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IDIOT's GUIDE TO PPK

D

DaveTheNewbie

I just had a brainwave (brainfart) moment!

local shops sell pots with their own res and tailpipe built in. They are called self watering pots. The idea is that you fill the res in the bottom of the pot and it wicks up. The res isn't big, but its there. You just got to catch the waste that runs out and recirc it back to the main (control) res.

Surely this is the way to go for a beginner?

self_watering_system.gif


48308_main


37aa7371-75c2-47cf-967a-2a2cd421e737.jpg
 
yeah Dave, I think thats an earthbox...whatever it is, it could be made to work...but those are for soil and the gap may be too small for coco/turface or whatever your running... and they cost a lot more than taking $10 worth of home depot materials to construct one...

With that said, if you plan on going organic with soil these work very well from what I have read and is the reason for my newest ppk experiment where I empty out the Jacks and fill the res with water and the pots with organic soil...think I may need to make some mods to the ppk, like drilling holes in the bottom of the buckets and going to 5 gallons instead of 3...we will see...
 
W

willyweed

i am totally hooked ,well done for all the hard work that everybody else has put in
 
D

DaveTheNewbie

i think i posted in HL45's thread too, but my only concern is if roots grow into the tailpiece and clog it up. does that happen, causing the top bucket to fill and flood?
ive bought bits and im starting now.

I want to see spongolite with zeolite!

im working on it :)
 
D

DaveTheNewbie

The roots won't clog up the tailpipe if your air gap it's correct

ok awesome answer ... but i bet you didnt see this one coming :

whats a correct air gap? As in i know what an air gap is, but what is the correct size?
 
I was told that if you are using coco that the air gap should be around 3-4 inches...which means that there should be 3-4 inches of your tailpiece that are not submerged in the reservoir...
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
Dave,

if you pack the tailpiece with coco densely, it'll hold more water and become a really unpleasant environment for roots to grow.

Folks who are pushing 8822 or turface are seeing more root penetration through the tailpiece... D9 mentioned breaking off the roots in the move between veg and flower, and that being enough (or maybe he did it again in the second week of flower).

The biggest issue (in my mind) isn't clogging, but having dead and floating debris in the PPK. The less shit you allow into the lower zone, the less shit that can go wrong with your plumbing and stuff.

Air gaps are not set in stone, but a three to four inch gap will work for most media. You can adjust up and down based on the plant response in the particular environment.

At least in theory, we are trying to move the PWT out of the bucket so we have a better environment in the primary RZ.

PWTs truly are media dependent, but few fast draining medias have one in excess of 2"... hence the 3-4" starting point.

Keep in mind that the larger your air gap, the less moisture in the top of your media. This is good or bad, depending on your goals.

Best of luck.
 
D

DaveTheNewbie

Dave,

if you pack the tailpiece with coco densely, it'll hold more water and become a really unpleasant environment for roots to grow.

Folks who are pushing 8822 or turface are seeing more root penetration through the tailpiece... D9 mentioned breaking off the roots in the move between veg and flower, and that being enough (or maybe he did it again in the second week of flower).

The biggest issue (in my mind) isn't clogging, but having dead and floating debris in the PPK. The less shit you allow into the lower zone, the less shit that can go wrong with your plumbing and stuff.

Air gaps are not set in stone, but a three to four inch gap will work for most media. You can adjust up and down based on the plant response in the particular environment.

At least in theory, we are trying to move the PWT out of the bucket so we have a better environment in the primary RZ.

PWTs truly are media dependent, but few fast draining medias have one in excess of 2"... hence the 3-4" starting point.

Keep in mind that the larger your air gap, the less moisture in the top of your media. This is good or bad, depending on your goals.

Best of luck.

my media is going to be a mix of spongolite and zeoite (local minerals) which should be alot like DE with better water retention. I am of the belief that recirculating coco is a bad thing. i just didnt want to get into that arguement and ive gone with 4 inch air gaps.
 

DamnUglyDogE

Learning the rules well,so as to break them effect
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i figure so. I learn by fucking things up, and ive fucked up so many things that it doesnt get to me any more.

Oh, the hard way.. I know this path well... lol

Feel ya bro... Even I couldn't complicate the simplicity of the PPK...

Great threads/great support/large network of users/continuing innovators /proven results...

What more could ya want from a system...

Has anyone screwed / had failures with a PPK and posted about it ? I wonder...
Peace...
 

Maina

Active member
Veteran
why wouldnt this work.guys.
Firts organic soil mix kinda like tom hill. cooked and just add water.no ppm bull shit,
wick why?
I want to take my organic soil mix that I have run for 4 years and put it in a smart pot lets say 45 gallons then that goes into another 45 gallon smart pot that has 5 inches of hydroton or 7 inches with a 2 inch air gap. the kidy pool will have 5 inches of water in it with its own float valve.so the water level will stay at what I put it.water will be fed from a 55 gallon drum with filterd water with its own float valve . I may put the pump in the kidy pool for the pulse feeding from the top.also there would be a air bubbler in the kidy pool .the roots would grow threw the bottom of the top pot into the hydroton thats in the next pot and the water would have oxygen in it.so plant wouldnt need a wick..I ran some thing like this out doors for 3 years .My soil mic in 20/100 gallon smarts seting in a spring or lake at all times water level never changed I put plants out june 1 came back oct 10 and harvested.
 
Re: IDIOT's GUIDE TO PPK

Yes, it may work but in soil, id use something more similar to assign earthbox... why wick? In the last two months I had two pulse pumps stop working, without wicking my plants wouldn't have been fed for a week...
 

DocCrow

Member
Oh, the hard way.. I know this path well... lol

Feel ya bro... Even I couldn't complicate the simplicity of the PPK...

Great threads/great support/large network of users/continuing innovators /proven results...

What more could ya want from a system...

Has anyone screwed / had failures with a PPK and posted about it ? I wonder...
Peace...

I fed mine way over 3000 ppm accidentally for like 3 weeks. The tips of the leaves didn't even burn. As far as I am concerned the ppk is bulletproof. You have to TRY to kill a plant in one of these, and even then you may not succeed in killing it.

my 2c

DC
 

DamnUglyDogE

Learning the rules well,so as to break them effect
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I fed mine way over 3000 ppm accidentally for like 3 weeks. The tips of the leaves didn't even burn. As far as I am concerned the ppk is bulletproof. You have to TRY to kill a plant in one of these, and even then you may not succeed in killing it.

my 2c

DC

Funny u say this.. I have been feeding at 3000 ppm for a month on accident and thought it strange That the ladies show no signs of burn..I've been adding water only for a week and got ppm ta 1500.. almost there..
Seems the worst ya can do is waste a bunch of Jacks feeding. .

Well I feel better knowing im not the only one ta have done this.. lol

Peace..
 

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
my media is going to be a mix of spongolite and zeoite (local minerals) which should be alot like DE with better water retention. I am of the belief that recirculating coco is a bad thing. i just didnt want to get into that arguement and ive gone with 4 inch air gaps.

"Better water retention"... does that mean less drainage, or more solution adhesion to the minerals without substantially decreas9ing gas content in the media?

Do you know about the chemistry of these minerals? Maybe a strong charge of whatever nute program before you use this stuff so it doesn't steal a bunch of nutes from your run and imbalance your profile unnecessarily.

I'll argue with you on recirculating coco. But not if you don't want to.
 

Maina

Active member
Veteran
Yes, it may work but in soil, id use something more similar to assign earthbox... why wick? In the last two months I had two pulse pumps stop working, without wicking my plants wouldn't have been fed for a week...

What I'm saying is the roots from above smart pot will grow down into second smart pot with hydrogen.wicking without the wick.
 

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