Very, very nice. You're gettin' some respect from me right now :)
Printable View
Very, very nice. You're gettin' some respect from me right now :)
Some more pics from yesterday. Check out the banana on the purple bud. At 7 weeks, a few bananas around are a good sign for me. It means the bud is pretty much done. I am going to try to get a picture of the trichromes. About 15% clear, 70% cloudy, and and 15% amber. I like this. Just waiting for flush to finish.
PS. Sometimes I use Flora Kleen or a similar flusher, but honestly Ive only noticed a difference when growing in soil. In hydro, I cant tell what is cleaned with water and whats cleaned with a solution. Solution costs money. Therefore, no need for solution. 1 week flush in hydro is good. Most of my leaves are still green. Otherwise I might only flush for 3-4 days.
Lookin fantastic, and I couldn't agree more about the number of plants. Its about the number of watts, not the number of plants. I have two plants right now that are finishing and they are going to yield me close to 1lbs.
Could you do a write up of everything you needed for your build. It looks like exactly what I could do with the size room I have.
Awesome grow man just awesome. Peace and stay high.:rasta::rastasmoke::pimp:
I also wanted to mention another thing about CO2 and room temperature and dehumidifiers. I have actually STOPPED using dehumidifiers as I found they created more problems then helping. I have tried a variety of methods of using them, including building an exhaust system for the hot air or isolating it or whatever. The problem is that when I need a dehumidifier the most is running a Sealed Room with CO2, but running a Dehumid exhaust the CO2 out the room. So if you have it exhaust the air back into the room to not lose the CO2, the room will get to hot.Quote:
It is quite simple and inexpensive to build the buckets and recirculation. Its everything else that starts to cost money. The lights, the IGS environment controller computer, the 10,000 BTU air conditioner, the many osscilating fans, the air pumps, the 5 gallon things of nutrients, the water chiller, etc etc etc... Thats what costs money, so this system can be taken to whatever level you want.
I have done this system as small as 4 plants in a 5x5 closet with wonderful results. The # of buckets is completely up to you, and this will detirmine your size of reservoir and the type of water pump you use.
The parts necessary for recirculation are 1/2" hose, 3/4" hose, 1/4" hose, 1/4" 90 degree barbs, 1/4" straight barbs, 1/4" air hose (I use clear as it differentiates between water and air), 3/4" Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain) bulkhead fittings (for the buckets and reservoir, 1/2" E & F bulkhead fittings, as many 3/4" and 1/2" 90 degree elbows, on/off valves, and T fittings as you need. Finally you need your water pump and your reservoir(s). For a much more detailed list of construction and parts, search my past threads in the Search function. The E & F fittings work great on the buckets and have never leaked. You just have to be careful when you drill the holes, keep the drill very straight.
For 4 plants, I used a 350gallon per hour pump, which is excessive but I had it laying around. For only 4 buckets, youd be fine with a 200gph but its nice to get a bigger one incase you expand in the future (since magnetic drive pumps dont wear out any faster even if they arent putting out their maximum output). Its also nice because it fully recirculates the water in a matter of minutes which is great for pHing and setting nutrients. Fast moving water also has even less chance to form pathogens, but more on that in a second.
I would use a 20 gallon reservoir for 4 plants or less (a Rubbermaid tote works great, I double them up because otherwise they can sag out from the weight of the water). The size fits easily between or amongst the 4 buckets or somewhere completely different. If the pump is strong enough you can have your reservoir in a completely different room or closet. The pump sits in the reservoir, pumping the water into the top of the buckets via the 1/2" main line that has1/4" line going into the buckets. The water sprays against the 6" Netpot, keeps the medium and rootball wet, creates water droplets, and adds water. The 3/4" return line recirculates the water back to the reservoir via gravity (the weight of added water in the bucket forces it to go somewhere, and your just giving it a place to go back too). You must have your reservoir the same height as the buckets because the level of water in the reservoir determines the level of water in the buckets. This takes a few tries to get right.
The absolutely most important part In My Opinion about DWC and Recirculating DWC is your water temperature. You can have everything else absolutely perfect but if your water temp is not controlled, its a good chance you will have problems or not experience the explosive growth you should be. DWC provides some of the best combinations of nutrients, Dissolved Oxygen, etc for some of the craziest growth you have seen. That is why 68 degrees F is your golden number. This is the best combination of available dissolved oxygen in the water that will keep any pathogens from forming and keep everything very clean. Anything cooler and you will stunt growth, anything hotter and you will most likely run into root rot. For this reason, I use a 1/4 horsepower water chiller for my big room. This can lower 150 gallons of water by about 15 degrees easily, meaning it can lower 75 gallons over 30 degrees. It works absolutely amazing and is the single best purchase I have made. Keeps it at a solid 68 all the time.
That being said, I have completed more then one recirculating DWC grow without a chiller and with great awesome white roots and good yields. However, I kept the temperatures very very low in the closets (usually between 60-70 degrees F), I used an 8" fan to exhaust (thats a lot of CFM for a small closet), and I put ice in the reservoir anytime it got warmer then 68 degrees. Sure, the water got as high as 75 degrees sometimes but if you keep things clean, use a supplemental cleaner like Hygrozhyme, you should be fine.
The daytime has never been a problem for me. If I keep the plants separated enough i never get above 50% RH in the daytime. At night is the problem. However, I now am back to running an Exhaust fan about 5 times a night and programmed the Air Conditioner (a dehumidifier itself) to go on if the inline fan was not enough. This has allowed me to control humidity at night very easily. If I keep the plants spaced enough, 65-70% humidity at night is perfectly fine and is similar to the outdoors because colder temperatures inherently hold more moisture which translates to more RH. With 40-50% in the day and up to 70% at night, I get no mold, mildew, or any type of rot. RH is good too because it makes sure your plants to not transpire to fast. Obviously your strain might call for a different situation.
Do not run your fans constantly all night. The plants need some still air. I used to run my oscillating fans and sometimes exhaust fans 24/7. I have found I get better results with less occurances of mildew, etc when I run the fans on a schedule at night. For my oscillating fans, I run them for about 70% of the night. The breaks are about 45 minutes. The exhaust fan only goes on for a few minutes, since it is a 600CFM and the room is not that large.
I also wanted to mention that I drop my temps to about 55 degrees F at night. That is the main reason for the purple color. Granted Grapefruit is a purple strain, its not known for going purple. Almost any strain can be made purple by dropping temps at night AND using a very PK strong ratio of nutrients combined with powerful HPS lights. Lots of fans moving the cold air works well too.
For seriously detailed recipe for the system, visit ICMAG.com when it is back online. There is a full documented recipe there that I got my instruction from. Obviuosly I have made many of my own changes/improvements because of my situation. The original recipe calls for a LOT of buckets. DO NOT OVERGROW!
Here are some random pictures giving you an idea of what the system is like and how it is built. Ive done as many as 18 plants, as little as 4.
dude that last pic is ridiculous....that is such a fucking amazing set up, and the lights are everywhere! i want a set up like that when i have a house...what has been your total $$ investment in all of this? im sure the profit from teh grows has already paid for everything
a lot =)Quote:
Originally Posted by PdoubleOTY
I dont grow for profit actually. I just really enjoy growing pot. Myself and my roommate are both heavy medical users. Its a really fun and addicting hobby. A single room like that costs over $5000 to setup correctly. Doesnt seem possible but when you break everything down it easily gets that high... A/C = $400, oscilating fans = $200, inline fan = $200, water chiller = $400, lights = $1200, nutrients = $400, plastic = $100, etc etc etc etc. It compounds faster then anything else. Plus you need wood, screws, etc etc.
For shits and giggles sake, in California a room like that costs about $600 a month in electricity (including normal use of the house). Add a few more lights in another room and your up to $1000. Most energy is for profit, they will always take your money, just dont be a day late when paying your bill.
Its very easy to grow super super dank pot without spending $5000 on equipment for a single room. You dont need a water chiller, you dont need $400 in nutrients, you dont need an A/C. But it sure does make it easier and since this is a hobby of mine, it is supposed to be as fun as possible. All I want to do is pH, nutrient, pull off dead leaves, clip the buds, and smoke em.
yea my goal is to grow complete personal stash, and stash to hook up my buddies with super dank for super cheap cough free cough.. i just love weed and i LOVE LOVE LOVE good weed...so hopefully ill be able to achieve that one day..if i could harvest like 10 or 11 oz every 6-9 weeks, id be straaaaiiiiggghhhtt!
That's crazy I wasn't expecting $5000. I want to grow with 2 1000 W HPS lights. How many DWC buckets do you think I could do with that? The room is already air conditioned. I don't want to do as many plants as possible. I want it like yours when you went from a lot of plants to just 6 and got the same yield. I'd be happy with half a pound a month. What do you think I could set up for $1500?