Newish DWC grower wants advice

JSB99 said:

That's my DIY ultrasonic fogger! Check out my link below! The plants love it! Bring the humidity up without adding heat.

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No link?

Gardenator said:

No link?

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In my signature below, called "My Cheapo DIY Large-Capacity Ultrasonic Fogger"

JSB99 said:

In my signature below, called "My Cheapo DIY Large-Capacity Ultrasonic Fogger"

Click to expand...

That is a pretty cool humidifer. Personally though I tore down a $40 mainstays digital touch huidifier from walmart the ultrasonic one and it has a thermometer and hygrometer built in to it to relay power based on the rh% level. Also took that little side mount 40mm fan and replaced it with an 80mm usb cooling fan on a little dc dimmer blowing the mist out of vent holes I cut into a sterilite 2 gal container looks like a tote u would never even know to look at it lol but it reads out an accurate temp in C and the rh is pretty decent as long as u have ur sensor in a good spot. It also has a refill sensor in it and shuts the power off to the disks when its out of water so I get a longer life out of the disks. Kinda made the most out of what I have had kicking around. That bigger fan is awesome it really pumps the mist out and i do the same thing with mine I blow it all through the canopy because its favorite place to uptake food is through the underside of its leaves and plants seem to love it. Another thing you can do is scale down your nute strength to 10% of ur ppm count and put the nute solution in ur humi res which will also benefit the plants but is suggest once a week on this to avoid nute burn. Happens alot faster with foliar feeding lol easy enough fix just once a week for a whole 12hr light period or 24hr depending on where ur at.

Okay so some lights out shot of the plants and there is some color variation going on at the tops i was contributing to the new growth but now i am unsure so hope these help you see better what's going on let me know what you think. Thanks

Also update on the cloner took an old clip lamp I had and threw in an 850 lumen daylight bulb for the clones check the pic i think that the light is better suited for the clones like u hhad said i replaced one as it wasnt tryna root it was tryna grow lol. Now i have 2 pineapple skunk, 1 818 headband (the little one) and an 8ball kush

Gardenator said:

That is a pretty cool humidifer. Personally though I tore down a $40 mainstays digital touch huidifier from walmart the ultrasonic one and it has a thermometer and hygrometer built in to it to relay power based on the rh% level. Also took that little side mount 40mm fan and replaced it with an 80mm usb cooling fan on a little dc dimmer blowing the mist out of vent holes I cut into a sterilite 2 gal container looks like a tote u would never even know to look at it lol but it reads out an accurate temp in C and the rh is pretty decent as long as u have ur sensor in a good spot. It also has a refill sensor in it and shuts the power off to the disks when its out of water so I get a longer life out of the disks. Kinda made the most out of what I have had kicking around. That bigger fan is awesome it really pumps the mist out and i do the same thing with mine I blow it all through the canopy because its favorite place to uptake food is through the underside of its leaves and plants seem to love it. Another thing you can do is scale down your nute strength to 10% of ur ppm count and put the nute solution in ur humi res which will also benefit the plants but is suggest once a week on this to avoid nute burn. Happens alot faster with foliar feeding lol easy enough fix just once a week for a whole 12hr light period or 24hr depending on where ur at.

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You shouldn't use nutes with your moded ultrasonic humidifier. The disks aren't made for it and they'll stop working really quick. They sell nebulizers made for nutrients, but they're more pricey, and I think they're a little hard to find these days because even the disks that are made for nutes, clog up. Also, the nebulizers destroy beneficial nutrients. I do think that the plants are foliar feeding off the fog, and I think it contributes to the growth, but I really doubt fogging nutrients will make any difference. You might even do harm to the plants because of residue buildup on the leaves.

Keep experimenting

Gardenator said:

Also update on the cloner took an old clip lamp I had and threw in an 850 lumen daylight bulb for the clones check the pic i think that the light is better suited for the clones like u hhad said i replaced one as it wasnt tryna root it was tryna grow lol. Now i have 2 pineapple skunk, 1 818 headband (the little one) and an 8ball kush View attachment 4102177

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With a light that small, you should move it closer to the clones. Floros have a very short throw, so you have to move them closer to be effective. I would put the CFL about 12" above the clones.

JSB99 said:

You shouldn't use nutes with your moded ultrasonic humidifier. The disks aren't made for it and they'll stop working really quick. They sell nebulizers made for nutrients, but they're more pricey, and I think they're a little hard to find these days because even the disks that are made for nutes, clog up. Also, the nebulizers destroy beneficial nutrients. I do think that the plants are foliar feeding off the fog, and I think it contributes to the growth, but I really doubt fogging nutrients will make any difference. You might even do harm to the plants because of residue buildup on the leaves.

Keep experimenting

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Yeah I am pretty positive that's what broke my disks but I never do the fog to flowering plants they dont get foliar fed or even sprayed cause flower room humidity stays right in at 43-49% with nothing but a 5 gal bucket half full of water and a towel half submerged while the other half hangs over the outside of the bucket acting as a moisture wick. Though every time lights come on or go out the bloomers get a quick spray to start and finish their day of hard work in the hot sun lol. Also i dilute the solution down so much its basically just ph'd water but still clearly so little isolved salts in the water and still adverse affects on my disks. Thanks JSB

So quick update last nights lights out close ups of the baby buds forming everything is going really well now i have the ac unit figured out keeping my room at a comfy 77°F all day long. I sealed the cold air coming out into a coca cola 12pack box with gorilla tape and attached a 4 inch aluminum duct to the cold box and have the cold air blowing up through the center of the canopy moving cold air at my light as well all while 2 oscilating fans circulate the cold air in the room there is also a 20 inch box fan on a 45° angle at the back corner or my 3.5x3.5 canopy (3 1/2ft) assisting the air movement through and up through the canopy. These ladies think they are sitting in a jungle paradise with cool breezes hot sun and lush veggitation lol . Pretty happy with the room now as well because i sealed it tight yesterday with panda film and made a velcro door to access my room from. The door is 5 ft tall and opens a slit in the panda film big enough to get in and out with water and buckets easily. So no light leaks, enviroment is controlled, plants are really loving the improvements and as you put it JSB making the most out of what's here to maximize my skill instead of a bunch of fancy and expesnive eqipment that wont me a better grower lol. Advice and help have been awesome so far thanks a bunch hope you like the close ups and please dont be alarmed I bent those tops that are layed over to control the canopy height and even light distribution over my canopy.

JSB99 said:

With a light that small, you should move it closer to the clones. Floros have a very short throw, so you have to move them closer to be effective. I would put the CFL about 12" above the clones.

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Set up my ezcloner and changed the lights like you said lol I had some nice small leds for cuttings kicking around and taped them under that cab and set my ezcloner on a milk crate to put it up in the light then covered with that plastic to keep a nice enviroment for the babies. The 2 leds I have in there are as follows, the purpleish light is a 12w seedling led with blue and red mix 3 red 1 blue and the other small led is a 9w under cab led with a 6500k color temp. Small but adequate light for this i think?

Oh the ac unit I also wrapped the exhaust duct with some old water heater insulation with the foil backing above and behind where the 4x4 floor tray come down my sheet rock wall lol and its vented to a 20inch box fan ducted into my wall to pull the heat out and back into the house (and will be ducted outside for summer). I made a chase in my wall to heat the upstairs living room with the residual heat from the boiler and also to keep the boiler room temp down to a more comfortable level lol it used to get over 90°F in there had no ventilation when we bought the place lol. I also sealed the ac unit in plastic except the intake. Cold air goes straight up through the canopy at my light and gets circulated by the 2 oscilating stand fans and the 20 inch box fan on the floor blowing at a 45° angle (45ish lol) up through the canopy to help that air get all around the room stays 77°F all day 66-68°F at night

Today is day 12 btw

Gardenator said:

Yeah I am pretty positive that's what broke my disks but I never do the fog to flowering plants they dont get foliar fed or even sprayed cause flower room humidity stays right in at 43-49% with nothing but a 5 gal bucket half full of water and a towel half submerged while the other half hangs over the outside of the bucket acting as a moisture wick. Though every time lights come on or go out the bloomers get a quick spray to start and finish their day of hard work in the hot sun lol. Also i dilute the solution down so much its basically just ph'd water but still clearly so little isolved salts in the water and still adverse affects on my disks. Thanks JSB

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You do not want to be adding extra humidity, or spraying your plants in flower. In veg, you want your RH above 50%. In flower, you want it below 50%, and 30% is better. Humidity can cause all sorts of problems in bloom, so you'll want to remove your bucket, and invest in a dehumidifier if RH is hard to get control of.

Gardenator said:

Set up my ezcloner and changed the lights like you said lol I had some nice small leds for cuttings kicking around and taped them under that cab and set my ezcloner on a milk crate to put it up in the light then covered with that plastic to keep a nice enviroment for the babies. The 2 leds I have in there are as follows, the purpleish light is a 12w seedling led with blue and red mix 3 red 1 blue and the other small led is a 9w under cab led with a 6500k color temp. Small but adequate light for this i think?View attachment 4104279 View attachment 4104280

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I'm not familiar enough with LEDs to know whether or not you're still adding too much light. It still seems like a lot though. You don't need a mix of spectrum or anything like that. A 6500k is around where you should be.

JSB99 said:

I'm not familiar enough with LEDs to know whether or not you're still adding too much light. It still seems like a lot though. You don't need a mix of spectrum or anything like that. A 6500k is around where you should be.

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Its like 21w total and like 18inches above the babies if that helps

JSB99 said:

You do not want to be adding extra humidity, or spraying your plants in flower. In veg, you want your RH above 50%. In flower, you want it below 50%, and 30% is better. Humidity can cause all sorts of problems in bloom, so you'll want to remove your bucket, and invest in a dehumidifier if RH is hard to get control of.

Click to expand...

Yeah I need the bucket because its so dry it will be below 20% rh. Seriously regular rh% in winter here is like 5-10%. Basically cant blow your nose without it bleeding the air is so dry. Come summer time the dehumi will have to come out though because rh goes up to about 60% average. Its like night and day but honestly the bloom room is next to the boiler which dries out the air as well. I have to have something putting moisture in the air or it will be way too low, I added the bucket because I need the humidity in there. I dont run a humi cause i dont like the fog in the flowering plants i dont want mold in my buds so the bucket is an easy and free way to add a very minimal amount of humidity to a small area. It would take a real wick of some sort to really add a lot of humidity to a room like this say if u used a towel which is made to absorb moisture as to a t shirt (the reason i used this) is made to be resistant to moisture and water therefore does not transfer too much moisture into the air. As for spraying the bloomers its only the first moment the lights come on and as soon as they go out but if this is too much I will cut that out of my routine because i really dont want any problems in there.

Gardenator said:

Yeah I need the bucket because its so dry it will be below 20% rh. Seriously regular rh% in winter here is like 5-10%. Basically cant blow your nose without it bleeding the air is so dry. Come summer time the dehumi will have to come out though because rh goes up to about 60% average. Its like night and day but honestly the bloom room is next to the boiler which dries out the air as well. I have to have something putting moisture in the air or it will be way too low, I added the bucket because I need the humidity in there. I dont run a humi cause i dont like the fog in the flowering plants i dont want mold in my buds so the bucket is an easy and free way to add a very minimal amount of humidity to a small area. It would take a real wick of some sort to really add a lot of humidity to a room like this say if u used a towel which is made to absorb moisture as to a t shirt (the reason i used this) is made to be resistant to moisture and water therefore does not transfer too much moisture into the air. As for spraying the bloomers its only the first moment the lights come on and as soon as they go out but if this is too much I will cut that out of my routine because i really dont want any problems in there.

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Also i did write towel into the post you replied on and i meant t shirt lol i dont use a towel cause it works too good a t shirt makes less humidity

Gardenator said:

Its like 21w total and like 18inches above the babies if that helps

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Do you have a LUX meter, or a PAR reader? If not, at least get yourself a cheapy LUX meter. You can get them for $15 or $20 on Amazon. It really helps with light placement and intensity.

JSB99 said:

LOL, did you really mean "Jewish DWC growers"! I'm guessing you meant "newish", but were another victim of spellcheck

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Oy Vey!!!

Gardenator said:

Yeah I need the bucket because its so dry it will be below 20% rh. Seriously regular rh% in winter here is like 5-10%. Basically cant blow your nose without it bleeding the air is so dry. Come summer time the dehumi will have to come out though because rh goes up to about 60% average. Its like night and day but honestly the bloom room is next to the boiler which dries out the air as well. I have to have something putting moisture in the air or it will be way too low, I added the bucket because I need the humidity in there. I dont run a humi cause i dont like the fog in the flowering plants i dont want mold in my buds so the bucket is an easy and free way to add a very minimal amount of humidity to a small area. It would take a real wick of some sort to really add a lot of humidity to a room like this say if u used a towel which is made to absorb moisture as to a t shirt (the reason i used this) is made to be resistant to moisture and water therefore does not transfer too much moisture into the air. As for spraying the bloomers its only the first moment the lights come on and as soon as they go out but if this is too much I will cut that out of my routine because i really dont want any problems in there.

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Yeah, that's pretty low (humidity), so I see why you've got it in there. The plants will drink more water and perspire if it gets too dry or hot.

I use a wick bucket myself