Grow Mediums Georgia's DWC.. sorta..

[Georgia]

Straight to the nitty gritty..
Gonna grow Betty Boo in a version of a Deep Water Culture, circulating in vertically (true vertical) positioned 4" PVC sewer pipe, vegged with 6 32 watt, 6500k vertical mounted fluorescent lights (two ODNOx2), and flowered with either an LED red boost or something else to get some red in there in addition to some warmer fluro tubes in the ODNO slots. I plan to try Rhizotonic with a PH Perfect product and run the Rhizo all the way through.

That's the basics of this shit show.,.
GOALS
I hope to get a male to cross with a Jean Guy.
Get these Bettys to get up to 50cm.
Establish a personal functional DWC nute regime.
Yield 25+ g per female plant..

So, to recap, custom DWC, crazy fast auto, and around 250 watts of fluoro to veg.
There will be pics.. And likely some video..

 

[evol]

Watch for hermies if you're using a male boo I just found today that my male boo hermied on me. It may have been from stress because I switched it down to just a little cfl once I realised it was male but just keep an eye on it.

 

[Georgia]

Thanks, Evol, I'm sure the strain is a little on the, uhhh, unstable side of things.. but that's as much teh efforts of Feminising entering the long-term genetic consequences pool..
I'm intending on taking seeds and perfecting the system for a coupla cycles, so males, females, everyone will be rewarded with the red lights..

Anyways.. I got a question if yall might have a piece of info.
Can i circulate directly back into teh mesh pots, and if so, what is teh max water-flow over the roots?
As I am returnign teh water at the bottom of teh pot it only makes sense to have it enter as high as possible.. BUT I'm concerned about too much water flow over the roots.
In the pump chamber (5), and plant 2 and 4, there are built-in bubblers, while I would like to see the results on the other two (1,3) before adding more air just to see if the pump will be enough to be viable.
The pump is a 120gph fountain pump, elevating approximately 6 inches, though assisted by 3 inches of reservoir above the pumphead. The bubblers are small, aquarium balls, on a 25 gallon aquarium air pump.

AND the big news, after assembly and leak test I have only got ONE leak.. and that is WITHOUT hose clamps on the fittings. So, the PVC/ABS transition glue kinda sucks..Tomorrow some plumber's putty..
Well, here's a few pics..

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[Georgia]

Here's a picture of "work". Wish it actually wasn;t so "worklike", but it sure is..
View attachment 129683

this here is approximately 350 cheese and moby dick, kinda a wet dream (or nightmare if you have to water it) setup..

 

[Georgia]

Note to self.. spend the extra few bucks and get better fittings next time.
I do have experience plumbing. Did all my own plumbing on a whole house, including circulating hot water floors, wired the whole damn thing 100 and 220 outlets throughout, but this stupid few tubes LEAK!!!
I suppose I just kinda took it for granted...
I'm sure I'm going to do this again, on a grand scale and for that it will all be PEX...
that said, the system is flowing well, teh air is working right and the lights are all functioning properly.
I'm dripping about a litre a day, from a total reservoir of around 24 litres. Slowly, using epoxy I'm limiting the loss and figure in a coupla days the leaks will be sealed.. I can't wait for that moment.
Apply putty, wait to dry, apply putty, wait to dry, apply putty, load gun..
haha...
anyways..

 

[JM]

Apply putty, wait to dry, apply putty, wait to dry, apply putty, load gun..
haha...
anyways..

 

[Georgia]

Here we are with the lights running.. it's pretty obvious the ODNOx2.. the water is in a rough circulation setup, bubblers pretty much finalised...
You can get an idea of the cosmetic finish, and tomorrow will make the white metal door to enclose the box...
further, gotta wrap all the water hoses with duct tape or something to resist algae blooming.
Last is the fan.. which will be either a coupla big computer fans or something similar one on either end of a short duct stuffed with carbon.
to introduce cold air, we just got new windows and the installers did the shittiest job ever, so I will likely open a piece of casing and fish a small lead to the outside to draw some chilly night air in when needed. I will likely see if I can establish a draw for the water, too. The word is taht 65 degrees or colder for the reservoir allows you to run a much warmer room.

View attachment 130146View attachment 130147

 

[loud pipes]

I don't know if you've used vertical floros before but I think you'll find that they work great. I've used them for over twenty years off and on. My little grow room is lined with them. Good luck and welcome

 

[Georgia]

Thanks, loud pipes..... never tried them vertically, but expect it to work good. The size of the space and the low bulb temperature I hope will lead to good lumen use and allow me to keep the plants much closer to the light. Also, I hope it leads to some explosions of growth aong the way.. The DWC should allow for ample nutrients.

 

[Georgia]

Good news.. Betty Boo has sprouted and as a little added extra I have a sprout from a Kosher Kush Private Reserva from DinaFem's catalog. I really like the way the Kosher Kush is spindly and Viney. It sould be able to perform in such a small area exactly as I like. Very open nodal structure, super good high, great smell. And can grow prolificly. Perhaps these two will be a great match. Perhaps it will be a mutant.
Perhaps my Ph will remain difficult to tame. It's gotta get better once the plants are taking the nutrients and helping to ph drop it eh??