Return to Growing - IKEA Metod Cabinet

Bravo! :clap:

Keep up :persevere: the fight! :smile:

Sativa genesā€¦ I think youā€™ll be glad youā€™re waiting but I always advocate to try and do it in parts(harvest)ā€¦and afterwards compare the buds harvested early vs. late. Itā€™ll tell you what to do with that strain NEXT time. :wink:

:evergreen_tree:

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1/4 plants harvested and trimmed for drying.

So, after watching a bit closer and sitting on my hands Iā€™ve taken out one of the two Dutch Passion Auto Durban Poison plants.

Total wet weight including stems: 249gr.
Trimmed wet weight (incl. central bud stem): 162gr.
Wet bud trim: 39gr.

Trimmed buds have been hung to dry and will transfer to jars with humidity packs to cure a little. Iā€™ll clean out the heavier bud stems post drying and redo the weight of the dried final bud and trim.
Assuming a 40% weight loss on moisture and final stems Iā€™ll be pretty damn happy with 120gr of cured smoke from one plant.
:blush:


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Second DP cut down.
Structure was totally different: fewer larger and elongated cola clusters; wispier and less dense.
Iā€™m under informed on this but the second is far closer to a true sativa type bud while the first was somehow displaying greater indica style.

Second plant:
Total wet weight including stems: 184gr.
Trimmed wet weight (incl. central bud stem): 100gr. :disappointed::skull:
Wet bud trim: 60gr.

Looking at first 24hrs drying on plant 1 Iā€™m expecting a min 60-70% moisture loss instead of the 40% above.

So total DP genetics yield on two plants:
Wet trimmed bud: 262gr.
Wet trim: 99gr.
Dry and cured total yield expected: 108-144gr.

Not homerun territory and in need of improvements but acceptable.

toke toke :grimacing: dried a mini 2gr sampler a week agoā€¦
Iā€™m all smiles.

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:clap: Bravo for holding out as long as you could. :wink: Now more hard work in waiting to dry & cure. :persevere: :sweat_drops:

Iā€™m eager to hear how it comes out. :thumbsup:

:evergreen_tree:

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Looks great, your patience paid off! Durban is one of my favorites,what do they smell like?

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I need to give em a proper wiff when they dry a little. So far a lovely citrus and slightly spicy aroma and just silly sticky.

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Thanks mate.

Will be asking on how to do it better next time to up the yield and outcome.

Am quite surprised at what is such a substantial genetic variability in the shape and size of the two plants in seeds from the same bank.

In the meantime, any curing tips?

Planning on 7 day air dry in dark and cool attic on coat hangers.
Final trim and 7 days in brown paper bags.
Masonry jars with 65% humidity packs for a further month.

Iā€™m very keen to experiment with cob style curing - Malawi Cob was something I fondly remember smoking in my late teens and early twenties. So mellow and crystal clear euphoric high.

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Citrus and spicey, sure sounds like Durban to me! Such a fun smoke, it makes everything look sparkly haha. Enjoy!

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So update on remaining photoperiod:
2 x Barneyā€™s Farm Blue Gelato 41

Nearing end of week 4 of 12/12 and effectively flowering.
Nutes: -running full strength Canna Coco bites and Boost; -PK13/14 goes in in maybe 1-2 weeks.
TBH struggling to confidently diagnose what stage of flowering i am in.
Scrog has been trimmed and excess sugar / fan leaves removed.

Got nice spread of bud sites and a tiered carpet of dank developing.
Initial frosting has a yellow colour to it but could be lights.

Damn excited for this. Very happy with the Durban Poison but so keen for the comparison



.

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Beautiful! Great training there, thats a perfect shape.

Usually people feed PK from week 5 onā€¦so from about 35 days on.

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Nutes changes out last night and PK included. Maybe early by 3-4 days but looked like the plant could take it with early flowers filling out with thick pistel development and starting to look like pom-poms on a stick.

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Frosty Pom-Pom shots


:metal::facepunch::grin:

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Views from below and above

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Whispieee god damn buds!
So. Iā€™ve got the same thing happening as last time.

The plant closest to the back of the cabinet is developing these long candlestick like buds. They are already getting pretty long and elongated. I foresee issues with the lights burning the tips. I also foresee them getting all puffy and fluffy and fox tailed again.

The front plant near the door is again looking like itā€™s developing denser fatter bud without the fox tails.
Without the ability to right now measure temp and RH variance in different parts of the box Iā€™ve got to guess itā€™s a ventilation / humidity / temperature issue.

Nutrient schedule is the same.
Watering is on inspection the same (no clogs on feeder pipe in the back vs. front).
Daytime lights on temps and RH is 22-25C (71.5-77.0) and RH 68-79%. Night time is 17-19C and RH 80-100%. All canopy readings amongst the flowers.

As said. Thinking itā€™s ventilation as the major intake point is at the front in the form of a foam filled aperture in the door.

The fox tails are always on the plant at he back nearest the exhaust outtake point.

Anyone experienced this before? Any help?
No shortage of frosty sticky icky beautiful flower development. However, wanted to generate golf ball style solid mugs of psychedelic puff.

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are the gelato clones from the same plant? If they are from seeds, then its bc they are different phenotypes. but humidity and temps also play a role. yur temps are fine, could be a little colder, but yur good at 25 degress at plant top level.

seems u still have humidity issuesā€¦ man, why do think it is so high at night? Do u utilize an exhaust fan during the dark hours? itā€™s airflow i think maybe the root causeā€¦

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Hey deep_rob

Thanks for the reply and taking the time to help figure this one out.

Both plants from seed so could argue different F. However, coincidence too great in terms of the same issue with a different strain also from two seeds on the plant in the same position in the box.

Iā€™m running an exhaust fan at night and an oscillating fan and mini dehumidifier (it sucks up a load of water but never enough).

Can only think the night time humidity spike is due to the temp drop as the lights go off and the fans canā€™t clear it fast enough. But then Iā€™m running two sets of two Noctua NFP-12-1700 fans (https://noctua.at/en/nf-p12-redux-1700-pwm) in series. So air flow loss aside I should have 240m3h flow at 5.66 static pressure. Given my volume in the box is only 0.252m3 (56.5cmx57.5cmx77.5cm) even with the RAM filter mounted externally it should be whistling in there. Obviously the fans donā€™t perform as advertised or at least not how I have them mounted.

Humidity was a major issue to start - being too low for the seedlings. Once I got a decent canopy developing humidity shot up massively.

The RH reading is right amongst the canopy and as such much higher readings than the cabinet overall. However I still get water droplets and condensation in amongst the leaves of the scrog.

With my first set of plants I had some minor mound isues. Hoping to avoid that here and solve this whispy fox tail issue.

Just at a loss. Need some more ideas and potentially some engineer brains. So thanks for chipping in bruv.

Any other ideas. @Mr.Sparkle - shameless I know but youā€™ve grown in similar designs and with similar fans. Had his issue?

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Yeppers and not shameless in anyway feel free to ask iā€™ll help just tag me in more.

Now due to the confined space once you get some foliage in there to transpire humidity jumps way way up as you found out, i use to get condensation on my walls as well, but only where plants were touching or damn close, or coupled to dead spots for air circulation.

My solution was to keep any foliage off the walls, if they touched id pluck them or move the plant and or branches in a way that they wouldnā€™t touch, also i tried to keep an open canopy in that if any leaves were overlapping and or touching if pluck one or as many as needed in an area so it was open and not overlapping, this was just to aid in air circulation and reduce condensation as you would get drops forming on your leaves when they were touching each other like youā€™ve experienced. Also even though initially i had my fans slow down at night, in the end i just ran them at full to keep that humidity in check and the air exchange going.

Caveat here I am not one to say how one should grow as everyone will find what works for them or what they want to try, and also i believe people need to try things and have challenges or issues to become better growers in the end and im obviously including myself in that as is im just another hobby grower.

But I can and will give some tips to aid you in this round to help finish it out and ā€œCanā€ help with your next round if youā€™d like but weā€™re talking some changes and ā€œa degree of trustā€ as well, as even though we currently have similar setups and one in my past as well, if we implement some minor and possibly major changes in growing and in thought about it all i think we can and will make some big changes in end for you.

Sorry i havenā€™t been following more closely but im also not one to throw myself into others grows if they donā€™t ask ;).

So when do you want to get started :grin:

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yeah its yur fansā€¦ Its probably several contributing factors,. upgrading yur ventilation fans would help to mitigate the RH some, but if yur climate is humid, there there isnt much u can doā€¦ short of dehumidifying yur entire home.

Ive never seen humidity that high indoors and at night. . other doing what yur doing now, and purchasing new fans, im a at a loss. I would look into getting a sulfur dispenserā€¦

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Thanks @deep_rob

Box is in the basement and not overly humid. Conditions are normally 40-55 RH and temp around 16-19*C. Well so far. Summer is building so weā€™ll have to see what that gets to as itā€™s a new location to me.

Iā€™ll have another look at fans but going by the specs and the producers reputation I thought the setup would smash the air exchange required. Even considering the flow loss from be very short ducting up to and including the carbon filter I would have thought it was plenty of flow: 240m3/hr vs. 0.242m3.

Using the FAQ forum suggested ball park formula of
Q = V x P x C x dT

where:
Q = Amount of lighting (kW)
V = Volume of air being ventilated (m3/s)
P = Density of air (assume 1.2 kg/m3)
C = Specific heat capacity of air (assume 1.02 kJ/kgK)
dT = Temperature difference between ambient and growspace air in degC

Then using 145W (current draw) and assuming all is airtight the 240m3/hr in fan ventilation should achieve a dT of 0.5C. So with the basement / cabinet external ambient temp at 18C the cabinet should be at 18.5*C which it clearly isnā€™t.

Some other aspect of the build means Iā€™m not getting the full benefit of the installed ventilation. Or itā€™s not performing as sold.

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In this case yet not butting in and direct advice / suggestions and criticisms welcome.

On humidity and condensation. Yeah Iā€™ve had the very same issues and dealt with it the same way you appear to have. However, at random times I got condensation all along the walls above the canopy. Iā€™ve sporadically wipes this down and since put in place a mini dehumidifier. As said, it ainā€™t great but does collect 500ml every 3-4 days.

In terms of setup discussion. Iā€™m up for it. Iā€™m a hobby grower with a lot to learn and keen. Itā€™s been years since I last grew indoors and I never had the resources I have now if I am shorter on time.

I guess Iā€™m also very keen on advice given the Ikea builds youā€™ve done before.

As for the conditions / current issue of these fox :fox_face: tail buds - any thoughts? Iā€™m just trying to figure out what in the environment is stopping them from staying short and stout.

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