How to build and maintain your own custom bubbler DWC grow

[deftdrummer]

INTRODUCTION

Hi all, I've been a member of the forums for a while now and I'm ready to contribute something hopefully many new growers can benefit from. This is technically my 3rd grow. The first was soil and failed miserably and the next was an ebb and flow hydro system. After much research, myself and my grow partner have decided to abandon the ebb and flow and go for higher yields while staying with hydroponics. The ebb and flow managed to yield 6 oz from three plants (strain ICE 2000) grown organically off 400W. We are shooting for somewhere around 7 oz from three plants in hydroponic bubbler / bucket systems. We are estimating conservatively given the fact that the last grow was grown from seed therefore producing higher yield than clones. It is never a good idea to estimate yield before the harvest but we feel confident. Here I will chronicle the grow from start to finish hopefully with as little setbacks as possible. All the materials were primarily obtained at a local hydro store but a few select materials came from the internet due to availability and selection. Remember folks, you don't have to go expensive if you have a good general understanding of how to grow marijuana and how hydroponics work to achieve successful yields. Donâ??t be afraid to be creative! That being said, our mission was to keep costs down without cutting corners. This is certainly not a DIY bargain basement grow. We primarily tried to save money wherever there was any way possible but it was not our primary concern. We wanted to help give new growers ideas for their own setups and also to show that growing is not as hard as many think. Obviously lighting and conditions are of critical importance in any grow setup and can vary greatly, so that will also be documented here also, but will differ depending on your individual needs.

[deftdrummer]

We decided to construct our grow room in the garage portion of our house. This gives us maximum space for a custom build and also easy access to air inlets / outlets - not to mention it will enable us to work on our garden at all hours of the night!

The space we chose was a pre-existing work bench table that was already secured to the wall and since our bucket systems will be self contained, all we needed was a flat surface. The black square you see against a wall is plastic covering a window. Below the table there was already a hole in the drywall to the outside making it perfect for a new grow setup. Remember, where you decide to grow is just as important as how you decide to grow. The table measured 3.25 ft in width and 4.33 ft in length making the total square footage: 14.07 sq ft. This will be important for us to remember when we add a carbon scrubber and exhaust venting in the near future. Because the table was so close to the wall we knew we would need to extend the width a little to accommodate the spread of the light. We also seized this opportunity to create an air inlet hole that will vent directly into the grow tent since the hole was already located under the table. Once this was done, we constructed the grow tent based on the footprint of the table. Using heavy duty duct tape and a staple gun we affixed black landscaping plastic first to the ceiling then the table. Once stapled up, the duct tape was used to seal all light and air leakage. The distance to the ceiling from the table is 6 ft and provides more than enough space for tree sized plants and also provides easy access to the plants from the ground for trimming, etc. The top of the table was also lined with the same black plastic to prevent spills from penetrating the wood underneath. Inside the tent mylar was taped up also using duct tape. - Duct tape can save your life! Our 400W HPS light generates too much heat to be left un-vented for such a small space and so, 4â?� ducting from the light out of the top of the plastic was installed to extract heat all the way out of the grow chamber to the garage.

[deftdrummer]

These pictures shows the construction of the grow tent and the mylar inside.

[deftdrummer]

These pictures show the top and bottom of the table extension with the 4" air inlet cut also.

[deftdrummer]

The setup will consist of three separate 5 gal. buckets for a combination of bubbler / drip system. This is because we wanted the benefits of a bubbler system with its large root capacity and also drip system so that the roots are constantly getting supplied with nutrients. The bubbler feature ensures roots will always be able to intake oxygen rich nutrients throughout the crucial stages of later growth when the roots are developed enough to drop down into the bucket. Of utmost importance to us was being able to keep each individual system (and plant) separate so that the plants would not compete for nutrients or space (something indicative of ebb & flow). This will enable us to monitor each plant individually and make adjustments accordingly to pH, PPM, nutrients etc even space issues are resolved by having movable buckets. As the plants get bigger, move them further apart, its that simple.

[deftdrummer]

- 3x Black 5 gallon buckets (five for $26 from Boxes, Shipping Boxes, Shipping Supplies, Packaging Materials, Cardboard Boxes - ULINE (http://www.uline.com)) Black will ensure no light gets through from the outside - which is not the case with many other bucket colors commonly found (ie: white, blue).
- 3x mesh pots which nestle to the tops of the buckets can be found at a hydro shop or online ($4 each)
- 3x Parts kit which contained the halo, tubing, refrigerator hose (for air), reservoir level tubing (not necessary) $15 total. all of these parts can be obtained at a hydro shop or an appliance store for around the same price or less.
- Silicon sealant (plastic flexible bonding type) $5 at Home Depot. This will be used for sealing the hole where the bottom bubbling air line will connect. (This is optional as you can route the bubble line through the top, but through the bottom of the bucket ultimately cleans things up and makes maintenance and nutrient changes easier.
- 3x 4.5" air stone bubble disc, $2.99 apiece at Bubble Disc 3 inch - Aquar Airstones at Arcata Pet Supplies (http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9335)
- 3x Dual outlet air pumps $10 at walmart. (Each pump needs to be able to deliver enough pressure to supply air to both the drip system and the bubbler line.)

Total Price per Bucket unit: $42.19

[deftdrummer]

Here are some more pics from the bucket construction showing the installation of the air bubbler to the bottom and also the air tubing through the bottom of the bucket and the sealing of the hose.

[deftdrummer]

Here are some final shots of the complete setup with everything in place.

[deftdrummer]

NECESSARY TOOLS & SUPPLIES
Here is a list of the necessary tools and supplies for this grow in its entirety with prices and where to obtain them.

- Temperature humidity gauge ($8 Wal-Mart)
- pH / EC / TDS pen tester (obtained from Ebay for around $100)
- extra containers or reservoirs (for nutrient changes, fresh mixed nutrient supply, etc.
-magnifying glass (10x or more preferably with built in light $10 at radio shack)
-mixing cup with fluid oz. and cup measurements ($4 Wal-Mart)
-mixing tool
- plenty of rags or towels for spills ($10)
- pH UP / DOWN (liquid solution or crystal based $10)
- good pair of garden clippers ($15)
- lots of Hydroton expanded clay pebbles. ($20)
- PLENTY of black duct tape ($15)
*nutrients are not included in pricing due to a large # of variables.
Total: $182

LIGHTING
For lighting we are using a Sunlight Supply 400W MH mini plant grow light from Buy 400W Econogro Mini Plant Grow Light System Here! (http://www.specialty-lights.com/902250.html)
We also purchased a 400W conversion bulb to emulate the blue light spectrum required for vegetative growth. There is a 4" outlet hookup for active extraction of heat using a squirrel cage style fan. This enables us (and the plants) to literally touch the glass underneath if we were so inclined. The fan was $100 and is rated at 256cfm - more than enough for adequate light venting.

Total: $293 shipped.

GRAND TOTAL FOR ALL PARTS AND SUPPLIES: $604.57 - Sounds pricey, but split right down the middle between two people and construction spread out over the span of three months made it possible.

[deftdrummer]

Keeping potency and yield in mind we decided to go with three clones of the strain Grandaddy Purple from our local cannabis collective. We have our cannabis license here in CA so this was just a trip to our local store. Given the design of the bucket systems, we will be able to use different types of nutrients on different plants. We will be using a brand called sugar peak which is all organic since we are familiar with these nutrients from the last grow and also the General Hydro Flora line. Two plants will receive the GH nutrients while the third will receive Sugar Peak. We will be following the nutrient chart on the label of the General Hydro nutrients which is:

1 ml per gal Micro
1 ml per gal Grow
1 ml per gal Bloom
The total reservoir size is 2.4 gallons

[deftdrummer]

5-22-07 Day #1 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80f
RH: 40%
Nutrient Temp: 75f
PPM: 250
pH: 5.8

I will be posting once a week with new pictures and updates but keeping track of the daily events on my computer to share with you guys at the end of the week. Here are the clones planted in the buckets and inside the chamber.

[xcrispi]

Looks nice Deft ,
Cpl. q's for ya , cpl. comments too .
Where did you find the cool airstones at ?

Be careful w/o running a res and interconnecting them , Im in 2nd week of 12/12 same set up but w/ res -n- recurculating and 2 girls are currently going through almost 5 gal. of water / nutes every 36 hrs . Pigs I say !!!!
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

Bubble Disc 3 inch - Aquar Airstones at Arcata Pet Supplies (http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=9335) is where I got them, for cheap too. Looked all over the internet. Thanks for the tips BTW. We have 2 of us on this daily though so hopefully we can keep it under control.

[deftdrummer]

5-23-07 Day #2 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 81
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 75
PPM: 256
pH: 5.6

the plants are looking fine for this stage. Topped off the reservoirs and brought the pH down from 8. We are using very mild GH nutrients for the time being until we can get the other 2 parts which will probably be today or tomorrow. Anyways, at this stage it doesn't hurt to have very mild nutrients until the roots get deeper into the rocks.

[reality0]

best of luck! will be checkin in again soon.. :jointsmile:

[Markass]

looks like a cool setup dude

[deftdrummer]

thanks guys for the kind words. The rest of the nutrient line was purchased today and we have all 3 parts now and everything looks good. I'll keep everyone updated every few days.

[deftdrummer]

5-25-07 Day #4 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 79F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 70F
PPM: 300
pH: 5.4

We ran into a little issue yesterday when one of the buckets started leaking out of the bottom where the air line goes into the bucket. Apparently while mixing the mixing tool bumped the silicon and broke the seal. So, we woke up yesterday morning with a big puddle of water in the grow chamber in addition to all the pH readings rising to 8. This is way too high for MJ so it was quickly brought back down to 5.4. The PPM is pretty low at the point in growth but we haven't seen too much positive growth yet so it can't hurt to have the PPM a little lower still. We plan on doing a full nutrient change once a week so in just a few days all the buckets will be re sealed and we shouldn't have any more issues. A reminder to anyone new to growing: pH must be read and adjusted at the very minimum of twice a day. Another tip: if you plan on building any type of halo drip system I strongly recommend burying the halo under the rocks by about 1/2 inch. This will ensure that there is not a lot of splash from the holes out onto EVERYTHING ie: walls, hoses etc. Apparently these things like to spit water! Here are some more pics for yall even though nothing has really changed very much. Never mind, apparently the photo upload is temporarily disabled.

[deftdrummer]

5-30-07 Day #9 of Veg.
Cab Temp:
RH: 60%
Nutrient Temp: 80F
PPM: 425
pH: 5.7

Ok, sorry its been a few days but we have run into some issues. Since this grow will follow everything that happens I will let you guys know what to avoid with these systems.

FIRST: if you are using a halo system be sure to bury to the halo itself somewhat under the clay rocks. This will ensure that there will be no splash up from the halos onto nearby electrical outlets and / or mylar which will cause spotting. Not too big a deal but just a tip

SECOND: With these particular systems continuous watering is not a good idea. Combined with the splashing of nutrients onto the tiny clones, continuous watering is something to be avoided in the beginning stages of growth. The high intensity from the light caused some leaf burn and wilting, while also causing stunted growth from day 1. Now it is day 9 and growth should be a little further along but there's nothing we can do about it now!

The important thing is that we changed the watering cycle to 15 minutes on every two hours. The plants showed almost immediate signs of improvement by perking up. In addition, solid green growth has appeared at the tops. Once the roots have expanded a little into the clay and can handle more nutrients at a higher rate we will switch to 24 hour watering. I will keep you posted in the following days to track growth

[xcrispi]

Hey deftdrummer ,
If you bury the dripring in the hydroton you wont know when holes in dripring are plugged by salts , residue etc... Every grow I've done so far w/ the dripring setup = the roots in the res. grow up the 1/2" dia. pump col. and into the bottom of the lil 1/8" air feed line that actually pressurises the col. so it cant drip . A cpl. of us on here use raincoats on smaller plants to subdue the spitting and splashing too - heres a pic .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

hey crispi, thanks for your input. I think you might be the only person following this thread! Anyways, we never did get around to burying the halos under the rocks but while we were thinking about it we made another adjustment that has the same effect. Instead of cutting the column down and burying it under the rocks we just added more rocks (the most we could possibly fit) and now the halo doesn't so much drip but dribble right onto the rocks with very minimal splash.

I do appreciate the input though on keeping the halos clean as it was something I was already thinking about anyways. About how often usually do you have to clean out the halos of salts and buildup? It probably depends on nutrients and how hard your water is more than anything but maybe you have some knowledge about this subject that would help. Also, what do you use to clean them with once its time? I would think maybe just hot water and a scrub brush or something but theres probably a solution that breaks it down or maybe just plain old flushing solution would work.

[xcrispi]

Whats up D.D
As far as the plugged driprings I flush my system w/ G/H Florakleen at the 12/12 lightcycle switch and haven't had anymore buildup probs. since . Just the damn roots up the lil 1/8 in. tube at about the 2nd week of flower every grow . I grow huge crazy plants in them though - you may not have the problem ?
Doco , and Weedhound are prob. lurkin and watchin too .

Thanx for the airstone link , had them in 3 days cali to mich. :thumbsup:
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

thanks crispi, I'll have to check that out although if you look at the pre made packages they came with a plastic column that protects the air hose and everything inside it all the way down. I don't really think there will be a problem with roots growing into anything. Glad you like the air stones! they looked perfect for us when we were browsing around so we got them. I see they are sold out now too haha. :jointsmile: check back with you later man.

[deftdrummer]

06-01-07 Day #11 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 54%
Nutrient Temp: 76F
PPM: 426
pH: 5.7 (checked twice daily)

Here are some more pics to show the progress. Woke up this morning and couldn't wait to see the difference. I give it about 3 or 4 weeks before we need to start flowering maybe even less depending on how well they do. I took some high quality pictures of the nodes as well even though they are clones.

[Earthy Dank]

Thats a cool setup. They look heathy... I'm starting to flower my first DWC plants. Very cool... Can't wait

[deftdrummer]

06-02-07 Day #12 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 55%
Nutrient Temp: 77.8F
PPM: 456
pH: 5.2

The plants look great with the exception of the plant that is still in the different nutrients. The nutrients are called sugar peak and we have found their application is best suited for soil based plants and not hydroponics. The nutrients are looking kind of murky in all buckets. There are some fine granules that washed out of the hydroton so it is about time for a nutrient change. All the nutrients will be GH 3 part and I will do a full nutrient change tomorrow. Here are some more pictures. Thanks for the comment Earthy Danky, do you have a link to your grow so I can see what it looks like? I will follow your grow too even though we are in different stages.

[Earthy Dank]

I don't have a grow log just yet. I am waiting to get a camera. Right now I have 7 clones growing organically in soil and two growing in a 10 gallon DWC system. I use the 2-part GH FloraNova nutrients with liquid karma, Pure blend metabolic compost, hygrozyme and superthrive. I have a 600w Hortilux HPS. And I grow a unknown canadian sativa that a friend brought back from some kind in vancouver.

[deftdrummer]

thats pretty cool, sounds like you have a good operation going there too. I'd be interested to see your DWC pics when you get them. Also, how do you like the floranova? we were going to go with those nutes but they ended up being a little too expensive for our budget. Then again you only really have to invest once a grow since the nutes are more than enough to last for bubbler systems such as ours.

[Earthy Dank]

FloraNova is great... has molasses in it, makes the buds real sweet. I was thinking about trying the bonticare pure blend but I'm not sure their are so many good options. And if this DWC grow does exceptionally well then I am gonna make 3 more and have a 40gal w/ 8 plants. And i'll harvest 4 plants every 4 weeks.

[deftdrummer]

06-03-07 Day #12 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 73.5
PPM: 1350
pH: 5.6

Did a nutrient change today on all three plants. We upped the nutrient formula to the 3-2-1 regiment as per the label on the GH bottles. I also went to GH's web site also and found a handy conversion guide and it says we are right in the target range in terms of PPM. We are going off the "growth" guidelines.

[...gas...]

how big did u say that space is ? ive got 2 in a space 1.8m by .9 by 2.2 h , hopen 4 a pound there a bout 6 foot with a week 2 go many thanx

[Earthy Dank]

Isn't it day #13? and I would becareful with the ppm. You jumped 1000 ppm in one change.

[deftdrummer]

..gas..: "The table measures 3.25 ft in width and 4.33 ft in length making the total square footage: 14.07 sq ft."

Earthy, yes I guess technically it was day 13. I did the nute change late last night and was stoned out of my mind so I didn't remember what day it was! Anyways, thanks for the advice about the nutrients. I was a bit worried myself but I did some reading on here and found that most people think beyond 1200ppm for vegging is overkill and is a waste of nutrients. Ours was a bit high at 1350 but I should also make it clear to everyone that our tap water is 130ppm by itself. So factored in, thats 1220PPM of nutrients which I'm not too worried about. After all, its slightly less than the recommended dose for the age of the plants per the label. So far they seem to be responding really well! Stay tuned.

[deftdrummer]

06-04-07 Day #14 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 54%
Nutrient Temp: 73.8F
PPM: 1300
pH: 5.2

The plants seem to be doing fine. I took some pictures to show the first signs of the roots dropping down into the nutrient solution and also coming out the sides. They are thick and white, just the way they ought to be! You can see the taproot in one of the pictures going down as far as it can. Since the roots have started to drop into the nutrients we will transition to full 24hr drip so that the bubbler can be on to oxygenate the roots and nutrients. We are hesitant to do this too early however, for fear of over-watering again a little too early before the roots are ready to fully absorb the nutrients 24 hours a day. We will probably do one plant at a time to see if it has any adverse affect or not.

[deftdrummer]

06-05-07 Day #15 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 55%
Nutrient Temp: 76.9F
PPM: 1143
pH: 5.3

Some more pictures from this morning. The biggest plant has the most roots down in the nutrient solution now so the bubbler is on 24 hours. We will switch the other two once the roots develop a little more. The weather has cooled down here a little bit so the grow chamber is a little cooler. We are going to hit flowering at the hottest point in summer so we are going to have to get that extraction fan next before anything else.

[crazywill]

I will be watching your grow!The set up is sweet great job.good luck,Peace

[smoking habit]

hey, neat thread. How does the pump get water to the dripper? I don't really get it.

[Earthy Dank]

lol yeah how does that work? Drip and bubbler?

[deftdrummer]

Hey guys, I drew up a little diagram that might help you get an idea of how the system works. Its a rough sketch in fact if I weren't stoned I probably wouldn't have put even that much detail into it, but hopefully it helps. Very simple design actually. And yes, bubbler and drip system.

[deftdrummer]

06-6-07 Day #16 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 76F
RH: 48%
Nutrient Temp: 70.2F
PPM: 1237
pH: 5.2

[Earthy Dank]

06-6-07 Day #16 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 76F
RH: 48%
Nutrient Temp: 70.2F
PPM: 1237
pH: 5.2

They are starting to grow faster. Looking good. How big are you gonna let them get before you flower them?

[deftdrummer]

06-08-07 Day #18 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 79F
RH: 49%
Nutrient Temp: 70.7F
PPM: 1061
pH: 5.6

Thanks earthy, they definitely are getting bigger and doing better as the days go on. We are especially pleased with the runt in the back as it was taking the slowest to the nutrients. It is still the only one that doesn't have roots down in the nutrients yet but it will any day now. As you can see the roots are looking great and dropping down into the nutrients. We now have it on a cycle where the drippers turn off at night to let the roots grow a little and to allow some air circulation in the roots and clay pebbles. We have been slowly diminishing the nutrients down to the 1100 & 1200 range by just adding water daily and diluting. To answer your question we will probably flower at about 1 ft tall. Within the next week we will top the plants and I will show that in detail. The tallest is about 7 inches tall so we have a little bit to go yet before topping. Topping is recommended after the 2nd or 3rd node but we will wait until the third gets fully developed before topping since they are just barely at 3 nodes right now.

[deftdrummer]

these are pics from yesterday

[xcrispi]

Hey deft,
Where did you get topping info at ? Never heard of anyone topping that early . I have read conflicting info on this at a few dif. sites . 6-7th node / some ppl. wait till nodes are alternating etc... I can't wait till nodes alternate tho I don't have enough headroom .
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

well now that I think about it we will probably wait until we have alternating nodes as well. There's nothing too scientific about topping. When the plants are mature enough topping is recommended just a few weeks before going into flowering. By most time tables this puts topping right at or around the 4th week *or waiting until alternating nodes appear which should be right around this time as well. We plan on topping then letting them veg for at least another week after.

[freewheelinfrank]

I am an old dirt farmer, I only know very little about hydro, from the Forum - I recently built a 'bubble-cloner' that works perfectly, 100% clone success, so far, which has sparked my interest in your hydro-setup - question: IF the sprouts are being 'bubbled' from beneath, for air, nutes, and water, why is the top drip-ring necessary ? - will the plants be 'hydro'd' from top, AND bottom, for their entire life-span ? - sorry if this is too 'beginner' of a question :smokin:

[deftdrummer]

I am an old dirt farmer, I only know very little about hydro, from the Forum - I recently built a 'bubble-cloner' that works perfectly, 100% clone success, so far, which has sparked my interest in your hydro-setup - question: IF the sprouts are being 'bubbled' from beneath, for air, nutes, and water, why is the top drip-ring necessary ? - will the plants be 'hydro'd' from top, AND bottom, for their entire life-span ? - sorry if this is too 'beginner' of a question :smokin:

Freewheelinfrank, thanks for your interest. As far as I know, there are only a few advantages and matter of preference depending on the options you go with. The benefits of having a top drip that I can see is for use with clones and newly rooted seedlings. This enables the nutrients to be dripped while at a young age to encourage rapid root growth to the sides and bottom. We were also not keen on the idea of having approx. 4 gallons constantly in the buckets so that the roots could make use of the DWC style. I guess in all honesty it came down what the local hydro shop had available and also the fact that the net buckets we purchased fit the 5gal buckets perfectly so there would be no modifications needed to a lid or anything of the sort. Typically, you only need a very small basket for the roots and clay pebbles if you are doing a DWC style grow only. Really it was intended to be a drip system only but the fact that the roots WILL drop down into the nutrient makes it a DWC as well. We are all about the hybrid grows =) Oh yes, to answer your question: yes, they will be fed from the top and through the bubbler for the entire life span. The roots that are present now are the whitest and healthiest I have seen in all my grows thus far. There were some issues of leaking in the beginning I dont know if you read that, but an easy solution for people intending to reproduce a similar setup should consider routing the air lines through the top and avoid drilling holes in the buckets at all costs for any reasons. Hope I answered your question.

[deftdrummer]

06-10-07 Day #20 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 82F
RH: 52%
Nutrient Temp: 74F
PPM: 1000-1250
pH: 5.5

The plants are doing superbly, I think they are finally starting to hit full stride as evidenced by the leaves pointing upward and also vigorous undergrowth. The plants will be ready for full strength nutrients in the 1200 ppm range for the next nutrient change. We are waiting for the right time to top (just once) each plant. We may try to clone one of them to save the strain but we have had bad luck in the past trying to clone top cuttings due to their size (smaller is better for clones). You can see in one of the pictures of the biggest plant that the alternating nodes are starting to take form. This same plant has also grown a full inch since my last posting.

[deftdrummer]

6-11-07 Day #21 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 81F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 70.5F
PPM: 1050
pH: 5.5

We performed a nutrient change today which put the PPM at 1050. This is a little less than before especially considering our water from the tap is 120 ppm alone. We don't think this should be a problem at this stage of growth and the plants are actually doing really well. The tallest is at about 9 inches now so we raised the light another 6 inches. The light spectrum is actually a lot better now and spreads more evenly to all the plants and should make the mylar a little more useful. We already turned one of the drippers to 24 hour drip and we will do the other two in the next day.

[deftdrummer]

06-12-07 Day #22 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH: 48%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 1050
pH: 5.4

[Zandor]

raise your Ph to about 5.8 now and they will have more nutrients available to them at this cycle of life.

There is a chart in the FAQ section that will show you the different nutrients available to the plant at variable Ph levels.

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/25080-charts-other-stuff-you-can-use.html

[xcrispi]

Hey Deft ,
Hope I'm not a pest .
Also in response to Freewheelin's q's about both systems being intergrated = If airstone ever clogs you have dripring , dripring clogs you have airstone . Plan B type thing , is why I did it w/ mine . If neither ever fail = 1 way oxygenated root sys , -n- happy happy girls .

I'm at 5 weeks now w/ my virgin run of dwc / drip combos w/ only 2 buckets and I'm blown away w/ results . I bet 3/4 to a full LB. per bucket if it keeps getting denser - never done the strain before ?
Peace
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

Thanks Zandor, your wisdom is always much appreciated. I will make the adjustments. Do you have any good resources that specifically tell what elements MJ needs during all phases of growth? This would help myself and probably others in maintaining the correct pH at all times.

Crispi, no need to feel like a pest I enjoy anybody that takes interest and is willing to contribute to the thread, after all if it were just me talking nobody would benefit cause I'm no expert. By the way what you were saying about the dual system backup is an excellent example, I never thought about that but it makes perfect sense. Thanks crispi

[5150]

WoW this is a freaking Awesome thread. i am going to be trying out the bucket pretty soon. (Noob) and this is a great reference to look over for my 1st grow. thanks!! :thumbsup:


Now for the questions hee hee...

On the halo's then was something mentioned about salt build up. could you use distilled water to prevent this? or if the tap water is too harsh?

you have the water cycle set 15 every 2hrs. when are you going to switch (or recommend) it to 24hr?

[deftdrummer]

5150 thanks for tuning in and thanks for the compliments. Regardless of what type of water you use you will still have salt buildups. This is due to the nutrient solution staying when the water evaporates. Also, I am no longer on a 15 min every 2 hours watering cycle. We are currently on 24 hour drip systems since the roots have dropped down into the nutrient reservoir.

[xcrispi]

Hey Deft ,
Heres a link to the current pics. I spoke of . These homemade gizmos rock bro. , 4 of these buckets will fill my 11 x 12 ft room I bet . Can't wait to see how they work out for you !

http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/119640-sour-northernlights-x-nev-haze-5-weeks.html

Peace bro.
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

06-13-07 Day #23 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 51%
Nutrient Temp: 77.4F
PPM: 1058
pH: 5.8

We topped the biggest plant yesterday so here is a picture of the topping site. Now the plants are all the same size and we will top the others in a day or so also. We topped just above the 5th node and there are several potential bud sites below it.

[TheGreenFog]

Hey, Deft...just wanted to say that I really like the thread. Great log. Great build. Great consistency with your info and lots of awesome pictures. Thanks for showing me up. ;)

Good stuff, man. Will be watching the whole way for sure. Your plants look excellent as well. :greenthumb: REP+


The Fog :rastasmoke:

[deftdrummer]

Hey green fog thanks! This is my first grow log and my first grow that i'm trying to be detailed on, I figure if anything goes wrong along the way at least people will be there to help rather than just posting a random thread somewhere in hopes that someone will help me out. I checked out your grow and it is very similar to mine except for the soil(?) We have 3 mothers under a T5 also, I think your grow log was pretty comprehensive, I actually looked at it a few times before making this one and it gave me ideas. Thanks for checking it out I can't wait to get some knock you on your ass chronic from this grow.

[TheGreenFog]

Well, I'm not sure if you're sure you looked at the right one. In the JOURNAL, there is no soil used. It is rockwool with hydroton rocks in a dripper/ebb & flow system. In fact, I am trying to get a second log up...been trying for a while. I'm just such a perfectionist, that I wanted to make a short pictorial video of the first grow to start off the second one, but that is taking WAY too long, so I'll probably just throw it up there and smack the video onto the end of JOAMM I when I get around to finishing it. LoL

Be cool.


The Fog :rastasmoke:

[5150]

Off topic but the bike in the pic is that an R1?

Looking into trading my dirt bike in for an R6

Back on topic Still a great thread going to save this thread so when i start have something to compare to.

[deftdrummer]

5150 it is a 2007 R6

[deftdrummer]

06-14-07 Day #24 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 82F
RH: 49%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 800-1050
pH: 5.7

We lowered the pH to 5.7 so that it will rise to about 5.8 towards the evening and then be lowered again. The root systems are healthy on all plants although the stunted plant doesn't have that many roots coming out the bottom yet. We will top the other two plants hopefully in the next few days.

[deftdrummer]

6-16-07 Day #26 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 83F
RH: 55%
Nutrient Temp: 79.5F
PPM: 934-1025
pH: 5.7

Although I don't seem to notice, the pictures tell me the plants are getting bigger every day. We topped the other two plants and should be on schedule to flower within the next week or few days depending on growth. The heat here outside has been in the 100F range daily for the past 4 or 5 days. Hopefully it will cool down a bit and give the plants a break. I topped off this morning with just water that was cool from the tap. This should help a little bit with the heat. We are planning to get the other exhaust fan very soon so that flowering will have a nice transition and hopefully it won't be so hot. We are shooting for a 4" centrifugal that will serve as nothing but an exhaust fan. Sorry about the pictures, not sure why they are so dark but you can see the topped sites clearly.

[xcrispi]

Sweet ,
Watching the undergrowth explode from topping is almost as much fun as watching them flower = 6-7 headed monsters . Weedhound just got like 8.5 oz. from a single plant this style . :thumbsup:
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

06-17-07 Day #27 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 79F
RH: 49%
Nutrient Temp: 77.2F
PPM: 962-989
pH: 5.4-5.7

It is almost time for another nutrient change. With the next change we will do a 2-2-2 mix of the GH 3 part which is recommended for the transition from vegetative to bloom phase. We will also start flowering at this time.

[5150]

they are looking good

[deftdrummer]

06-18-07 Day #28 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 82F
RH: 49%
Nutrient Temp: 78F
PPM: 1100
pH: 5.5

Today we made some changes. First the foremost, we switched to "transitional flowering" by doing a nutrient change with 2-2-2 nutrient solution. We also swapped out our 400W metal halide bulb for our 400W HPS bulb that simulates the fall light spectrum. It is quite a bit more orange in color that it emits. If you have a 400W light you can do this as long as the other bulb is also 400W. This is the closest thing you can get to a switchable ballast without spending the big bucks. At the same time we also did some routine maintenance; cleaned off the protective glass on the light and also wiped out some of the dust and bugs that collected inside the hood and calibrated our pH pen, and as it turned out it was .2 off. It was also time to raise the light a bit so we did, and it is about 6 inches higher than the plant tops.

Our little fan was no longer adequate so we cleaned off our other oscillating fan and put that in the grow tent. Now we have some good circulation! Due to the new light spectrum it is a bit difficult to get good pictures but I tried my best.

[deftdrummer]

Some more pics

[deftdrummer]

In addition to all this we also took some clones since we didn't want to be left without any clones of the grandaddy purple cause after all, we paid good money for it at the cannabis clinic. Since we are switching to flowering this was one of our last days to take clones and the donors are good and healthy so why not? We took two clones from each strain including the mothers in our mother chamber making 6 total. It's a shame, but we will probably be killing off our mothers that are in soil in order to make room for the clones we just took. And naturally, we will wait until the clones have rooted before killing them off. The strains are: goo, grandaddy purple, and rhino. It will be truly heartbreaking to kill our current mother plants but we believe it is for the better, and after all thats what they are there for. We got some smaller pots so that the plants only get big enough to take 1 or 2 clones from max. This will also enable us to have all 6 in the mother chamber at the same time without space issues.

For those that are new to cloning the process is simple and I have taken some pictures to illustrate. We went with rockwool due to its ability to retain water for days at a time before being soaked again and also because when properly cleaned from the start, rockwool offers nice soft medium for newly established roots to probe through.

First, we took all 6 rockwool cubes and put them in a pot of tap water over the stove. Some people believe only distilled or reverse osmosis water is the way to go with with clones, which is probably a good idea but we have never had any problems with tap water. You want to bring the water to a good boil for at least 10 minutes to make sure you get out all the particles out. We like to boil for this length also because it makes the rockwool nice and pliable so that the roots have an easier time and at the same time it kills any bacteria that might be pre existing in the rockwool. Be sure to let the cubes dry naturally for at least a good idea before cutting any clones.

Next, we chose sites on all donor plants that had nice small growth with few leaves since they have an easier time getting root generation under way. This is because clones with less leaves and shorter stems don't have to pull water and nutrients as far up the cutting or to as many areas. We used a clean razor blade of course, and scarified the very bottom of the stem. In other words; lightly scraped the razor along the stem all the way around. Once scarified you dip the stem in a rooting hormone; which usually comes in a powder or gel form. We use earth juice gel rooting hormone which is actually rather expensive at $10 for 1.5 fl oz, but it will last you forever.

Once dipped, simply place in the rockwool cube and place in a humid warm environment under low intensity fluorescent light and you're golden!

[onequickmove]

put your shirt on and i'll read it ;)

[deftdrummer]

It's not me, and frankly I don't care if you read it.

[deftdrummer]

06-19-07 Day #29 of Veg.
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 57%
Nutrient Temp: 76.3F
PPM: 1195
pH: 5.65

[5150]

i learn something new everyday.

i think that is a good idea to boil the water and add the cubes to kill all the bacteria. never know what could be in there.

also from what i have read before about clones was to pick a nice healthy long stem to cut.
"clones with less leaves and shorter stems don't have to pull water and nutrients as far up the cutting or to as many areas"
this info is valuable for the newb who wants to clone thanks!!!!

[deftdrummer]

yeah, you are right 5150 long stems are good but only to a certain point. I have found that long stems are great for making sure you can get them far enough down in the cube but that's about it. Just a matter of preference I guess.

[deftdrummer]

06-20-07 Day #1 of Flowering
Cab Temp: 80F
RH: 58%
Nutrient Temp: 75.5F
PPM: 1093, 1103, 1126
pH: 5.2 - 5.4

we switched to flowering today by going on 12/12 lighting. The centrifugal exhaust fan is coming soon so we can't wait to start seeing buds!

[palerider7777]

i love the thread i just read the whole thing at one sitting wow that was alot.nice im a noob at this to but i have been reading everything i could find on this for the last 3 months.so i know a good bit more than i did to start.i read about all the diffrent type of setups my set up is dwc. i set up mine in 30 gal rubbermaid tubs fill 20 gal each i setup 4 with 8 plant sites each.i made a pvc spray bar with 14 360*sprayers each. i have it to where the water is right under the spray bar. and sprays all over the bottem of the 5inch net pots. then in the bottem i have the dual air hog stones so it's a 2 in one but from the bottom.

i was having a lil trouble with a lil alge. im guessing that was alge. a thin slick film so i was guessing the light was getting through the clay balls around the edges. so i went out today and bought sum emergency blankets. a buck each instead of using my good mylar. and i laid it over the whole top 3 layer thick and cut holes at each plant site and put the baskets back in for a nice tight light proof fit.i know i should have done something b4 all that but i didn't see any light getting through so thats done.i have my seedlings under 2 of those curling type lights the bigger ones not the lil ones i just bought 1 of those ceramic pull chain lights and wired it to a replacement ext cord and put a 2 way in then the lights my stuff is sprouting in about 3 days but i don't know when i should put into the dwc i have thick white fuzzy roots starting to poke out but they still look to lil to put in yet any thoughts on this? and 1 other ? i read that u (topped)ur plants how is that done? just cut off the top at sum point? i have well water it is 25 or 250 ppm by itself i guess ro/is the only way around this? or is it that big a deal to mess with? keep up the good work

[deftdrummer]

hey palerider7777 thanks for posting and learning! A lot of people just ask questions that have been asked a million times but at least you take the time to read a learn a little. Sounds like a good setup you have there with the sprayers and all that. If you started a thread and posted some pictures it would be very cool to check out! If you are having trouble with algae then you are taking the right precautions it sounds like. The first step is to block out all possible light (zero light being best) and the next step is to keep the reservoir temperatures below 78F being ideal. This is something I'm guilty of myself but for us DWC growers there is very little we can do due to the limited space in the reservoir. The best that can be done is put reflective material also on the outside of the buckets or reservoir to lower the temps 1-2 degrees and also you can frequently put ice in the reservoir rather than topping up with water. Or, when you do top up you can use the coldest water you can find (which is mainly what I do, in the form of refrigerated water).

To answer your other questions, I do think that your plants are ready for the DWC by the sounds of it. If you say you have thick white roots poking out the sides then they sound like they are ready. As far as the topping goes, topping is a very simple process that only seems complicated. All you do is wait until you have about 6 or 8 nodes and cut the top most sprout off just above the node. This lets the lower growth have all the light and it branches into about 4 or 5 colas instead of just one big cola. It is better use of the light is all. The best way to tell when you are ready to top really is dependent on the light you have. We have a 400W so we wanted to make sure the top got good light and also the sides, and also the underneath bud sites as well. Granted the lower growth won't get as much light but you cut your losses at some point ya know?

[palerider7777]

ok i see i new it was something along those lines i just did'nt know where to cut.i have a thread going it's not much of one yet no picks yet but i don't know how to put the link in here for u to see it.+i don't know how safe it is to post pics in here i here u have a mmj card i don't and i don't know much about how safe it is here.but what i started out with as im new to growing anything at all this is my first grow of anything. but with anything else i do in life i like to read read read and then read sum more b4 i jump into anything.so i started out 5 each of watermelon,carrots,lettuce,bell peppers,hot peppers,toms,and i got sum crippie seeds from my brother he smokes like no other lol.this is just to start out of coarse the veggies are on there 8th day doing great.there growing like crazy no wilt just good solid growing(and by the way i like the jiffy plugs from gh better alot better cause i have noticed that i put half in rocwhool and the others in the jiffy plugs and the ones in the jiffy plugs not only sprouted 3 days sooner but seem to have more roots i dunno why?) im using advance nutes micro,grow,bloom,then i have hygrozyme,bud blood,doc horn'sby big bud ,kool bloom,enngy's f1,and lq carbo load.it's neat how u can smell the roots and it smells like what ur growing the watermelon man i smell the roots and i want to eat the whole thing plug and all lol j/k.the seeds i got from my bro they are like a 1to 2 inches tall with a redish strip on one side of the stalk and a nice green on the other and the leafs are small but thick. i just wanted to start out on sum free seeds b4 i go to the good stuff

[palerider7777]

well i guess i should start off by telling u what i have first so u will know whats what and not have to ask to many?.i have a 7x7x71/2 ft rmwith half for the grow space. a space for the seedling dome, and i have my 3 ballast boxs up on a shelf to the left 5ft up. and my light in the middle to back of the room. and an ac unit on the right side about 4 ft up right in front of the light. so as it can blow through the hood's 4 inch duct. and i have it set up on a carbon filter/same duct meaning i can hook up that sides duct with the carbon filter or take it off and let the a/c run through to the other side. where the duct from the inline fan is to suck the air out of the rm. i have a dwc system i made but not in the buckets. i have 4 30 gal rubbermaid tubs that holds 8 plants each. with a pvc set up with 14 sprayers each i got the 360*ones. as i have bought others and the 360*ones just out do the others by alot. it sprays all over and the back side of the spray hitting the walls and bouncing off. and with the bigger openings it looks like they might be harder to clog up on me.


anyways my lighting system, i was online looking for the ballest lite hood and everything. and found this guy on cl an online trade site. and a guy had a 400wmh set up. (ballest lite 2 bulbs lite hood with 4inch duct and a box of air stones about 5 with 5 air pumps 3 inline fans for the ducting then 2 set ups of the 1000w mh and one a 1000w hps/mh set up with a ballest box and hood each and a bunch of other stuff) like a tds tri meter ph ppm temp. and other stuff he was wanting 2300 for all that was a good deal in it's self. so i went to meet him at his storage cause he was moving up north. and had it in storage i had to travel a good ways out of town to meet him. but he had me waiting for awhile. so when he got there he was way behind. so i told him i would help him pack his stuff up if he would give me a better deal. so i did i did most of the work i might ad. at the end he just gave me all the stuff for free well i helped him move but no money. so thats why i have all this stuff. and was trying to put it to good use. all the stuff for the lites are from diamond anyone know of that type of lite?? they seem good to me i like um.


so what i did cause of the limited space i have.i took all the lite out of there hoods.and i picked the biggest one.it was the one with the hps setup.and it had room for all three.and for sum odd reason it already had the hole cut out and set up for 3 lites.so i mounted the other to mh (1000w and 400w)on the sides of the hps.now im not gonna run all at once but 2 at a time won't hurt like the 1400w of mh or 1000 mh 1000 hps or what ever so thats my set up pretty much now my ? is and im sure i'll have others. but 1st one is how can i change the humidity? it's been staying around 65 to 80% with most of the time around the 70 mark. is there a way to dry it up a bit. i know how to make it higher that part i know. but how do u lower it is there an easy way. and the reason it's been so high is because it's been raining for a few days. will that hurt at all or is it ok to be humid for a few days. and i keep the room spotless it's clean. any input would be great!! oh and 1 more ? what is ur thoughts on well water/hard water well im sure it's hard i put my meter in just the water and it's around 23ppm (230ppm) is that considered (hard)oh and the ph on that water is around 7.8 to 8.1 and sumtimes lower




thats my thread so far lol not much but a start

[palerider7777]

i sold my 2005 mint cond zx10r to start all this up + pay sum bill so here goes nothin!!!

[deftdrummer]

06-22-07 Day #3 of flowering.
Cab Temp: ?
RH: ?
Nutrient Temp: 75.4F
PPM: 1025, 1111, 1126
pH: 5.6 - 5.7

The plants are starting to increase in size. Now is the time that it is very important to make sure that we move the buckets around after each time we top off or check pH levels etc. This will ensure that maximum light distribution to all bud sites can be achieved. We are needing to get a new humidity / temperature gauge cause we don't think ours is giving accurate readings anymore. For example, yesterday at 12am the gauge read 80F in the grow tent which was not possible. The air was stirring quite well and there was very little heat to be felt at all with the hand, much less 80F temps. So, in the next few days we should get that taken care of.

The plants have also been drinking a lot of water causing the levels to get almost as half as full as they were the previous day, due in part mostly because of the heat that we have seen lately. We check twice daily but even this doesn't seem to be enough some days! Soon we should start noticing yellowish green colors showing up where the bud sites will be and then it starts to get really fun from this point on. Stay tuned!

[hydrocannabis]

right on dude yah.:D:D

thouse R lookin good.

I will fo sure stay tuned.

[deftdrummer]

06-25-07 Day #6 of Flowering.
Cab Temp:
RH:
Nutrient Temp: 72.2F
PPM: 1102
pH: 5.7

It's been a few days without any update sorry about that. I have been pulling long 12 hour shifts at work over the weekend and have not even had time to look at the plants. My grow partner has been handling all the maintenance duties and performed a 2-2-2 nutrient change yesterday (6.24.07). The plants grew about another 3 inches in height since I even last saw them! We had to raise the light again another 4" or so so that the tops would clear and all the bud sites would get even light distribution. In the next few days I will try to start taking pictures of the bud sites when the light is off to give you an idea of how far they are coming along. Its a bit hard to tell until full fledged buds appear when you start to see some good progress.

[deftdrummer]

some more pics

[deftdrummer]

06-27-07 Day #8 of Flowering.
Cab Temp:
RH:
Nutrient Temp: 74.5F
PPM: 1125, 1150, 1159
pH: 5.0-5.3

Hey there, the plants are growing very bushy and tall. We have all the vertical height we will need but the plants are growing into each other a bit. It is not such a big deal since we topped all three plants, which makes the main colas and bud sites as close to the light as they could possibly be. However, we are able to move the plants to the precise area that gives them max light.

On the nutrient side we have been keeping the levels pretty consistent between 1100 and 1200. The pH has been kept around the 5.8 range but we started to see some blotches on the leaves that led us to believe that it was 1 of 3 things. It could either be wide fluctuations of pH levels (which has not been happening) or possibly 5.8 being too high for the time being. The last thing we were thinking that it could be is the possibility of our 2-2-2 nutrient strength being possibly a little too weak for the size of plants. In other words; perhaps the plants need more food for full blown flowering. The next nutrient change will definitely be a full flowering mix.

Based on the fact that our mix is a 2-2-2 strength we decided to raise and lower the pH levels every other day. We will drop all the way down to 5.2 in the morning and let it get as high as it can in the afternoon. This should allow the nutrient availability to have a wide range. If this helps we should have our problem narrowed down. If it doesn't we won't be too bent out of shape about it since the rest of the plants are really healthy and doing great.

[deftdrummer]

6-28-07 Day #9 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~85F
RH: ~19%-30%
Nutrient Temp:
PPM: 980-1100
pH: 4.8

We are going on a short vacation for a few days and so, this morning we topped off all the plants with quite a bit of a higher water level. We are coming back in a day so we shouldn't see too many ill effects. Our worry is that it will be around 100F here and we don't exactly know how much will be evaporated and uptaken by the plants. The roots will always be immersed in the nutrient reservoir and natural aeroponics never hurt roots of course. The only other concern with these temps and humid moist air above the reservoir is the possibility of mold. Mould can ruin roots in no time causing them to turn a brownish color usually accompanied with slime. Mould cuts off the amount of nutrients the roots can uptake as the bacteria quickly spreads over the roots thus also limiting the oxygen exchange the roots need to maintain. As you might have noticed, we also dropped the pH to its lowest acceptable range ie: 5.0-5.5 again, because we won't be here to maintain it. It's always good to have a buddy that grows as everyone says, but at this point in time that's just something we don't have.

[deftdrummer]

06-30-07 Day #11 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH:
Nutrient Temp: 73F
PPM: 1050-1100
pH: 5.5

The plants are coming along, with bud sites starting to develop into the first signs of buds. The lower leaves are dieing on pretty much all of the plants but this is to be expected during flowering. The rest of the plant looks nice and healthy and they are still growing close to a half inch in vertical height daily. I took some high resolution photos to show the bud development and I will continue to do so throughout the flowering process. We are due for another nutrient change tomorrow and at this time we will also need to raise the light again. The heat has subsided and there are no real negative effects on the plants up to this point so we might just hold off on our centrifugal fan idea for the time being. We were also having some different ideas regarding a new 600W light as well. Rather than buying an exhaust fan of high quality like we were, we are thinking that since most 600W and 1000W lights have detached ballasts, that we would put the ballast outside of the grow tent and have our current light exhausting fan just remove hot air from the top of the tent without being hooked up to anything. The fan is more than powerful enough to handle this task and we would also be benefiting the power of a 600W light. Maybe for the next grow but for now we are content.

[deftdrummer]

7-1-07 Day #12 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~75 to 80F
RH: ~50%
Nutrient Temp: 72.3F
PPM: 1100
pH: 5.5

We performed another nutrient change today and switched to full bloom formula. The components are 1tsp grow 2tsp micro 3tsp bloom or 1-2-3. We put the pH at 5.5 this time so that we could start with a good baseline to see how the plants react during this stage of flowering. GH's web site states that for this phase in growth the PPM should be between 1100-1400 PPM.

The bud sites are plumping up and our topping jobs look to be paying off. We are glad we did not decide to do any more than 3 plants with the current light setup. Our light is decent enough, but more light could have maybe enabled us to do 4 plants with higher yields, but it's a bit early to start talking about yields. Next post I will try to get some good shots of the root systems that these babies got going.

[deftdrummer]

more pics

[palerider7777]

lookin good can't wait till mine is at that stage

[deftdrummer]

07-06-07 Day #17 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: TOO HIGH ~ 100
RH: 50%
Nutrient Temp: TOO HIGH 78F
PPM: 850-1000
pH: 5.6

Ok, we have run into a few problems here during one of the worst possible times. Flowering is not when you want to start having things go wrong. We have not been inspecting the plants as closely as we should have and discovered some spider mites and webs. Fortunately they have not yet hit their max production rate. We quickly went to the local hydro store and picked up some stuff called bugzyme by garden grow. We were told it enables you to spray all through flowering if necessary to kill spider mites and other types of pests. It is 100% all natural so we figured we would give it a shot. We have tried using neem oil in the past but neem is more useful as a preventative measure and not meant for full fledged infestations which is what we are on the verge of.

In addition to that little problem we have run into severe heat issues here in CA. The temperatures in our garage (which is where the grow is) are in excess of 100F and only hotter in the grow tent. We have a fan hooked up to the light if you recall, so a good deal of heat is being extracted there, but the problem still lies with the natural heat that is just a part of this time of year. We bit the bullet and ordered A vortex 4" centrifugal fan that is rated at 175CM. CFM stands for cubic feet per minute. In other words, a 70CFM fan will move the volume of 70 cu ft. air in a minute out of a given space. The fan we bought would probably be overkill if used strictly as an exhaust since we only have 14.07 cu ft. For our space theoretically we would need a 42CFM fan max. However, what were thinking instead is that it might be perfect for pulling air from the light and the grow tent simultaneously since the light is not air tight. What it will come down to really is seeing how well the fan pulls air, and if our grow tent can tolerate the undoubted low pressure that will be created inside the chamber. Either way it will be hooked up to the highest point in the grow tent so there should be some large amounts of hot air moving out of there. We also still have the passive 4" air inlet that is cut out of the table top (bottom of chamber). This inlet is probably a bit small as a passive intake but it will have to do for now. In the future we might end up making it 6" since you always want to have a slightly larger intake than exhaust. Being that our exhaust is 4", a 6" intake should suffice when we get around to it.

I'll check back in a few days with some better pictures. The fan should be here in about 3 or 4 days max.

[palerider7777]

why not an ac unit i bought a small one for 100 bucks at home depot but my rooms is 8x8x8

[deftdrummer]

thanks for the idea palerider. We should be fine with just an exhaust fan since the summer won't be much longer, which would make a $100 kind of not worth it at this point. We needed a fan regardless so we will see how that does and then take it from there. We are trying to keep costs down as low as possible for the simple reason that we have already dumped so much money into this ongoing project that we would like to see some returns before we go spending any more money.

[palerider7777]

i here that

[palerider7777]

i just know i have a 8x8x8 area and even with the a/c in there on the hot days it's hard to keep it under 80 in there. so let me know if the fan works and how u set it up. cause i have mine set to run throught the light and it still gets hot in there.

[xcrispi]

Hey Deft ,
I know heats a real M/F there rt. now like 103-105 by Weedhound . Next go round you might try a 20-30 gal. res. and recirculating the sys. w/ a 7.00 120 gph pump . Im able to freeze 2 litre pop bottles of water and put em in the res. once or twice a day to keep water temps down .

Lookin good man :thumbsup:
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

thanks for the advice crispi, we were actually considering that for this grow by just didn't end up doing it. It seems like it be pretty simple though - where did you get the reservoir from? Only problem is that we wouldn't want to spend the time and money on this kind of a setup since during the next grow it should be cooled down quite a bit. We will just have to consider it for next summer.

[xcrispi]

Res. = cheap heavier rubbermade / stearlite container and add your own grommets / fittings , homedepot has 10ft. rolls of black tubing too = you'll never have algee in lines like w/ clear blue junk from gen. hyd. bet you could do it for less than 20-25 bucks total even w/ the pump cost . Via Aqua 302 is pumps pt. no. I get em cheap on Ebay - or a petstore etc...
Crispi :jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

07-08-07 Day #19 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~80F
RH: 45%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 136
pH: 5.6

We did a nutrient replacement today with just plain pH balanced water. We wanted to try and flush out the roots for a day since they were beginning to show some rust coloring. We will do a full nutrient change tomorrow. We are still waiting for the centrifugal fan to arrive in the mail so we can get some serious heat relief and it couldn't take longer it seems!

We have also been spraying twice daily with the bugzyme for about two days now. The spider mites are very low in numbers and we'll continue to spray as long it takes to rid ourselves of the infestation. Spider mites can ruin flowering healthy plants in the matter of a week depending on how fast they spread. We don't want to take any chances, and ladybugs are not out of the question if the mites were to get that bad. We doubt it will come to that though.

[deftdrummer]

some more

[Earthy Dank]

awesomely amazingly beautiful

[Earthy Dank]

07-08-07 Day #19 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~80F
RH: 45%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 136
pH: 5.6

We did a nutrient replacement today with just plain pH balanced water. We wanted to try and flush out the roots for a day since they were beginning to show some rust coloring. We will do a full nutrient change tomorrow. We are still waiting for the centrifugal fan to arrive in the mail so we can get some serious heat relief and it couldn't take longer it seems!

We have also been spraying twice daily with the bugzyme for about two days now. The spider mites are very low in numbers and we'll continue to spray as long it takes to rid ourselves of the infestation. Spider mites can ruin flowering healthy plants in the matter of a week depending on how fast they spread. We don't want to take any chances, and ladybugs are not out of the question if the mites were to get that bad. We doubt it will come to that though.

I would go to WARRR with those little freeloading mother%#$@ers before its too late. I started noticing a few around a week until harvest... so i let them stay and didn't wanna spray my almost ready buds with neem... well I wasn't able to visit them for a few days and when I came back about 3-4 days later... There we're literlly webs over the ENTIRE CANOPY. There were webs on top of webs... most of the leaves were crispy as shit... It was scary as shit... I have no Idea how they exploded like that... I was starting to get consistently hot and i think that might have sped them up alittle but daMNNN. Lucky enough the buds turned out fine. They attack too late to really fuck them up... But right after that I moved the entire grow and flooded that room with neem... neem everywhere...

[deftdrummer]

well from what I've read neem isn't safe to use during flowering either because it ruins your buds. This stuff that we got bugzyme is supposedly safe to use all through flowering. That is amazing your crop survived if it was as bad as you say it was. Damn

[palerider7777]

thats what i have a 30 gal res and pvc pipe hooked to a water pump u put in the bottem i have 4 set up and it cost 200 for pumps res tubing pvc sprayers and an extra 80 for and 385gph air pump hooked to air hogs air stones just to get the extra air flow in the res

[deftdrummer]

7-11-07 Day #22 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~80F
RH: 57%
Nutrient Temp: 78F
PPM: 1100-1250
pH: 5.5

The pH went up today to about 6.3 as it usually does in the mornings. We added some pH down and got it back in the range. While the plants were out of the grow tent we decided to install our new centrifugal fan that came today in the mail. I included some pictures of installation to show you all what I was talking about. The fan again is rated at 175CFM and is very very quiet. We were really excited to hear how quiet it is since it will be near a ceiling vent. Apparently the fan only runs at 48dBA which is certainly a lot quieter than our current squirrel cage style fan. After installation however we have mixed feelings. Among our worries was the possibility of the fan being too powerful for our small space and thus sucking the walls of the grow space inward. This was the case when we took the glass out of the light to improve airflow and improve airflow it did - a little too well. Then the notion of bugs and other things getting up into the light without the protective glass so we started to change our minds. At the same time, we also realized that removing the glass actually created more heat in the room since the light was now nothing more than a passive intake through the bottom, and subsequently the light got hotter, which in return made the grow space hotter. Needless to say, we installed the protective glass again - for safety hazards if nothing else. This pretty much puts us back to square one again as far as ventilation. We have had a good few days where it has been overcast which is a nice change-up from the 103F heat we have been having consistently. If anything, we think in the long run having a more powerful fan hooked up to the light will remove even more heat which obviously keeps the overall temps down. If we really feel the need to install both fans then we will, but the weather should be getting gradually cooler and cooler here pretty soon.

As far as plant growth goes, it is good with bud growth being solid and having great color / smell. However, the spider mites seem for the time being very persistent with regards to our biggest plant. If it comes down to it and we really need to eradicate ourselves of these pesky bugs then we will resort to using a hot-shot pest control strip that can be found at the hardware store. We have used this in the past but have refrained for all of this grow due to health hazards associated with them if too close to your living / growing space.

[deftdrummer]

heres the fan and buds

[deftdrummer]

07-13-07 Day #24 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH: ?
Nutrient Temp: 74.8F
PPM: 1058, 1096, 1110
pH: 5.4, 5.3, 5.4

Hey all, yesterday we went out and bought a hot shot strip for the inside of the grow cab. I fear it is a bit too late however, since on our biggest plant nearly every bud has at least a few spider mites. We have had a grow in the past that got infested with spider mites and smoking the weed was not that great. The popping is horrible and every time you hear it it reminds you of the spider mites going into your body. We are going to try and get as many as we can off with Q-tips which will be a painstaking process, but hopefully we can minimize the damage. We know that the hotshot strips have kept 100% of spider mites off in the past, so we are hoping that it can kill 100% of them off quickly as well. Already we have seen lines of them like ants on the mylar seemingly vacating the area.

The fan is keeping the temps in very acceptable ranges, but we still don't have a temp gauge that we can read from so for now we are just estimating the temps, but they are definitely cooler even to the bare hand.

One thing I noticed this morning however is that one of our pumps is almost crapped out. This is pretty disappointing considering it didn't quite last one full grow. I don't know how it happened but the pump on the biggest plant is not generating enough pressure to make the drip ring work. So for now, the roots just get bubbling from underneath and no overhead watering. The pumps are cheap so we will have to just run out and buy another one in the next few days. I tell ya, I really am tired of spending money and am starting to get a little discouraged.

[palerider7777]

where did u get the strips at ? and the money issue thats to be expected going into trying new things. and the fan u have to buy anyways really for exhaust for the right set up so the things ur buying u would have to buy anyways.looks like u were going in half cocked or skimping to as low as u could go hoping it would'nt need more than that it's no biggie.i have learned long ago that the stuff that should be small end up big and the big well...it just stays big but the small end up biggest lol i know how it goes.

[palerider7777]

u know how it goes opps typo

[deftdrummer]

7-17-07 Day #28 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~ 75F
RH: ?
Nutrient Temp: 74F
PPM: 1100
pH: 5.7

Ok, I apologize for not posting as frequently, but if you have been following along you know its been a bit hectic in the garden. I will attempt to catch everyone up.

First off, the pump that went out was replaced later the same day. The new pump is a lot better for now but I think for the next grow we will probably do a complete nutrient delivery and air stone overhaul with better pumps that cost only a few dollars more. You can get quality air pumps inexpensively at a local hydro shop.

Second, we had big problems with the spider mites on all plants. We have been spraying daily with bugzyme and we were beginning to think that it was not doing anything to the mite population. I also mentioned that we got a hotshot pesticide strip which we also thought was not working. We used one of these hot shot strips on our last grow however, and didn't see but one mite the entire grow. The only concern of ours (and others) is that these hot shot strips release pesticides into the air that are not suitable for human environments. If you are going to be eating, sleeping, breathing the chemicals from these it can be hazardous to your health - it even says so on the warning. We were faced with a difficult decision as you know, so we had to decide to lose the whole crop due to mites, or eradicate ourselves of them as quickly as possible. We even went as far as to call in to the local hydro shop to see what the pricing was for P. Persimilis which is the natural predator of the spider mite. Persimilis is also a mite but feeds on spider mites at a rate of about 10-20 a day. Our local store said they can special order them for us since they are very perishable and need to be used right away.

We were going to do this in the next day or so but when I woke up this morning and checked on the plants there was not a single mite alive. All the mites in the webs were dead and the ones walking were dead in their tracks. We are going to spend the next few days with Q-tips trying to get rid of as many mites as we possibly can so the smoke is better in the long run.

As far as the growth goes, the buds are starting to fatten up and smell like the stanky danky we all love and admire. There are trichomes all the way out to the tips of the leaves. Here are some pics

[deftdrummer]

Here are some close up's of the buds. I know why they call it grandaddy purple now! :stoned:

[deftdrummer]

and yet even more. Soon I will master my camera but it is a bit tricky, especially with the lighting.

[palerider7777]

thats what i like to see,

[deftdrummer]

7-18-07 Day #29 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: ~ 75F
RH:
Nutrient Temp: 74.3F
PPM: 1160, 1198, 1240
pH: 5.38, 5.45, 5.51

The pH has lowered a bit since yesterday when we put it at about 5.7 but we are going to leave it and let it rise on it's own to about 5.7

Now is the time something with higher lumens than a 400W would come in handy but there's not much we can do. Actually, we are currently not using our mother chamber and could take out or T5 HO fluorescent but there is no place to hang it really in the grow chamber. That would be perfect for the lower bud sites, especially since we are moving the plants daily and rotating them.

[deftdrummer]

7-23-07 Day #34 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH: ?
Nutrient Temp: 78.4F
PPM: 1205, 1246, 1351
pH: 5.8, 5.76, 5.5

Update, the buds are getting super crystalized and are looking great. We are half way through flowering so we should have something to smoke on here in the next month maybe a little sooner. I will probably go to wal mart some time today to buy another temperature / humidity gauge so we can be more accurate with our postings. We have been keeping the pH a little higher since they seem to be responding well and producing lots of trichomes. Lately the pH has been going down a little bit when the water evaporates from the reservoir so when we top off the pH goes back up which works out quite well with not having to add anything other than water. The day after tomorrow we will be going on a small two day vacation so we will have a friend come over and top off all the plants for us each day, then we will need to do another nutrient change when we come back on Friday.

[Earthy Dank]

yummmm... trichomes everywhere... You better order a bubblebag so you can make some hash... I can wait to get one.

[horror business]

What an amazing thread. Thanks. I had been looking for a good thread on a home made DWC bubbler. I have a few questions though. First, I don't want to utilize the drip system, just the DWC. So, would a lid like this more suit my needs?: Worm's Way - Bucket Lid (http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=BL306) I plan on using this bucket: Worm's Way - Black Bucket with Handle (http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=BB805) .

Assuming that would work, as soon as a I transplant a seedling into it, would I need to run the air stone 24 hours? Or, is it too young? Also, since I'm not utilizing the drip system I'd assume I'd need to keep the water level up to at least the net pot until it's roots grow, right?

Another question I have is what can I use to cut a hole for the tubing to the air stone? I don't plan to drill on the bottom, but a little underneath the lid, that way I won't have to worry about leaking, although I'll still use aquarium sealant to seal it. But the plastic buckets look pretty thick, so what do I cut them with to make holes?

I'm also wondering, when you change your reservoir, what do you do with the lid/net pot with the plant and it's root mass during that time?

Peace,
:rasta:

[orangeman]

Wow. Those plants look very amazing. Only 34 days of flowering and those things are very developed. Love the trichome development. Deft I have a question, do you have MSN or AIM or something like that? I promise I will try not to annoy you :p.

[horror business]

Since the tubing is 1/4" could I simply use a 1/4" drill bit, and use that to drill my hole, and then seal it with aquarium sealant? Again, I'm using the bucket and lid shown in my above post as long as you think that will do.
Peace,
:jointsmile:

[deftdrummer]

8-7-07 Day #49 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: 77F
RH: 40%
Nutrient Temp: 75.6F
PPM: 1200
pH: 5.8

Hey there, It's been a while since the last post as I've been very busy. I know you are probably anxious to see some new pictures so here they are. The bud sites are getting very plump and we are very near harvest. The grandaddy purple strain is not known for its high yields but more for its potency. Yesterday we took a trip down to San Francisco to renew or medical script and also pick up some grandaddy purple at the clinic there to see what ours would have to compare to.

Anyways, the pictures that show full shots of the plants are good examples of what topping can really do for you. Rather than having one large cola at the very top of the plants that hog the majority of the light, we have several smaller mini-colas that branch out from the middle and get virtually equal amounts of light. We are right at the point where some of the leaves are starting to yellow and die.

To answer some of your questions horrorbusiness: yes, you can use what you linked to for your grow. That is actually what our grow turned out to be since our drippers aren't working too well lately. The bubbler system's water level needs to be just below the net pot for the entire grow. When the roots drop down they will just be suspended and dangling in the nutrients. You can go to the hardware store and buy a sanding bit that basically burns holes in plastic very well, or a regular drill bit works. As far as doing nutrient changes we have two extra buckets that we place the entire mesh pot into just like it were another system. The roots are fine to dangle in the bucket just don't let them sit too long. Happy growing!

[deftdrummer]

8-10-07 Day #52 of Flowering.
Cab Temp: 78F
RH: 55%
Nutrient Temp: 75F
PPM: 126
pH: 5.6

Hey all, we performed a nutrient change today with pH balanced water and 1/2 tsp of hydrogen peroxide in each bucket system as we go into the flushing period. We plan on flushing for about a week and then we will harvest. We are basing this decision on the fact that over 1/2 of the trichomes are milky white (cloudy) on nearly all the buds, plus we are at day 52 and the bud sites are weighing down the branches pretty well. As you can see from the pictures we had to do some tieing which was relatively simple. All we did was screw some small screws into the lip of the net pots and tied string around them.

So far the bucket systems have held up ok, with one of the air stones coming loose, and for a week and a half now we have not had any dripping from the halo's. The pump is still working however, so we have been getting oxygen to the roots which is the important part. We will have to troubleshoot some things once this grow is complete but we are hoping it is just some clogged lines.

[deftdrummer]

Here is some more

[orangeman]

Wow those buds look totally amazing. Those trichomes are just packed on those buds. I'd kill for a few of those cuttings lol.

[ebsters]

nice lookin buds.

Will have to how much you yield. I might want to give this strain a try.

[deftdrummer]

hey thanks you guys, can't wait to cut them down.

[smokedoja]

BUDS BUDS AND MORE BUDS!!!!! wow thanks for all the great budshots!!! i like how you give us somethin to look at....

[fosomker]

Awesome thread. I cant wait to hear the yeild. I am starting a similar system and hope I can get the results you are getting.

[ganjzilla]

badass log dude, i cant wait to see the final product...wanna grow in a setup like that soon

[deftdrummer]

thanks everyone for the comments, I will be sure to check out your grows and or logs if you have them in the near future. In the mean time, here are some pics to show you what stage in harvest we are in. We did a full flush for about 5 days total with water and hydrogen peroxide to get all the nasties out. We did some semi major trimming the night before the harvest to put the plants in somewhat of a state of shock. By doing this the plants start producing more trichomes as a result of the plant pulling "emergency" nutrients from less valuable parts of the plant to the buds. We have the entire plants hanging in a closet upside down with normal string. The closet is well aerated and also has the oscillating fan at the bottom on low. We are waiting to see signs of stems breaking not just bending this is how you will know your buds are dry enough. Here are some pics.

[bongerstonerd00d]

Nice job, Deft. Since you got new fan keep temps down, humidity down, and air MOVING. That makes it hell for them little mite bastards to survive in. And, since you are growing in garage, I would not worry about hanging a Hot Shot out there. Hell, 99% of the household cleaners and shit we use we aint supposed to breathe those fumes either. If you grow an extra thumb, take it down:D:D

Again, nice job and enjoy the harvest.

b0nger

[deftdrummer]

We are currently in the phases of clipping / curing / smoking and the smoke is great! Very mellow and not too harsh at all. We can't wait to get a replacement vaporizer, but in the mean time its just blunts and bong rips! Here are some pics. BTW I still don't have any numbers on final harvest but we are keeping track.

[fosomker]

Very nice.

[deftdrummer]

thanks for the compliment, more pics to come soon. This stuff smokes crazy and when you smoke enough it is border line hallucinogenic! As you can see from the pics they aren't the biggest nugs in the world which can be expected from a 400W. We were very please however, to even get the denseness that we did from the lower bud sites. There was hardly any lower bud sites that went to waste due to not getting enough light. We owe this to the simple fact that since we did pH and PPM checks twice daily and each plant was subsequently rotated / moved we had even light dispersal to nearly all of the buds.

[Earthy Dank]

those are some very nice buds... very crystallized. Are you making hash? IS this ur first grow? describe the taste and smoke and high... It should be close o cured. How much do you have left?

[shaggytodope]

I DONT USE AIRSTONES ANYMORE, THEY CLOG AND STOP PRODUCING THE BUBBLES THEY DID WHEN NEW AFTER ABOUT 3 WEEKS FOR ME AND I CANNOT GET TO THEM TO REPLACE THEM . SO I TRIED THIS AND MAN IT WORKS LIKE NOTHING ELSE CAN! YOU JUST MAKE SUER YOUR FEED LINE GOES TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BUCKET AND PIERCE IT ABOUT 3 INCHES UP AND JUST PUSH YOUR AIRLINE THROUGH AND WHEN THE PUMP STARTS IT MAKES BULLBES JUST LIKE AN AQUARIUM POWER HEAD/VENTURI DEAL! IF YOUR AIR PUMP IS RUNNING YOU GOT BUBBLES, BUBBLES, BUBBLES. A PLUS TO PUTTING THE FEED LINE TO THE BOTTOM IS IF YOU PUT A BALL VALVE RIGHT AFTER YOUR PUMP INLINE YOU CAN SHUT OFF THE WATER FROM BACK SIPHONING WICH I FIND A GREAT PLUS BEAUSE WHEN I DO NUTE CHANGES I JUST LET IT BACK SIPHON AND IT DRAINS MY BUCKETS NEARLY DRY SO I GET A COMPLETE NUTE CHANGE AND IF THE POWER GOES OUT I JUST TURN THE VALVE OFF AND NO OVERFLOW. I JUST RECENTLY REPLACE THE BALL VALVE WITH A 1 INCH SPRINKLER VALVE WICH IS NORMALLY CLOSED AND PLUG IT IN TO A 24 VOLT TRANSFORMER FROM RADIO SHACK, WHEN ITS PLUGGED IN THE VALVE STAYS OPEN, IF POWER GOES OUT IT AUTOMATICALLY CLOSES PREVENTING OVERFLOW FROM BACK SIPHONING, THATS MY 2 CENTSCHECK OUT MY GALLERIE FOR A IMAGE, ITS NOT THE BEST BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU:smokin::thumbsup:

[deftdrummer]

Hey Earthy, I knew you would check in when the final yield came! Anyways, we are not making hash but will probably just use the keefer screen to get keef for as long as we can. As far as the taste, my little sister said it tasted like "tricks" the cereal, it smokes very smooth but is very potent. I would say it is some of the smoother weed I have smoked in recent months, even from the clinics. The high is very clear at first and heady, and then transitions into a full body high with slight hallucinogenic effects if smoked in excess. To answer your question, this is not my first grow it is I think my 5th or 4th but it is the first in a recirculating bucket system. Here is the details and some more pics:

Total Yield: 3.8oz

[socialistpete]

Just read the entire post, Thanks DD for the meticulous notes and photos you have inspired me to get back into hydro.:thumbsup:

[socialistpete]

One more question, did you think of trying latewoods GH formula?
I had great results with it in soil.
http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/93676-proven-nutrients-all-you-need-gh-3-part-calmag.html

[xcrispi]

One more question, did you think of trying latewoods GH formula?
I had great results with it in soil.
http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/93676-proven-nutrients-all-you-need-gh-3-part-calmag.html

Nice looking nugz Deft ,
Plan on another grow soon ? Cooler fall / winter temps will make things much easier on you and most likely increse yields .

Hey SocPete ,
Don't give up n this stuff yet bro. , I was watchin you at that "Other" site giving this a try . LOL. And yes Latewoods recipe rocks - I just got a 19 oz. plant in 1 of these buckets , and used his recipe at 1/2 strength in my dirt plants and got 3.5oz. plants in 3 gal. pots . :thumbsup:

Peace Guys
Crispi :jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Any objections, let me know and I'll de-stick it, but this is a fabulous thread.

I'd like to make it a sticky in Hydroponics actually now that your harvest is in- would that be all right?

[deftdrummer]

Hey stinky thanks for stopping by! I don't mind if you use it at all as a sticky, hopefully people can benefit from it both the ups and the downs.

[deftdrummer]

On a side note, I would also like to point out why it is never a good idea to try to estimate your yields with MJ. Our original estimates were in the 7oz range and to quote myself that was a "conservative" figure. In the long run we only ended up getting 3.8oz which is a huge difference in yield. What did we learn? that knowing your strains origins and specific flowering, yield, and growth patterns when available, are a must have for a serious grower. We grossly underestimated how much of an impact different strain types have on your overall yields. Our last grow was in an ebb and flow like I mentioned in the beginning of the thread and was much less efficient in almost every aspect. We wanted to perfect every weak point we found through trial and error in our last grow and thus came up with the DWC recirculating pots. So with that in mind, we were under the impression that this grow would be much higher yielding but lo and behold, less yield.

Before I start to sound like I am being a downer I would also like to say that this weed is far superior to anything that came from the plants during our last grow. The density, flavor, smell, and texture are all four times as good as the previous harvest. This is just an example of when quality is more desirable than quantity. On that note i'll remind everyone that we grow for personal use so obviously its different strokes for different folks.

[socialistpete]

Deft I was wondering if you could elaborate on how to build your own halo drip setup I.E. hose sizes and the basic principles of using the air pump to get the water from the drip ring. I have all supplies i would probably need available to me at work. I actually had a Waterfarm setup that I bought when I had my first apartment but that was 10 years ago and I can't remember how it worked. Anyways any advice would be great.

[Earthy Dank]

On a side note, I would also like to point out why it is never a good idea to try to estimate your yields with MJ. Our original estimates were in the 7oz range and to quote myself that was a "conservative" figure. In the long run we only ended up getting 3.8oz which is a huge difference in yield. What did we learn? that knowing your strains origins and specific flowering, yield, and growth patterns when available, are a must have for a serious grower. We grossly underestimated how much of an impact different strain types have on your overall yields. Our last grow was in an ebb and flow like I mentioned in the beginning of the thread and was much less efficient in almost every aspect. We wanted to perfect every weak point we found through trial and error in our last grow and thus came up with the DWC recirculating pots. So with that in mind, we were under the impression that this grow would be much higher yielding but lo and behold, less yield.

Before I start to sound like I am being a downer I would also like to say that this weed is far superior to anything that came from the plants during our last grow. The density, flavor, smell, and texture are all four times as good as the previous harvest. This is just an example of when quality is more desirable than quantity. On that note i'll remind everyone that we grow for personal use so obviously its different strokes for different folks.

A good saying is "Don't count your chickens before they've hatched." I have this problem too.. its real hard to estimate yeild. Once you get a good setup you can add CO2 to the mix. Proper co2 injections can speed up the flowering time and lncrease bud mass by about 33%. Also tweeking your nuterient/addditives regimine will help yeild. I was growing with a 600w and i though i was gonna harvest at least 10 ounces... (600watts should grow 600grams)... well by the end of the harvest we only ended up with alittle over 6 oz. After that we added a sugarwater co2 generator and a new horilux bulb and the next harvest we grew some very good dank bagseed that i was really excited about. Well we ended up getting 9 and a half from 6 plants. This is still half of the full potiential of that light. I think if I had some high yeilding genetics or if I grew scrog I could get a pound every 2 months. My next grow im thinkin about doin hydro... and maybe getting one of those hydrohuts... those are cool.

[Joe Budden]

what is, ' latewoods GH formula' any links?

[Earthy Dank]

what is, ' latewoods GH formula' any links?

Dude... scroll down

[thecreator]

GOOD ALL MATE

[tokr2153]

damn dude

[smokedaddy]

hey def , great setup & grow :thumbsup: i have a question 4 u . your drip rings (halos) , where did u get them ? my area doesn't have a hydro store close , so i've been ordering off the net & i haven't been able 2 find one set yet . was wandering if u could shoot me a the website u got them from ? thanx for any help :thumbsup: smokedaddy :rastasmoke:

[deftdrummer]

we got the halos from a local hydro store, dont know what they are called on the net. We have since stopped growing and all of our stuff is for sale on the local craigs list. Check your craigslist

[KL4D4]

What I need help understanding is keep the system clean. I'm not sure exactly what needs to be done. Does the water have to be changed daily? Or do the hydrotrons I would like to setup some sort of hydro in the upcoming months.

[sublbc]

hey all. I am new here but hope to post soon. I like the grow and am doing something similiar on a much larger scale.

General Hydroponics make the drip rings (halos) and can be easily ordered online for like 10 bucks.

I have 2 of these setups and I use them to keep 2 moms. I am new to them but like them a lot since I can run them 24/7 w/o needing any timers for my pumps.

In regards to cleaning, I reccomend using Clearex by Botanicare. It basically breaks down salt buildups and leeches your medium. I do it about once a month.

I have grown GP twice now, once indoors and once out. I must say that the product is close to the best but the yield is not. Usually only about an ounce per plant can be expected when growing multiple plants under an single light 600W or less.

I grew it with 3 600W HPS and only got about 11 oz from 16 plants. YIKES that sucked.

No more Indicas for me. Now all I grow is trainwreck and Critical mass. I have a massive CM grow coming in 3 weeks that is under 4 X 600W HPS systems. I added the 4th HPS light in the middle of week 5 so it may not help as much as having it earlier in the grow but what can you do right? I am hoping that I get close to 2 lbs from 16 plants. I have heard of people getting more from this many lights but we will see.

Since I will more than likely not post here I just wanted to make a few comments about your grow.

All in all you did a very good job and anytime you can come away with a good final product regardless of yield that is to be commended.

Things to improve for next time (if there is once since it sounds like you sold all of your shit):

Temps temp temps!!!!! Gotta keep them lower to get more yield. I learned in this hot bullshit CA summer that A/C is a must. Adding a 12,500 BTU in wall A/C was hands down the best thing I have ever added to my grow. YOu will be amazed at how much better things go when this is implemented. Not only does it keep temps awesome it also helps to remove humidity which helps with mildews and other things that can make your grow suck. Another thing it does is helps to keep res temps lower as well which all the roots to to take up more nutes. Lower water temps = more O2 in the H20.

I guess this may not apply but I find that tying plants down is huge in getting better yields. By reducing the overall height of your canopy you are able to get much better penetration to the middle levels. All of the lower growth should be trimmed away completely by the 3rd or 4th week. This may be hard though because you guys relied on the portabilityof you system which obviously would not work with static tying.

Topping in flower and not in veg is also huge. From a TON of experimentation I have come to the absolute conclusion that an FIM top Should be done to all cola and cola-like branches between the 2nd and 3rd week of flower. Be sure that when using the FIM that you actually nip the tip of the bud otherwise the top will not be as effective. I have had so called experts call me downright crazy for doing this but I have run 2 controled tests with 2 Critical Mass grows and the jury is out on this one. I wish I had done these 2 things with my PGD grow as I am sure that I would have gotten a lot more yield. You will be amazed at what happens when you do these 2 things. Between the 2 though the tying is the biggest and most important. By manipulating you plants to grow sideways much more growth can be exposed to light.

Anyways I am ramblimng...

Again congrats!

[solid6]

whats the difference between a clone and a seed?

[cigarettes42]

damn i just finished the thread. nice plants and cool tat (panther). my dad has the same exact one on his chest. lol i guess all pot heads think alike

[Earthy Dank]

whats the difference between a clone and a seed?


A seed takes a month to start vigorous veg. growth. A rooted clone takes a few days. Seeds all have genetic variants... clones are all genetically identical. Clones are good because once you find your favorite plant you can keep growing that exact same plant. Clones also cut a about 2 weeks out and yeild better 9 times out of 10.

[solid6]

You answered my question excellently, thanks a lot

[enquadrider16]

ok so i know just a little about hydro but thats where i want to go for growing. anyways, i am just having a haed time understanding how the water gets to the halo.

now i know u have an dual air pump that pumps down to the bubbler, but how does the water get to the halo for the drip system? does pressure build up in the bottom and push water to the top or what? im confused on how that works thank you very much in advance

[d4twamp]

you need a water pump to get the water to the halos

later D:S5:

[deftdrummer]

its actually an air pump.

[joedirte]

is that an R6 or an R1? its nice see riders on these forums. got a R6 myself (2000)

[smoothsmoke]

bump

[dodo5678]

Could someone explain how this works? I've always been interested in DWC but I have a hard time understanding how the water makes it's way up and out through the halo without using a water pump. Is it just the simple action of the air bubbling in the tube that forces moisture up into the halo?

http://boards.cannabis.com/attachments/grow-log/140072d1181114381-how-build-maintain-your-own-custom-bubbler-dwc-grow-bubbler-diagram-jpg-original.jpg

Thanks,
-dodo

[dodo5678]

Anyone???? I know there are a ton of very intelligent people here.

[Redneck020]

I am trying to figure the same thing out......I guess there is a certain amount pressure applied that creates a kind-of siphoning action?? I am just guessing at this, so if someone can help me figure this out.........

[dodo5678]

Redneck020,
Looks like this thread was chopped when they upgraded the board. Someone by the name of farredeyed has responded to my original question. Here is his/her reply:

Thanks farredeyed!
=======================================
here's a pdf that has some really diagrams of air lift pump concepts, hope it helps you

http://www.sanitaire.com/pdf/Drawings/AirliftPumpDwg.pdf
=======================================

I believe he/she also said to search YouTube for "Air Lift Pumps". Very cool stuff.

Enjoy! :smokin:

[BigLeagueJew]

Sick setup you got going there. I know nothing about hydro but I learned some through your post. Informative and great pictures. Keep up the good work and happy growing:jointsmile:

[420barista]

I got a suggestion to anyone looking to copy the dwc bubbler.

Early in this thread Deftdrummer said he drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the side of the bucket for the bubbler air line.

and later on he awoke to finding a leak emminating from 1 of the holes since the line was bumped and apparently loosened the silicone creating the leak.

My suggestion is to run the air line thru the water level tube and with the gasket on that i dont think you would need to worry on any leaks.

Hope It helps ya.

[Strainhunter]

How would i get into the field of growing medical cannabis for a dispensary or "where ever" you are suppose to sell it? Looking for any information that helps. I currently live in Washington where i have my green card but debating heading south to california in order to attend Oaksterdam University. Please any information helps, you know how hard it is to get the info you want/need on google.

[paradisehydro]

I don't know the way this thread works so forgive me if I piss anyone of but here goes.
Been building all my life and playing with first grow in a old outback room (nasty) using a ebb and going crazy with PH bouncing around.
Using a t5 6light at present and organic nuts.
I have picks from my home made cloner(worked great 2 weeks w/ big healthy roots
while I am finishing my new room I thought I would get started with this Sativa that we are still waiting to finish 14' tall now
I will be building 3 sets of 6 5 gal dwc bucket system
1 veg
1 flower
1 2nd flower
this will give me a 6 plant rotation crop I hope
?????? getting it all right
I can explain all If I have posted in the right place
thanks
newbie
PS This room is prety awsumeeee

[IDAMANmutha]

Ok i also dont understand how the water gets into the halo. Its killing me!

Also, i went to that link showing all those different pump systems but i still didnt get it. Someone explain it plz! :confused: