Shade plants during midday sun so they
receive filtered sun. This will lower water consumption and keep
plants cooler. Growth essentially stops after 30 degrees C. And the
temperature inside leaves is usually 10 degrees higher than the
surface!
Odor problems increase during hot
weather. Remove odors with an activated charcoal filter.
Activated charcoal is charcoal that has
been treated with oxygen to open millions of small pores between the
carbon atoms. The result is a surface area of 300-2,000 square
meters per gram! One of the uses of active or activated charcoal is
used to absorb odors from air in indoor grow rooms. Odors in air
bond to the surface of the charcoal and no longer smell.
How do you tell which activated
charcoal absorbs the most odor and lasts the longest? You can do a
simple test yourself to find out. Weigh out a gram of charcoal from
two or three different filters. Place each piece of charcoal in a
glass of water. Lower grade activated charcoal with less surface
area inside to trap odors will sink to the bottom. Highly porous
charcoal will float. The more space inside the better it floats.
The best activated charcoal floats.
Humidity clogs pores in activated
charcoal. Keeping your humidity at 50 percent or less will help keep
your filter working efficiently longer.
Remember, a filter that weighs 100
kilograms when new can weigh as much as 300 kilograms when the
activated charcoal is all plugged up with odors and moisture.
Did you realize odor could be so heavy?
Captions:
Big buds like this Jack Herer
produce a distinctive tell-tale fragrance.
Grow beautiful Haze varieties like
this one on your patio. Check out the Strain Guide on
www.overgrow.com
to find specific information on how to grow hundreds of varieties.
Activated carbon filters keep the
fragrances in your room contained.
This mother and clone room
produced more than 200 clones that are enjoying outdoor sunlight
now.
Garden Calendar
Outdoors
Direct seed in ground after last
danger of frost. Seeds planted now require more care and water
to become established.
Transplant seedlings and clones
outdoors. Bury them up to their first set of true leaves. The
subterranean stem will grow roots.
Harden-off seedlings and clones.
Move transplants outdoors for an hour the first day and increase
the time by an hour every day. In 7-10 days, transplants will be
acclimated.
Add water absorbent polymer crystals
to planting hole. Crystals retain water and lessen irrigation
frequency.
Protect seedlings and transplants
from slugs, caterpillars, rabbits and deer. Apply snail/slug
bait around plants. Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) to
kill caterpillars. Cover tender plants with a chicken wire dome to
protect from rabbits and deer.
Mulch plants to conserve and
attract water.
Water needs increase substantially
from June through the first week or two in September.
Fertilize with a complete
granular mix containing more nitrogen than phosphorus or potassium.
Apply a soluble fertilizer if able to water plants weekly.
Bend and tie plants down to
avoid detection.
Shade pots exposed to direct
sunlight to protect roots from over-heating.
Indoors
Keep indoor temperatures below
30 degrees for best results.
Humidity often increases indoors
when temperatures rise outdoors. Keep nighttime temperatures 10
degrees cooler than daytime temperatures to avoid moisture
condensation. Run the vent fan all night to reduce humidity.
Plants transpire more water and
use the same amounts of nutrients in hot weather. Lower
concentration of fertilizer to compensate.
Flush plants with a mild
nutrient solution at least once a month.
Take clones to start a new crop
as needed.
Inspect
leaf undersides for spider mites and eggs. Spray mites and eggs
with pyrethrum or neem as needed.
Harvest.
Replace harvested plants with clones in perpetual crops. Have
supplies and clones ready to move into the harvested room.
Remove odors from flowering
plants with a charcoal filter.