With our first harvest under our belt, and some killer Chem Dawg for our troubles, Its time for some shiny new hydro equipment. We decided the best approach was to upgrade everything…Starting with the walls. As chic as wood paneling, and garbage bags are, I decided a 4′x4′ hydro tent with reflective Mylar walls is a little more energy efficient.

Now for my sun, Sunlight Supply’s Magnum XXXL 8″, or as they affectionately call it, The OCHO.

Its the biggest reflector in their line, and probably the biggest I have ever seen. It almost entirely fills our tent. Light distribution smooth, even, and intense. Running a SolarMax HPS we are spreading 147,000Lumens across a 4′x4′x2′ garden.

As for the ballast, we decided to go with a magnetic ballast t to save some money in the short run. Digital ballasts reduce power consumption, so if you plan on growing for a while, you will definitely appreciate the digi.

The tray is Botanicare’s 48″x48″ tray. What they don’t tell you is that 48″ is the bottom measurement, at the top it is actually 52″x52″ so good luck fitting it into a 48″ tent. I had to take off the edges with a Skil saw, and it still doesn’t fit with the door closed. Measure your parts before you take them home! For the time being, a slightly larger door is being cut out of panda film. Next time I’ll have to decide whether to buy a new tent 3″ larger or, a new tray almost a foot smaller. It’s a good thing I seem to enjoy shopping for this stuff so much.

Outside of the tent is an Oracle Revolution 6 455cfm duct fan. The fan performs multiple tasks; it provides fresh air, by replacing all the air in the tent 3-4x a minute, it air cools the light, without it the light would overheat and explode, finally it force feeds all of the air coming out of the room into a Can50 38-Special carbon filter.  The insulated ducting helps quiet it down, and keep your exhaust from warming up your room (Home Depot carries it cheaper than anywhere else).

After careful inspection of our power bill, we realized about half of our consumption was coming from a 25yr old built in air conditioner. This time we went with a window mount energy star a/c unit. It is more than enough for our little room. It can also be run on low to help lower humidity. The efficiency we gained from the air conditioner should negate the cost of upgrading our light from 600w-1000w. It’s always good to keep electricity usage as stable as possible.

Now all that’s missing is the herb. My next article will detail the building and use of an aeroponic cloner.

It’s week 8, my buds are flushing. I finished foliar feeding just over a week ago, and I have been spraying the buds with pH’ed water to help them absorb any residual fertilizer left on the surface. I am looking closely at the trichome structure… and at the base of one of the smaller plants, I notice that the buds at the bottom, in the shade,are really frosty, not just regular frosty, clumpy and patchy frosty… That means only one thing… Powdery Mildew!!!

They [spores] need the proper conditions to germinate: a surface that contains nutrients on which they can grow, temperatures over 60?F (16-20 C), high humidity and a slightly acidic environment. Once the spore senses these conditions , it germinates, sending out a hyhae which seeks out a stomata. It enters the tissue and lives off its nutrients, eventually killing the tissue. The downy mildew powder you see on the leaf is the reproductive organ of the plant, which is releasing spores into the air.
-Ask Ed

Powdery Mildew is an airborne fungus, that basically occurs everywhere with friendly conditions. It has been a pain in the ass for commercial farmers since as long as people remember. If allowed to reproduce on your buds, they will spread to any and every surface. And when smoked, powdery mildew creates any of a number of unpleasant side effects including: sniffles, runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing and sneezing, and can trigger asthma and other allergic responses.

It spreads quickly in high humidity, and in the shade, so the best solution is prevention.
Keep your humidity on the low side 35%-45%.
Turn your plants twice a week to keep any one spot from staying in the shade.
Spray fungicides preventatively through the first 5 weeks.

Many commercial sprays are available that prevent powder mildew. Make sure to use an organic fungicide since you don’t want to smoke any harmful chemicals. I recommend either Seranade or Neem Oil. Both are organic, and can be found at most nursery’s.

However, as I said earlier, I am in week 8, so it’s too late to spray chemicals. There is a natural solution. Fungii only survive within a specific pH range. Farmers used to use baking soda, and laundry deturgent to spray for powder mildew, but that sounds dangerous and a little gross. An even easier cure is mixing up a solution of 1 part milk to 9 parts water, and spray directly on problem areas. The lactic acid will kill the fungus. Powdery Mildew has a 3-5 day life cycle, so it is important to spray again 2-3 days later to kill any new offspring.

It was a cold fall night… this past Saturday. My partner and I were changing the reservoir, and we noticed as it cooled down that the temp at the top of the buds had already dropped to 64.5, and the rest of the plant was even colder! Since the light is on yo-yo’s we dropped it down about 6″ and watched the thermometer. After an hour, the temperature seemed to be holding between 69-72 with all the little girls huddled up under the light. It was a beautiful sight, I wish I had a picture…sigh. The next day I came in to check on my babies, I knew something was wrong before I even saw them. The fan had apparently shook itself to death.

Without the fan helping to circulate the air conditioning, the temperature under the lamp got too hot for weed.

All my beautiful tops were burnt to a crisp.

85 Isn’t enough to kill them, as you can see the tops burnt pretty good, but for the most part only the top 3″ or so of each plant was damaged. Unfortunately, the top is the prettiest freshest part, and I was way looking forward to them.

So I pulled the light up to about 2′ away from them, and ran down the street, and grabbed the only little oscillating fan i could find. It turns out they are a seasonal item, so by the fall they are all gone. Once I set up the fan, and restored air circulation, the temperature dropped down to about 70. I immediately mixed up a foliar spray of B-52 w/penetrator (pH 5.6 ppm 600).

In order to prevent this from EVER happening, make sure to maintain fans and all equipment at least once a week. I am setting 2 fans, each blowing air in different directions next to each other. It is redundant, and a waste of electricity, but anything is worth the price to never have to see my babies suffer like that again.