Software engineer grows (DWC) weed pt 2 w/ timelapse!

Yesdog said:

Thanks! Oh, and don't forget the environment-controlled waffle maker, its clutch



So I'm actually using the Atlas Scientific Tentacle Shield Mini with one of the Atlas pH control modules (I'll eventually get other modules, so sprung for the multi-component shield). I just did the I2C wiring to the Pi instead of the USB module. The USB module gives you the... UART interface- all the atlas stuff can do UART (over USB or direct) and I2C. I mostly tried to use I2C interfere for everything due to lack of UART ports, but the USB connection should give you an 'extra' UART. Should work great still.

That was about $100 right there. The probe itself, I got a Milwaukee Instruments probe from amazon, about $40.
The atlas stuff uses the same BNC probes that everything else does, so any pH probe with a BNC connector should work. I went with a cheap one, but not the cheapest- the chinese ones apparently drift really bad and need to be calibrated often. The Milwaukee ones are good industrial (but not lab) grade probes. I'm shooting for being able to run the probe a full grow without calibration- a decent one should be able to do that for you.

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Thanks for the info, about to get one going I think!

Twerkle said:

Thanks for the info, about to get one going I think!

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Awesome! The atlas scientific stuff for pH was definitely the most expensive component, but the thing is amazingly rock solid. I was going to try and do my own analog circuit to run the probe, but after reading around I learned how big of a deal 'RF noise' is to the sensors, as well as direct current bias.

So basically, all the electronics around your probe (ballast, fans etc) can interfere with the analog circuit, noisey power source can interfere, but even worse, the stuff in the water- pumps, other sensors, cooler- provide the most noise. The atlas circuits have *full isolation*, so basically all the components run isolated from the ph sensor (think of it like running that component off of a battery, in space lol). They do it with light somehow- there's some chip that'll let digital signals and power go across, but uses light as the middle man (so no direct electrical connection).

At the end of the day, my pH sensor is the most stable and most accurate sensor I have. I track the error rate on my devices to see if any of em have chronic issues- bad wiring or something. The atlas stuff has an amazingly low error rate, and when it does happen, the chip deals with it very well.

Yesdog said:

all the control software and sensor stuff is my design, runs on linux with a raspberry pi. The graphing software is an open source project called Grafana. It does such a great job for stats. Then theres a shared stats database that the custom software writes to, that grafana reads from for the visuals.

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I like the fact that it runs on Linux. Nothing like opensource media.

Good luck with this run. DWC looks to be a finicky beast. That's why I'm soil bound for now.

Nugachino said:

I like the fact that it runs on Linux. Nothing like opensource media.

Good luck with this run. DWC looks to be a finicky beast. That's why I'm soil bound for now.

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I'm big on open source- really glad with this project ill be able to contribute upstream to another reputable project (pi4j). Plus... I know theres tons of great commercial options out there, like BlueLab. If somebody wants to pay money for a complete system, there's tons of options there. But most of us aren't commercial growers, seems like lots of hobbyists and tinkerers. Feel like open source really lends itself well to that- people can make their own custom environment control the way they physically want, buy the parts the want, even over time. Then the software comes in as a platform to connect the pieces together- your only cost is for the components themselves.

and DWC is finicky indeed lol And there's still actually tons of room for automation is soil grows. You can still get soil pH and moisture sensors, all that. So don't think you've escaped this unnecessary complication quite yet

hah, also, small update.

I think the timelapse may be done for lol. I'm venting my tent now, which is pushing my webcam out of optimal position. Plus the plants are getting a bit to big to see anything interesting:

also, no idea on how to trim this mess lol almost gave myself a panic attack trying it earlier.

buds are moving right along

lol this poor webcam.... all my hopes and dreams of timelapse through budding- gone!

buddzzzz

Had to install an aquarium heater finally- was really worried that it might get too hot, damage the roots or something (The heater is like.... in the roots lol). But this heater has actually been pretty awesome so far! It can heat up to like 50gal, so should work in my 10gal outside even below freezing.

The thing is really neat! It holds a really steady temperature, and seems to have a very fast thermostat (pulses on/off rather quickly). Plants have shown 0 fucks and are still going strong after a week of it. I'd say its a win! So, if you have a grow in a cold basement or garage... I'd consider it. The one i got won't go lower than 70 F... but honestly that should be fine. With that, the plants can hopefully withstand a few hours of below freezing... as long as frost is in check.

It's so funny to see this inverted temperature graph... was exactly the opposite way before lol. Outside > inside > basin, now its basin > inside > outside.

EDIT: this is the heater:
Aqua 2210 Premium Submersible Aquarium Quartz Glass Heater 300 Watt

poor webcam lol I'm now at.... 100% horizontal space filled. I only had to pull the far left one a little closer to the wall (webcam), but i never even had room to train any of the other plants- they just filled in where they could.

buds are thickening up really nicely. My ppms and water level are both... dropping like mad- I'm dosing with nutes almost daily now. Keeping a really strong emphasis on N, K, Mg, SO4- and last week I finally saw a halt in vegetative growth. This will be my first official experiment regarding the 'phosphorus myth'. I've been targeting a very low P the whole time (no more than 30 ppm), and I've been avoiding phosphorus based ph down ever since flowering. I think it's starting to show that P isn't needed for a flowering booster. K on the other hand, I've been using GH ph UP almost daily (K based), and the plants seem to be enjoying the hell out of it. Plus there's almost no toxicity for K, so along with NO3 it's one of the amazing 'wiggle room' ions that you almost cant overdo.

I'm trimming almost every day, but things got very thick very fast, so it's been really hard for me to clean up all the lower stuff. I wish I could have done better at this before flowering, but I'm slowly catching up and things are starting to get decently lollipop'd now.

This far top right plant is also turning almost black lol

As far as the next grow, this is what I'm thinking for upgrades:

1) COB LED sealed array- this will also act as an air exchanger- the LEDs will be cooled directly with outside air, and vent outside, with (hopefully) a set of shutters that will allow air exchange within the tent. LED intensity and air exchange will be controlled from another raspberry pi as part of the automation system.
2) Permanent TDS probe for PPM readings
3) Some way of measuring water depth....

Hah, ok last updates for the day. Finally got pictures that weren't.... orangified by the HPS.

Starting with, the black beauty (yea, anybody know if this coloring is bad btw? lol):



They're all wayyyy too close to the light now, I think I have to start slowly training a few buds away from the light. At this point in time, I totally expected to be pinning the buds 'up' for support, but looks like i have to pull em down i guess?

budz

ph update. Things have been fun in the ph world, but i think the plants have been fine so far? There's definitely far too little water for the plants, so I think that's ultimately the cause of my swings and such. I just jack the ph up every days (using pure potassium hydroxide solution now) and everything seems to just keep going.

last 7 days:

Buds are getting super fat now. This one is almost 3" wide on the black beauty ('H1') pheno (Hula Haze, Blueberry x Haze). I'm really liking the way that plant grew, and the bud size is amazing so far. If the smoke is good, this will definitely be my star pheno. Got a few clones going, hoping to preserve all the phenos, but this one im trying to clone like mad (has been really tough). So far this plant has decided to grow these really big, dark, leathery leaves. Trichome count doesnt look that great, but the trichomes on the leaves are like... sharp. The base of the leaves actually kinda hurt to touch.



Here's the runner up Hula Haze pheno (H2). Looks and grows so much different than the H1. Trichome count looks better tho, and the leaves are a bit more tender (reminds me of sage).

Looks good man... that PH chart is super slick. I'm jelly.

My two cents is you're a bit heavy on the N this deep into flower. Super dark foliage, a leaves cupping / curling under themselves shows it.

disbeverk said:

Looks good man... that PH chart is super slick. I'm jelly.

My two cents is you're a bit heavy on the N this deep into flower. Super dark foliage, a leaves cupping / curling under themselves shows it.

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Thanks! Yea, most likely a bit hot on the N. I did just start the heavy feeding period maybe.... 2 weeks ago. But honestly, the 'black' one has been that way for about 30 days. The other ones don't look as dark. Going to be slowly watering down the solution for another week or 2, then flush.

The second pictures shows a bud thats like 4" from the light =\ So I'm guessing thats also contributing to the curling- it's not as bad farther away from the light.

Here's a farther out shot, can see the color and 'clawing' difference between the plants and height:

Alright, getting near the last of my updates on this grow.

I had to pull 2 colas because they were getting fried by the light, got em wet trimmed so we'll see how it is. This is from one of my phenos that I had a pretty hard time with growing, plus the trichome count seems shit. The entire buds themselves look kinda shit, but they weren't the healthiest so im hoping the others are a bit denser and more frosted.



Looks pretty... C-grade when trimmed...