Hail Hydro 2.0: New Beginnings

PetFlora · Mar 24, 2018

Update

Transitioning to F & D totes right around the corner

Nutrients ~ 300ppm

So far only 2 clogged mist head. This prevents some of the roots from getting a proper feeding= drooping (plant in lower left is droppy as a result).

On/off times. On time is now 3 minutes. I increased off time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. Still dialing it in

New Active Aqua bulk heads (amazon/10 packs) should improve on DO mixing into solution as each feeding enters the totes and drain back (see pics) they are larger diameter than the bulkheads I have been using, so, will need to replace all totes in order to drill bigger holes

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PetFlora · Mar 25, 2018

Plants are responding to cleaned mist heads (plus nylon footie), especially the one in the lower left. Interestingly, both it and the big one in the middle seem to have pistils developing at the very top

The smaller ones were not getting sufficient spray from the get go

There's a fair amount of debris on the bottom of the rez. Will be changing it out later this morning. First stop is Harbor Freight to get the correct size hole saw for the new bulkheads

Crossing my fingers that the new 750 gph bottom feed pump marries to the pvc riser. Actually, I need to check that before heading out in case I need to go to HD

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PetFlora · Mar 26, 2018

It seems these nozzles are more prone to clogging. Their intended use is HPA. I had them, so another experiment (would they work with lpa?).

FYI: I traded a guy some of my seeds for 3 of these lpa spray systems. Unfortunately, he glued all connections. Still, it showed me that I was onto something.

I'm gathering parts now to make my own, starting with a single pvc bar in the center of the tote running the long way. I haven't decided whether to get more hpa mist heads, or simply drill a bunch of small holes in the pvc and cap both ends. My idea is to drill holes as small as possible in hopes of simulating the fine mist, which I think is the reason for the sweet roots (comes from hpa knowledge). Gonna test it: I will drill one row straight up with 2 more rows one @ ~ 60*s left and other right of center. I just talked myself into the latter since i have everything I need, but, the mist heads are cheap, so...

DiverDave · Mar 27, 2018

drilled holes no matter how small , are good for drops or spray jets .. the misting comes from something like a deflector on the stream.
Best to go with the spray heads if you got them.

Just saying.

PetFlora · Mar 27, 2018

DiverDave said:
drilled holes no matter how small , are good for drops or spray jets .. the misting comes from something like a deflector on the stream.
Best to go with the spray heads if you got them.

Just saying.

Most likely, but as I said, I have these parts on hand

In the mean time, the plants are finally beginning to resemble the root mass

PetFlora · Mar 27, 2018

Damn, my 2 biggest plants have nuts

PetFlora · Mar 28, 2018

The 4 remaining plants are small. To say the least I am disappointed. 2 have pistils, the other 2 (even smaller) have not shown sex yet.

I really need 4 females to run a proper nutrient test

Chances are they are, but still 2 are very small

I moved the largest male outdoors

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PetFlora · Mar 29, 2018

IMHO, you only need DO during the feeding cycle, AND roots DO benefit from a pause cycle

Enter my new technique: low pressure aero in shallow water (just enough to cover the lp pump). Great news for this technique is bottom draw pumps are readily available AND reasonable, plus, they would cut the nutrient use in half. Im running ~ 3 minutes on and 30-60 minutes off. This depends on how many plants, mist heads...

anyway, it broke my heart, but I had to pull 2 males yesterday, They were pretty big for being less than a month old from seed

So far, 2/4 left have pistils, the other 2 likely females considering they haven't sexed yet, but they are all small, and the 2 that haven't sexed yet, smaller still; none of these were getting adequate misting, so they're stunted at a critical time in their development.

This is first my attempt: adjusting on the fly. I now have a new mist head/PVC design, and am using a side feed pump.

Now that I think of it, because the bottom draw pump only needs ~ 1/2 the solution of the side feed pump, which also requires more nutes for headroom.

Another revelation: this also means fewer blue ice pack rotations each day and easier to maintain stable rez temps. I'll be switching that pump out tomorrow!

Pic of biggest plant after I moved it outside and roughly 1/2 section of the roots

plus roots under the hood, and a shot of what's left

hth

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RockinRobot · Mar 29, 2018

PetFlora said:
IMHO, you only need DO during the feeding cycle, AND roots DO benefit from a pause cycle

Enter my new technique: low pressure aero in shallow water (just enough to cover the lp pump). Great news for this technique is bottom draw pumps are readily available AND reasonable, plus, they would cut the nutrient use in half. Im running ~ 3 minutes on and 30-60 minutes off. This depends on how many plants, mist heads...

anyway, it broke my heart, but I had to pull 2 males yesterday, They were pretty big for being less than a month old from seed

So far, 2/4 left have pistils, the other 2 likely females considering they haven't sexed yet, but they are all small, and the 2 that haven't sexed yet, smaller still; none of these were getting adequate misting, so they're stunted at a critical time in their development.

This is first my attempt: adjusting on the fly. I now have a new mist head/PVC design, and am using a side feed pump.

Now that I think of it, because the bottom draw pump only needs ~ 1/2 the solution of the side feed pump, which also requires more nutes for headroom.

Another revelation: this also means fewer blue ice pack rotations each day and easier to maintain stable rez temps. I'll be switching that pump out tomorrow!

Pic of biggest plant after I moved it outside and roughly 1/2 section of the roots

plus roots under the hood, and a shot of what's left

hth

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Hate to break it to you but the smaller volume of nutrient solution will actually be harder to keep a stable temperature. It will cool faster but also heat up faster. Anything dealing with water is always more stable at higher volume. Simple science.

PetFlora · Mar 29, 2018

RockinRobot said:
Hate to break it to you but the smaller volume of nutrient solution will actually be harder to keep a stable temperature. It will cool faster but also heat up faster. Anything dealing with water is always more stable at higher volume. Simple science.

Yes, but, pump is only on 3 minutes every 40 - 60 minutes,
or did that go over your head?

RockinRobot · Mar 29, 2018

How often the pump runs has nothing whatsoever to do with how quickly a volume of water will heat or cool. Yes a pump running full time adds heat but that is minimal compared to the ambient temperature. Your ice pack will cool it down faster but it will heat up faster and you won't gain anything.

Evaporation of a smaller volume will also cause your PPM to fluctuate more than necessary.

But hey you have to live with it so do what you want. You always ignore good advice anyway.

PetFlora · Mar 29, 2018

RockinRobot said:
How often the pump runs has nothing whatsoever to do with how quickly a volume of water will heat or cool. Yes a pump running full time adds heat but that is minimal compared to the ambient temperature. Your ice pack will cool it down faster but it will heat up faster and you won't gain anything.

Evaporation of a smaller volume will also cause your PPM to fluctuate more than necessary.

But hey you have to live with it so do what you want. You always ignore good advice anyway.

Sounds like deflection to me. When said advice comes from pontificators (like when you said unequivocally that my issue was the stones) who have never actually done it, yes, I do tend to ignore it, but long before you decided to drop your, ahem, 'wisdom' I am/will keep an eye on it

RockinRobot · Mar 30, 2018

PetFlora said:
Sounds like deflection to me. When said advice comes from pontificators (like when you said unequivocally that my issue was the stones) who have never actually done it, yes, I do tend to ignore it, but long before you decided to drop your, ahem, 'wisdom' I am/will keep an eye on it

Call me a pontificator if you like. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the science behind water.

I and others have watched you troll this forum for years now. We have given you honest and helpful advice over and over and you throw it in our faces. So this will be my last post ever to attempt to help you.

Keep growing crap weed and enjoy.

DiverDave · Mar 30, 2018

PetFlora said:
Sounds like deflection to me. When said advice comes from pontificators (like when you said unequivocally that my issue was the stones) who have never actually done it, yes, I do tend to ignore it, but long before you decided to drop your, ahem, 'wisdom' I am/will keep an eye on it

@ RockinRobot , your describing basic thermal transfer,
and key point is res size to heat generated. Plus [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PPM always fluctuates.
PetFlora I think has a post stating he uses a fine timer to keep run times shorter , due to heat .. solved.

I have been following this thread and doing a drip over soil to get auto watering going on based on what I have learned here.
I'm about ready to get the 12vdc online for next phase.
So I took what I have and did math .. looks like 2 second time on for 27 periods a day to get me 1 gal/day/bucket.

That has been what I have gathered from this round of studies.
Please keep the bickering to a minimal , class is still on right?
[/FONT]

PetFlora · Mar 30, 2018

DiverDave said:
@ RockinRobot , your describing basic thermal transfer,
and key point is res size to heat generated. Plus [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PPM always fluctuates.
PetFlora I think has a post stating he uses a fine timer to keep run times shorter , due to heat .. solved.

I have been following this thread and doing a drip over soil to get auto watering going on based on what I have learned here.
I'm about ready to get the 12vdc online for next phase.
So I took what I have and did math .. looks like 2 second time on for 27 periods a day to get me 1 gal/day/bucket.

That has been what I have gathered from this round of studies.
Please keep the bickering to a minimal , class is still on right?
[/FONT]

Thanks DD. Hard to find pics of his grows, but I did, and he does knows things, it's just that he doesn't know EVERYTHING, but thinks he does

I hope he honors that he is done 'helping' me

PetFlora · Mar 31, 2018

I test cut a feed/drain hole in the 5g tote. The hole saw is slightly larger diameter than it needs to be:there's a slow drip. Either the inside gasket hole is too big or the outside diameter is too small

Going to hardware store to see what I can find

The 4 remaining girls are growing quite well considering that initially they weren't getting sufficient spray

A bit hard to see but there are tons of root hairs on the many fish bones (lateral roots)

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PetFlora · Apr 2, 2018

I am having leak issues with the new ActiveAqua fittings. First the 1 1/4" hole saw from Harbor Freight is slightly oversized. I managed to fill the discrepancy up with silicone. New hole saw purchased, but it's too long for my mandrel.

Borrowed my neighbors, but the shaft is 1/2", had to borrow his drill, which is a beast. It had so much torque, and his fatigued bit snapped as the saw bit into the plastic. The hole saw tore across the tote, causing a few holes that I patched. Testing for drips, should be good to set up 2 totes this morning

Water drawn, getting ready to mix nutes

Pics later

PetFlora · Apr 2, 2018

wow, a lot more cleaning/prep involved than I remembered

Recleaned the; stones, square net pots, the mortar tub underneath (in case of spills). I connected the 730 gph bottom draw pump. Time to test (water only). Dumb ass me, I forgot to open the shutoff valves and blew about a gallon of water, on the tent floor. lol.

Adding nutes diluted to < 1EC/500ppm; pH 6.2

Sadly, the ActiveAquas didn’t do what I was hoping (at least not as configured). They are designed for flooding tables, not horizontal filling. I may need to close off half of the slots closest to the bulkhead in order to increase pressure of the spray/DO. These I’ll leave as is, but will adjust for the 2 smaller ones, whose roots do not yet reach into the net pots inside the totes, so still in the lpa

These are under the SPYDR 600 10 hours a day for a couple weeks, then 12ish

Flooding every 1.5 hours for a couple days, then increase pauses

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PetFlora · Apr 2, 2018

Did anybody hear a loud CRASH?

DAMMIT

My table was off balance, causing the totes to tilt and crash into the rez. The good news is the plants are OK, but both bulkheads snapped- they're hard plastic

Just finished wet vacing the nutes (no, the mortar tub did not catch any).

I cobbled it together, one new Active Aqua and one old style. Those bulkheads are nylon

Made fresh nutes, and away we go

PetFlora · Apr 4, 2018

I've been challenged on whether plants secrete waste products through their roots, well, I came across it today thumbing through Indoor Marijuana Horticulture Bible

The solution transported through the vascular bundles or veins have many functions. The solution delivers nutrients and carries away waste products

There's only one place to carry/move them to, and that is down the main stalk and into the roots for elimination

Hail Hydro 2.0: New Beginnings

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