FIRST GROW AND I DO STILL HAVE QUESTIONS. IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK. i HAVE POSTED A LINK AT THE BOTTOM TO MY ACTUAL GROW JOURNAL. (At this point it isnt much farther along than here.)

MikroGro V1.0
I HAVE DESIGNED ALL THE ELECTRICAL AND PLC PROGRAMMING MYSELF. THE SYSTEM IS FULLY AUTOMATED. THE ROOMS ARE COMPLETELY SEALED WITH EVERY ASPECT OF THE ENVIORMENT CONTROLLED BY THE PLC/COMPUTER. EACH ASPECT CAN BE GIVEN SETPOINTS AND PERFECT LEVELS MAINTAINED.

The Line-Up:
- 5 Super Lemon Haze (GreenHouse Seeds, 2008 Cannabis Cup Winner)
- 5 White Russian (Serious Seeds, 1997 Cannabis Cup Winner)
- 1 Utopia Haze (Barney's, 2nd place 2008 Cannabis Cup)


The Nutes:
Advanced Nutrients Sensi Grow A B for veg, And AN Connisseur with SweetLeaf for flowerin.

The Setup:
- Ebb n Flow Bucket System based off of a 2 liter pop bottle flood n drain system i saw in a high times grow book years ago. I actually stole it from my Dad. The buckets are plumbed together and a T is grommeted into the bottom of the buckets. A pump from a reservoir below floods the buckets with nutrient solution. 1 overflow pipe is set to the desired water level for all the buckets. The pump can run continuously and all buckets will remain flooded up to the level of the system overflow. When the pump turns off the buckets drain from the fill hose, back to the res. Each plant is then assigned its own bucket which can be inserted into any 1 of the 9 spots in my veg room, or 16 in flower room. This means at any time i can rotate, move, or transfer from one room to the other with no problem. Basically each bucket has its own little reservoir.
Controller:
- Allen Bradley SLC 5/04 PLC
- Dell Dimension 4500
- iphone (thats right i can see n control the rooms throught the iphone anywhere in the world)
(The Brain, Where the majic happens! Controls every aspect of the grow rooms from lights to pumps fans co2 humidity ... everything!)




Clone/Seedling Room
- 1 T5 2 Foot Bulb
- Circulation Fan
- Propagation Mat



Veg Room
- 3' 4" x 3' 4" Grow Tent
- 1 Eye Hortilux 400W Metal Ace Conversion Bulb
- Cool Tube
- AXC in-line centrifugal fan CFM 212
- Oscillating circulation Fan
- Humidty / Temperature Transmitter
- Dehumidifier
- Air Conditioner
- CO2 injection via regulator and solenoid valve
- CO2 ppm transmitter
- 9 bucket ebb n flow system
- Ph Transmitter
- TDS Meter
- air pump and stone for reservoir








Flower Room
- 4' 8" x 4' 8" Grow Tent
- 1 Eye Hortilux HPS 600W
- Cool Tube
- Sunleaves WindTunnel (SW604) 200 CFM
- Oscillating circulation Fan
- Humidty / Temperature Transmitter
- Dehumidifier
- Air Conditioner
- CO2 injection via regulator and solenoid valve
- CO2 ppm transmitter
- 16 bucket ebb n flow system
- Ph Transmitter
- TDS Meter
- air pump and stone for reservoir


I would like to start by asking anyoine to tell me what they feel are the perfect levels for the different aspects of an indoor grow. I dont mean 80-85 degrees, I mean like 82, or 84. Ya know like 1500 ppm. I would like to get an overall consensus. Oh yeah if you dont have a storz n bickel volcano vaporizer you better get one soon. Peace for now!!!!
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
thanks for the reps n replie bsweet i believe ur temp would b a little to low for me , I am injecting CO2 to level of 1500 ppm. At this level cell production occurs more rapidly and temperatures can be increased. To what I believe is 80-85 optimal. I'm looking for specifics in this range. And a good reason why the temp works for you.
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
J weedy take it into consideration for sure. PLC's are great tools. Completely able to be modified and expanded upon. its abilities are limitless. You can make this thing send you a text message if you have an alarm condition like temps way to high.
 
The Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter

Active Member
Nice! I'd like to know more about the PLC... I'm setting up something similar but had planed to run it with an Atmel dev board and some I/O accessories that I picked up from an outfit called Futurlec http://www.futurlec.com/Boards.shtml

I'm currently using the Atmel 128 controler board pictured here: http://www.futurlec.com/ATMEGA_Controller.shtml

And opto isolated AC out board: http://www.futurlec.com/AC_Opto_Output_4.shtml

As well as various other accessories.

Have been concentrating on the plumbing and other aspects of the setup first though.

Will be fun to see how this all works out... I had a Green Air controller that I used years ago, but the thing was pretty primitive... Cost me something like $1300, would do temp, humidity, light, ph, ec, and CO2... But it kind of sucked because the interface was super basic and it was hard to figure out which combination of paramiters were trigering various conditions... You could not view the set point allong side the current reading etc...

I know better stuff is out there now... But I still figured it would be more fun to work up my own... Don't forget a nice fat UPS for all the electronics and the computer... Don't want your grow going out with the power!


T.M.H.
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
Mad hatter i would b willing to help
in any way, i checked out that controller n looks like a good little setup. If u didnt already have money invested i would recommend a plc instead. Im not sure what tupe of interface your board uses. Can u do online programming changes, is its analog inputs capable of scaling mA signals, can u monitor real time data through the interface, such as see the current temp, or co2 level, i just have more faith in proven industrial strength equipment like a plc. Id like to hear more about ur controller when u get it goin.
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
Hmm, it seems that its a lil tricky to figure out the right nutrient level for different plants. Also these advanced nutrients instruction is a lil tricky. For some reason Roy at advanced nutrients tells me i should mix my res at 1/6 of the recommended weekly strength and that the only way to really calculate what the ppm should bee is based on the water uptake of the plant. I know i was drastically to high to begin with cause a killed some smaller plants and bagan burning all my good girls untill i cut nutes down to 1/6 of the strength. Does anyone have experience with advanced nutrients that can tell me what they mix there res at for lets say the second week of veg as prescribed by AN. Please help advanced nutes users. Thanks
 
Mcgician

Mcgician

Well-Known Member
I really could care less how many grows you've done. Your setup is sick! My only surprise is that it is for such a relatively small growing area compared to all the bells, whistles, monitors, and technology. Still though, major props.
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
Well its kinda like this, u can have all the knowledge and ability in the world, but if u start smoking things u shouldnt be smokin u might find that 10 years of your life have passed u by. Seiously i been plannin this my whole life, it just took gettin off the hardcore drugs and takin my ass to college. A stoner with an electrical engineering degree is a dangerous mix. Anything is possible !!!!

But it is the first time around!!!
No reason to lie
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
thanks mcgician!!

The idea is quality not quanity!!! Yet anyway. It seems to me that i should gain a little knowledge before the grow area geets larger. Also, u gots to have some clones or lots of seedlings for a big op, makes sense to me to start small, find a couple good strains and weed out weaker plants to find the perfect mommas to provide for larger grows.
 
DST

DST

Well-Known Member
danksmoker77 said:
Well its kinda like this, u can have all the knowledge and ability in the world, but if u start smoking things u shouldnt be smokin u might find that 10 years of your life have passed u by. Seiously i been plannin this my whole life, it just took gettin off the hardcore drugs and takin my ass to college. A stoner with an electrical engineering degree is a dangerous mix. Anything is possible !!!!

But it is the first time around!!!
No reason to lie
Click to expand...
Well good luck with it Dopey, me, I am an organic type of guy so probably not going to be much help on the technical side of things, but hey, I am sure you don't mind if I chim ein now and then.

A stoner with any type of degree could be called Dangerous, but I would prefer to say, "Innovative, Thinks out the box, And doesn't suffer fools gladly....".

Sub'd and Rep on its way to you. Welcome to RIU bru.

Peace out, DST
 
danksmoker77

danksmoker77

Well-Known Member
Thnx for the welcome dst and feel free to chime in anytime. I have gained an enormous amount of knowledge from reading re-reading and then reading some more here on riu so i am more than willing to help others as they have helped me.
 
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