yup, ive been reading your journal among others recommended here for the subject.
Yeah, thats what i figured at first, but it also sounded like extra mumbo and buzzwords, as with a lot of things in the weed industry. i was weary of the less water at flower too. It has been interesting but out of my league ($$) for the small grow.
Im interested in some diy sensor system i can set up with time… ill have to keep reading.
Thanks¡
I used to think I did this by accident because I am lazy. Turns out I’m cutting edge!
There is a really detailed crop steering thread over on future4200. User @medgrower there documented his learning experience. It’s eye opening. You can’t argue with the results these guys are getting
I think a lot of crop steering is frequent fertigation and dry backs. Some guys feed 12 times a day
I would not grow anymore without.
In LED ops you need an PFD sensor and i prefer the Apogee SQ-620, ePar.
If you have the data of the EC that you put in, what stays in the medium, what drain.
When you see what happens with the EC in the medium, minute after minute.
What happens when temps are a lil to low? or to high?
Every action gets a reaction. Its fun to learn.
Expensive, yes and no.
Its a hobby for us here so everybody is free to spend what they can spend on it.
In veg, on mapito, i steer the Pore Water EC between 3 and 4 most of the times.
In flower, i let the Pore Water EC climb from 3 up to 8. To do this you do need a low VWC (=Volumetric water content, in common words, dryout level)
In flower this is an agressive move and it does cause nutrient stress. This stress is actually a big advantage.
You cannot do this without having data from everything in the enviroment.
The logger unit, ZL6, Metergroup. Prices from 800 to 1400$, depending the model of the 3 you chose. (subscription per year, 180$)
Teros 12, around 250 - 300$
Atmos 14, 350 - 400$
ES-2, 275$
Apogee SQ-620 with Ucache is expensive, 700$ + 600$
I know many peeps with other hobbies who spend way more … a nice bike? travelling? Restaurants? Shoes?
I did not buy all sensors at once. I had to save money to for them.
Wanting something and saving money for it, the road to reach your goal, its something to enjoy to.
I agree, the people using automatic feeders following really tightly controlled variable seem to have amazing results in set ups that are pretty standard otherwise
Oh, i absolutely agree… i mean its out of my league right now… but im def looking forward to it in the short term future.
Yes and no.
You need to adapt the pot size to start.
In my topic that i started here i will show you do not really need those 12 feeds per day.
It can be done different and still steer the crop.
In a small ops, crop steering works even better than large commercial scale growers because you have a more detailed overview whats going on.
The numbers of yields are very impressive. I yield 400% more than my old system wich was also very high yielding.
The buds are not bigger but they are denser and weigh double. The frost and terp levels are impressive.
You must look beyond that name Aroya. The basic idea is to control your crop for 100% with sensors.
They do make a hype out of it, i must admit. In fact its not new at all, they just pretend this is new and something for the big boys …, NOT.
They dont even want to sell to homegrowers. They only send teams for installations to large commercial ops. Overpriced, hell yes.
Some chose for them because its plug and play, no time lost in self education.
I thought exactly the same about the high VPD in flower, contrary to everything I’ve heard and read before.
Remember that VPD is a vapor pressure deficit. Because of this, the higher the deficit, the lower the RH for a given temperature.
Ok thanks ReikoX, Now I know.
I musta been stoned and interpreted as raising RH. doh! Looking at my VPD chart, thats exactly what I do. Constant temp + lowering RH = raising the VPD…
Hey guys!
Here’s a project I did to be able to calibrate and measure pwEC with generic resistive sensors and arduino (for a tenth of the cost of a Teros). I think it might be useful for someone.
The nerds on duty can test and send PRs. Soon I will release more Matlab data and maybe in the future more sensor models.
Seans and Bruces latest take on crop steering
Nice share @jesuswearsflares
Is this new? Or just new from Bruce Bugbee, or new - “now with some data”? I mean the concept?
Anyway, that one shot that shows the growth chambers on the left, it kinda looks like there are containers similar to buspans and maybe they have rockwool in them? Can anybody confirm/deny that (are there more pictures, video, or descriptions of this aspect - the medium and containers)? Because it reminds me of @eskobar’s setup a little bit.
I’ve been targeting 30-31C air temp for quite a while now (in early flower at least). Rather, I’ve been targeting an actual plant temp of 27-28C (80-82*F). This has been recommended by a couple sources for a while, one of which is Horticulture Lighting Group, who’s led boards I run.
I’ve also run my clones at a warmer temp.
My thinking is metabolism is increased. It seems fairly reasonable to me.
Cooling off/reducing temps near the end, or even mid flower, is also something that doesn’t sound new to me.
I’m supplementing co2 though, at least for the last year or so. Even when I wasn’t, I was still trying to get the plants themselves above 80*F.
I think the concept is quite old “bro science” and Bruce Bugbee is validating it with empirical data.
I’ve been watching more & more Bruce Bugbee content, as he’s making the rounds on many different channels. It seems, according to him that the biggest factor in crop steering cannabis is temperature, specifically high-ish temps in veg and lowered temps progressively thru flower. Moreso than light stress and even watering and fertilizer stress, precision temperature stress has the largest outcome on the final product.
I just listen to the plants but im sure this can give you some solid parameters.
I just find vpd a bit vague even with its scientific complexity. Each and every plant has a different preferred environment that allows them to thrive.
If im completely off on this Id love to hear opinions etc.
I definitely want to delve into vpd and learn the ins and outs.
Just another aspect to help with understanding everything on an even broader level.