A Mephisto CremeDeLaChem x DoubleGrape and GrowersChoice NorthernLights nearing the end of their 4th week. These are some of the healthiest plants I've had. The canopy is full without my doing anything at all.
Grow Mediums Hydro alternative to AutoPots?
- Thread starter Simplicio
- Start date
And finally a 14 week Pacific Seed Bank DarkSideOfTheMoon auto that will be harvested soon. Its tent mate, Pacific Yumboldt, is already done. I'm also checking out this potentially fake seed bank, and so far it seems legit. The Yumboldt had the expected properties, but I won't decide until after trying the DSM. There's also an OASeeds BlackDomina auto in a 5 gallon bin that gets about 2 gallons of fluid.
I'm still learning how to use these, but I like them a lot so far, and intend to use only them for an extended period.
I'm also experimenting with 5 gallon totes filled with 2.5 gallons of water for single plants.
The small volume (about 2.5 gallons shared by 2 plants) makes flushing easy, so I might start doing that again.
For the past couple years I haven't been flushing at all, and have been using clorox instead.
I've tried to go from 6 inch round netpots to 4 inch round, but unsupported plants can tip over easily. Next I tried 4 inch square, but they are also unstable. I'm not sure whether that's due to small pot size, or shallow root depths. I'm going back to 6 inch round pots now to figure that out.
I'm amazed at how little root volume plants really need.
I started using these small reservoirs to reduce plant size, but the GrowersChoice NorthernLights on the right is 4 ft tall at 9 weeks. The Mephisto CremeDeLaChemX3BearsOG isn't far behind.
This tent stopped eating a few days ago, but flushing got them hungry again.
I hadn't been using clorox either, so I'm not surprised, but there was never any bad smell or anything slimy.
I know because I reach in and feel for it.
The thick vegetation makes it difficult to do much training, so I let them grow the way they want.
So far I've been happy about roots not incapacitating the float valve, and how well the plant vessel ppm and pH match those in the storage reservoir.
I still haven't figured out how to transition from sprout to early veg by only adjusting the storage reservoir.
So far I've been starting the storage res at about 2000 ppm (EC=4), then hand watering the plant vessel with small amounts from it. When plants are old enough to feed themselves the correct ppm, I reduce storage res ppm, and attach it to the plant vessel.
Even when the plants are mid-flower, it's difficult to get the storage reservoir to have the correct ppm to keep the plant vessel's ppm where I want it.
My grow style doesn't need much fertilizer, and EC=0.8 to 0.9 is about all my plants can handle.
I'm still trying to solve the puzzle of what storage reservoir ppm should be to keep plant vessels constant at this value.
I'm also experimenting with 5 gallon totes filled with 2.5 gallons of water for single plants.
The small volume (about 2.5 gallons shared by 2 plants) makes flushing easy, so I might start doing that again.
For the past couple years I haven't been flushing at all, and have been using clorox instead.
I've tried to go from 6 inch round netpots to 4 inch round, but unsupported plants can tip over easily. Next I tried 4 inch square, but they are also unstable. I'm not sure whether that's due to small pot size, or shallow root depths. I'm going back to 6 inch round pots now to figure that out.
I'm amazed at how little root volume plants really need.
I started using these small reservoirs to reduce plant size, but the GrowersChoice NorthernLights on the right is 4 ft tall at 9 weeks. The Mephisto CremeDeLaChemX3BearsOG isn't far behind.
This tent stopped eating a few days ago, but flushing got them hungry again.
I hadn't been using clorox either, so I'm not surprised, but there was never any bad smell or anything slimy.
I know because I reach in and feel for it.
The thick vegetation makes it difficult to do much training, so I let them grow the way they want.
So far I've been happy about roots not incapacitating the float valve, and how well the plant vessel ppm and pH match those in the storage reservoir.
I still haven't figured out how to transition from sprout to early veg by only adjusting the storage reservoir.
So far I've been starting the storage res at about 2000 ppm (EC=4), then hand watering the plant vessel with small amounts from it. When plants are old enough to feed themselves the correct ppm, I reduce storage res ppm, and attach it to the plant vessel.
Even when the plants are mid-flower, it's difficult to get the storage reservoir to have the correct ppm to keep the plant vessel's ppm where I want it.
My grow style doesn't need much fertilizer, and EC=0.8 to 0.9 is about all my plants can handle.
I'm still trying to solve the puzzle of what storage reservoir ppm should be to keep plant vessels constant at this value.
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As feared, some later flower issues have arisen.
The small root space seems to have made all the plants more sensitive to food and light.
I've never gone above EC=0.9 for very long, but still got burnt leaf tips.
Here is one of the 2-plant setups, mephistos 3BearsOGxDoubleGrape (Left) and WhiteCrack (Right) starting their 10th week. The lights are far away, so I don't think they are responsible. When these plants were young, the air stone was set to its lowest setting, and I forgot to increase air. I believe the severe burn is exacerbated by too little air.
.
I've harvested the left plant from this 3 x 3 ft tent, so the GrowersChoice NorthernLIghts auto gets the whole tent for awhile. It too got nute burn from EC=1.0 for a couple days.
I've decided to also test some 1-plant reservoirs, 5 Gallon size with about 2.5 gallons used. More burn from EC<1.0
I think I like these the best, and I'll compare using 2 of them to using a single 2-plant version.
The small root space seems to have made all the plants more sensitive to food and light.
I've never gone above EC=0.9 for very long, but still got burnt leaf tips.
Here is one of the 2-plant setups, mephistos 3BearsOGxDoubleGrape (Left) and WhiteCrack (Right) starting their 10th week. The lights are far away, so I don't think they are responsible. When these plants were young, the air stone was set to its lowest setting, and I forgot to increase air. I believe the severe burn is exacerbated by too little air.
I've harvested the left plant from this 3 x 3 ft tent, so the GrowersChoice NorthernLIghts auto gets the whole tent for awhile. It too got nute burn from EC=1.0 for a couple days.
I've decided to also test some 1-plant reservoirs, 5 Gallon size with about 2.5 gallons used. More burn from EC<1.0
I think I like these the best, and I'll compare using 2 of them to using a single 2-plant version.
It's been awhile since I posted about this, and I've gained some experience to report on.
I was using 2-plant vessels at first to mimic the 2-pot Autopot system I first used.
Hydro plants can get huge, so I chose very short storage totes of 10 gallons each.
Those totes are about 2 feet long, and I worried about keeping them well mixed, so I incorporated top feed to do that, using parts from a GH Farm Kit.
I've decided this is too complex, so I've gone to 5 gallon, single plant vessels without top feed.
These are much smaller, so I believe the air stones can keep them well mixed. I use 2 small stones, widely separated.
For simplicity, I also decided to not install a fluid level / emptying tube, and will access the plant vessels thru the float valve adjustment opening. Fluid can be poured in, or removed with a fuel transfer pump.
The float valves don't do much for the first 2 weeks, so I either hand feed for awhile, or try different things.
I haven't done this yet, but I'm considering hooking up the float valve to super strong nutrient solution, then removing fractions of a cup of fluid from plant vessels to allow nutes to come in from the storage reservoir. So far I've just been adding cups from a strong storage reservoir.
At 1600 ppm (EC = 3.2) 1 cup of solution is 100 ppm, which is about what plants a few weeks old eat out of the 3 gallons of fluid I use in plant vessels.
Then nutes in the storage res can be decreased as the plant(s) eat and drink more.
If I can come up with a recipe for what the external storage tank ppm should be week by week, and can automate the control of pH, then this should be as easy as Autopots, and more controllable.
My experience so far is that the storage tank ppm must be higher than the plant vessel ppm when the plants are young. Right now at 3 weeks of age, that 1600 ppm is about right.
I'll be using either one or two of these per small tent (2x4 and 3x3), probably two in each 2x4, and one in a 3x3.
Here's the 2 plant version.
(I adapted this from a GH Waterfarm controller system, and the bottom tank outside on the right side of the tent is for elevation only)
If anyone knows of a cheap, reliable way to automatically control pH I'm interested.
I use 6 inch, wooden rulers to measure liquid levels in the plant reservoirs, and 3 foot wooden rulers to measure storage tank depths.
(I can't see thru those blue liquid level tubes very well)
Some trial and error allows the conversion of inches to gallons in every vessel.
For example, one of my storage tanks is the storage tank from an Autopot system, and in it 1 gallon is about 1.75 inches.
Paying close attention to all liquid levels allow calculation of what the plants actually ate and drank.
I was using 2-plant vessels at first to mimic the 2-pot Autopot system I first used.
Hydro plants can get huge, so I chose very short storage totes of 10 gallons each.
Those totes are about 2 feet long, and I worried about keeping them well mixed, so I incorporated top feed to do that, using parts from a GH Farm Kit.
I've decided this is too complex, so I've gone to 5 gallon, single plant vessels without top feed.
These are much smaller, so I believe the air stones can keep them well mixed. I use 2 small stones, widely separated.
For simplicity, I also decided to not install a fluid level / emptying tube, and will access the plant vessels thru the float valve adjustment opening. Fluid can be poured in, or removed with a fuel transfer pump.
The float valves don't do much for the first 2 weeks, so I either hand feed for awhile, or try different things.
I haven't done this yet, but I'm considering hooking up the float valve to super strong nutrient solution, then removing fractions of a cup of fluid from plant vessels to allow nutes to come in from the storage reservoir. So far I've just been adding cups from a strong storage reservoir.
At 1600 ppm (EC = 3.2) 1 cup of solution is 100 ppm, which is about what plants a few weeks old eat out of the 3 gallons of fluid I use in plant vessels.
Then nutes in the storage res can be decreased as the plant(s) eat and drink more.
If I can come up with a recipe for what the external storage tank ppm should be week by week, and can automate the control of pH, then this should be as easy as Autopots, and more controllable.
My experience so far is that the storage tank ppm must be higher than the plant vessel ppm when the plants are young. Right now at 3 weeks of age, that 1600 ppm is about right.
I'll be using either one or two of these per small tent (2x4 and 3x3), probably two in each 2x4, and one in a 3x3.
Here's the 2 plant version.
(I adapted this from a GH Waterfarm controller system, and the bottom tank outside on the right side of the tent is for elevation only)
If anyone knows of a cheap, reliable way to automatically control pH I'm interested.
I use 6 inch, wooden rulers to measure liquid levels in the plant reservoirs, and 3 foot wooden rulers to measure storage tank depths.
(I can't see thru those blue liquid level tubes very well)
Some trial and error allows the conversion of inches to gallons in every vessel.
For example, one of my storage tanks is the storage tank from an Autopot system, and in it 1 gallon is about 1.75 inches.
Paying close attention to all liquid levels allow calculation of what the plants actually ate and drank.
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