• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Should we have a fun 2009 grow contest?

AlabamaJack said:
I've got to prepare my growrage today...cleaning, checking supplies, testing circuits...

this is going to be fun...
Click to expand...

I'm sure your sophisticated setup would overcharge a trained F-16 pilot! ;)
 
Hmmm. Would love to join in, but dont have any fatali seeds. Any australian members keen to share some? Will send envelope if it helps. Or if they know of a website that will send seeds that make it through customs, that would be tops!
 
tony05 said:
Ive been racking my brain today on where im going to grow this thing when it gets cold. Panic set in when i found the cupboard i was going to use full of crap in the gargen shed. And also realised there is no power out there.

Oh bugger! where am i going to grow it.

Then it dawned on me. I have a large chest freezer thats buggered. Its well and truly big enough, it cost me nothing so why not convert it into a grow box. Its insulated ect, and already nice and white inside. Perfect.

Now to work out what lights to use, will plumb in fans and a heater i have with a temperature controler so i can hold it at a nice steady temp. should give me great growing conditions.

will have to look into some good lights!

Ooooooo i can play with a drip watering system and some good nutrients.

I love a project. I just hope my seeds sprout!

cheers
Click to expand...

Tony,

If you have any lights in there and you still have the door attached, you shouldn't need any heater! But I like the idea and figure it would be a fantastic germination chamber as well.

Mike
 
Do most of you intend to use your "normal growing practices" in this comparison grow? I do. That means sowing several seeds, picking the best ones to transplant to larger containers, using the same watering and fertilizing regimen as with all my other plants, etc.

TBO, I'm not interested in "competing" but in comparing techniques.

Happy New Year,

Mike
 
I will be using my every day normal techniques up untill summer ends, then I will be in unknown waters as I will have to put it under lights...and I haven't done that before.....

If I want to follow every one else with this comparison then I have to branch from my normal growing practices for winter...
 
I've been trying to grow as organically as possible the last few years but I may use a few non-organic products for this contest/comparison
 
i have a few little issues floating around my head.

Will a plant sprouted and raised outdoors in the Australian summer perform if ripped out and stuck in a freezer with some lights over the top?

Thinking if i can get 2 to sprout...... i will get one going under lights and noe in the garden and stick it in the dreezer if it will fit.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh too many things to think off.

I hate winter!
 
wordwiz said:
Do most of you intend to use your "normal growing practices" in this comparison grow? Mike
Click to expand...

I am going to use my regular set up....

POTAWIE said:
I've been trying to grow as organically as possible the last few years but I may use a few non-organic products for this contest/comparison
Click to expand...

***makes me wonder what Potawie is going to use for his "secret" recipe***

I finally finished reclaiming my growrage just a few minutes ago...

010109Growrage.jpg


It is ready to do battle....I will germinate and grow the plants in the germinator until they are about 6" tall, then switch to the grow area where they can get 14" tall, then move some of them to the grow box where they can grow up to 5' tall...the temperature of the germinator is held constant +/- 3F with the thermostat and will be adjusted to 86F, the grow area isn't thermostat controlled but stays about 80F....the grow box will be thermostatically controlled for 90F day, 70F night, and the lights will be running 16/8....

looks like I am ready to rumble...
 
AlabamaJack said:
I am going to use my regular set up....


I finally finished reclaiming my growrage just a few minutes ago...

It is ready to do battle....I will germinate and grow the plants in the germinator until they are about 6" tall,
Click to expand...

How many seeds can you start in there, AJ

then switch to the grow area where they can get 14" tall, then move some of them to the grow box where they can grow up to 5' tall
Click to expand...

With your long growing season do you plan on using the grow box just for special plants or to keep a couple heavy producers growing this fall?

the temperature of the germinator is held constant +/- 3F with the thermostat and will be adjusted to 86F, the grow area isn't thermostat controlled but stays about 80F....the grow box will be thermostatically controlled for 90F day, 70F night, and the lights will be running 16/8....

looks like I am ready to rumble...
Click to expand...

Looks like the local energy company should add you to their Christmas Card list! Any idea of the total wattage used? Not that I have a lot of room to talk - though I will only be drawing about 1500 watts at the height of the indoor season.

Mike
 
wordwiz said:
How many seeds can you start in there, AJ
Click to expand...

I can start 8-72 cell trays in the germinator (576 total), but can start once every 3-4 weeks if necessary

wordwiz said:
With your long growing season do you plan on using the grow box just for special plants or to keep a couple heavy producers growing this fall?
Click to expand...

I was planning on using the grow box this fall to grow a couple of plants but the ones I wanted in there were simply too big for the box...I lazed out and just let them go their own way when I got the makeshift greenhouse

wordwiz said:
Any idea of the total wattage used?
Click to expand...

When all the lights are on including the "heating lights" I will be using 2535 watts...but very rarely are all of the heating lights on since my garage stays pretty warm down here...

the germinator has 240 for light + 400 for heat

the grow area has 960 for light

the grow box has 535 for light and 400 for heat...
 
AJ,

That's not bad; at the max if everything was running 16 hr/day you it would be less than $125/mo.

I don't know exactly how many seeds I could start at once but the way I'm doing it, it would probably be in the thousands. I can easily get 80 in an 8" tray. Having tried it a few times, it seems to work, unless I can get those Todd Trays which may be difficult this year. The one place I know that sells them won't have any in stock until the end of February which is a little late for me to start tomato seeds.

Any clue how what kind of lux you are getting at the plant canopy?

Mike
 
McGoo said:
Hmmm. Would love to join in, but dont have any fatali seeds. Any australian members keen to share some? Will send envelope if it helps. Or if they know of a website that will send seeds that make it through customs, that would be tops!
Click to expand...

PM me your addy and I will see what I can do....

I should still have a few fatalii seeds left for you to be able to join in the fun.....

But If your plant does better than mine then you will get lots of fist shaking and dirty looks......:lol:
 
Whoa I like brights light and mylar makes me happy. There is nothing normal about anything he builds. I can almost here the ocean and the waves off the coast of Trinidad in your growrage. Happy 2009 and good luck growing the garden of your dreams my friend AJ.:)
 
AlabamaJack said:
the grow box will be thermostatically controlled for 90F day, 70F night, and the lights will be running 16/8....

looks like I am ready to rumble...
Click to expand...

AJ, with the lights, why on for 16 and off for 8?? I know there must be a reason!!! Is it to do with the duty cycle of the lights, or to save on power, or something to do with the plants?

Also why the change in temperatures form day to night? Couldn't this just stay the same....

EDIT: As soon as I posted it I realised this set up is most likely to condition the plants so the transfer to out side is made easier.....I was reading your post purely from a full time hydro point of view..
 
you got a great memory PRF...trying to create the environment of Trinidad in my growrage was my goal when I built all this last year...

the 16/8 light regimen was chosen for two reasons...one, saves power, and two, from what I have read, 24 hr light will not hurt the plants, but it is not necessary either and 16 hrs a day will be plenty for the plants to grow...temperature fluctuation was also taken into consideration and from what I have read, a 20 degree variance in the temperature works well for peppers...I had a hard time last February trying to keep the temperature in the grow box down, especially once I put in the 5 150 eq watt CFLs...they produce a lot more heat than the regular fluros...but once I started the 16/8, the temperature came down quite a bit...

fluctuating the temperature may help in the "hardening off" process but I can tell you from experience...sunscald will set a crop back 2-3 months (which happened to about 150 plants last year)...there is no substitute for hardening off gradually...lots of plants to move in and out, but it is a necessary evil we have to deal with...


EDIT: Got to thinking and counting lumens in the grow box and don't think 37K lumens is enough so I went to Homus Depost and am increasing the lumens from 37K to 60.8K with the addition of 13 new 150W eq bulbs....that is tomorrow mornings project...

so Mike...the wattage just went up 546....
 
She called us bitches. Oh it's on. :P ;)

My apologies to all for trying to get too damn complicated. I'll start my fatalii seeds on the 12th like the rest of you.

AJ the effort you put into growing peppers is truly awe inspiring. I have no doubt you'll be measuring your output by the ton this year.

Good luck to all!
 
just finished...couldn't wait until tomorrow...

here is a pic of the lighting system in the grow box...evenly spread and bright....couldn't take as pic with the CFLs burning because I had a power blackout...(J/K)...really, the lights were just too bright for the camera to focus...

010208a002.jpg


boy, you can really see that one 3000K fluorescent...the others are 6500K

off to watch Ole Miss and Texas Tech...wonder who will win this one.....................
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top