Setup Is Complete

 This years Winter grow didn't have a great start.  First problem the RDWC system had bad leaks and I couldn't find replacement seals. I had been wanting to try a flood and drain system, Artisun to the rescue, Artisun will also come to the rescue latter in this long and boreing story.

The flood and drain system is set up and working, manuely. The control box is defective. Power on; Flood pump was powered and the only way to control the "flood pump" was to either de-power the control box or unplug the pump.  I spent yesterday afternoon confirming the control box was FU with Artisun tech support, at least they have support. Bottom line a new control box is on its way.

The grow is finally set: there are six plants in the flood and drain system in the tent, there are four plants in 5 gal fabric buckets outside. 

The tent set up:

 I had the outdoor plants in the tent for a couple of days to make sure the transplant was OK is the reason the floor is so dirty, it is impossiable to water and move around  the bags without spillage.

BTW, as you can tell from the tech support part of the post I was able to contact support at Artisun and order new seals for the RDWC system. Plans may change but I expect the RDWC system will be setup and used to grow tomatoes and peppers late winter/early spring.

2026 Winter Grow

Four in the tent, six on standby in the Vseed. If none of the six are needed to replace one or more of the tent plants they will be transplanted to fabric bags and grown outside. This is the first time I've tried this dual grow; I've pretty well wired the tent grow in RDWC. This time of year a tent temp of mid-70s is pretty easy, and the water chiller has the DW nailed at 76F.  Perfect conditions for Cannabis.

The outdoor plants, who knows. This will be the first time I've tried outdoors this time of year. All the plants are Auroflower so if I can keep 'em from freezing, they might produce. Bottom line if they do make it is almost free weed v. about a $1000 for the indoor grow.

From past experience, I've produced over a kilo of top-shelf bud and a ton of trim for making hash from the tent, but this year I'm growing a new cultivar, so as I often say, "we will see."

Different subject, this may be the last year for the RDWC system I'm using. The silicone seals used on the water transport between tubs have hardened and leaked. I can't find them for sale, and it was a bitch to find rubber seals to replace. I have a flood and drain system in boxes to replace the RDWC system when needed. I think a flood and drain system may be a better way, it takes care of the root rot problem you can have late in the grow with RDWC systems if you do not stay on top of temp & pathogen control.

Ready to Grow

 Spent the last couple of weeks getting the tent ready for this season's grow. My daddy always told me to never use a seal twice, he was right. The system buckets use silicom gaskits as seals and I couldn't find a relacement seal. The results were as expected. I finally found some rubber seals that were close enough to try. They are working for now. Here is how the tent is put together for now:

 I have around a dozen sproted seeds in the Vseed which will be ready to transplant in a week or so. I'll pick the four best looking ones for the tent, the others will go into bags for an outdoor grow.

I'm looking forward to this grow because of increased knowledge and also some changes in the tent grow enviroment. The tent now has under canapy lights. 

Summer In Tucson

 We made it! Truth is it wasn't that bad, MsBubba might disagree but it wasn't that bad. Are we booked to camp host on the Oregon coast next summer? You bet. With Diesel over $6 USD a gal on the coast even up to $10 a gal. it could be hard to justify, we will see.

I have a new toy from Vivosun called "VSeed Smart Seeding Box". VSpeed link.

There are 8 beans in it as I type. It should take 'em from seed to planting with no input from me. I question doing a indoor grow this year. I've always been kinda breakeven on cost of grow v. just going to the weed store. Growing allows me to play with making Hash, and tentures but just smoking from a bong is cheaper to buy.

Happy Juneteenth

 I cooked the brisket, ribs, and pulled pork last night. I had planned on having a few friends over to celebrate Juneteenth but turned lazy, BTW the pulled pork taco I had for lunch was very good.

The "Pit Boss" pellet smoker is a great smoker, easy to use, holds temp with little effort, even the wife likes it because it doesn't smell of smoke for weeks after use. The brisket it produces will be one of the tenderest briskets ever, just one problem it has no taste. The pulled pork and ribs are no problem, they will be covered with sauce but a brisket should stand on its own and I've yet to do a brisket that approaches the taste of one from my wood fired pit.

Pellet smoker; set temp to 180F put brisket on the rack, check every hour or so to make sure nothing has changed. After about eight hours, incrase pit temp to 225F to take the brisket pass the "stall". Once internal temp gets to 200F plus or minus a few you are finished. 

The old pit routine is to check every 15min to adjust wood and fire in fire box and move the meat in and out of the "hot" spots. Twelve to sixteen hour of constant attention. When the brisket is finished it is worth the effort, maybe. I guess the question is; Is it worth 16 hours of constant attention vs. the same time with little effort for a little different brisket. One that you can only get at the best BBQ joints vs. one just like a brisket from a BBQ chain.

Ms. Bubba would vote for the chain but then she ain't a Texan. 

Back in Tucson

 We are in Tucson for the year (I think), This will be our first Summer in the desert in several years and it is a question of MsBubba and Summer Sun and heat. If we last I will be doing an experiment with growing both Auto and Photo plants outdoors, in the back garden. 

It is set up to grow 4 Autos and four Photos. The Autos are Durban Poison & Bruce Banner. The Photos are a local grown Thai Nights (based on Durban Poison genetics) and a Afghan Land Race.

Two things I'm trying to test are: will the Cannabis plants survive the heat and is there too much light pollution at night for the Photo plants to flower. 

Auto flower plants are different and will not always follow the rules of growing photo Cannabis. Most Cannabis literature is about growing Photo Plants. Many times the information and/or process is wrong for Auto plants. Most of the time you have to learn by doing. It can be a slow process.

As an example, Auto plants are on a hard genetic time line. If the plant is stressed it will not grow to full potential. It doesn't take much to stress and slow a Autoflower plant just the stress of transplanting will affect the life cycle of an Auto plant. 

This is a plant that was set aside without care until I noticed it was still alive and making flower at about 5 or 6 weeks. Potted it and it's sister a couple of weeks ago, I doubt it will grow anymore but I expect we will get maybe 20 or so small smoking buds off the two plants.

 

MotorHomes

 On the road to Houston for a month or till the kids piss me off, trips in a motor home are seldom without drama. The new to me 2002 40' Country Coach Allure did its thing before the trip could begin. The bedroom slide would not retract. As an aside; Slides are a bargain with the devil, when parked they give a feeling of room and make life easier but as with all things there are also tradeoffs. The first tradeoff is slides are problems waiting to happen. I can not tell you how many times as a State Park camp host I've had to help campers fix a stuck extended slide. 

This AM our planned "first light" departure for Silver City, NM was delayed by a stuck extended bedroom slide. Best I can tell there are two major types of slide mechanisms, Jack Screw or Hydraulic, I've had both and I've had problems with both. The Country Coach has two slides, both Hydraulic, a friend has a bus with one slide hydraulic and one with jack screws, the worst of all worlds. Anyway cut to the chase: I had just had what is one of the best Country Coach maintenance shops not located in Oregon (BCCMSNLIO)go through the Bus checking all the fluids and systems, they may have missed one. The slide hydraulic system was low on fluid, that was the good news, the bad was because I do not know the CC systems yet it took several hours and a call to "the best CC maintenance shop not in Oregon" to fix the problem. A half cup of transmission fluid and the bedroom slide works like a champ and we were on the road. Now the question is did the "BCCMSNLIO" miss checking the slide hydraulic fluid or do I have a leak. The good news is there are no signs of a leak, that could also be the bad news because there is a lot of plumbing between the pump and the slide. 

The CC Bus parked Harris Beach: 

 We have had our share of problems with the new Bus, all expensive but most caused by my not knowing the systems. The bus is sound, it is just the nut behind the wheel.

See you on down the road.