Vacations

[UrbanHillbilly]

How long has anyone here left while you have plants growing in a tent? A weekend is obviously no big deal, but is there a practical way to get away for a week or longer? I'm talking about a situation where no one is available to check on the them and lend a hand.

 

[HBZ]

The short answer is no💁. Kinda why I grow... Got a good reason why I can't leave ...The truth is funny sometimes 😉

 

[Lester Moor]

How long has anyone here left while you have plants growing in a tent? A weekend is obviously no big deal, but is there a practical way to get away for a week or longer? I'm talking about a situation where no one is available to check on the them and lend a hand.

I agree with HBZ..BUT it depends on the size of your garden...if it's just a tent or 2 or 3 then you can make it work. More details are needed for the help you seek.

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

I agree with HBZ..BUT it depends on the size of your garden...if it's just a tent or 2 or 3 then you can make it work. More details are needed for the help you seek.

Fair point. I have two little tents. 2x2x4 and 3x3x6. I currently have one plant in each, a fast growing auto in the little one that can stay there until harvest, and a slower photoperiod in the other. Obviously I can shift things around, but that's all I have to work with.

One thing that caught my eye tonight was a auto drip feed irrigation system from Vivosun. Seems like that might give some leeway on taking some days off.

 

[RookieBuds]

I've had to time my harvests around a couple 5+ day vacations. I just shut the whole grow down, fired it all back up when I got back.

 

[rkymtnman]

2 weeks. DTW setup.

 

[greenmachine29]

Blumat carrots work well on a gravity fed reservoir

 

[DemonTrich]

I used to have my trim helper come in and water the girls while I was away. I was able to go away on vacation for 2 weeks.

The morning I leave, I water, and then dill the Overflow trays up half way. This buys me 7-9 days w/o needing to water. Day 11(ish), my guy comes in and waters with the ready made milk jugs (I'd have 15 or 20 prepped and ready). 1 gallon per 2 plants. I had lots of plants. Take clones the night before I leave. When I return, they have all rooted and ready to uppot.

 

[Lester Moor]

I have tried multiple systems. Blumat, little bulb auto water things, top watering ring things etc. nothing really worked well for me. After much frustration and $ I found that a reservoir, pump , a good timer and drip lines ( which don't drip because I leave the tube open without a dripper connection thing) worked best. I can leave for as long as the water lasts in the reservoir. And i also do as DemonTrich, I put clones in the cloner in case something goes south I don't lose my favorites. Hasn't failed me yet. Don't forget to put some air stones in the reservoir 😉...

 

[DemonTrich]

I removed all my airstones 4+yrs back. I just stick the open air line in the cloner water. I have a 45gal water holding tank (brute commercial garbage can) that has a big air pump running 24/7 with an open air line. I found when I put an air stone to it, it bogged the pump down a bit, and the pump ran warmer. No air stone, and way less heat.

 

[RookieBuds]

Solid ideas here re: taking backup clones, and also open-ended drip lines. 👍👍

 

[Lester Moor]

I removed all my airstones 4+yrs back. I just stick the open air line in the cloner water. I have a 45gal water holding tank (brute commercial garbage can) that has a big air pump running 24/7 with an open air line. I found when I put an air stone to it, it bogged the pump down a bit, and the pump ran warmer. No air stone, and way less heat.

I never thought of the load and heat of the air pump..thank you for sharing that. Just when I think I have my shit dialed in. Bam! Learn something new 🤔🤣😉

 

[rkymtnman]

I have tried multiple systems. Blumat, little bulb auto water things, top watering ring things etc. nothing really worked well for me. After much frustration and $ I found that a reservoir, pump , a good timer and drip lines ( which don't drip because I leave the tube open without a dripper connection thing) worked best. I can leave for as long as the water lasts in the reservoir. And i also do as DemonTrich, I put clones in the cloner in case something goes south I don't lose my favorites. Hasn't failed me yet. Don't forget to put some air stones in the reservoir 😉...

we have the same set-up . KISS theory. DiG 6 site manifold with open ended silicone aquarium tubing.

 

[DemonTrich]

I have LOTS of tricks I've learned the past 15yrs or so.

Another trick for aero cloners, why spend $ on pool shock (chlorine)....cough cough...just use tap h2o. There's enough free chlorine in it vs paying for it. I've been using tap (oh to 6.0) for 10+yrs and have made thousands and thousands of cuts. I used to run 12x 25 site Aero cloners for many many yrs.

 

[rkymtnman]

I removed all my airstones 4+yrs back. I just stick the open air line in the cloner water. I have a 45gal water holding tank (brute commercial garbage can) that has a big air pump running 24/7 with an open air line. I found when I put an air stone to it, it bogged the pump down a bit, and the pump ran warmer. No air stone, and way less heat.

I have a very small water pump in my feed res. keeps it nicely mixed and aerated too.

 

[rkymtnman]

each white tick mark is a day of feeding. think there is 17 total?

 

[DopeDaniel]

I never thought of the load and heat of the air pump..thank you for sharing that. Just when I think I have my shit dialed in. Bam! Learn something new 🤔🤣😉

I feel kinda bad for @UrbanHillbilly , they just got slammed with 30 years of growing experience in 12 hrs. 😆 🤣 😂

 

[Gatorbackbob]

I've done 10 days out of state twice and plants were fine, I watered them heavy and set the pots down into oil drain pans with a couple gallons each in the pan and set the fan on low to slow evaporation. That's with coco, with soil I water heavy then I take 3x 1 inch wide by 15-16 inches long strips of 100% cotton t shirt. I fill 2 liter bottles and stick one half of a strip in the bottle to the bottom, then use a stick and jam the other half down to the bottom of the pot on the edge. This will create a water wick that will work great. For a 5 gallon pot 3 strips and 3 bottles worked great. Both cases plants were perfect and barely thirsty when I got home

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

I have LOTS of tricks I've learned the past 15yrs or so.

Another trick for aero cloners, why spend $ on pool shock (chlorine)....cough cough...just use tap h2o. There's enough free chlorine in it vs paying for it. I've been using tap (oh to 6.0) for 10+yrs and have made thousands and thousands of cuts. I used to run 12x 25 site Aero cloners for many many yrs.

I have a Clone King that's definitely overkill for my little grow setup, something like 30 pucks on the thing when I just have two little tents. It was dirt cheap when an acquaintance was downsizing their exotic plant operations. But what's the chlorine for?

BTW, do you use tap water for watering in soil as well? I've been refilling gallon jugs at the machine at Walmart. With just a few plants max that's affordable enough that I haven't invested in a filtration unit so far.

 

[UrbanHillbilly]

I've done 10 days out of state twice and plants were fine, I watered them heavy and set the pots down into oil drain pans with a couple gallons each in the pan and set the fan on low to slow evaporation. That's with coco, with soil I water heavy then I take 3x 1 inch wide by 15-16 inches long strips of 100% cotton t shirt. I fill 2 liter bottles and stick one half of a strip in the bottle to the bottom, then use a stick and jam the other half down to the bottom of the pot on the edge. This will create a water wick that will work great. For a 5 gallon pot 3 strips and 3 bottles worked great. Both cases plants were perfect and barely thirsty when I got home

I've been running smaller pots, like probably 2 gallon. I know that limits my plants, but my tent size is tiny enough, especially on the 2x2, that I haven't bothered going bigger so far. I like the wick idea. You think adding even more 2-liter jugs (or maybe 1 gallon jugs?) would give you more days?