Indoor I’m Back: Mephisto Bluetoof Special and Cosmic Queen - 1 Liter Soilless Hempy

[Olderfart]

Looking beyond healthy and happy. You are going to have a crowded tent before long if my experience with CQ is any indication. As you mentioned, a first world problem.

Have a great grow, I hope you don't run out before the new product is "ready".

 

[Builder0101]

Day 17. I have increased the amount of solution I’m feeding each bottle to 150 ml. At most, I think I’ll need to increase it to 200 or 250 ml because the size of the reservoir at the bottom of the bottle is only so big. If I need to, I will increase the frequency of feedings, but I think I have quite a bit of time to think about whether and when that will be necessary. Yesterday, I raised the lights 5 1/2 inches to keep them 24 inches above the top of the canopy. Everything looks fine to me so far. Without further ado:

Cosmic Queen
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Blue Toof Special
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Creme de la Chem
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Whole Tent
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View attachment 1179334

As always, comments and questions are welcome. Happy growing everyone.

So you just pour in a few inches of water every few days? Siphon off water every once in a while to get rid of salt/whatever buildup?

 

[Builder0101]

I like that you can see the water level. Dont even need an overflow drain. Love the clear totem idea.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

Looking beyond healthy and happy. You are going to have a crowded tent before long if my experience with CQ is any indication. As you mentioned, a first world problem.

Have a great grow, I hope you don't run out before the new product is "ready".

Thank you for the kind words.

At first, I didn’t think that space was going to be an issue. Somewhere in the back of my dim brain, I thought that they wouldn’t take up too much room because they‘re only in one liter bottles. But as I watch ‘em grow, I’m pretty sure you’re right. However, since I’m an idiot who likes to get himself into all kinds of trouble, I’m kinda used to dealing with space issues. My previous grow in this tent got all kinds of out of hand.

Buckle up for the ride...she might get a little bumpy.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

So you just pour in a few inches of water every few days? Siphon off water every once in a while to get rid of salt/whatever buildup?

I like that you can see the water level. Dont even need an overflow drain. Love the clear totem idea.

So, basically, the way it works is this: I am recycling one liter water bottles. I cut the top of them and wrap them in black Gorilla tape to prevent the light from getting into the root zone. I then drill a hole two inches up. This creates a two inch reservoir in the bottom of the bottle. In two of the bottles, I then filled with a mixture of 3 parts perlite to 1 part vermiculite. I then sit the rooting plug on top of that mixture and support it with additional coco coir. In the third bottle, I filled the bottom with hydroton instead of the perlite/vermiculite mix. Again, I sat the rooting plug on top of the hydroton and supported the plug with coco. Both of these setups are essentially very small scale hydroponics. No soil + small reservoir. The roots grow down the bottle into the reservoir. Once they hit the reservoir, it’s kind of like DWC and the growth explodes. You end up getting bigger plants than you would otherwise get without the reservoir.

The totes only serve two purposes. 1.) In this situation, you have to water to a small amount of overflow to prevent bacteria from building up In the reservoir and causing root rot. So, in this case, the totes collect the little amount of overflow. I empty out the overflow and clean the totes twice a week when I go in to take pictures for posting here. There is usually less than 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of each tote. And 2.) Because I am using bottles that are taller than they are wide, I needed to find a way to support them and prevent them from tipping over - especially when the plants grow taller. I came up with this method of supporting the bottles during a two liter soda bottle fun grow back in 2018.

So...why grow like this? I will most likely (unless I screw up like I usually do) be able to get approximately 3 to 4 ounces of dried flower out of this grow. I will use approximately 20 gallons of water and 10 teaspoons of fertilizer for all three plants for the entire grow. After this one, I will grow one in a recycled three liter bottle that I’ve got laying around. That one should be able to produce the same amount (4 Oz.) with the same 20 gallons of water and 20 teaspoons of fertilizer. We’ll see.

 

[Builder0101]

How about pearlite to the top of the overflow and the rest with coco? Plant directly in the coco.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

How about pearlite to the top of the overflow and the rest with coco? Plant directly in the coco.

The original instructions for this came from the late 1990’s/early 2000’s from the ICMag forum. A guy by the name DalaiHempy on the forum explained this method at length. He showed pictures of him using 2 gallon buckets and growing huge plants. In one of his follow up postings, he said that he had switched to filling up his buckets to just over the overflow hole with perlite/vermiculite and filling the rest with coco. By the way...this is why they’re called hempy buckets. He used to get upset when people refused to follow his instructions to the letter...but then he went off and changed the way he did things.



If I recall correctly, the reason he used the perlite is because it helped trap air for the roots. The vermiculite was in there for water retention. It might be fun to experiment around with different materials, though. I’m testing the hydroton/coco based on the recommendation of another member here.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

Day 20. A few days ago, I noticed that there was less runoff overflowing from the reservoirs of the bottles, so I decided to increase the amounts I’m now feeding each bottle to 200 ml. I have also started tucking leaves on the Cosmic Queen to expose growth tips to the lights. Yesterday, I raised the lights approximately 3 inches to maintain the 24 inch clearance to the top of the canopy. No signs of burn or deficiency yet, but, then again, I don’t expect to see anything, if I do, until flower. I’ve removed the small circulation fan for now. I will put it back in the tent once flowering starts.

Cosmic Queen

Bluetoof Special

Creme De La Chem

Whole Tent

 

[Nosias]

Now that is a nice color of GREEN.

 

[mcpd_refugee]

Now that is a nice color of GREEN.

Thank you. I’m not adding any Cal/Mag or any other additives at the moment. I am trying a much more KISS method. I’m not even going to change the amount of Megacrop unless it looks like I’ll have no choice. I hope that this will result in healthier plants. We’ll see.