Okay, I think I still have a little headspace, so I’ll try raising the light a bit. Yeah, I’ve been running the lights at night, mostly because my area considers 1pm-7pm to be ‘peak energy hours’ and I’m trying to keep that bill down.
So max intensity lighting when the canopy is min distance away, and as it approaches the light, raise the light a bit, and then when that’s not an option, drop the intensity?
I can’t remember the wiring exactly in that room. I believe it’s all one circuit for that corner of my house. I changed all the outlets and figured that stuff out when I first got the house, but that was over 7 years ago and I never wrote it down Too much smoking
For your flowering plant I would start around 80% and dial it up a few percent at a time as needed. For seedlings and rooting clones you’d probably want more like 20%- 25% @ 24". By the end of veg you’ll probably be around 50%-60%. Each plant will be a little different, but once you learn their language they will tell you what they want. It just takes practice.
Do you have a time of use meter? If so that will save you a ton on electricity. I think it costs me like 3.5 cents per kwh during off peak hours.
for calculation purposes, circuits that operate continuous loads are taken at 85% of their rating. It’s an additional cushion to compensate for the added heat in a continuous load. 15A x 110V = 1650W * 0.85 = 1402.5W and 20A x 110V = 2200W * .85 =. 1870w.
Sorry guys I pulled a stoner move. That should be 80%. I was looking at that post and thinking “that doesn’t look right”. I had to look it up again to make sure. See NEC 210.20
A continuous load is defined as a load where the maximum current is expected to continue for 3 hours or more. Of course that does not include inrush current of electric motors since it’s very fleeting.
NEC 210.20(A) Continuous and Noncontinuous Loads
Where a branch circuit supplies continuous loads or any combination of continuous and noncontinuous loads, the rating of the overcurrent device shall not be less than the noncontinuous load plus 125 percent of the continuous load.
I’m not saying the breaker will trip. There is buffer built into every step of sizing a circuit. I am saying that NEC requires us to add that buffer into the calculation. I just invert the equation to size the load to the OC device instead of sizing the OC device to the load. The wire and breaker are already there so we want to know how much load we can put on what we already have. I did all continuous loads for the sake of simplification since most of your bigger loads in a grow will be continuous or at least have the potential to be under normal operating conditions. I’m just trying to make sure that everyone is armed with the info to do things safely without giving enough info to make them dangerous.
So a circuit meant to carry only continuous loads that sum to 12A requires a (12A * 1.25 =) 15A OCD. But most of us rely on the OCD to tell us when we’ve overloaded the circuit (by tripping). What happens when the user puts a 15A continuous load on that circuit? Is that unsafe, or merely using all the safety margin the electrician meant to provide?
Is it unsafe in the sense that you will burn your house down when you flip the switch? Not likely. It is unsafe in the sense that it could damage or prematurely wear components and lead to unsafe operating conditions if left unfixed.
If a 15A, 24/7 continuous load is placed on a circuit that has a 15A OCD and the usual (nowadays, anyway) 14-AWG wiring, what components can get damaged or wear out prematurely? What unsafe operating conditions can result?
PS - I wish we could use PMs for conversations like this. Apologies to all for hijacking this thread.
Usually the receptacle is the first to go. Obviously this would be a bigger problem the more you have plugged in to one recep. The metal springs that hold the prongs of the attachment plug in the recep lose their springiness with repetitive or excessive heating. Then the attchment plug is lose which causes arcing. Beyond arcing being very hard on some electrical components(LED drivers come to mind), it also causes corrosion, and you guessed it, more heat then this happens if it’s not replaced soon enough.
This was caused by a large electric wall furnace at my buddies house. He got stuck on the circuit when he tried to unplug it. His cousin had to push him off with a broom stick.
Breakers will also wear over time in a similar fashion to outlets. When they wear out they start tripping a lot. If not replaced, they will eventually stop tripping and if a fault occurs there is nothing to stop the overcurrent. Thats the really scarey one. Arc faults can do some serious damage. In a residential application the wire would probably melt before you get a serious Arc flash or blast, but you still have one hell of a fire on your hands. One of the first jobs we got after I started my apprenticeship was replacing a 2000A main in a high rise office building. The kicker is there were several federal call centers in the building and they couldn’t be rerouted in time for emergency repairs so we had to get special dispensation from the state to do it live. My boss made me do the Arc fault calc to impress on me just how dangerous it was. He made me hold the shepherds hook a few feet away while they did the job but the reality is we all would be ash before I pull anyone off. I damn near s#@t my spaceman suit a few times. The boss even called me the night before to tell me not to smoke any pot. Since then I realized that no matter what your doing electricity is dangerous if your not careful and well informed. If you have any more questions you can hit me up my journal whenever and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Ahh okay, I think I was giving the little ones too much light.
I’m not sure what you mean by Time of Use meter. I know they charge more per kwh in my region from 1pm to 7pm. Naturally, I set my lights to turn off at 1pm and for the veg, back on at 7pm, the flower goes back on at 1am.
I’ve heard their are devices that will draw the energy you need during off-peak hours, and then you can use it when you need. I guess like a dynamo or battery of some sort
Time of use metering is just that. They give you a lower rate during off peak hours as opposed to flat rate where they charge the same rate no matter when the power is used. for me it’s $0.15/kWh on peak and $0.04 off peak. I just looked it up and the coop raised it a half cent both ways this month.
You could build a battery bank, then you have the same problem as solar or wind. By the time the batteries pay for themselves they need to be replaced. It won’t save you much. Now some insurance companies are getting wise to the fact that batteries are a massive fire hazard and once they start burning they are very hard to stop. So it could end up costing you more in insurance. Not to mention the cost of paying a decent electrician to do the install, permits, and inspections.
Can I crop lower buds from my flowering plant mid-late flower?
I tried lollipopping a bit, but was a bit hesitant about how much to trim, and I have several smaller buds midway up the stalks that I’m considering removing for the last couple weeks of flower to see if I can get more growth out of the main colas.
Do the plants respond negatively to pruning during flowering? Don’t want to risk it all this close to harvest, but I don’t foresee these little popcorn buds really giving me much.
The main concerns with pruning or HST during flower is that You don’t want to slow the plant down with a lot of stress because there is a bit of a clock on flower. There is some wiggle room, but too much stress will affect end quality and yield. Small amounts of controlled targeted stress on a healthy vigorous plant can actually improve quality, but that’s a little more advanced technique for another time. Since you’ve had a bit of a rough start she is probably already pretty stressed(no offense intended). I’d try to minimize additional stress to get her back on track.
When I do lollipop(usually larger plants, I don’t feel the need as much with small ones) and the like I usually do it when I see the early flower stretch has slowed and the clusters of calyxes first start to thicken and form buds. That’s usually around week 3 of flower. I don’t call it flowering until I see thous cluster forming. That can take 5-12 days from flip in photos and sexual maturity with autos.
Nah, none taken, this baby been through a lot. How long should the flowering phase last?
My last crop I harvested after 4 weeks because they got really sick. Came in one morning to check, and they had collapsed and were super droopy, didn’t notice mold growing on their trunks and decided to just harvest.
The answer is partly preference of the grower, partly dependent on strain and the individual plant and all subject to change.
Just a throw at the wall and see what stick answer is 8-14 weeks. Indicas usually flower a little faster than sativas, and there are many outside factor that affect flower time as well. I did a more detailed description of flower and when to harvest including some pics for reference here. Would like some help with transplanting and burying the stem a bit - #54 by Gl1tch
Too much smoking 
at the wall and see what stick answer is 8-14 weeks. Indicas usually flower a little faster than sativas, and there are many outside factor that affect flower time as well. I did a more detailed description of flower and when to harvest including some pics for reference here.