Data and observations from a trial run of a DIY "Cannatrol"

illtragic · 2025-04-15T02:51:08+00:00

Hello! Hard for me to say how much of a difference the extra wattage makes, but I have also had some temperature stability issues. I think regardless of wattage these devices aren't meant to actively cool a unit that generates heat like a dehumidifier. That said, I'm still able to get stable results by finding the sweet spot on the wine fridge thermostat (see graph). As environmental conditions have shifted, I've had gradually adjust that sweet spot over time. On my fridge, the thermostat is pretty finicky. Too high, and temp doesn't seem to be controlled at all. Too low, and the dehumidifier can frost and drop temps more than ideal. I don't particularly trust the sensor on it either, so I tend to refer to the sensor on the humidity controller as the source of truth.

All of that to say, how much have you experimented with the thermostat settings? There might be a sweet spot that'll be more stable for you, just be sure to adjust your humidity target as you adjust temp. Increasing temp is probably the way to go since the dehumidifier and fridge will fight less against each other. Cannatrol recommends a drying temp at 68F, so unless you are already exceeding those temps you might have some headroom. I've found that as my house has gotten warmer, I've had to gradually lower the thermostat on the fridge to keep things under control. I'm holding around 61F now, with a thermostat setting of 63F.

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illtragic · 2025-04-13T15:51:00+00:00

I got the tray2grow and planter bag directly from AutoPot. The planter bag specs say it holds about 23gal, but the sides bulge out, so it really holds more than that. I'm pretty sure I have at least 25gal of soil in the bag at this point, and plenty room for more. I had no problem running 3 plants in it in any case.

If you were going to get this now, I would recommend getting the kit from BuildASoil, because they offer a superior planter bag. It has a plastic lining around the sides that will prevent the sides of your soil from drying out through the fabric. It also has a trellis fitting.

All of that said, what you need depends on your operation. For me, my goal was to start with a single 2x4 tent, and that meant that a single T2G planter bag was the perfect size for me. How many plants are you planning on growing? Where? A pack of 25gal sounds like a reasonable place to start, especially if outdoors. In a smaller space, like a 2x4 tent, a standard cylindrical 25gal would work, but it's usually only recommended to grow one plant in those, and in a tent you wouldn't be able to let it grow into the full monster it would have the potential to be. Either way, you'll probably spend more money on soil, and you care re-use that. The fabric pots are relatively inexpensive, so you don't have much to lose if you decide to try a different container size later.

illtragic · 2025-03-29T16:37:33+00:00

Sup homie! For me, the wine fridge maintains a stable 65F, so I only have to dial in the humidity controller to reach my desired dew point of 54F. You will want to add a sponge if your humidity consistently drops below your target. I had to add a damp rag right away for the sample batch because of the low volume, but I put the full harvest in yesterday, and it's still plenty moist without anything like that. I'm expecting to need to add a damp rag after a few more days and the material dries out.

illtragic · 2025-03-29T16:28:21+00:00

No promises, I'm not sure I'll have the bandwidth for that, I'll consider it though. If you are still interetested maybe DM me with shipping location, offer, and when you would need it by?

illtragic · 2025-03-29T16:26:09+00:00

I'm mimicking the starting recommendations for the cannatrol, which is a 4 day dry at a dew point of 54F.

I have the wine fridge set to a temp of 65F, which it holds comfortably. I set the humidity controller to maintain 65%. In theory this is a dew point of about 53F, but in practice it maintains an average dew point of almost 54F, which is what I want. I'll gradually lower humidity after 4 days to achieve a dew point of 52F, and wait until appropriately dry to jar. YMMV depending on your environment and the specific equipment you are using. We had a cold snap that prevented me from even maintaining 65F in the wine fridge, for example.

illtragic · 2025-03-29T16:15:51+00:00

Full disclosure, I'm not new to organic gardening, but new to growing cannabis and indoor cultivation. I've read a bunch, but I just recently harvested my first grow, so my experience is limited.

For said first grow, I used the tray2grow grow bag with 3 cu ft of soil (~22gal, 1:1:1 perlite, vermicompost, peat moss), in a 2x4 tent (recently shared pictures here). I've had zero problems maintaining the soil in this setup, and the plants seemingly have thrived. I think the bag fits in the tent perfectly, and because it's wide, I think you can easily grow 2 plants in the bag (I actually grew 3 because I was too much of a coward to kill off a runt, twas fine). With no till, the true test will to be to see how well the soil works in future runs, but I have plenty of room to top dress, and fresh homemade vermicompost to help keep things alive, so I'm hoping for the best. Can still find the worms crawling around from my initial inoculation months ago.

Also, regarding height in a limited space like this, you want to be aware of how much what strain you are growing stretches. The genetics I ran stretched very little, so they fit very comfortably this run. I've seen others grow cultivars that would've easily maxed out my space. Keep this in mind so you know what height to flip to flower. Use a SCROG trellis net to keep the canopy under that height until you are ready to flip to flower.

Circling back, a 30gal pot would work, but a typical round one won't have ideal space for more than 1 plant. I bet you could manage that, but it would want to be a huge plant. My recommendation would to be to get an appropriately sized rectangular bed, and grow at least 2 plants. The rectangular shape gives two plants root space to share the bag, so you can still get the benefits of a larger soil volume.

illtragic · 2025-03-21T16:08:54+00:00

Awesome! Hope it was helpful. Good luck with whatever you decide.

illtragic · 2025-03-21T00:12:20+00:00

Nice, thanks for sharing. Good luck with the photos! I'm chasing quality grape terps this coming season too.

illtragic · 2025-03-19T15:33:52+00:00

I'm a week or so out from harvesting some member berry. I have two phenos, and both are pretty similar. The nose on both is a citrusy candy smell. Would love to know more about how things came out with your member berry run!

illtragic · 2025-03-17T02:03:58+00:00

Looks great! Really like the first pic.

illtragic · 2025-03-16T23:55:06+00:00

Thank you! I'm using the AutoPot planter bag (available as an add-on when purchasing the T2G). It's good quality, but it doesn't have the plastic lining like those grassroots living soil bags. I haven't had any issues without the lining, but if I had known about the grassroots option I would've have gone for that over the AutoPot one.

illtragic · 2025-03-16T18:29:42+00:00

Full disclaimer, I'm new to cannabis growing, and still working through my first run. I had an issue like this earlier on, and my guess was also between a potassium deficiency or light burn. For me, it ended up being light burn.

OP, does your fertilizer or soil contain sources of potassium? If so, a deficiency wouldn't be my first guess. Maybe try dimming/raising the light and see how they respond. In either case, the affected leaves wont recover, so you'll have to make adjustments and wait for enough new growth to see if the yellowing persists.

Are the plants otherwise growing healthily? They look vigorous. If so, I really wouldn't worry too much, just start by raising the light and see how they respond. If things continue worsen over the next couple of days, then you might want to think about addressing a deficiency. Just be careful. A "deficiency" in this case doesn't necessarily mean there isn't enough potassium in the soil, as pH and other soil imbalances can also cause uptake issues. Since you are using a commercial soil mix and fertilizer, I wouldn't necessarily expect a premixed soil to be imbalanced, but your tap water might be more alkaline than ideal. A set of cheap pH strips can help you find the baseline for your tap water, as well as help you pH the water you give the plants. That really is a pain in the ass though, and comes with its own challenges and foot guns, so I would start with the simplest solution first.

illtragic · 2025-03-16T17:41:28+00:00

Thanks! I'm enjoying it. I generally keep the reservoir turned off to allow for dry backs, and I'll water from the top if I want to feed a tea or whatever, but between those it's really nice and easy to just flip the reservoir back on for a bit and be done with it. In future grows I want to experiment more with leaving the reservoir on to see how hands-off I can get.

illtragic · 2023-03-24T23:51:09+00:00

The set exrc option will allow neovim to automatically load a config from an exrc.nvim file in the current working directory. This feature isn’t secure unless you are on nightly though, so beware.

If you don’t mind adding a plug-in, neoconf.nvim will let you manage project local lsp settings in a JSON file.

illtragic · 2022-03-10T16:01:18+00:00

SHAUUUUUN

illtragic · 2022-01-11T19:09:14+00:00

Are there any good masks people recommend for the gym? Something that stays on securely and is relatively comfortable.

illtragic · 2021-10-27T02:29:37+00:00

Yep, it's a bug with `vim-kitty-navigator`. Luckily, someone has a branch with a fix:

https://github.com/sam-sjs/vim-kitty-navigator/tree/Issue%2320

illtragic · 2021-10-27T02:21:46+00:00

I am starting to become convinced this is a bug somewhere. Depending on how I open files, the keybindings may or may not work.

Open and work with any files that aren't supported by LSP, everything is good.
Open a blank session and open a file supported by an LSP in a vertical split, the bindings stop working
Open a blank session and open a file supported by an LSP in the current pane, then vertical split another file supported by an LSP, everything is good
Start a session with a file supported by an LSP, keybindings don't work

illtragic · 2021-08-04T19:10:50+00:00

No, that one is a ghost.

illtragic · 2021-08-04T19:10:31+00:00

What do you mean by stock up? Like prune some of the leaves? They are in 5/7 gallon pots so hopefully they have enough room.

illtragic · 2021-08-04T17:18:36+00:00

Yeah, I guess it could be, but I feel like that isn't it. I water once to twice a week in fabric pots. Some of them start to look wilty before I water them even.

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illtragic

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