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Kratky...passive hydro weed plant

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/downloads/A_Suspended_Pot_Non-circulating_Hydroponic_method.pdf

I wont be following his methods exactly...

In short he grew cucumbers in 30 gallons.....as a set it and forget it...

I plan to use some of his principles.....but modified for cannabis...

I grew some tomato plants indoors for some experience....I got a few cherry toms and just took the plants down....

The key for a happy plant is to expose some of the roots to the air....while most are in fertigation......

The way I started the clone was in vermiculite..... which will rinse quite well from the roots..... the clone has roots but is probably 2 weeks from its forever home in 5 gallons....

The plant will spend most of its life in double 5 gallon buckets... the inner bucket holding the plant will have holes in the bottom....so when its removed the water drains to the lower reservoir bucket....

I plan to change the reservoir several times over the life of the plant.... as well as maintain the level to some degree

The other reason for the double bucket.....it allows for those roots that are exposed to the air..... while the bottom reservoir can be kept full

I plan to put up some pics in a couple weeks if there is some interest....

One thing I found with my practice tomato plants.....the roots looked bright white and were pretty amazing...

And you can see the different roots.....the air roots....and the water roots.....air roots very branchy...while the water roots were spaghetti water roots......

No pumps.... no air...... passive hydro It will be grown against and compared to a clone of the same age grown in promix

Let me know if you have interest in the experiment....

Any comments ...tips.....questions...... hit me up...
 

brickweeder

Well-known member
pulling up a chair, been wondering how the green plant would do in a kratky bucket; looking forward to this. Am interested in your reservoir temps.
 

studlybuds

New member
Hey budley. I have used this method with great success. I use buckets filled with wet coco coir or perlite, and perch a smartpot filled with living soil on top. It can be a large smartpot, as long as there's enough water-holding medium in the bucket to make contact with the bottom of the pot. You can drill a hole in the side and insert a funnel, then fill your medium in; then you don't have to lift the smartpot off the medium. Since smartpots are felt and therefore porous the roots grow down into the medium very thickly and drink whenever the plant is thirsty. It produces massive plants. I just refresh the water every so often. Never any microbe issues, I use plain old well water with no additives. Soil stays damp but not waterlogged - just perfect.

Have been wanting to experiment with this method recently so I applaud your efforts. I don't know how well it would work if you use bottled nutrients (do those cause microbe growth? lol) but if you do use living soil and well water you will have wonderful results.

Here is a suggestion that I've been turning over in my head. I want to try oxygenating that water with an air pump. That would be leaps and bounds over passive watering. I haven't quite figured out a system for that yet. I'm thinking maybe just a fine screen at the bottom of the bucket, held up by something a couple of inches off the bottom, with an open area underneath. You could put an air stone there and as long as the bucket was kept topped off with water it'd be submerged. You'd get roots growing down into it but that would be no big deal to clean out after using it for a nice big plant. You could also do something with a water pump and a constant drip, or something to that effect, and have a separate res that you oxygenate. That would be cleaner.

Good luck and I hope this method turns out as well for you as it has for me. Happy growing.
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Just to be clear...there is no coco...no perlite....nothing but fertigated water..... passive hydro....

The key to this system is to expose some of the roots to open air..my tomato plants had sparkly white roots ...

No pumps...no air.....

The only medium I will be using is vermiculite in my cloner..... I will be using jacks and calcium nitrate for ferts....

We know that water holds less oxygen at higher temps.....but since some roots are exposed to open air....that should not be an issue.....
 

GOT_BUD?

Weed is a gateway to gardening
ICMag Donor
Veteran
So similar to a Hempy, but much less medium. And no drain to waste.

I'm pulling up a chair for this one.
 

studlybuds

New member
Right on. I believe the important thing is just that the roots have unrestricted access to water, regardless of whether it's contained in an absorptive medium or just freestanding. Once they're in they'll suck up as much as they need. You're going to grow some huge plants!
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
The first stage is tomorrow...... They will be removed from the cloner....I clone in vermiculite...... the verm will be rinsed from the roots..... never to see any other medium other than the fertigation water....For like 2 weeks they are going to go into about 1 liter of fertigation...

A 2 liter bottle will be cut off at the top of the label...... the top part is inverted...the plant then put into the container.....being careful that some roots are exposed.... and some are in the fertigation solution.... the 2 liter has been covered with aluminum foil to prevent algae.....

Its sister plant will start in 2 gallons of promix.....

Im really interested in this experiment based on the tomato plants I had in my grow room.... the side by side same clone in promix will tell the tale...
 

brickweeder

Well-known member
BD, once you move from the 2-liter to the 5-gal bucket system, will you just rest the inverted bottle top in a hole in the bucket lid and let the roots dangle in the air and reservoir?



If so, do you expect the narrow bottle neck to constrain root growth at some point later on in the growth cycle?
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
So far she has been in a couple days.....looks happy as any plant... she didnt even blink

Im in no particular hurry to get the plant out of 2 liters....probably 2 or 3 weeks in 2 liters....

There is actually plenty of room to just pull the pant out...

In the 5 gallon the plant will be held by a neoprene circle..... I dont want the bucket air tight....so the lid will have a bunch of small holes drilled.....

Initially the water will be maintained pretty close to the plant...this will allow any new roots a chance to hit the water..... i dont believe the new roots are air pruned but Im going to keep an eye on that...

When the plant goes to 5 gallons.... I will be in no real hurry to drop the water levels to expose more roots.... I will then maintain the water levels at about 70% full......

The container will be refreshed a few times.... I expect to go thru atout 50 gallons of fertigation...
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Bad news...The plant looked great till it hit about 15 inches....


I noticed something like a zink def......all the new growth tips were showing smaller new growth.....
'

The plant is no more...


The good thing is....I have a new experiment in the works.....lol


Thanks for reading and posting....
 

brickweeder

Well-known member
Bummer. What was the condition of the new growth? Just stunted, or was there discoloration or other effects?
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
A few more of my observations......the roots never elongated like my tomato plant.....

bunches of like 4 or 5 inch roots....

In spite of refreshing the bucket a couple of times......the new growth suddenly stunted.....

As I said....I have a couple more experiments on the way......some work..some dont....

this one didnt... maybe the next one....
 

starke

Well-known member
I go a little mad scientist every now and then myself. I'll continue to follow your experiments.
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
I go a little mad scientist every now and then myself. I'll continue to follow your experiments.

I will give you a heads up on the next thing.....

Some years ago I started a cloning thread.....

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=42847&page=101

I have modified the cloner to experiment with some big ass clones.....

I took two at say 10 inches....but I think I can do much better....

The ones in the cloner now..look perfect....didnt wilt.....I expect roots in about 10 days......and will then try with some larger cuts...

I have another that will be done in the same thread...... should be fun....and really good chance of success in both....

Imagine taking 18 inch cuttings.....lol

Its all about environment.....well mostly anyway.....:laughing:
 

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
I go a little mad scientist every now and then myself. I'll continue to follow your experiments.

Here you go bro......everyone is invited....

Here is an experiment you may find interesting....


And Im pretty sure Im going to have success in this one.....:biggrin:

I just put up the introduction to the new experiment.....

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=42847&page=101

See you there

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