So what’s in the tent?

Today I figured id show a quick tour of my grow setup. It’s constantly evolving…and will look different again once I install the humidifier. Not much to it, but I like seeing how other people set up their grows. I welcome ideas too…..it’s definitely a “work in progress”. It’s now relatively automated using the AC Controller 69 (that could be an entire post in itself)

It’s a very small 2x4x6’ tent located in my basement bedroom. My tent vents directly into my bedroom where I have a dehumidifier set up at 55% humidity. The bedroom closet is located adjacent to unfinished basement, so I have added a small vent hole in the closet wall where I can pump cool dry air from the basement (70 degrees and 42 percent humidity) into the grow room. I’m running an old in-line fan at 50 percent speed to pump the air and its maintaining a perfect environment for my lung room. The dehumidifier hasn’t run at all since adding the fresh air from the unfinished space. The silver venting on the right hand side is pulling in fresh air from my basement.



Due to the short height, I’ve located my inline fan and filter outside the tent for increased grow space and headroom. If I decide to stick with growing SCROGS, I may not need that vertical space. For now, I’ll leave it outside the tent. While I’m very pleased with this tent, I wish this was a 7 or 8 foot high tent just for that purpose. For the air intake, I use the black tubing on the right with a 90 degree bend to prevent light from entering the tent.

Three fans blowing on the girls 24/7, but they are on low. Two oscillating fans above the canopy and one fan below the canopy. New Woozoo fan on the way to help move more air through entire canopy. I’m not very good at defoliating for air movement, so I rely on adding a lot of fans for air movement. I use Timber 3vl grow lights….old technology COBs….about 12 inches above the flower. Since my COBs are passively cooled, I have two more fans blowing on the heat sinks. So a total of 6 fans in one 2x4 tent!


The two Blue Dreams are looking great today. Fed 4 gallons. Vacuumed up 1.25 gallons from the saucers, so they were thirsty.
i think the vertical growth has stopped……buds are staking and starting to grow


Today i fed MegaCrop (3g/gallon), Bud Explosion and Sweet Candy (1g/gallon). 950 ppm feed and 6.5 ph. Runoff at 1500ppm. I’m ok with that.

LCPGrower1980 said:

Autopots are what you are talking about I believe.

Click to expand...

Could it be Octopots? I just discovered those yesterday, and they look fascinating. Many of the benefits of hydro without the work. After watching a few YouTube videos, I’m very intrigued. I can’t figure out how to prevent salt buildup in the soil if there’s no flushing and no top watering.

Studying up on DLI….Daily Light Integral. Apparently cannabis needs a minimum of 38-65 DLI to Flower properly and I’ve likely been shorting my plants in flower. My LED is usually 18 inches above the canopy, but I’ve lowered it this time with the use of an LED light meter to fine tune the distance. It’s providing 61,000 lux worth of lighting.

This is a good read

After using a calculator,
lux to ppfd converter. (61,000 lux in my tent equals 978 ppfd)

978 PPFD for 12 hours is 42.25 DLI.

My LED is now 12 inches above the canopy at 100% power, Thats 6 inches lower than I normally ran my LED, so my DLI was historically sub par. I look forward to evaluating this crop versus previous to see if there is a noticeable difference.

twalte said:

Studying up on DLI….Daily Light Integral. Apparently cannabis needs a minimum of 38-65 DLI to Flower properly and I’ve likely been shorting my plants in flower. My LED is usually 18 inches above the canopy, but I’ve lowered it this time with the use of an LED light meter to fine tune the distance. It’s providing 61,000 lux worth of lighting.

This is a good read

Cannabis DLI for Your Full Grow Cycle

If there's one question that never allows a cannabis grower any sleep, it's — are my plants getting enough light? If this question has ever crossed your mind, don't worry, you're not alone. Read along as we describe the lighting requirements of cannabis over the full growth cycle.

growlightmeter.com

After using a calculator,
lux to ppfd converter. (61,000 lux in my tent equals 978 ppfd)

Convert Lux to PPFD - Online Calculator | Waveform Lighting

Online calculator to convert illuminance (lux) to PPFD (micromoles per second per meter squared).

www.waveformlighting.com

978 PPFD for 12 hours is 42.25 DLI.

Daily Light Integral (DLI) Calculator | Waveform Lighting

With a PPFD input value and total hours of use per day, Daily Light Integral (DLI) values can be calculated using our online calculator.

www.waveformlighting.com

My LED is now 12 inches above the canopy at 100% power, Thats 6 inches lower than I normally ran my LED, so my DLI was historically sub par. I look forward to evaluating this crop versus previous to see if there is a noticeable difference.

View attachment 5215733

Click to expand...

Yes, DLI is directly/linearly correlated to yield when it comes to Cannabis. There have been peer reviewed studies done which show a linear increase in yield all the way up to 78 DLI (that’s 1800 PPFD for 12 hours) at ambient CO2 levels.

And even in the discussion section of that study the researchers note that there has never been a research study conducted which has ever found a Light Saturation Point (the point at which the rate of growth stops), let alone a Light Toxicity Point (point at which growth actually starts to decrease and the plant actually starts to die from overexposure to light) for Cannabis.

Most people are WAY underestimating their plants or spending money on expensive CO2 set ups unnecessarily. That’s not to say that supplemental CO2 won’t boost growth/yield, however, if a linear increase can be expected from just adding more light, then the question becomes whether the energy, supplies, and cost of sealing the room was really worth the money unless they are pushing the Temperatures into the upper 80’s AND actually approaching 2,000 PPFD with their lights.

There is also a lot of dogmatic, false truths that get perpetuated around the Cannabis lighting topic which have no actual research to back them up (like needing supplemental CO2 past 1,000 PPFD, which when you consider that even in the Northern US, which is quite a ways from the Equator, plants growing outdoors will see 1800 PPFD on a clear sunny day in June and July and outdoors is always ambient CO2 levels).

A few quick updates on the two Blue Dream plants in SCROG. I’m starting week 7 of flower. This is reportedly a 7-9 week strain. Based on the trichomes, I think my harvest window on one plant will open next week…..and I’ll let her mature a little longer while I wait for the second Blue Dream to mature longer. I plan to dry in the grow tent, so I want to harvest at the same time.

A few trichome photos after one week of UV treatment (3 ten minute sessions per day with an Agromax UV bulb).



And a quick photo of the tent

Exciting news…..I won a $30 gift certificate towards ViparSpectra lights or tents. That was a nice surprise @ViparSpectra ! Thanks!! I’ve been encouraged to try out for their Thanksgiving promo. For anyone needing a light, they’re giving away an XS2000 for Thanksgiving which is designed for a 2x4 grow space.

I placed my order at 3am this morning for a 2x2 grow tent to set up a drying tent and they’ve already shipped it out by 6am. That’s fast. Here are the components I’m guessing I will need. Not sure how I’ll program the controller yet with the humidifier and T6 inline fan. I have never been good at the critical drying and curing phase, so I’m hoping to improve considerably.

I can easily convert this to a veg tent with a ViparSpectra XS1000 too if I decide to go that direction. I may elect to do that next year.

ViparSpectra® Mylar Hydroponic Grow Tent P1000 24”x24”x48”. (thanks #ViparSpectra )
ACI T6 6” in-line exhaust with Bluetooth Controller 69 plus XL filter
Cheap 1 gallon ultrasonic humidifier. (I use RO water)
I can either control humidifier with the ACI controller or the tried and true Inkbird humidity controller.

I have mesh nets for small buds and larf to dry plus hangers for branches.

Off to do more research. I can maintain temperatures around 68 degrees….i can’t get it much colder than that without upsetting the family, so I could lose some terpenes. My goal is 68 degrees and 58 percent humidity. That seems logical for drying? If anyone has any drying advice using a grow tent, I welcome it. Off to do more research now……..

Well, I’ve decided to convert my “drying tent” into a veg tent. All I needed was a new LED to fit the 2x2. I’ve elected to go with the AC Infinity T22. It was hard to beat with the Amazon sale and 10% coupon code. I chose the ACI because it provided 130 watts over the 4 square foot footprint….32.5 watts per square foot hits my minimum of 32. I think the 100 watt lights designed for 2x2 tents are underpowered for flowering.

So now that I have a veg tent….I need more plants. Three seeds now soaking in water with seaweed extract for 15 hours before inpmsow them in Happy Frog soil.

Planning to grow Seedsman Purple Ghost Candy, Seedsman LA Peyote Kush, and Godfather OG.

The new ViparSpectra veg tent is set up. It’s day 4 waiting for the seeds to pop the soil. They’re on a heat mat to keep the temperature around 77 degrees with humidity around 80. I think that humidity is a little high, so I’ll make adjustments.

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