Necessity is the mother of invention and I NEED help

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sMACkaddict

Señor Member
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OK, so after a rough start to my first grow, I'm nearing the end of flowering and everything is back on track. My plants are pretty small due to classic nooby pH problems, but I be able to pull an oz off them at least...
Onto the issue, it turns out I have to go back home for 2 weeks for family stuff. I was just gonna harvest early, the day before I leave, and leave the stuff to dry. I had a thought tho, if I just water them well right before I leave, can I just leave them to dry out in their pots with out hanging them or anything? That way they can develop a little more before they dry out... I wasn't going to leave the lights on or anything, just a fan.
whadda people think?

thanks
sMACk
 
How close are they to harvest? How early will they be? Also how often have you been needing to water in a two week period..you can figure out how many watering you will be missing
 
well they are starting week 5 of flowering, they are bagseed so I do not know for sure how long they will go. I also do not have a 30x microscope to check trichromes. But I am leaving the day after they finish 6 weeks of flowering. They take a watering every 4 to 6 days. I will be missing 2 to 3 waterings.

Does this plan have any merit? The plant won't like suck everything out of the buds while its drying out or something will it? Will the plant get too wilty? should I trim it before I leave?

Maybe I could do half and half with the plants, half normal chopped and hung and half left out to dry
 
Man thats tough.
I think I would rather pull them then leave them to dry in the pot itself.
When they dry out in the pot, it makes the herb taste weird,imo.
 
hmm ok

Thanks lesso and NCH for helping me make a tough decision... I am so pissed about having to leave during the last weeks of flowering. I can't wait to get back and get the next grow goin!

I also need to slow the drying a bit, because if I chop em before I leave then thats 2 weeks of drying which is definitely gonna be too much. Should I put them in a bigger or smaller room than the one they grew in to slow drying?
 
It may be possable to stack some of those water absorbing cubes on top of the soil after your last watering, (Full of water of course) and it might last until you return, as the soil will suck the water from the cubes as it needs it, but I would not bet all of my plants on it. Maybe try it with one plant, and if it works you will have a plant that is alot closer to finish than the rest. JMO
 
Have you considered a self watering system....Google wick watering system. Basically it wicks water into your medium from a larger Rez...might just keep them alive. Worst case scenario it doesn't work and you have dried bud when you get back.
 
Go buy those self waterin water glass globes yu can stick in soil and the soil will absorb as its needed might just buy yual the time yu need friend. Wish yual well.

BWD
 
What about light? For a reason that isnt worth explaining my ballast is 220v and I dont have a 220v timer... So I do my lights manually, not that bad seeing as I have to close the closet doors at that point anyways... So if Im not around I can't do lights...


sMACk
 
How soon are you leaving? Maybe we can come up with some watering plan for you. I'm afraid plants that early into flowering would be a great disappointment. I also do not believe that allowing them to dry in their pots a good idea either.
 
The Hemp Goddess said:
How soon are you leaving? Maybe we can come up with some watering plan for you. I'm afraid plants that early into flowering would be a great disappointment. I also do not believe that allowing them to dry in their pots a good idea either.
Does not make for good smoke, plus all your work up until now would be for nothing. IMO either get a self watering system AND a timer or chop them down. If you were to figure out the watering part they would then have to sit in the dark for two weeks...not growing. You can't leave the light on for 24 hours because They are prob way too far along to be put back into veg. Tough situation.
 
I got 2 weeks to figure this out.. Im leaning towards Lesso's plan but Hemp Goddess I like your attitude... How do I deal with the lighting issue? Come tothink of it, i have like 5 40w cfls they are all cool tho except 1 warm... I could get them onto the 120v timer I have.... I dont lnow if its nearly enough lumens... Its 8 plants in a 4x2 space

Sharpenin my axe...

sMACk
 
sMACkaddict said:
I got 2 weeks to figure this out.. Im leaning towards Lesso's plan but Hemp Goddess I like your attitude... How do I deal with the lighting issue? Come tothink of it, i have like 5 40w cfls they are all cool tho except 1 warm... I could get them onto the 120v timer I have.... I dont lnow if its nearly enough lumens... Its 8 plants in a 4x2 space

Sharpenin my axe...

sMACk
Those cfls on a timer are better than chopping I would say...just get the watering down. You are right about the lack of lumens, my hypothesis....the growth would be slow for those two weeks and prob a week after resulting in a diminished yeild but you would be able to finish your plants when you get back...might as well end up with a finished product I think. All conjecture btw as I have never had to leave grow for that long, just going on gathered knowledge. Take it for what its worth...Goddess?
 
my mom uses those aqua globes for her house plants how well u think they will work for mj?

hxxp://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Globes-AG011706-Watering-2-Pack/dp/B000FHAJ90

...its not ideal but witht he time restraints, next day shipping, and their fairly cheap...might be a solution worth looking into

EDIT: i must of missed ur most recent post, 2 weeks to figure it out...thats plenty of time to come up with a self watering system

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how many plants do you have?

how much water do you give them at a time?
 
A friend bought me several of the aqua globes for house plant. IMO, they do not hold enough water to really be effective for anything, but especially mj.

I'm with lesso on the fluoros. I would go with those and a timer. Their demand for water will be less under the fluoros. your yield will be affected some, but not nearly as much as chopping too early.

Now let's all put our heads together and come up with a safe, effective watering system....Let me put my thinking cap on....your grow anywhere near a bathroom?
 
ok, IF you're willing to make the investment...

1 - 160gph water pump 12$
1 - 25' 1/2" tubing 11$
1 - 240v single outlet mechanical timer 18$
9 - 1/2" barb T connectors .35$ x 9 = 4$(about)
1 - 30 gal plastic tote (reservoir) or anything u can find around the house big enough to use as a reservoir 14$
1 - 24/7 digital timer 33$

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- take your tote, drill a hole in the side about 2 -3" below the top. make the hole big enough to run the water pump power cord through.
- place water pump in tote and feed power cord through hole
- cut, and attach a piece of 1/2" tubing to water pump. cut the piece as long as needed.
- insert 1 T connector to the other end
- run the rest of the 1/2" tubing so that it reaches each plant. then back to pump
- attach both ends of the tubing to each of the remaining ends of the T connector. this will create a closed loop.
- now, at each plant site cut the 1/2" tubing and place a t connector.
- use zip ties, string, w/e u have so that each t connector stays where you need it
- cut a 3-6" piece of 1/2" tubing to place on each of the remaining open ends of the T connectors at the plant sites.
- plug the pump into the 24/7 timer and set the timer to turn on for however long u need it to every 7 days

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water pump:

160 gph / 60mins = 2.65 gpm / 8 plants = .3 gpm/per plant...so 1 gallon of water for every 3 mins the pump is running for each plant.(close estimate)

so if you give each plant 1 gallon everytime you water. set the timer to run for 3 mins every thursday

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reservoir:

water that sits for too long exposed to light will grow algea. so you must place the lid on the reservoir and cover it with a blanket or w/e you have laying around so that light can NOt penetrate the tote

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i've attached a pic i drew to give you an idea of what i'm trying to explain...and i know i know i got skillz with microsoft paint. :cool: lol

i'm pretty sure i covered all my bases

EDIT: i added the 240v timer so that you can run your 220v lights on a timer and not have to use the cfl's

total investment, just under 100$

autowater.jpg
 
Awesome, thanks for your input errbody, let me read through your post shortbus, its gonna take me a bit, just smoked...
I really appreciate it hemp goddess, shortbus and lesso!

I am sorta near but not really near a batroom, out and in a window
 
OK, so I have the water pump already from a cloning setup I was building... I live in a moderately underdeveloped area and its a little hard to get some things like a 220v timer. Im gonna try to get that but if not I will have to go with the cfls... will the plants even dry out? I would have no idea how long to set the watering timer for.
definitely looks like you got all the bases covered! and you got crazy paint skillz

sMACk
 
There is a couple ways you could set up a watering system, could make it gravity fed that will stop feeding once the soil's wet enough, I was just watching a self water setup that didn't run with a pump or anything, Just gravity fed, kinda like the aqua globe, just a 20gal tote, 1/2in line, connectors, little odds and ends.
 
I would be a little concerned trusting the drips to only drip the required amount and the timer working correctly while connected to 30 gallons of water. I also do not believe that a 24/7 timer can be programmed to only run 3 minutes once a week.

How many plants do you have going and how large are they? Can we get some pics of your grow?
 

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