Pool Noodle Project

[JohnGault]

Hey folks:

I'm sure many of you hydro growers have looked at ways to go totally mediumless. Get rid of the net pots, and hydroton.

Well.

I may have found a solution. POOL NOODLES!!!!!

I grow in Aero for veg, and NFT for flower.

Here's a pic of one of my flowering systems.



My goal was to make something from a 4 inch pool noodle that would replace the net pot and clay pebbles, and still fit in the same hole as the 3" net pots do.



I decided to make the pieces (call them pucks if you want) 1 1/4 inches thick with 3/4 inches cut down to a 3" diameter thus leaving a 1/2" "lip"

To do this I made a jig box



and modified a 3" hole saw.



I wrapped red duct tape around the mandrel till it fit snugly into the hole in the center of the puck. The black tape is to mark how deep I should cut.Step one is to cut into the noodle 1/2 inch all the way around the circumference.



I did that by cutting a 1/2" groove in the jig box at 3/4" from the end of box. Just lay the knife into the groove, and spin the noodle til it cut all the way around.

Step two was to cut the puck off the length of noodle.
I cut another groove at 1 1/4 inches from the end, and made it 4" deep.



To make the "lip" I employed my modified hole saw.




......and viola!!! A pool noodle puck, or PNP if you like.




I started using them about 5 weeks ago, and they seem to be doing great.

Here's a pic of my veg unit with PNP's.






This is the second batch to veg in the pucks.

The first batch is now in flower for a little over 3 weeks.








So. What do you think?

Comments?

Questions?


JG

 

[brainlab]

im no hydro guy , but that seemed to work wery well ... nice work =)

 

[~Shhh~]

That's very nice john gault, is that the same one from on OG as the name rings a bell...
What strain do you have going?

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Really neat mate, I guess deploying the end result more than justifies a little bit extra fiddling about to make that neat collar.

Is the pool noodle puck lightproof ? Does it let through enough glow to get a bit of algae growing inside the hydro system before canopy shades it ?

 

[JohnGault]

That's very nice john gault, is that the same one from on OG as the name rings a bell...
What strain do you have going?

Yep. Same guy. Used to be a mod of the political forum at OG.

That grow is Sensi Star with 4 Ice plants to fill up the system.

The ones in veg now are Sensi Star (3), Sweettooth #1 (7), and one plant from some seeds I picked up in Jamaica a few years ago. I was told it is called Purple Skunk, but in Jamaica nowadays you can't be sure what you're getting because of all the crossbreeding of strains brought to the island. It took me 3 trips to get some real lambs bread landrace seeds.

JG

 

[JohnGault]

Really neat mate, I guess deploying the end result more than justifies a little bit extra fiddling about to make that neat collar.

Is the pool noodle puck lightproof ? Does it let through enough glow to get a bit of algae growing inside the hydro system before canopy shades it ?

They are lightproof if.....

1.) You get the right color. I had to order a whole case of the things to get 4" noodles, and color selection was not an option. I ended up with the blue ones, and some funky lime green colored ones. They are not light proof unless you make them 4 inches thick.

2.) You make them thick enough. 1 1/4 inches worked perfect for the blue ones. Wish I could find them in black though.


They also have the extra benefit of not allowing any dead vegetable matter (pieces of dead leaves, dust, dirt, etc.) to drift down into the root system, and they seem to keep out any critters too.
JG

 

[Tokesome]

What a cool set up mate, I like it. My days in nft are done though, convinced by coco nowadays.

Power to any of the ex OG crew. How I missed and still miss that site. However here at IC its pretty good I reckon.

Are you training into the screen scrog stylie, or is the purpose of the net to support the mediumless plants?

Toke ;-)

 

[Scrogerman]

Very Cool Indeed!!!!

Very Cool Indeed!!!!

Hey John G,
WOW, 'Dude that is one of the best D.I.Y systems i have ever seen, very clean & tidy & expertly constructed, pat yourself on the Back Dude! You deserve it!
I'm a little surprised you are only using the Screen as a Support set very high up & not as a ScrOG. Looking at you flowering Canopy there i see massive potential for yield, if it was even only losely Scrogged. Is there a reason for this Bro'??? Are you considering using a Screen, making it a ScrOG to maximise yield???
Its just like something i wanted to knock up myself, but cash flow stopped my ideas, i love Hydro'duct style Grows, they really kick ass dude!. I'm sure you've heard about my BubbleFlow Idea. The BubbleFlow set-up would be a simple modification for your system, setting your outlets higher and adding large Airwands/bubble Tubing to your ducts, making it a Deep Trough NFT with a DWC twist system. Saying all that though, i think your system is perfect just the way it is, its a Marvel to behold tbh! Have you added Spray nosils to the ducts there- Aero'NFT - Wicked Bro?
What are your own reasons for losing the medium completely though? I luv the P'N'P idea, very neat & looks like its working a treat, you have given me a few ideas, Thanks for them dude! Thanks for looking in on my thread & I wish you the best of Luck with your grow selection, SensiStar & Ice, Lovin it! Ice is a killer & i'm sure the Star is too! Subscribed to this number you have here!
Peace & Respect.............Scroger

 

[JohnGault]

What a cool set up mate, I like it. My days in nft are done though, convinced by coco nowadays.

Power to any of the ex OG crew. How I missed and still miss that site. However here at IC its pretty good I reckon.

Are you training into the screen scrog stylie, or is the purpose of the net to support the mediumless plants?

Toke ;-)

A little of both. I wasn't sure how well the pucks would hold up the plants and I like to semi-scrog the taller branches.
Even when using 3 inch netpots and clay pebbles I had to use the netting for the same reasons. For taller strains I will use a double net setup.

Ahhhh OG. Seems like such a long time ago now. A lot of the folks went to PG, and here. PG is gone now too, and I've lost track of a lot of the guys.

Take a year off from growing, and everything changes.

JG

 

[FirstTracks]

noodles work great!
used them in a couple different SWC systems with nice results.
Almost always used them for my dwc mommas because they're easy and don't limit stem growth.

I used to just cut a 2-4 inch section. cut a slit to the middle so i could wrap it into a spiral,. then shove the whole thing with a plant into a 3 inch hole.

they make it really easy to take clones started in perlite or coco and transfer to hydro, just need to rinse the roots first.

I like those collars. seem much more professional than my setup. Lightproof with aluminum tape?

 

[JohnGault]

Hey John G,
WOW, 'Dude that is one of the best D.I.Y systems i have ever seen, very clean & tidy & expertly constructed, pat yourself on the Back Dude! You deserve it!

Thanks. That is the third generation of that particular setup. I started out with a wooden frame the first time. That worked, but was flimsy. I'm going to do a thread of the evolution of these systems. Just need to dig up some of the old pics.

I'm also planning on making completely new systems that will allow me to just move whole tubes from veg area to flower. I'll have to move the axis of the tubes 90 degrees, and change the grow sites from 15 to 18 inch centers.

I'll be cutting back to 12 plants per table from 15, but with the added space per plant I don't think it will affect my yields. It may even improve them.

I'm a little surprised you are only using the Screen as a Support set very high up & not as a ScrOG. Looking at you flowering Canopy there i see massive potential for yield, if it was even only losely Scrogged. Is there a reason for this Bro'??? Are you considering using a Screen, making it a ScrOG to maximise yield???

I veg in one room (actually the bottom half of a walk-in closet), and flower in another. The flower room is 11' x 13' x 8'. The veg area is 4' x 5' x 3.5'. I can't really scrog them when I'm vegging in one place, and flowering in another. Besides. I'm happy with my 5+ lbs per crop under 2k of light.

Its just like something i wanted to knock up myself, but cash flow stopped my ideas,

Those are 4" fence post covers, and sell at Lowes for $20 per 100 inch length. I had to buy 3 of them per system. The PVC cost about $50 for the stand, and the plumbing. The pump was $30 at Home Depot. The big expenditures were for the 40 gallon res, and a 55 gallon barrel as a reserve/remote res. I did start out though using Sterilite 18 gallon tubs for both. They are cheap, and work just as well.

If you're better than me, and don't continually buy 3 times the stuff you'll need you could build one of these for about $100 to $150.

If you're still interested in building one I'll give you the whole shopping list.

i love Hydro'duct style Grows, they really kick ass dude!. I'm sure you've heard about my BubbleFlow Idea. The BubbleFlow set-up would be a simple modification for your system, setting your outlets higher and adding large Airwands/bubble Tubing to your ducts, making it a Deep Trough NFT with a DWC twist system. Saying all that though, i think your system is perfect just the way it is, its a Marvel to behold tbh! Have you added Spray nosils to the ducts there- Aero'NFT - Wicked Bro?

The veg system is entirely Aeroponic. Maybe not down to the drop size purists like, but close enough for me.



The way it's set up now it has 16 grow sites on 1' centers, and 12 360 degree sprayers from Home Depot. The blue ones with the red caps. Not the green ones. The ones I use have actual holes while the green ones just use a deflector.
I'm using an external pump. A Flojet Quad II 4406 series. It produces 35 psi, and a 3.3 gpm flow.
When I first tried the pump it would just shut off in mid cycle because the sprayers were causing back pressure. There's a handy little overpressure shutoff relay that I disconnected against the advice of the manufacturer. He said it would lower the life of the pump. That was 2.5 years ago, and I bought another just like it for a spare.

The new system(s) will be Aero/NFT hybrid. Figured I'd run the aero plumbing down one side of the tubes, and the NFT down the other.

What are your own reasons for losing the medium completely though?

I'm lazy, sloppy, and have 3 cats. Those hydroton pebbles ended up everywhere. Even in my bed. I also think it will make clean up a lot easier. Getting a 3" netpot out of a 2 7/8" hole when the plant stem is now over an inch thick at the base can be a bitch.

The pucks will also keep anything from finding it's way into the tube through the pebbles.

All that, and of course they look cool.

I luv the P'N'P idea, very neat & looks like its working a treat, you have given me a few ideas, Thanks for them dude! Thanks for looking in on my thread & I wish you the best of Luck with your grow selection, SensiStar & Ice, Lovin it! Ice is a killer & i'm sure the Star is too! Subscribed to this number you have here!
Peace & Respect.............Scroger

Thanks for the compliments. From what I've seen of your work you're no slouch either.

I have other strains coming up this year. In the veg system pictured above are Sweettooth #1, a few Sensi Stars, and one very special Jamaican. I got the seeds in Montego Bay 3 years ago, and grew out a couple of crops, but they were nothing like this one. It stretches like crazy, has long internode length, smells literally like shit when flowering, doesn't get much better in the bag, but yielded over 1/2 a pound of rock hard nugget, one hit pot from one plant. I think I'll keep her.

I'll be posting a few more threads over the next few weeks to show what changes I made to the rooms themselves, and then I'll do a DIY tutorial when I build the new systems.

So. Don't change that channel. The best is yet to come.

JG

 

[JohnGault]

noodles work great!
used them in a couple different SWC systems with nice results.
Almost always used them for my dwc mommas because they're easy and don't limit stem growth.

I used to just cut a 2-4 inch section. cut a slit to the middle so i could wrap it into a spiral,. then shove the whole thing with a plant into a 3 inch hole.

they make it really easy to take clones started in perlite or coco and transfer to hydro, just need to rinse the roots first.

I like those collars. seem much more professional than my setup. Lightproof with aluminum tape?

I bought an EZ Cloner 30 site unit to work with all the new stuff I'm doing, but I think I could just root the clones in the veg system just as easily.


They are light proof as is. At least that color is at that thickness. Other colors vary.

JG

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

They are lightproof if.....

1.) You get the right color. I had to order a whole case of the things to get 4" noodles, and color selection was not an option. I ended up with the blue ones, and some funky lime green colored ones. They are not light proof unless you make them 4 inches thick.

2.) You make them thick enough. 1 1/4 inches worked perfect for the blue ones. Wish I could find them in black though.


They also have the extra benefit of not allowing any dead vegetable matter (pieces of dead leaves, dust, dirt, etc.) to drift down into the root system, and they seem to keep out any critters too.
JG

Great info, many thanks. On the pool infested Costas here I hope I can find a wide selection of Noodles to try out. I am making a Vert NFT system and need to move over to noodle puck based cloning, this has been a great insight, K++.

 

[*mistress*]

cheapo store doller knee pads work, too...

neoprene collar/ez clone substitute(s)
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=108704

enjoy your garden!

 

[Tokesome]

I`ll look fwd to the upcoming threads, they sound interesting to say the least mate.

Toke ;-)

 

[Hephaestus]

Just curious - when stems are smaller than the center hole - how do you support the plants?

Really annoyed with media - getting rid of it sounds good...

 

[PhilCuisine]

Hope this helps.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tokesome]

Hey JG, where do you get hold of the tube and connectors that make up the frame of the screen. I just cant think of what kind of retail shop would sell it, but would be very useful if I could get hold of some. What is the name of the stuff and what else is it commonly used for?

Thanks, Toke ;-)

 

[JohnGault]

Just curious - when stems are smaller than the center hole - how do you support the plants?

Really annoyed with media - getting rid of it sounds good...

I figured somebody would get around to asking that.

I use air conditioning foam sealer strips. They come in 3 foot lengths, and are 5/8" square. I cut them lengthwise, and then cut them into 1" sections that I wrap around the stem then stuff the whole thing in the hole.

JG

 

[JohnGault]

That'll work, but how do you keep light off the roots? Can't see the top in any of the pics.

Nice roots though.

JG