Modular SOG . An Adventure in DWC

[Oscuridad]

We're big fans of hydro, but we also love container growing.
By nature, the practice is clean and easy to maintain, and there is also the benefit of being able to move things around if the need should arise.

A patient wanted a SOG setup, but also maintained the importance of being able to put it away in his storage closet with a days notice and ensure that it would be just as easy to put it back together afterwards.


So we built a 75 cm x 125 cm box just about 110cm high, and rigged up his 400w. Ventilated by a basic duct booster, which is bringing in external room air (~18C) via filtered passive intakes.

Containers are 30L plastic, wrapped in trusty aluminum tape. 11 sites each, 33 sites total.

Strain is Columbian Red x White Widow, a good stretcher that yields well and is easy to prune.


Only unknowns are whether the box will be tall enough & whether the tops will need support. What do you all think?

 

[Haps]

The tubbler lids will sag in the center, more with each cycle, this does not have to be a big problem, but should be watched. How do you check water level, and PH? Do you have to take a plant out? Your design and work all look good, more height is always better, but it sounds like you were building to his spec.

I have done quite a bit of work with tubblers, and still use them in veg. Personally, sog does not work in them for me, but it can, I have seen folks pictures and threads where it does. Once you run a cycle, you may find that going less plants per tub will give some flexibility to move them if needed, and give you an access port to use. Let us know how it goes. Reflectix insulation is better than tha alum tape, for future reference, feel free to look at my gallery, the early part for some tubbler work.
H

 

[Oscuridad]

Thanks for the comments Haps,

We chose the Sterilite tubs with slightly thicker (white) plastic lids than the standard blue ones. We've done a lot of flowering with 6 of the heavy duty 5.5" pots in similar tubs, but have experienced some difficulty managing the vegetative growth when growing larger plants so close together so this time around he decided to try going single-cola style with more sites.

Each tub has the weakest plant placed at the front site for easy access to check the pH, but typically it never needs adjusting. every 5 days the tubs are down to <1 gallon and are removed from the box and clean tubs are swapped in and filled with new nute solution. the entire lid can be lifted and placed onto the new tub without removing the airstones. closer to harvest, the tubs will probably need to be refilled every 3 or 4 days.

seems like a lot of work but the whole thing takes only about 15 minutes, including cleaning the residue out of the old tubs. nute solution never gets stale & filled with breakdown and pH never needs a glance, since we're familiar with the strain & its typical consumption rates.

Last time with 18 sites under the same setup we hit 10oz with the 400. Hoping for 1g/w this time around.

 

[BigBlack81]

Sweet setup. Makes me want to do SOG in this style.

 

[Oscuridad]

Thanks BB81, definitely check back & see how it goes.. should be interesting.

To be honest, we had gotten a bit pessimistic after seeing them the last time (which was maybe 2 or 3 days after the initial potting) thinking that maybe they could have used another 2 or 3 days of veg-lighting, as they appeared a bit shocked & hesitant to stretch.
But recently the opportunity arose to sneak a look, and seeing things this time calmed any worries.. everything seems in it's right place.

Growth appears strong and uniform across about 85% of the sites, and stretching appears to be mostly wrapped up. The tops are still going to reach a bit but pistil development is picking up and the fruits will soon follow.. these babies go long and hard.

 

[Oscuridad]

Here's a quick update since we stole a peak this morning.
They are 2-3" taller than we'd expecteed at this point.

Temps are still good, but these really don't need or want intense light to do their very best.. maybe one of those funky dispersion plates would work nicely here







Back in a few!