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greenhouse Greenhouse (with HPS) vs Fluorescent Grow Room Experiment

very unusual....very unusual...unless it needs to be warmer...
 
benzo said:
Yeah thats the reason why its best to run a "dead" resivour. Dead basically means you kill all bacteria in the tub which is that gelatine stuff (cynanobacteria) as well as beneficial bacteria. This will lead to root rot if untreated. So the best additive for it is Dutchmaster Zone (Chloramine) followed by regular bleach (Chlorine). I've only used bleach when I've run out of Zone at a rate of 1ml / 10gallons for matinence and 2ml / 10 gallon for fighting an infection.
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Or you could just use hydrogen peroxide. :cool:
 
:clap: great update tgps. Yeah I reckon that 20/4 is the best growth rates anything beyond that is dimminishing returns. Capsicum is right u can use peroxide, the best to use is the 33% stuff (think thats the strength). Can give u a run down on peroxide use in hydro if ya want but from experience zone was the best(tried all 3). Actually how is the DWC goin? :P
 
The plants in the DWC have stalled, they look good but they are not growing much. I really need to get a meter. The bleach seems to only keep the goo at bay for 3-4 days then it comes back. I also think the water temps might be getting to high, I painted the rez black and the greenhouse is staying pretty warm this week so the water temp is probably around 85F.
 
I painted the rez black and the greenhouse is staying pretty warm this week so the water temp is probably around 85F.



Get a Water chiller. Temps should be at 60F.
 
Capsicum said:
I painted the rez black and the greenhouse is staying pretty warm this week so the water temp is probably around 85F.



Get a Water chiller. Temps should be at 60F.
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I honestly think that this will be the end of my hydro experiment. The cost benefit analysis just doesn't look good even if I figure in the results other people see from a properly run/built system. I am still considering building a 8' by 4' ebb and flow outside but probably not this year.

With the DWC I really just wanted to see if I could shave some time off of my growth cycle and get to harvest earlier, but considering I have enough room in my greenhouse to overwinter about 200 plants I think overwintering is going to get me to harvest faster than hydro ever will. Generally I cannot get plants outside full-time until Mid-May and I do not start harvesting until Mid-July.

I am estimating that the overwinters will be outside full time late-April since they are already hardened. I just started giving them some light ferts and they are already budding so I figure they will be in harvest mid to late June which would be optimal weather conditions for pod production in St. Louis.
 
Even using a simple drain to waste with something like pro mix HP or other soilless medium. It is what I do.



1/2"-1" Bark. You can use coco chips too.
082.jpg
 
So I haven't updated this thread since my experiment has been almost completely ruined by greenhouse pests. Once I rid the growing area of aphids and fungus gnats, the thrips have moved in and attacked the seedlings. I am actually a bit embarrassed to show any pics of the plants. I will take some pics of the plants in the growroom this weekend. They still look good since they have been mostly pest free.
 
Finally have time to update this. Pictures were taken last week . The greenhouse plants are looking a better today since I think the thrips have been taken care of. Starting to pinch buds off plants and hopefully they will be safe to go outside in about 3 weeks.


Greenhouse

Picture 006 by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr

Grow Room

Picture 010 by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr


Picture 009 by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr

So there definitely seem to be many pros and cons to each method. I think the ultimate test will be to see which plants come to harvest first. The plants in the greenhouse seem to be much more hardy but the plants in the grow room are much healthier looking.
 
Awesome thank you for sharing I was thinking of trying the same thing have you thought about natural insect control? And have you thought about moving the lights to the greenhouse for heat and supplemental lighting?
 
TylerInNiagara said:
Awesome thank you for sharing I was thinking of trying the same thing have you thought about natural insect control? And have you thought about moving the lights to the greenhouse for heat and supplemental lighting?
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Yes, I did use natural insect control in the form of ladybugs, but they all decided to hibernate. Since then I have discovered several organic products that work wonders in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse has a 1000W HPS for supplemental lighting and a 30,000 BTU natural gas heater.

Next year all of my plants will start in the growroom. They will stay there for the first 6-8 weeks before moving to the greenhouse. I get a much more controlled growth in the grow room, but the greenhouse is essential for transitioning to the outdoors without having a long, labor intensive hardening off process.
 
[font="Tahoma""]Not My Hot Pepper Garden - Fun with Praying Mantises & Ladybugs[/font]
[font="Tahoma""]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pGA8w7COJ0[/font]
[font="Tahoma""]Biological Control of Greenhouse Pests
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXDR4IzOl60[/font]
[font="Tahoma""] [/font]
[font="Tahoma""]Plants and Insect Control Bensell Greenhouse [/font]
[font="Tahoma""]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTi34vSlZxQ[/font]

theghostpepperstore said:
Yep, tried them twice this year. Didn't do alot of good, they decided to hibernate rather than eat aphids. Somehow they knew it was winter even though it was 65 degrees or warmer everyday.
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I have ladybugs they did work for a bit but seemed to be less active than I expected I have some in a tank with cardboard tubes and distilled water soaked paper towels some with sugar some leafs and 2 grapes cut in half it takes a couple weeks for them to lay eggs and hatch will see…
 
scratchzilla said:
Updates?
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So as for the results of this test I was able to come to a few conclusions:

1. The two groups of plants had no difference in harvest dates. They were all ready at the same time.

2. The grow room was a much better environment for small plants 3-5 sets of true leaves. Much easier to control pests in the grow room.

3. The greenhouse supplied a much better environment for growth once the plants were 6" tall. Plants this size in the grow room fell behind in vertical growth. This is directly related to the amount of light provided, 8 flouro tubes vs the SUN, the Sun wins every time. The reason the greenhouse is not an ideal environment for the young seedlings is due to the fact that it has a more complicated environmental control system. More complicated meant more complications and more stress for the seedlings. I expect this to get better with time, it was my first year with a greenhouse.

4. Plants raised in the greenhouse were able to transition to the field with no hardening off. Plants from the grow room needed to be hardened very carefully. Plants moved from the grow room to the greenhouse for 3 weeks before going into the field did not need hardening.

Ultimately this experiment led me to a strategy for next year, which was the goal of the experiment. Next years plants will all start in the grow room. They will stay there for about 6-8 weeks before being transferred to the greenhouse in March. They will stay another 8 weeks in the greenhouse until conditions are right for them to be transplanted outside.
 
Integrated Pest Management for Greenhouse Crops

Introduction

This publication covers IPM for greenhouse crops, both vegetable and ornamental. Monitoring, sanitation, biological controls, biorational pesticides, insect growth regulators, and disease control methods are discussed. Tables include information on the newest biorational pesticides and biological control organisms.
Table of Contents

General Greenhouse IPM
Greenhouse Insect and Mice Control
Crop Scouting and Trapping
Sanitation
Screening
Biological Control
Insect Growth Regulators
Biorational Pesticides
Greenhouse Disease Control
References
Resources
Biological Control Suppliers
Appendix I: Monitoring and Scouting Techniques
Appendix II: Beneficial Organisms
Appendix III: Biorational Pesticides
Note: Digital downloads are in full color. Printed, mailed copies are only available in black & white.
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=48
 
Yes I have read this. I have also toured one of the few certified organic greenhouses in the country. Most of these methods can get extremely expensive unless you are dealing with a commercial sized greenhouse. If growing ever becomes a full time job for me then I will definitely start being more involved in the pest control. It is still a must read for anyone who wants to have a greenhouse though, and I thank you for posting it here.
 
I will get some new pictures up. I had been fighting a round of aphids followed by a round of thrips. Got it under control but the daytime temps have been too cold to get many pods or much growth.

I just realized that this was a thread from last year, and not my new thread.

I think the overall conclusion to this experiment was that both methods had their merits.

This year I am starting all my seedlings in the grow room, until their first transplant. The trays of seedling are staggered so that I do not run out of room and so that I don't have to do 500 transplants at a time.

The greenhouse negates the need for hardening off plants, so it just makes sense to have all the plants in there for at least a month before planting out.
 
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