Lighting Growage Life with GC

[Gone Camping]

Hello all, I promised a journal once up and running this season.. sorry i'm a bit late to the party. Hope ya don't mind but i'll start a bit back as i'v never really introduced myself here.

IIRC this is my 5th season, started with a single Sensi Star clone gifted to me under a borrowed T5. I was hooked. Following year I grew two under T5 again but in a converted fridge.. learned some more and enjoyed myself again. Following season was in a 4x4 under 400w, and I kept watching local sale ads for equipment from those who found they weren't gifted with a green thumb. Last year I added a second tent, 1K and 600w Lumatek ballasts and quality hoods. I enjoyed myself yet again, and I became more popular amongst my friends who would stop in much more often. Funny how that works!

Now, i'm in a med state with wife/kids/dog/house etc.. but was banned to the garage from year 1. It got tight with just an aisle left after tents, seedling cabinet, tools etc. I don't blame the Mrs that she wanted it this way.. and to be honest I agree. But something had to change.. I was way too cramped. I needed more space.. so I built it. Some may laugh that I ended up building a 4'x9' addition to the end of my garage, but it fit the tents and I got my work area back!

Here's the addition, you can see the 4x9 space to far left and I framed in (last summer) where the drafty rollup garage door once was. Also put a new roof on while I was at it.

The inside after insulating and placing the 4x4 Gorilla.

You can see the aisle I was left with after I cut the old outer wall out.

I was blessed to be one of the winners of a recent giveaway on this site by Cobshop,net and a few generous donors. I had been looking at an LED upgrade and had talked with the "CobFather" @BigSm0 about my needs. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse, I kissed his ring and joined the family.

Last winter I also learned of Mephisto Genetics, in a garage I need the heat to run which is why auto's first came into the picture for me. I do switch to photoperiods late winter and harvest come late spring. With the growage improvements I expect to be in a much better position.

This season's grow started with 5x Mephisto beans, 4x AVT and a single Gold Glue in center. @mephisto has me spoiled and a few more strains will be started once I have the second tent up and running.

These lady's are @2.5 weeks now and taking off. I thought about LST and topping but I think i'll let them go and see how they go under the autocob's. 3 gallon smart pots with Roots Organic medium amended with Mephisto's supersoil.. my last bag. This tent should be water only.. I did 2/3 amended and topped with straight RO vs the recommended 1/2 and 1/2.

AVT..

Gold Glue..

Group..

So there we are, welcome to Growage Life with GC.. i'll try to update once a week and be more active around these parts. I'm also busy building an offroad capable pop up camper from frame up and I need to get into the woods soon! Now ya know where my screen name comes from..

Also, if anyone has any advice, suggestions along the way i'm all ears. I'm not the type to argue and appreciate a heads up from experienced growers.

One more thing.. don't clean your tent with water/bleach mixture and forget to wipe dry the floor liner.. tore mine up.

 

[BigSm0]

Man this brings back memories. Besides the sq footage it’s nearly identical to my life a few years ago. Literally from the ground up. I don’t mean to blow up your thread but I do have some hopefully helpful advice for you. Some you may like and the rest you may not. As for the good stuff one thing I did which was a huge help for my tent was I added 2” of the pink foam board below the tent to help with heat loss. I also framed a box below that I had pitched slightly. This helped with runoff and one other thing I’ll get to a bit later. If you have a spill it will run to one side and it can easily be sucked up with a wet vac. Temps can be a real pain in the rear so any help is worth it. Plus it will keep the pots from getting cold being at the ground. I did have to cover the tent in moving blankets and drop cloths from work to help hold the heat as well.

This was the bad part for me. With the temps in the tent being warmer and outside the tent being cold condensation and humidity was terrible. Every time I opened the tent the walls were completely beaded up with water. The floor had much more accumulated. I put in a dehumidifier and it was filling the bucket each day. Costing a lot of money to run. It got worse as time went on as the walls in my new addition started getting wet. I even had ice on them when it was cold.

I’m hoping you won’t have these same issues so this may be just a bit of a warning. Keep a close eye on the humidity inside and outside the tent as temps drop.

 

[lunarman]

Great looking plants for 2.5 weeks man. Very healthy and lots of growth. If you can keep it up, should be great.
Good to see you post about being the winner of the give away too.
In that tent picture, the exhaust doesn't go outside thru a roof vent. Are you keeping it that way?
I camped 2 nights this year. pretty pathetic. Would have liked more. But now we just got 16 inches of snow followed by another 5 today. Freaking crazy weather. Not good for camping.

 

[Gone Camping]

Man this brings back memories. Besides the sq footage it’s nearly identical to my life a few years ago. Literally from the ground up. I don’t mean to blow up your thread but I do have some hopefully helpful advice for you. Some you may like and the rest you may not. As for the good stuff one thing I did which was a huge help for my tent was I added 2” of the pink foam board below the tent to help with heat loss. I also framed a box below that I had pitched slightly. This helped with runoff and one other thing I’ll get to a bit later. If you have a spill it will run to one side and it can easily be sucked up with a wet vac. Temps can be a real pain in the rear so any help is worth it. Plus it will keep the pots from getting cold being at the ground. I did have to cover the tent in moving blankets and drop cloths from work to help hold the heat as well.

This was the bad part for me. With the temps in the tent being warmer and outside the tent being cold condensation and humidity was terrible. Every time I opened the tent the walls were completely beaded up with water. The floor had much more accumulated. I put in a dehumidifier and it was filling the bucket each day. Costing a lot of money to run. It got worse as time went on as the walls in my new addition started getting wet. I even had ice on them when it was cold.

I’m hoping you won’t have these same issues so this may be just a bit of a warning. Keep a close eye on the humidity inside and outside the tent as temps drop.

The addition has a concrete pad.. that I originally thought was level with rest of garage. Found it to be about 5" below. The pad was originally used to store a snowmobile under a low roof with knee wall. We drilled the taller pad on it's side, screwed masonry screws in through pressure treated 2x4. Framed a wood floor level to match. I did insulate under the 3/4" decking. Bottom of tents also have what I think is 1" blue insulation board cut to fit under the floor liners (tents used to sit on concrete). I haven't had condensation on tent walls since first year with tent. Added 2x 1500w oil filled heaters (never above low setting), seedling cabinet runs warm @~80*F and exhausts inside. In the past I would exhaust tents till about 40* then exhaust inside also. With 1600w of HID I was doing well.. constant checking and adjusting however. This year I expect to be better. I need to replace the old drafty door yet.

In winter I typically see low humidity.. as low as 20% at times. I do have a small humidifier but never used it. I also have a large dehumidifier when needed, typically early season fall or late spring during flowering. I have a box fan in front of a window at other end of garage if needed, and a 16" oscillating fan mounted at top of side wall to push warmer air back down to floor.

I do wish I had a 4x4 tray, but I usually pull the plants and inspect/feed on a table.. in the work space I now have back.

Have I addressed your concerns? Have I given you more? What's the biggest issue trying to flower under low humidity conditions? Thanks for the input SmO, keep it coming. Just trying to improve my skills under less than ideal conditions.. till the kids move the hell out!

 

[Gone Camping]

Great looking plants for 2.5 weeks man. Very healthy and lots of growth. If you can keep it up, should be great.
Good to see you post about being the winner of the give away too.
In that tent picture, the exhaust doesn't go outside thru a roof vent. Are you keeping it that way?
I camped 2 nights this year. pretty pathetic. Would have liked more. But now we just got 16 inches of snow followed by another 5 today. Freaking crazy weather. Not good for camping.

Thanks lunarman.. i'm pretty happy with them at 2.5 weeks to be honest. I'm seeing an improvement. I do need to give @Mizzo81 his props for a post he made (wish I could find it) about getting the first 2 weeks right, he made me think. Something about letting the medium run on the drier side for the roots to really work. I think I was overwatering a bit in the past on seedlings and stunting a few lady's. I also pre moistened the bottom 2/3 of smartie.. to get the supersoil activated. I'm trying to dial in a few things instead of guessing at a lot. Things are starting to click..

The tents exhaust out from above the soffit.. or overhang. The one duct needs to be shortened once second tent is finished.

Got a buddy leaving for Colorado at midnight Thursday.. short vacation with new girlfriend. Hoping to show her RMNP if there aren't any road closures. Has a place is Estes Park reserved. I'm thinking about jumping on a flight this winter to Denver.. i'd like to see Colorado again and experience the recreational aspect. Never been in a dispensary. I heard about the 18" snowfall.. it'd be welcome here after the shitty hot and humid summer we had here.

 

[Mizzo81]

Yup man overwatering biggest issue first two weeks. I’m still learning to get it right cause every plant is different. Keep up he good work now it should be set for smooth sailing with a healthy root system.

 

[Mizzo81]

Lol I believe I overwatered my seedlings last time. Oops letting them dry out good now and will be careful from here on out.

 

[Gone Camping]

Yup man overwatering biggest issue first two weeks. I’m still learning to get it right cause every plant is different. Keep up he good work now it should be set for smooth sailing with a healthy root system.

I let them go with no watering till I saw growth slow just a tad and leaves seem to start drooping just a bit. Then a growth spurt.. about due to water again I think.

Thanks dude..

 

[Mizzo81]

I let them go with no watering till I saw growth slow just a tad and leaves seem to start drooping just a bit. Then a growth spurt.. about due to water again I think.

Thanks dude..

Any time. My man love seeing healthy plants anytime my mistakes and learning from them can help someone that’s awesome. One reason I try to post here. Learn and spread and relearn as I just did lol thanks again. Keep the pics coming

 

[BigSm0]

The addition has a concrete pad.. that I originally thought was level with rest of garage. Found it to be about 5" below. The pad was originally used to store a snowmobile under a low roof with knee wall. We drilled the taller pad on it's side, screwed masonry screws in through pressure treated 2x4. Framed a wood floor level to match. I did insulate under the 3/4" decking. Bottom of tents also have what I think is 1" blue insulation board cut to fit under the floor liners (tents used to sit on concrete). I haven't had condensation on tent walls since first year with tent. Added 2x 1500w oil filled heaters (never above low setting), seedling cabinet runs warm @~80*F and exhausts inside. In the past I would exhaust tents till about 40* then exhaust inside also. With 1600w of HID I was doing well.. constant checking and adjusting however. This year I expect to be better. I need to replace the old drafty door yet.

In winter I typically see low humidity.. as low as 20% at times. I do have a small humidifier but never used it. I also have a large dehumidifier when needed, typically early season fall or late spring during flowering. I have a box fan in front of a window at other end of garage if needed, and a 16" oscillating fan mounted at top of side wall to push warmer air back down to floor.

I do wish I had a 4x4 tray, but I usually pull the plants and inspect/feed on a table.. in the work space I now have back.

Have I addressed your concerns? Have I given you more? What's the biggest issue trying to flower under low humidity conditions? Thanks for the input SmO, keep it coming. Just trying to improve my skills under less than ideal conditions.. till the kids move the hell out!

As long as it’s working that’s all that counts. I’m happy you don’t have the same issues I had growing indoors/outdoors. With negative pressure from heat naturally rising the air was being replaced with what looked like a smoke bomb going off. Even with low humidity here in the winter the temp differential was the killer. It was so bad my tent was rusting from the 1” of water on the floor the dehumidifier bad trouble sucking up fast enough. Draining the dehunidifer and sucking up water every morning was a real pain. Really the only reason for my concern.