My Perpetual SOG Cabinets are Finally Finished!

[High Country]

Those bonsai mums look great. Fine examples for the small growers.

 

[Tilt]

Pete I just wanted to say that before I started growing. I would read your thread and be very inspired. Thanks for that...

 

[petemoss]

Thanks, High Country! That's high praise coming from a master cloner! Most of the clones I cut are 1"-2" tall and it takes good technique to get those little cuts to root.

I just wanted to show a cute bonzai figurine I got from the botanical garden gift shop. Two dudes in the park smoking some Satori in a pipe!

 

[High Country]

Thanks, High Country! That's high praise coming from a master cloner! Most of the clones I cut are 1"-2" tall and it takes good technique to get those little cuts to root.

I just wanted to show a cute bonzai figurine I got from the botanical garden gift shop. Two dudes in the park smoking some Satori in a pipe!

Those stems remind me of Hakuba, Japan. Beautiful texture on the main trunk. Form and grace.

 

[BillFarthing]

You got style, brother. I'll be watching.

 

[ImaginaryFriend]

bumpdate.

 

[petemoss]

Hey IF, thanks for the annual bump! Can't believe I've been at this perpetual SOG for over three years! I should start a new thread to spread the word about wick feeding. Best thing I've done since changing to Jack's Hydroponic.

 

[jackblack123]

Hi there, petemoss!

I finished reading your thread yesterday and I would like to say - very inspiring!
Very glad, that you worked through the problems of switching from Dr.Bud's soil mix to CoCo and are getting great results!

I've been lurking these forums for quite a while now. Stumbled upon Dr.Bud's perpetual SOG thread and it got me inspired to make a perpetual SOG grow of my own. Kept on reading for a solution for automatic feeding. First thought was a ebb and flow system for this kind of setup. Many threads later I stumbled upon the PPK thread, then the Doc Crow medicine cabinet thread and to your thread. It has been quite a journey I really think that a PPK system is the way to go for this kind of setup. Seems to be very effective to say the least.

That being said, would you mind giving a run-down of your current setup? I would LOVE to know everything about it Like, what exactly are the dimensions of your flowering cab, what kind of ventilation do you use, how many air changes per minute, how many plantlets are you growing perpetually, how much space do you leave between plantlets, average harvest per plantlet, how did you apply the PPK system to your setup, do you feed with a 'wicked pulse' system or top-feed the plantlets by hand and maybe an insight of your cloning-method.

Sorry, If I am being a nosey parker, but your setup seems to be almost exactly what I am planning of doing. I would just LOVE to pick your brain for a bit

Best regards,
jack.

 

[xxshimanoxx]

Hi petemoss


i too would like to know how you applied the wick feeding to your sog. Im thinking of doing something very similiar to your setup.

 

[petemoss]

Hello jackblack and shimano. First, welcome to the forum! I've been using the same cabinets for nearly five years now and have finally settled on mini PPK's as the best setup for my perpetual SOG. I'll soon start a new thread in the Micro Grows subforum to detail my current setup. I'll edit this post with a link to my new thread that should answer many of your questions.

 

[jackblack123]

Hello jackblack and shimano. First, welcome to the forum! I've been using the same cabinets for nearly five years now and have finally settled on mini PPK's as the best setup for my perpetual SOG. I'll soon start a new thread in the Micro Grows subforum to detail my current setup. I'll edit this post with a link to my new thread that should answer many of your questions.

Hi there petemoss! Thanks for the welcome
How is it going with the new thread? I still would love to read more about your methods!

Best regards.

 

[petemoss]

Hi jackblack, sorry for not following thru on my new thread but I've been sidetracked reading about conspiracy theories, free energy generators and false flag operations. Hopefully I'll snap out of it soon and get off my ass.

 

[ImaginaryFriend]

but I've been sidetracked reading about conspiracy theories, free energy generators and false flag operations

That's the thread you should start...

 

[johnnyrotten]

I'm really interested in how your mini ppk system works... do you just leave your res open with wire shelves over them or do you have some kind of cover over them with holes in it for the wicks? I like the idea of using wicks and the wire shelves, it would make it easier to raise and lower the plants to get the best air gap with the wicks...What is your reservoir made of?

 

[petemoss]

Sorry guys, I haven't been around lately. Converting my flood and drain into a PPK wick feed was fairly easy. I built a pvc support frame to hold up some wire closet shelving. The 4 inch square pots sat on top of the wire shelf and the nylon/poly rope wicks dangled down to the water.


I experimented with cloth wicks and rope wicks. The cloth wicks were strips of cotton shirt that soon disintegrated. Many of the rope wicks had a foam-like core and were too slow to wick up moisture. I finally found some solid nylon/poly rope without a foam core that worked.

 

[petemoss]

I soon discovered that the light shining through the shelving was causing algea to grow, so I had to cover the tray with pond liner.

 

[petemoss]

I already had a PVC drip manifold built and added some drip rings to top drip for "pulse feeding". For that I had to buy a Sentinel DRT-1 Digital Recycling Timer. Currently I pulse for 20 seconds every six hours.



My latest addition is a Whisper power filter to keep the lower res clean and algae free.

 

[petemoss]

Damn, I had my post all written with pics and I forgot you are only allowed 5 pics per post. so I had to break it up into three separate posts. ah rules rules rules. Don't they know we stoners are not rule followers? lol. I really should have started a separate thread in the indoor hydro forum, but what can I say? I'm lazy! So lazy that I don't want to build any more grow systems. My little two-cab perpetual grow is very comfortable and familiar, so when I see a new idea or system I like, I just try to incorporate it into my cab grow. What started over five years ago has evolved from a hand-watered, mostly organic soil grow into a coco E&F and now a mini PPK style perpetual SOG. And still, it's not dialed in!

As far as the theory behind the PPK, I'll have to refer you the wonderful PPK thread by Delta9 and related threads by IF and others. Some of it is very technical and I'm not sure I understand it fully. But the main thing I take away from the theory is that you must maintain a very consistent and even moisture profile throughout your container for optimal growth. That's not as easy as it seems, in fact very difficult. Bottom wick feeding solves this problem by draining excess standing water if you overwatered. If you didn't water enough, the wick will draw up water and the roots will redistribute the feed throughout the media. The gradual movement of water up and down the wick disperses the salts, so no salt buildup occurs.
A very simple, stable feeding method. I love it and my plants love it!

I forgot your question, jonnyrotten! You mean the flood tray? That's something I found in the street on a recycling day. Later I saw that it was the bottom of a pet cage. My res is underneath, a Sterlite tub covered with a trash bag to keep out light.

 

[killerweed31]

veri nice lookin garden petemoss, respect for the high quality

 

[johnnyrotten]

Yeah, I was wondering what you were using...I need to search for something that will work that is 18"x18"...

I was running ppks in my last grow and they worked great...in the cabinet I'm going all organic so I want to use a look water only system so I don't have to hand water everyday...I'll still hand water teas once a week... if it doesn't work then I still have Jack's hydroponic ready to go into the ppk...