advice on non-electric heating in an unheated garage

Hi all,

I have a detatched garage. It's walled into two 10x20 ft individuals garages. It's in a stinky alleyway next to several HPS streetlights. Nice potential. However this is my first real grow attempt. My log is below, and I'd welcome any and all feedback, but I have a more urgent question:

We're about to have our first cold front here (I'm in the south). It's supposed to be in the 40's tonight. Eventually we'll have a freeze, so I went to home depot and bought I nice thermostat and timer-controlled ceramic heater that promptly and repeatedly blew my old fuse. My 400 watt MH/HPS and the fan is about all this old garage wiring can take and the heater sends the wiring over edge.

Please suggest alternative, controllable heating methods? A propane camp heater? If so, do I get the kind that's safe to use in tent or the kind that emits carbon monoxide? Electric seems to be out of the question, and I'd hate for these babies to freeze to death.

Thanks for the feedback,

guano


__________________________________________________ ________________:rasta:
GROW LOG 10/16/06

Ok letâ??s see. For right or wrong, hereâ??s what Iâ??ve done for (and to) my crop so far. Most of it is based upon Ed Rosenthalâ??s â??EZ MJ Gardeningâ?� Guide.

October 2, 2006. I planted 36 seeds in 36 starter discs (dome + grow medium). Threw them under the bed â?? (Mistake #1â?? but thatâ??s what the instructions said to do on the box! -Hope Depot crap!! 

October 4th â?? no seedling â?? no nothing. Nada

October 5th â?? have to leave for biz trip.

October 6th I arrived home to discover that 11 of 36 seeds had germinated during my time out of town. Some plants had just sprouted and looked stout and health, other were bent from the humidity dome. All were fairly spindly. (No light â?? under the bed, dâ??oh!)â?¦.I had no further germination of the remaining 25 seeds after 10 more days of water and light.

The 11 survivors stayed in the starter cups and I provided 200 watts of incandescent light for 2-3 days for both the germination dome (which produced nothing further) and the 11seedlings.

(*an aside: I know I screwed up the lighting (i.e. no lighting at all), shouldnâ??t have gone out town, etc, but I kept â??em moist, left the temp. above 72, etc. Any future suggestions on germinating seeds â?? like which light to use, how close and for how long? and which mediums? Fertilizer or no? I think I wasted some viable seeds this time around. Subsequent efforts have produced similarly poor results. Iâ??m currently trying to germinate using paper towels.)

I am following Edâ??s EZ growerâ??s guide pretty much to a â??tâ?�. Instructions included placing the new seedling & the domes (which produced nothing further) under light, in my case metal halide, 24 hrs/day. Lights are 18â?� away from the tops

After the second set of leaves came through I repotted to 6 inch plastic pots using Fox Farms Organic potting soil.

Ed said to start fertilizing right away and I began using ph balanced water with ½ strength BioGrow from BioBizz in Holland. - - The soil medium and Bio Bizz were recommended by my local hydro store. I have not yet tested the soil PH, but considered Iâ??ve always used balanced water, and this stuff is $21 a bag and from Humboldt County, Iâ??m assume soil PH is not the problem.

It seems like there are many here would feel that Iâ??ve over fertilized the babies from the beginning. The pictures shown are two days after transplant to 6 inch pots. So theyâ??re about 12 day old? (Oct. 15th). I think I will flush with pure, balanced water (i.e. no fertilizer) after they dry up a bit more and establish themselves in their new homes. Or will the rapid reduction in fertilizer cause harm? Temp is variable from 70- 80 (in a garage  ) and humidity â?? 60-65. Water is 6.5 ph, non-chlorinated.

Any other suggestions? Am I on the right track? Anything else that might be causing the yellow, thinning, burning, etc? How can improve what Iâ??m already working with?

Should I keep the MH light on 24/7 until flower time? I then plan to switch 12/12 HPS Sodium.

Thanks sincerely for the help!

guano

A propain heater should be fine, just be careful with the fire hazard, and make sure that it is dark when it is supposed to be, meaning not even a pilot light should be seen by your plants.
Adieu

Are freezing temps normal during winter in your area? I would think that the propane to run a heater 24/7 is gonna be pricey - especially for a 200sq ft area. The HID light will help heat up some.

What about hiding the plants for a day and having an electrician out to install a proper circuit and breaker box?

The plants look fine, a little stretched as you already noted but don't seem to be affected by any over nute feeding. I only see one plant with slightly yellow tips so I thinks its all good. When you mentioned having a fan - is it an intake or ehaust fan, or an oscillating fan? An small oscillating fan on low (I even use a rheostat to run about half of low) will help strengthen those stretched stems some.

sounds like the old "don't use halogen, they get too hot!!!" phrase wouldn't really apply here. ask blue bear about this. i don't know the spectum of halo's, but they look yellow, and will heat up a house in a day. 200 sf could heat up to 75 in about 4-8 hours maybe?

love, brooke

Well,

It got down to 45 last night. I left the plants covered on all sides by dull aluminum foil panels. Turned the circ fan off and let 'em cook under the MH light. Checked at 5 am and the temperature around the plants was 72. I may not have a problem at all unless it gets really really cold (which it usually doesn't do here. 1-2 hard freezes per year. Thanks for posting advice. I will keep posting pics and asking for advice until I smoke this stuff

*side note: while assembling my "warmth barrier" last night, I let one of my aluminum panels fall on the plants. Some were clearly bent and I almost began topping a couple of the more damaged looking plants. Instead a gently coaxed them back upright as best I could by hand, and am hoping the light will straighten em up the rest of the way. As shown in the picture I have one spindley freak that is placed in prime lighting real estate - I'm guessing that it took the brunt of the fall. I also watered with 1/4 strength fert. this morning. They were due. Did I do anything bad? Should I move the tall guy out of the way?

Thanks as always,
guano

You can get small wall-mounted propane heaters that are meant to be operated ventless indoors, and I think they even have a thermostat.
Check out Aubuchon hardware's website for the model I plan to install in my home. Small, inexpensive, I believe you can run it off a BBQ-size tank, or off your home's gas lines if you are on town gas.


http://heating-and-cooling.hardwares...s-heaters.aspx

consider going to HD to get some of the Styro insulating panels with reflecting foil on each side. They are fairly cheap... they come in 8x4x2(or so). Those some 2x3's and you can make a small insulated area. Then just the heat of a 1kw will do the trick. You can go from seedlings to veg on HPS and no worries about keeping the whole damn area warm. for under $100 you're all set.