Weather extremes in So Cal making for a tough grow!

Just a few years ago I could count on stable weather conditions for a tent grow. Not anymore. January was a roller coaster of 60 mph Santa Ana wind conditions driving humidity down into the low teens, nights in the low 40's, and the occasional days nearing 90 degrees. I am fed up with the noise from the indoor grow tent, so this year I started a tent out in the tool shed. Had to add a humidifier with controls, and a small air conditioner for the occasional 90 degree day, and a small heater with controls. Last year I ran a HID side-by-side with an equal wattage "blurple" LED. (the HID won). This year I am trying a LED with a veg switch (blue light). Produces really tight nodes, but the HID still wins. Oh yeah, the Mars Hydro blurple burned out 6 led's in one grow season. Turns out cheap LED's are really not that cheap. And then there are the bugs. Did you know that So Cal is Ground Zero for insect infestation? I was lucky to be home last July 6 when we experienced 115 degree heat, shattering all previous records. I scrambled with shade cloth and barely managed to save my outdoor plants. A week later after treating bud worms to some BT, I tried something different. I tented my outdoor plants with Ag Fabric bags. Drawing the drawstring tight around the trunk. Worked great! Kept out ALL the bugs. I was able to go on vacation and come back 10 days later to find not a single bug in the buds or leaves. The plants were not huge, yielding about 1/2 lb cured bud per plant, but I was able to complete the last 40 days of flowering without any pesticides. That is huge for an outdoor grow in urban So Cal.
I really just needed to rant...
 
March update on So Cal 3x3 tent grow (in shed outdoors). The driest February on record is now past. I have put away my humidifier and humidity controller. Now we are looking at what is a "March Miracle"; a persistant low pressure system that seems to be making up for the driest Feb. on record. The plants are getting over their stunted growth from the cold nights and are starting to take off. I lost 1 plant, 8 left. (4) Blueberry CBD, no thc, and (4) Jack Herer. These plants were grown from seed starting on Jan 4. Now over 3 months and still only 13" tall and in Veg stage. Yeah, I know, not a very efficient grow. but fun anyway. Stats: (2) 330 LED'S, (2) AC Infinity 6" exhaust fans set to come on at 75f, (2) 6" inline duct booster fans set to come on at 78f. (1) 3x3 grow tent. Total power draw: 8 amps full load. Currently building a 3x5x8' climate controlled grow room for expansion.
 

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