Autos - Room temp vs Root temp?

[Hubbabubba]

3 minutes ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

Ive not tried swapping the inlet to top and extraction from bottom but others have said it reduces heat requirement.

 

My led boards (2 x 85W) run at 40'C, and the ballasts at 50'C, so it might be possible to run without the rad box, if extracting from bottom but a test run or two would be needed to provide meaningful results.

 

Hi I’m set up reverse extraction to pull cool air down over my canopy and recirculate heat.

[Bobcharlieeeee]

39 minutes ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

Try to keep air temp about 27'C(measured at canopy height, over 21'C but under 30'C.  

I dont measure root temps that often, more at the start to ensure soil is above 22'C

One thing to be mindful of is the temp of the soil when you first but your pots in the tent, put them in the tent for a a day or two (before planting the seed) to allow the soil to absorb heat and the temps to equalise or use a heat mat.

I also keep my water in a 6 pint milk container in the tent, so its at room temp at watering time and doesnt shock the plants with low temp water.

I have found that the root temps usually mimic air temps within a degree or so.

like many others, I run lights on at night to counteract the low temps at winter and also have an external "rad box" to provide heat (600w oil rad in a box, drawing air from inside house to tent)

So the set up has been running for a few days, it hasnt been that cold at night so i cant really say how it performs. However iv been averaging from 25c to 27c air temp during the day so havent measured root temp. at night it hasnt dropped below 23-24c yet. 

Thats intaking air from inside my house to the grow which is in my garage loft. 

One day it got to 29c and my ac infinity fan and controller kicked in and bought it back down to range quite quick. 

 

I will be swapping my intake from inside the house to inside the garage when the weather warms up, but dont want to do it just yet incase we get a really cold night. 

 

 

 

[RUFUS HOUND]

do you have any temp/humidity sensors, if not get at least 1, oh and a tds or ec meter for feeding 

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Outside night temps were -1c last night and the room stayed above 23c so hopefully next winter i wont need to add much extra heat generally  

[Bobcharlieeeee]

15 hours ago, RUFUS HOUND said:

do you have any temp/humidity sensors, if not get at least 1, oh and a tds or ec meter for feeding 

Im using AC infinity fan and controller which has temp and humidity sensors. 

 

How do i use the tds meter?

 

 

[catweazle1]

@Bobcharlieeeee An EC/TDS meter tells you much substance is dissolved in the water. It can tell you how soft/hard your water is and you can add nutrients to a specific concentration with it. TDS meters measure in grams per litre and EC meters measure in ElectroConductivity units. Many models have scales that allow you to convert between the different units to suit . Prices generally range form £10 - £100. 

Edited March 31, 2022 by catweazle1

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Just now, catweazle1 said:

@Bobcharlieeeee An EC/TDS meter tells you much substance is dissolved in the water. It can tell you how soft/hard your water is and you can add nutrients to a specific concentration with it. TDS meters measure in grams per litre and EC meters measure in ElectroConductivity units. Many models have scales that allow you to convert between the different units to suit . Prices generally range form £10 - £100. 

i have a cheap one thinking about it, had it for my old pond.

Im using biobizz soil and nutes, think il just follow there dosing recommendations tbh instead of measuring it 

[catweazle1]

Their recommendations may well be too high, as many are. Maybe someone familiar with their stuff can advise you. I've not done soil for decades.

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Just now, catweazle1 said:

Their recommendations may well be too high, as many are. Maybe someone familiar with their stuff can advise you. I've not done soil for decades.

I have hard water, Biobizz doesnt give any recommendations on PPM, surely the only thing i can gain is if i was measuring the PPM of the water going in and the PPM of the run off?

 

Measuring just the water going in wont tell me much? unless my thinking is wrong 

[catweazle1]

You do that with coco but not soil. The prevailing methodology here seems to be you feed when the plants appear to need it, but generally you just water. The mixing of nutes with a meter ensures you don't add too much in one go. Nute manufacturers generally want you to use more because it's better for their profits.

[Bobcharlieeeee]

Just now, catweazle1 said:

You do that with coco but not soil. The prevailing methodology here seems to be you feed when the plants appear to need it, but generally you just water. The mixing of nutes with a meter ensures you don't add too much in one go. Nute manufacturers generally want you to use more because it's better for their profits.

so what ppm should i be aiming for at each feed? 

[Rhubarb & Flustered]

On 17/03/2022 at 8:06 AM, MindSoup said:

Thats a bit low, ideally roots want to be at least low 20s up to about 28 (I aim for 24), anything below that and you'll slow them down a fair bit. Air Temps don't seem to he as crucial in my experience, if you're keeping your roots the right temperature the air will usually stay in the sweet spot as well. 

 

 

Shit,I've been at 22

[MindSoup]

22 isn't the end of the world, its about as low as you'd want to go though. 

[catweazle1]

@MindSoup My root temps in fytocell are 20-22c. 20c should be ok as that's what DWC growers aim for. I agree that higher is better, if you want quicker growth, for growing in media though. I'm not doing autos this time, so a quick veg time is not of the essence.  

Edited April 3, 2022 by catweazle1

[Hubbabubba]

On 30/03/2022 at 0:14 PM, Bobcharlieeeee said: 

One day it got to 29c and my ac infinity fan and controller kicked in and bought it back down to range quite quick. 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi are you running a continuous extraction system to keep humidity controlled and pull fresh air through your grow also filter out unwanted smell’s.
I am just thinking what happens if your temperature remains below the 29c you have set for your infinity fan.

all the best.