big plant ppk

[delta9nxs]

A crowd pleaser as always!

Are you sticking with 800ppm co2 for the perpetual?

A plant a week sounds great to me.

Got some ppks next to my bros amended coco. His plants are locked out, the ppks are ppkin right along. No transplant shock from an overvegged cloner plant either. LOL They are barely even gettin their roots into the new system and hes already wanting to switch to the ppk.
This is after a months of his doubts,
I said, You do what you want in that room, Ill do what I want in this one.
His plants had a 1.5 month head start, getting full light, mine gettin 4hours of hps and the rest flouro. lol
I love the ppk.

i'm still running a 650 set point with a 50ppm deadband. when it fires it goes up to 900-1000 before it cuts off because i have the sensor in the middle of the room about 10' from the burner.

what is it about the ppk that makes people reticent to use it? is it that they just don't believe something so simple can work so well?

 

[SecondAttempt]

It was a long road to PPKdom for me, I started trying flood tables which just don't work with my headroom problems. I found the original PPK thread but I couldn't see the pics without registering and reading the thread wasn't enough for me to wrap my head around. By the time I registered and got an idea how the PPK worked I had built a DTW setup for coco which was pretty bulletproof but I had to dump the drain twice a day, which meant no vacations for me. When I did go away for Christmas I unplugged the DTW and saturated the pots with a heavy soak which kept the plants alive but they didn't thrive. I ran the lights 8-4-8-4 so the pots didn't dry out from 24 hours of light, problem was that was the dead of winter in New England so without the lights on 24 hours the room got very cold, normally I would run a heater but i wasn't comfortable doing that while I was away.

So the decision to go recirculating was easy, PPKs aren't that much harder to build than any other Recirc system so why not.

Best decision I've made in my growing career, now I have the confidence to come home from work and go to sleep instead of going straight to the basement and checking and double checking everything that I just checked before going to work.

O and besides of ease of use, THE GROWTH IS UNMATCHED!!

Thanks again D9.

 

[Snook]

i'm still running a 650 set point with a 50ppm deadband. when it fires it goes up to 900-1000 before it cuts off because i have the sensor in the middle of the room about 10' from the burner.

what is it about the ppk that makes people reticent to use it? is it that they just don't believe something so simple can work so well?

Just like the politicians and citizens that wont buy in on MMJ. they have been given the BS so long they believe it. OH yes, the politicians are the presenters of the misinformation in the first place... another story.. I've done all but aero, not smart or attentive enough for those. Conceptually, dwc & e&f are easier but you pay with ph, ppm, timing, and lockout delemas constantly, it's a juggling act. they can not believe or buy into the simplicity and ease of opperations and... NO AIR COOLED HOOD! are you fucking crazy!!!?? I'm not the brightest bulb in the package but PPK and no other way.. yes vacations without fear.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

what is it about the ppk that makes people reticent to use it? is it that they just don't believe something so simple can work so well?

This is a really good question. Heres my take on it

1) This industry is full of liars. People talk shit and sell thier shit to you for rip off prices. Look at nutes for an example of this
2) PPK doesnt sound cool. Passive and Killer are not words that are associated with win and awesome
3) There is no single resource for how to build/understand one. I dont know if you get this but myself and alot of other people put alot of time into research to try and get whats going on. Yes its a simple idea once you get it, but the simpleness is lost between the volume of posts and the sychophantic nature of most of them.
4) Nobody likes passive wicking. Its that simple. People want the biggest baddest most bells and whistles awesomeness around. Many people are still drawn to RDWC for this reason.
5) Beginners dont understand reliability. They understand yield. Its all $ for the next wanna-be drug baron multi millionaire.
6) Most people here arent as smart as you D9. You talk at a level that is beyond most people when you get going. Maybe your knowledge is a downfall here? I have a university science degree and i cant follow you once your on a roll talking awesome details.
7) Things are in a constant state of flux. Always changing. Evolving. This scares some people. I like it but some people see that it must have problems if you have to change it.

8) Having said all that, it is the single most popular grow method in the vert section. Its uptake rate is phenominal. You have a 100% positive feedback result with it. Nobody ever gets a 100% positive feedback with anything. It is known to be the premier system available today, with zero professional advertising or promoting. Dont you think Aquafarms and Undercurrents and the like would love to have the rep you have? If you sold total rights to a hydro-whore-store tomorrow they would have it in every glossy magazine by the end of the month. It would be on the cover of high times and every spotty faced wanna-be would be talking about it. China would be pumping these out by the truck load.

just my 2 cents

 

[bobblehead]

Nice post Dave... But I don't think there are any ppk design patents... So there's no selling the rights that aren't protected.

Nice post otherwise.

Most people belive what they're told. Not too many critical thinkers when compared to the rest...

I've been on the fence just cause I have been growing lots of small plants... And now that I don't want to go to jail so I plan on becoming compliant with my medical program... And now I've seen everyone including DaveTheNewbie rock out a ppk.

I'm sold.

Oh yeah... And ppk-ers are supposed to use the cheapest fertilizer available... Wtf is that?

 

[forkup]

I think when they see the term "wick" they think it's for lamers and noobs, then if they check into it further the seemingly complicated system intimidates them. True believers know better.

 

[Ne0nSaGe]

welcome!

all the containers that i have used are pretty much stable. you will have to support plants somehow anyway.

when you get to the building point all the folks here can help you design an efficient room with everything sized and scaled right.

i learned a long time ago not to have any expectations on yield so i'm never disappointed but i hope to get at least a lb per.

what are your plant count limits?

Right now im trying to be in a new house by august so by then i need to get more lights exhaust fans a chiller with alot of other things before i start looking at the space i want to grow in but my plant count is limited to 30 so right now im running 8 plants each 4x4 area in a donut 8+8=16 in flower tent and then clones and mothers for the rest. Think i would want to do it with about 3-4k in lights...

 

[delta9nxs]

Right now im trying to be in a new house by august so by then i need to get more lights exhaust fans a chiller with alot of other things before i start looking at the space i want to grow in but my plant count is limited to 30 so right now im running 8 plants each 4x4 area in a donut 8+8=16 in flower tent and then clones and mothers for the rest. Think i would want to do it with about 3-4k in lights...

well, you just saved a ton of money by choosing this system as it does not require a chiller.

with 30 plants you will need more floor space.

do you mind my asking what state allows 30?

 

[bad gas]

Hi everybody. Good to see the continuing evolution of the PPK.

Watching and learning. bg

 

[SecondAttempt]

I'm planning on 30 in Maine... 6 per patient, up to 5 patients. We can't get there soon enough.

 

[catman]

I'm happy to see the pics D9. Nice build all around and nice plants.

I'm grateful again for you introducing me to Turface. I'm starting some little demons from seed and they just sit in a few inches of water until being pulsed by hand. I'm sold on Jack's finally until I run out of Fox Farm. My plants don't mind the "flower nutes" while vegging as I'm also grateful to have learned how they consume what they need...and come flower, the Turface will surely be charged. I must admit, I'm getting bored!

 

[icdog]

D9 I finally get the ppk, I can't wait to test one out. Does anyone know if the turface is available in Ontario? Are there different kinds of it. I've tried a search but it didn't work well.

 

[Species8472]

2) PPK doesnt sound cool. Passive and Killer are not words that are associated with win and awesome

Maybe it should be renamed to "Lazy-Ass System of High Yield and Awesomeness"?
What are you growing in Bro? LASH-YA!

Good thing nobody has to sell / buy it. One reason why I have mad respect for D9 and his project is that it is non-profit and the threads are barely fathomable pools of knowledge for the community, even if you decide not to grow in PPKs.

------------------------

I have spent a great amount of time reading everything PPK-related, and I have yet to find something similar to Turface MVP in good old Germany. I know that Perlite, Coco and so on can do the trick, but I would prefer to use "the real thing".

Yesterday, I stumbled upon this stuff called "Liadrain".

Stats:
- broken up calcined clay
- "chemical neutral" whatever that means
- can hold up to 80% of its own weight of water
- a volume of 50 liters weighs in at 16 kg
- granular size 2 - 8 mm

Sounds very much like Turface, amirite?

 

[delta9nxs]

I'm happy to see the pics D9. Nice build all around and nice plants.

I'm grateful again for you introducing me to Turface. I'm starting some little demons from seed and they just sit in a few inches of water until being pulsed by hand. I'm sold on Jack's finally until I run out of Fox Farm. My plants don't mind the "flower nutes" while vegging as I'm also grateful to have learned how they consume what they need...and come flower, the Turface will surely be charged. I must admit, I'm getting bored!

thanks, buddy!

 

[delta9nxs]

D9 I finally get the ppk, I can't wait to test one out. Does anyone know if the turface is available in Ontario? Are there different kinds of it. I've tried a search but it didn't work well.

thank you!

Plant Products Co. Ltd.

Brampton
(905) 793-7000
www.plantprod.com

Mar-Co Clay Products Inc.

Bright
(519) 684-7591

you want the MVP product as it has a larger average particle size.

just look at the pics in this thread. it's very simple and easy to build.

 

[delta9nxs]

Maybe it should be renamed to "Lazy-Ass System of High Yield and Awesomeness"?
What are you growing in Bro? LASH-YA!

Good thing nobody has to sell / buy it. One reason why I have mad respect for D9 and his project is that it is non-profit and the threads are barely fathomable pools of knowledge for the community, even if you decide not to grow in PPKs.

------------------------

I have spent a great amount of time reading everything PPK-related, and I have yet to find something similar to Turface MVP in good old Germany. I know that Perlite, Coco and so on can do the trick, but I would prefer to use "the real thing".

Yesterday, I stumbled upon this stuff called "Liadrain".

Stats:
- broken up calcined clay
- "chemical neutral" whatever that means
- can hold up to 80% of its own weight of water
- a volume of 50 liters weighs in at 16 kg
- granular size 2 - 8 mm

Sounds very much like Turface, amirite?

howdy and welcome to the show! i looked up the liadrain and it looks real good. also, in germany you can find a product called Seramis that is calcined clay and looks just like turface.

orchid growers use it.

 

[icdog]

Thanks. 20 bucks for a 50 lb bag. I'd like to setup a ppk test that is self contained. Do you recommend your old design for this with one tail piece and the holes in the upper bucket?

 

[delta9nxs]

Thanks. 20 bucks for a 50 lb bag. I'd like to setup a ppk test that is self contained. Do you recommend your old design for this with one tail piece and the holes in the upper bucket?

i grew a 22 oz plant in a 3.5 bucket with 2.5 gals of medium, which is seven inches deep in the 3.5. if you keep the depth around there you don't have to drill any holes.

it also had a single tailpiece which i think is sufficient for 2-3 gals of medium.

the larger containers hold almost 6 gals and the 3 tailpiece arrangement works great with that volume. it also centers the top bucket in the bottom bucket.

you will need to screen the turface over regular aluminum window screen to remove fine particles and then wash it, turning it over, until it runs clear.

are you intending to run one plant or several? and how big do you want them to get?

 

[icdog]

18 plants as big as they can get, krusty style vert light setup.
I am doing this now in promix with blumats hooked to a res. They are about 6 - 7 ft tall about 20 days into flower.
I can't wait to get back to hydro, I was going to switch to ebb flo buckets but this ppk seems the way to go. I just need to see it work with a test which i can't do with a separate res initially. I believe you can setup a ppk by itself right?

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

I believe you can setup a ppk by itself right?

sure can, thats exactally what ive done. the control res becomes the bottom res and you have a stand alone system where the float valve is fed off the same line as the blumat elevated res.
i currently have 3 blumat plants and 1 PPK plant all co-existing happily. the fact is tho that the PPK plant is the superior plant.