micro hydro?

[chadbudsicle]

hi all!

i am a fairly new grower, my first grow is still in progress (10days into 12/12). i didnt know a whole lot when i figured out that bag seeds could indeed germinate...... those plants are in 5gal buckets in a soil/perlite mix under 6 t5 light.

now that ive done a ton of research... ive started to build my grow cabinet (so i can have my closet back =p) i am modeling it after "anti's microstealth cab" which i fell in love with as soon as i saw his post.

anyway,.... on to the question.

my space is 2 17x17x23.5 inch spaces, one for veg/mother and the other for flower.

i want to do some hydro in these spaces, but obviously i want to make it compact. my though was to use a shallow tub that fits as tightly into the space as possible, fill with hydroton and run lines up through the bottom of the cab to trickle feed my plants.

now..... first off..... will that work? can i do a shallow hydro set up like that? i was thinking about raising the cab more than anti did and fitting my res tank underneath, running fill and drain lines through the bottom.

anything im missing? been done before?

 

[oldone]

Hi Chad,

Congrats on your first grow! Some pics would be nice.

Your drip idea may work but there are a few issues you will have to deal with.
-dripping in hydroton is a problem because the fluid will go almost straight down and not disperse well. I suppose you could use lots of drippers.
-you will have to find a way to remove any fluid accumulation from the bottom of your tub. Roots do not do well in stagnant, poorly oxygenated water. Edit: missed that bit about putting you rez under the cab.

My cab is 32" to the bottom of the lights. I did manage to squeeze an ebb and flow system in there but it was not easy.

I would look into DWC (shallow version) as it would fit into your space. You didnt mention what lights you are using but you should have at least 12" vertical for the actual grow space. The guys doing PC case grows might have some good ideas for you.

Hope this helps a little,
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

i will be using 8x23w CFL's which are 23.5 inches from the bottom of the grow space.

what would you suggest for a hydroton centered system?

i will look into the DWC.. i beleive there is also a SWC aswell.

what i hope to acomplish is flowering from rooted clone and ive been looking into the budsicle thing alot, though im still not entirely sure how to go bout it

 

[hazydreams]

see the link in my sig for my set up. Its a RDWC set up for a 12"x12"x45" cab and a 24"x12"x45". it can be done. More importantly the question is do you want to experiment with an unproven system that you have no experience using, or do you want a yield.

If your after a yeild and not the experiment side, id say got with a miniture NFT system made from the 6x6" fence post. sick set up that i SHOULD have built into my system but didnt. NFT doesnt depend on root immersion to feed the plants making water temps less of an issue (read no chiller if temps are within reason). SWC can be run on higher temps but there is a risk of rot with high temps. a timed NFT system would be sweet. plus there are people out there that have pulle dit off and you can model your grow after theirs.

If its experimenting you want then well the skys the limit. you can set it up and run just about anything in miniature. its just how bad do you want it. and how much $$$ do you want to spend my system was expensive to stuff into the little box. but it runs well. i just think i went a little over kill on the lights. Look up superpedro's micro cab (sick aero micro cab) for inspiration and typn's thread "My Works" (flowering box built into a vaccum cleaner SAY WHAT!!) to blow your mind a little more.


hd

 

[oldone]

what would you suggest for a hydroton centered system?

Here's my original hydroton ebb and flow system;

It did work in the sense that I got good smoke from it but my poor implementation made maintenance a bitch.

Why hydroton? I used my 50lb bag as top dressing (kinda) in the garden outside when I switched to coco and dont regret it a bit. Coco would work with your drip scheme.

what i hope to acomplish is flowering from rooted clone and ive been looking into the budsicle thing alot, though im still not entirely sure how to go bout it

I think the budsickle thing is to grow many single cola plants instead of fewer bushed-out plants. I'm guessing all you need are lots of clones and sharp scissors

You said you could put the rez under the cab. How much room do you have?

Do you care about stealth?

See ya,
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

stealth is certainly important. and i can make room for it, ill get creative.

maybe the question i should be asking, is what is going to be easiest to do with my space limitations and give me the best yeild possible
nft+scrog? how many plants should i plan for in flowering chamber? use a screen the size of cabinet dimensions? how far up does the screen sit?

 

[oldone]

stealth is certainly important. and i can make room for it, ill get creative.

maybe the question i should be asking, is what is going to be easiest to do with my space limitations and give me the best yeild possible
nft+scrog? how many plants should i plan for in flowering chamber? use a screen the size of cabinet dimensions? how far up does the screen sit?

Only you can define whats easiest for your skills and experience. All of the different grow systems work and all of them come with their own sets of issues.

For instance NFT must use filtered nutes or the spray heads will clog up. NFT will grow monsters though, no doubt about it.

Personally, I've gone to a very simple system - wick hydro and it grows fine plants;



Given a stable environment, I think yields are mostly dependent on strain.

Looks like you got some reading to do
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

the reason i wanted to go hydro is because even though i only have 2 plants in a closet right now, ones a little harder to get to, so watering everyday is a pain, esp since they both now drink up 6 cups of water a day and all i have to use for watering is a bucket of water i mix up and a measuring cup lol

i looked into the hempy method awhile ago, but what i didnt understand was how you know when the res is empty and needs watering.

i also liked the idea of using one large footprint container for all plants in my flower chamber. the veg chamber will be easy, ill fit my cloning bucket inside and a mother plant should i choose to use one, which i should, i expect its not a good idea to take clones off of a flowering plant?

maybe ebb n flow? https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=70262

 

[green_thumb...]

lol iv givin this concept some thought,i was thinking bout making a micro rdwc out of the big folgers coffee plastic containers and just droppin a 2" net pot in the lid with a 5 gal bucket for a rez. I'll make it some day...

 

[chadbudsicle]

so, i did some reading, then went to my local hydroponics shop and talked with the gentlemen there and came up with my answers!!

i have a 15x15x4 tray and a 14 gallon steralite container for my res.
i will be using hydroton as my growing medium that i will place my rooted clones

the tray will have 2 1/2 inch holes in the bottom for draining. then i will use 1/2 inch pvc to build a manifold for the pump to wash over the hydroton thus feeding my roots.

what do you think?

 

[oldone]

Sounds like a plan to me chad, good luck. Have you decided what your flood/drain cycle will be?

 

[chadbudsicle]

well, i had planned it to be a continuous flow since im using hydroton which i would assume wouldnt hold moisture, but it wont be flooded.....

just alot of flow, that will be constantly drained.

now i just need to figure out what nutes and stuff to use

 

[oldone]

I think you should consider a full flood and drain cycle. Completely saturating the hydroton and then draining it will ensure even nute distribution and excellent oxygen to your roots.

Just my 2c,
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

if i did it every half hour, would the hydroton leave the roots wet enough they wont risk drying out with my lights 20 inches from the surface of the hydroton

 

[oldone]

not a problem. My cycle was flood for 2 minutes every 3 hours IIRC. You'll find that hydroton does retain some water and wont dry out too quickly. HD sells a great timer for this...20 on/off cycles per 24 hrs.

good luck,
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

i have a bunch of ones with a tab you push in for every half hour in a 24 hour time frame.

i do have one thats digital, i know it can hold quite a few on/off cycles......

would being on for a half hour be a bad thing at all?

 

[oldone]

would being on for a half hour be a bad thing at all?

I dont know, you'll have to experiment or do some research. If you stick an airstone in your rez I dont think you'll have problems. But consider an airstone is a point of failure and in my experience noisy.

Try it, come to your own conclusions and let us know.
OO

 

[chadbudsicle]

Try it, come to your own conclusions and let us know.
OO

with that said, im back to my manifold ideal. i have a 15x15 tray so i will have 16 plants.

if i make it out of pvc, i will just get alot of fittings and grid it out, then drill the holes and wala

 

[ShroomDr]

9 Quart Automated Watering Table with Coco. It can hold 6 of those containers.



-

 

[chadbudsicle]

this is a picture i quickly drew up in MSpaint of the manifold i built for my hydro tray. it fits perfectly over the try, as you can see i have 16 openings in it in which i want to stick my rooted clones.

my question now is, can a 15x15x2.75 inch bed of hydroton support 16 plants all the way through the grow? max height of each plant should be no more than 20 inches or so... my cuttings are taken at aprox. 3-4 inches, and after rooted i will place right into flowering (they are in veg as they root in a spray bucket.) my res is a 14 gallon steralite container, but being that this is a very small setup, i may downgrade to a 5 gal bucket and use a smaller pump as my current pump is 290gph at 0' head




i also have been thinking of adding space underneath the cabinet for space to store my res, and if i do that, i will be drilling through the drying room and plumbing through the passive intake that was cut out of the floor in that chamber.