JHazel's Arizona Grow

[jhazel]

Strain: Blosser
Lighting: 1 Grow Light / 1 Compact Fluorescent
Grow Media/Soil Mix: Miracle Gro Organic Potting Soil w/ Added Perlite
Fertilizer: Schultz Plant Food Plus: 10-15-10
Temperature Range: 70-80 Degrees
Humidity: Ambient: Very Low Humidity Enclosure: 85-95% relative humidity
Started From: Clone
Start Date: 10/11/07

Other Details/Images:
I received my Blosser strain plant from a reputable power seller on Ebay. On arrival, the topmost leaves were in excellent condition, with the 2 lower level leaves wilting terribly. They fell off a few days after arrival, but the rest of the leaves are in stable conditon and the plant is doing well. A few days ago the largest leaf developed a few brown spots but nothing major.

I was a bit slow in getting my camera fired up, so from now on the photos will be updated every week or so, but I'm afraid I don't have many images detailing the first week of my plants life here in AZ. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions! Check back for updates.


My current choice of soil. Miracle Gro with added Perlite


This is my current humidity enclosure setup. I had a few old 10 gal aquariums lying around that I had used over the years, and so I had knocked out the bottom of one of them and sealed them with some leftover aquarium glue. To top it off I paid 2 bucks for a 12'' by 22'' piece of glass from true value. Its holds humidity very well, and will serve well until my salvia gets a bit bigger. I make sure to open the lid frequently to allow fresh air to enter the enclosure.



My Sally. You can see a few centimeters of new growth beginning. You can see the mysterious brown spots that appeared on the leaves a few days after receiving her. It worried me a bit at first but they dont seem to be getting worse.


Something interesting that I have noticed is that after a long 12-14 hours of lighting, the 2 smaller leaves will tend to bend downwards. After a nights rest they are completed perked up in the morning. I am wondering if this is due to light, or the increased temperature that comes in the window during the evening (when the sun sets and provides more direct light to the enclosure).

[Arcygenical]

Do you have the boxes for those grow lights?

I've never seen a 36" bulb over 40w 

She's in good condition

[jhazel]

one is a compact 18 inch bulb, the other is a 24inch grow light.

I dont have the box for the 18 incher, but the 24 inch grow light has an output of 75 watts (but uses 17 apparently)

[Arcygenical]

Hmmm... 17w is about right.

I don't buy the 75w. Stupid electronics manufacturers with their bunk ratings.

[Paradoxic]

Badass idea with the aquariums. Those seem like they would make it easy to get inside and tend the plants as well as keep a good seal.

I noticed the same thing happening with my leaves. We both have very similar setups: humidity enclosure in a naturally very dry environment. I'm not totally sure what causes it, probably has to do with humidity. It doesn't seem to affect growth, my plants are growing quite well.

[jhazel]

I originally had her in a single aquarium, but I could tell it would be way too short once I repotted. Everyone laughed when I told them my idea of taking the bottom off of another aquarium and molding the 2 together with aquarium sealer. But hey, its worked extremely well...it holds humidity very well and provides easy access to the plant.

[cechmangoal]

i think the bending of the leaves after light and the perking up in the morning is due to their resting period. My plants that i have now do the same thing. i always think they're wilting at night but in the morning they are fine. i think they just go to sleep

[Arcygenical]

Can you not make a tent of cardboard and tin-foil to redirect all that lost light down into the aquarium? How about lining the sides of the aquarium with some tinfoil too .

Really helps them grow faster!

[jhazel]

Was just about to do that! Hey, I was wondering if I should run out and buy another fluorescent. The light getting to the plants is rather dull looking. Any recommendations on bulbs? I have a "grow light", which puts off a purplish tint, and a compact fluorescent.

[Arcygenical]

The problem with fluorescent lamps is that the light tends to "die" quickly... IE, it's not very intense (even though the luminosity of it is fairly high) because it's coming from such a large area (about 36 square inches of fluorescent tube, compared to about 1 square inch of filament in an incandescent lamp) reducing it's ability to travel.

By far the best thing to do is prevent it from escaping the sides of the aquarium, and the top/bottom... Just keep the light as close to the plant as you can, (no closer than 3")... You might even try moving the plant over to 1 side of the aquarium, and standing both lights up on that side as well, covering their backsides (and the rest of the aquarium) with tinfoil... Infact, I'd suggest doing that. Just duct tape them onto the side or something. You could easily fit three tubes in that way.


(c) me

Additionally, I *really* don't think you have more than 30w directed at them... I don't know where that 75w figure is coming from, but that's physically impossible... If you had 75w of fluorescent light, your room would be lit up like a spotlight. So, I *guess* you could go out and purchase another light (A phillips Daylight deluxe T8 bulb and appropriate fixture is only like 15$ at home depot...) and add it into the mix, it would help.

[jhazel]

Awesome, great advice. I just finished putting up Aluminum foil on all sides of the aquarium except the side facing the window. I like the light setup that you suggested.

Also, the grow light says it has a 75 watt output according to the box, but says it uses only 17 watts of power. 
 
But I see what you are saying, I really doubt there is that much directed at the plant. Anyway, thanks for the thorough reply.

I think im going to go with the setup you illustrated. Quick question, that will eliminate the light coming for the window (granted, its West facing and only receives direct light for a few short hours). Will no natural light be detrimental?

[Arcygenical]

No natural light would be fine... Provided you vary the spectrum accordingly. What I mean by this is:

1 Grow light bulb
1 Daylight Deluxe (or daylight premium, or something) bulb
1 Warm White bulb

Mine get no natural light and are doing fine

About the 75w of output... Well... That's impossible. The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that energy can't be created or destroyed, only transformed (with a loss to heat)... Electrical energy is converted into light energy, and a tiny bit of heat energy (thus why the bulbs feel warm to the touch)... But the total light and heat output can't be more than the 17w it draws from the wall...

Now... it MIGHT say that it puts out as much light as a 75w Incandescent bulb... Since a standard 20w Fluorescent bulb is around 3.7x more efficient than your average incandescent bulb (7% efficiency versus 2%)... 20w x 3.7 = 75. Even so, the lumen output is *still* only around 1020 lumens (60x17)... The same as a 75w incandescent light would be.


Sunlight...

For reference, sunlight has an efficiency rating of about 11%... or 93 lumens per watt. The sun also sends out about 90 watts of light per SQUARE foot of unobstructed ground... which translates to around 8600 lumens. So, you might be wondering how plants can grow under 2000-3000 lumens of light?

1) Well, first off, direct sunlight only lasts for a maximum of around 6 hours a day, and it's often obstructed with clouds.
2) cloud cover reflects about 30% of all insolation (albedo factor of .7)

So, if we do the math...

Sunlight: (8600lumens * 6hours) * 0.7 = 36000 total lumens per day
Light source: (3000lumens * 16hours) * 0.8 = 38400 total lumens per day.

(Note, that these calculations don't preserve units... as energy input in watts is a rate, and lumens is a constant... Therefore, you should be getting something like lumens/second... but that's outside the scope of this discussion really).

Hope that helps... If you need me to re-explain anything, I'd be happy to.

[jhazel]

Thanks for the explanation. I redid my entire aquarium setup just like your diagram indicated!

Unfortunately, right after setting it up Thursday night I was in a serious car accident and spent the night in the ER. (However, I did have my first Morphine experience...trip report?  ) I was at a complete stop and was hit by an illegal alien without insurance doing about 55...and it was a brand new 2007 mazda 3 i just purchased  3 months ago    Oh well, Im on heavy doses of Oxycodone right now and back to tending to my Salvia as best as I can

Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to make such a thorough reply!

[Paradoxic]

Wow thats intense man, glad to hear you're ok.

Yeah lighting isn't nearly as important with Salvia as it is with something like MJ, but thats a good diagnosis Arcygenical, might be worth including in the lighting article.

[Arcygenical]

Thanks for the explanation. I redid my entire aquarium setup just like your diagram indicated!

Unfortunately, right after setting it up Thursday night I was in a serious car accident and spent the night in the ER. (However, I did have my first Morphine experience...trip report?  ) I was at a complete stop and was hit by an illegal alien without insurance doing about 55...and it was a brand new 2007 mazda 3 i just purchased  3 months ago    Oh well, Im on heavy doses of Oxycodone right now and back to tending to my Salvia as best as I can

Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to make such a thorough reply!

Oh man, are you alright? Any lasting injuries? What about insurance, have you looked into anything like that yet? I know some states have rediculous rules about insurance claim timeframes, so please, don't delay in contacting your insurance agency ASAP.