OPTICLIMATE PRO 3

OPTICLIMATE PRO 3

I have been asked to write a blog on my experiences within the ‘indoor gardening’ world for the purpose of these blogs my name is Star Dawg.  I hope these blogs will offer help and advice to beginners and or experienced growers

I have been growing with opticlimates for the last 18 months I always use the 6000 pro 3 this is capable of cooling 10 x 600w lamps I use 9 x 600w lamps In a 1 light 1 plant system using adjust a wing avengers and growing in 50L pots.

After having 18 months experience using a closed loop grow room I feel confident that I know the opticlimate system fairly well so I thought I would do a blog on my experiences and results

.GROW ROOM

When growing with a closed loop system it is very important to make sure you have a fully air tight seal on your room, when I build my grow rooms I always build a room within a room using 3x2 timber and plasterboard with an MDF ceiling (to make fixing lights easier) and every joint and gap is filled with either expanding foam or caulk.   After the room is built and I have an air tight room I then line the walls with ORCA grow film this is the best reflective material on the market!!! Yes it’s more expensive than black and white but you get what you pay for and you will see the difference in your yield.

I build a frame from 3x2 with a kitchen worktop on the top for the opti to sit on (you must have a 500mm gap in all directions when you install)

Even though this is classed as a closed loop system I always install a 150mm fan and filter at the opposite end of the room than the opti, this is to release the positive air pressure you can have this on a timer to come on every hour for 15min or put it on a fan controller and reduce it to 30%

ELECTRICAL WORK

I’m lucky as I’m an Electrician so the electrical work involved wasn’t a problem but a none electrician may look at the work involved and think WTF do I do here, you do get good instructions on all electrical connections-under no circumstance connect the opti with a standard 3 pin domestic plug you must use a plug and play commando socket, anyone who needs help with the electrical connections can contact me via the blog and I will help you the best I can or contact HYJO who will then contact me

WHY SPEND £3000 ON AN OPTI?

Anyone who is serious about growing is always looking to improve on quality and yield using an opti in a closed loop room with co2 is the best environment plants could ask for!! No more problems in summer with high temps even in summer I can cool my rooms with 9 lights on down to 22 if need be and with the introduction of co2 you can push up to 1250ppm giving your plants plenty of fresh clean air to breath in which will dramatically reduce your veg time

I veg for 4 or 5 week in a 50L pot and yield on average 500-600 grams per light depending on the strain and the quality is insane the flowers look like they have been dipped in diamonds this is due to being able to keep the temps at a steady level throughout the grow (yield and quality is also down to good genetics its always important to find good reliable genetics and then keep mother plants)

The fact that you will produce a better quality flower consistently will result in a higher price when you take it to market.  The opti will have paid for itself after the first grow

When you set an opti up you will have to adjust the cooling capacity to suit your room , the aim is to keep the temp steady at whatever you set it to, if you set it to 27 the compressor wont kick in until the room hits 27 what you don’t want is the room being cooled to 25 because you have the cooling capacity set wrong as the compressor will drop out and then kick back in at 27 you want the compressor to kick in and stay in keeping the room at 27 until the lights go off. It’s easy to adjust this by the cooling capacity valve on the side of the opti-getting this right is VERY important

The opti has a condensation run off pipe at the back as the opti dehumidifies, this run off can be collected in a tank and be used as feed water. The PH value of this water is 7 so it is also useful for using with humidifiers without causing lime scale which will cause fan damage.

Having an opti also comes in handy when it’s time to dry your flowers as you can keep the temp low and steady and also control the humidity which will result in better quality flowers.

The Americans seem to be obsessed with turning flowers purple in the last week of flower with a drop in night time temps, you can easily do this with an opti in the last week just set the night time temp to 18 and your plants will purple up

MAINTENANCE

You need to change the carbon filter at the back of the opti every 10 weeks they cost about £95.00 for 3 it takes 2 min to change you just slide the old 1 out and then slide the new 1 in (when the opti is off) failure to do this will result in fan damage and also smell issues

There is also a dust filter that sit over the carbon filter this also needs to be cleaned every 10 weeks you can do this with a hoover.

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