Mini PPK system with pics of setup

I needed a way to grow that didn't require me babysitting the plants as I'm out of town three days a week for work. After researching the PPK system D9 has developed I decided I would give it a try on a much smaller scale. I only grow three or four plants a year for my own personal consumption so I really didn't need anything taking up a lot of space or requiring crazy light schemes. This whole system probably only takes up about 10 sq.ft. This will only be the third plant I've ever grown indoors as my entire 30 years of growing experience has been in soil outdoors. This years plants were found and stolen forcing me to move operations indoors. I'll miss the giant plants I've been able to produce outdoors over a summer but hey, this gives me the chance to learn a new technique and a chance to grow year-round. All I really need is a couple 1 or 2 oz. plants to supply me for six months so this system fits the bill perfectly. Here are some pics showing my current setup in operation:

This shows pretty much the whole thing including the ART DN-E cycle timer, plant in floor-dry grow media, reservoir below plant and reservoir with float valve.

This is the reserve tank connected to the reservoir with the float valve. The tank sits on bench top above the system and gravity feeds the reservoir as demanded by the float valve. I can regulate the flow with the ball valve inline.

Closer shot of the valve reservoir and the small Sunterra pump for feeding the plant.

Closer shot of how the reservoir and the plant are connected via 3/8" hose. The planter is a solid rubber, low-profile dish found at Tractor supply (same as D9's planter only smaller). The basin below the planter is a square $2 plastic container without the lid.

This little guy is my first victim. This is a feminized Shackzilla that really had me wondering. The seedling was the smallest I've ever seen and it really looked distorted for the first week of it's life. I really didn't give this thing much of a chance to live but as you can see from the pics, it's doing just fine in the mini PPK.
Lighting is provided by four 42w 6500K CFL's in a homemade reflector. Timing for the light is 18 hrs. on 6 off. Watering is every 45mins. for aprox. 2 minutes at a time. I'm running nothing but Jack's Classic and CalNit at 600ppm. PH sitting around 6 for now. The Jack's seems to be a slam dunk, no-fuss solution for this type of growing, Once I've got the PPM's right, the PH takes care of itself. I'm seeing a couple inches of growth per day.
Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

Rocketman64 said:

I needed a way to grow that didn't require me babysitting the plants as I'm out of town three days a week for work. After researching the PPK system D9 has developed I decided I would give it a try on a much smaller scale. I only grow three or four plants a year for my own personal consumption so I really didn't need anything taking up a lot of space or requiring crazy light schemes. This whole system probably only takes up about 10 sq.ft. This will only be the third plant I've ever grown indoors as my entire 30 years of growing experience has been in soil outdoors. This years plants were found and stolen forcing me to move operations indoors. I'll miss the giant plants I've been able to produce outdoors over a summer but hey, this gives me the chance to learn a new technique and a chance to grow year-round. All I really need is a couple 1 or 2 oz. plants to supply me for six months so this system fits the bill perfectly. Here are some pics showing my current setup in operation:
View Image
This shows pretty much the whole thing including the ART DN-E cycle timer, plant in floor-dry grow media, reservoir below plant and reservoir with float valve.
View Image
This is the reserve tank connected to the reservoir with the float valve. The tank sits on bench top above the system and gravity feeds the reservoir as demanded by the float valve. I can regulate the flow with the ball valve inline.
View Image
Closer shot of the valve reservoir and the small Sunterra pump for feeding the plant.
View Image
Closer shot of how the reservoir and the plant are connected via 3/8" hose. The planter is a solid rubber, low-profile dish found at Tractor supply (same as D9's planter only smaller). The basin below the planter is a square $2 plastic container without the lid.
View Image
This little guy is my first victim. This is a feminized Shackzilla that really had me wondering. The seedling was the smallest I've ever seen and it really looked distorted for the first week of it's life. I really didn't give this thing much of a chance to live but as you can see from the pics, it's doing just fine in the mini PPK.
Lighting is provided by four 42w 6500K CFL's in a homemade reflector. Timing for the light is 18 hrs. on 6 off. Watering is every 45mins. for aprox. 2 minutes at a time. I'm running nothing but Jack's Classic and CalNit at 600ppm. PH sitting around 6 for now. The Jack's seems to be a slam dunk, no-fuss solution for this type of growing, Once I've got the PPM's right, the PH takes care of itself. I'm seeing a couple inches of growth per day.
Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for taking the time to check it out.

Click to expand...

Okay, well that sucked, no pics. I'll try to post them in this quote:

Front Row bucket... Nice!!!...



Nice rig, Rocket...

Are you going to flower under CFL's ?
Nice DIY,hood....
I've been wanting to see someone throw down a CFL PPK run...
Looks like you could bring the Hood down a little as CFLs
have a 3''-6'' cherry spot for lumens...

Not a lot of head room in there though...

Are ya going to spread her out and keep her low till flip ?
Whats the medium and last but not least..lol

3 tail pieces or 1 big one ?









.

Thanks for interest, A.Dawg- appreciate the nice comments. Let's see if I can answer all this for you:

Yes, I'll be flowering under 4 42w 2700k cfl's in a separate grow area. I'm currently in the basement with veg, the flower room is in the attic of the garage to keep the stink out of the house. I'll have a separate, identical setup in the attic so all I need to do is take the planter from one room to the next. At that point, I'm free to start another plant in the basement. The grow area in the attic is over 4' tall so I'm not worried about stretch in the basement. It can stretch all it wants in the attic, I'll just keep her under 4'.

Glad you like the hood, it was half an afternoon of slapping some scrap aluminum sheet around a small frame, hooking up the sockets and pluggin it in. The hood normally sits way closer than what you're seeing for the pics. The bulbs are in there in an inverted V shape so the center of the plant snugs right up into the hood.

I've been slowly training her down but she's been pretty resistant. It takes almost three days for the plant to return to the 'upward' facing position after I strap it down. The stalk is getting huge and all the nodes are actively producing shoots. I plan to flower in another week(?) if she starts really taking off. I can't get over how short and stout this Shackzilla is. I guess I'm used to watching my sativas shoot for the moon outside in soil, this one seems to like it near the ground. Fine with me!

The medium is floor dry product from Tractor Supply. It's similar to the Napa stuff. I screened it through a window screen, washed the shit out of it then let it sit in some Jack's while I got the rest of the stuff together. It tested out to be around 30% air porosity and for $8 for a big ole' bag- I'm set for awhile with this little setup.

There's one, 1.5" tailpiece with a piece of screen over the end of it. It sits an inch from the bottom of the reservoir and has about a 2" air gap. I really haven't played around much with the air gap because it seems like it's just right where it is. I can dig down in the medium a little with my finger when it's dry on top and find moisture just under the surface.

Okay, I think that covers it! If I get time, I'll post some pics of the attic room. I just finished the hood for that area, all I really need to do is assemble the other pump and reservoirs and I'll be ready to flower.

I'll try my best to keep this up to date if folks are interested but my work schedule has me away from a computer for days sometimes. Hopefully the Shack will carry on without me.

Peace out

Solid write up and well laid plan...Nice...

Always good to see another PPKer in the house....

Rock on ~ rocking on and I'll be a lurking over yonder...

Latz.... AD....

Just a quick update

Just a quick update

I finished the flowering room for the Shackzilla, it's pretty much ready to go. I don't have the pump or the reservoir in the pics but those two items are ready. I won't be using a separate bulk reservoir in the flower room. After observing the usage on the veg setup, I don't think it's worth it. I haven't even used a gallon of reserve in the last 3 weeks. Even if I'm gone for three days during flower, the plant should have plenty of fluids without the extra hassle of another tank.
Here are a couple pics of the flower cabinet in the attic. One shows the doors closed, one with the doors open. This is just 1/2" pink Styrofoam slapped together with some hot glue. It's 2'x2'x4' with room to go higher if needed. The light is a reflector I made from scrap alum. pieces and an auto window shade. It fits perfectly inside the cab and will house 4 42w 2700k cfl's. There's a small computer fan you can't see in the photos to provide circulation.

Hey Alien Dawg, you think this is better suited for the 'micro grow' area of the forums? It's a pretty weak setup compared to some of the hydro grows I see going on, just a thought.

I'll post a few pics of the plant soon, it seems to be doing pretty well in the mini PPK. I expected a little bit faster growth, not sure why the delay. I may bump up the PPM a little with the Jack's to see how much she can take. I'm also going to change my water cycle to a 24hr cycle. I have the recycle timer on the same timer as the lights so I'm only watering with the lights on. I think I'll remove the recycle timer from the light timer and allow it to water for a full 24hr period to see if helps the growth rate. Although the plant isn't getting very tall, it's filling out nicely all around. Pics to follow in the next day or two.

Rocketman64 said:

Hey Alien Dawg, you think this is better suited for the 'micro grow' area of the forums? It's a pretty weak setup compared to some of the hydro grows I see going on, just a thought.

I'll post a few pics of the plant soon, it seems to be doing pretty well in the mini PPK. I expected a little bit faster growth, not sure why the delay. I may bump up the PPM a little with the Jack's to see how much she can take. I'm also going to change my water cycle to a 24hr cycle. I have the recycle timer on the same timer as the lights so I'm only watering with the lights on. I think I'll remove the recycle timer from the light timer and allow it to water for a full 24hr period to see if helps the growth rate. Although the plant isn't getting very tall, it's filling out nicely all around. Pics to follow in the next day or two.

Click to expand...

Sup Rocket....

Once she gets dialed and flying you will be rocken this place...
Micro... hahaha Wont be micro for long...

She is just establishing her roots and once laid will take off...

Stay the course bro...
Any feed higher than 600-700 PPM will be a waste.

Floods every 90 minutes....

I wouldn't go with a 24H soak...
You will slow her down more as
the roots need air exchange...


Stay the course,set and forget and you'll be fine soon enough.

3 weeks later~~~ How do I get her to stop growing so much ?



Good vibes to ya,Rocket....

Peace...

Okay, sounds cool. I kinda thought anything above the 600ppm wouldn't gain me much. The plant looks healthy as hell, no indications of any issues.
You're right...I should just let it go. You're also right about the 24hr soak. I didn't think it really needed it once the lights went out.
I'm not used to this indoor stuff, not sure what to expect. I get the feeling I'll be needing a bigger flower room. I guess I'll just keep strapping it down until she can't take no more! I'm not sure I should let it veg much longer, once it starts stretching in flower, I think it's gonna be a handful.
I've always been one to think the more mature the plant is the better off she'll be in flower. I've read articles comparing plants with short veg periods vs. long veg periods. The overall quality of the buds tends to be better. Obviously the yields should be higher but more mature plants produce tighter buds, better-formed trichs, etc... Ever hear this?

NICE MINI SET UP BRO !! , I GOT A QUESTION, WHEN U GUYS SAID 24HR SOAK, U GUYS MEAN THE FEEDING INTERVALS IN A 24HR PERIOD OR SOMETHING DIFFERENT ?

IS SO,
ALIEN DAWG CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY IS A WASTE DURING LIGHT OFF AND THE 90MIN FLOODS AND FOR HOW LONG IS ADEQUATE, (I.E 1-2 MINUTES PER ) ? I REALLY LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR FINDINGS

Rocketman64 said:

Okay, sounds cool. I kinda thought anything above the 600ppm wouldn't gain me much. The plant looks healthy as hell, no indications of any issues.
You're right...I should just let it go. You're also right about the 24hr soak. I didn't think it really needed it once the lights went out.
I'm not used to this indoor stuff, not sure what to expect. I get the feeling I'll be needing a bigger flower room. I guess I'll just keep strapping it down until she can't take no more! I'm not sure I should let it veg much longer, once it starts stretching in flower, I think it's gonna be a handful.

Click to expand...

You can say that again...
The last thing you want to do is get 3/4 the way through
the stretch and run out of head room.....

Topping while in flower stops everything in it's tracks and takes quite awhile to get going again...

I've done it... It sucks...lol

You do need to feed while during dark periods though...

2 minute Floods every 90 minutes 27/7...
You want the water at or over the top of the medium asap.
Around 2 minutes is found to be the golden time frame.
You also want to make sure the pot drains fast as well...
Sucking air into the root zone...

That's where the magic happens.... Nice!!!

I've always been one to think the more mature the plant is the better off she'll be in flower. I've read articles comparing plants with short veg periods vs. long veg periods. The overall quality of the buds tends to be better. Obviously the yields should be higher but more mature plants produce tighter buds, better-formed trichs, etc... Ever hear this?

Click to expand...

My understanding is not so much better buds
with longer veg time's... Just more buds...

Better buds come from trail and dial of any given strain....

federal-inmate said:

NICE MINI SET UP BRO !! , I GOT A QUESTION, WHEN U GUYS SAID 24HR SOAK, U GUYS MEAN THE FEEDING INTERVALS IN A 24HR PERIOD OR SOMETHING DIFFERENT ?

IS SO,
ALIEN DAWG CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY IS A WASTE DURING LIGHT OFF AND THE 90MIN FLOODS AND FOR HOW LONG IS ADEQUATE, (I.E 1-2 MINUTES PER ) ? I REALLY LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR FINDINGS

Click to expand...

Sup, F.I....

I was taking 24 hour soak as None stop flow of water for 24 hours...
A major no no...IMO....

Floods every 90 min. 24/7 is a must as the medium used has almost no wicking ability and you want to keep the plants/roots in the optimal growing environment 24/7 to get the growth rates that PPKs are known for....


I find...
That PPK's....
Pump out pure gold with minimum user interaction,once dialed...

I find...
Other things to do with all the free
time this system allows me...

Alien Dawg said:

Sup Rocket....

Once she gets dialed and flying you will be rocken this place...
Micro... hahaha Wont be micro for long...

She is just establishing her roots and once laid will take off...

Stay the course bro...
Any feed higher than 600-700 PPM will be a waste.

Floods every 90 minutes....

I wouldn't go with a 24H soak...
You will slow her down more as
the roots need air exchange...


Stay the course,set and forget and you'll be fine soon enough.

3 weeks later~~~ How do I get her to stop growing so much ?



Good vibes to ya,Rocket....

Peace...

Click to expand...

I guess I didn't word this correctly: What I meant was the cycle timer is set to shut off during dark periods. I have no flooding going on after lights out. So....you're saying don't soak for a straight 24hr. period- got it. I should continue the 90min. flood cycles during dark periods- got it.
I'll change the timer setup when I get home. Thanks, dude!! Much gratitude

Any time bro...

Good grow to ya and Ill be lurking...




Puff,puff,pass...







.

thanks bro, now I gotchu, I've been lurking to jump to ppk for long time now, I've done mostly all styles like everyone and so far aero and vertical trees and flooded tubes were my best. hoping to enlist in the ppk army soon!!!

ROCKETMAN- NICE JOB!!! SUBD

Alien Dawg said:

Sup, F.I....

I was taking 24 hour soak as None stop flow of water for 24 hours...
A major no no...IMO....

Floods every 90 min. 24/7 is a must as the medium used has almost no wicking ability and you want to keep the plants/roots in the optimal growing environment 24/7 to get the growth rates that PPKs are known for....


I find...
That PPK's....
Pump out pure gold with minimum user interaction,once dialed...

I find...
Other things to do with all the free
time this system allows me...

Click to expand...

thanks bro, now I gotchu, I've been lurking to jump to ppk for long time now, I've done mostly all styles like everyone and so far aero and vertical trees and flooded tubes were my best. hoping to enlist in the ppk army soon!!!

ROCKETMAN- NICE JOB!!! SUBD[/QUOTE]

A few quick pics for reference

A few quick pics for reference

Thought I would post a couple pics of Shackzilla in her current state. She's a short, fat little bitch with a huge main stem and all kinds of growth between nodes. I topped it after I shot the pics somewhere between the third and fourth node. I'm sure she'll be stunted for a bit but then I look for great things to happen. I'll post a couple more in a week or two when we can see what the topping did.

update pics for mini PPK

update pics for mini PPK

I re-configured my mini PPK system to make it even more compact. I realized after a few weeks running this thing it uses very little additional water from the reserve tank. My PPM's are staying over 600 in the main reservoir so, in veg, I don't see any benefit to using a float valve and reserve tank. Even when I leave town for three days, the level stays adequate. I removed the float valve and the reserve tank to the flower room where the plant will probably drink a bit more. I also removed the external lower res. that the planter used to sit on. This was connected by a hose back to the main reservoir. Now, the main reservoir tub acts as the only reservoir in the system. The planter now sits on a piece of plastic with a hole in it for the tailpiece. It's supported by a piece of PVC attached underneath to the white plastic platform that the planter sits on. The PVC has grooves cut in the lower portion of it to allow the water to flow to the tailpiece. I've also included a little level indicator (orange piece of straw sticking up next to the planter). Once the indicator shows the level dropping more than an inch, I can manually add more liquid directly to the planter to bring the level up. The pump now lives in the main tub and supplies the planter via the delivery hose attached to the side of the planter.
The only thing different about the system in the flower room is the float valve is inside the main tub along with the pump. This allows me to attach a separate, gravity-fed holding tank for reserve water. The separate holding tank only holds about a gallon of water, should be enough to supply the plant for a couple weeks. I also added some additional reflective material to the light so I could drop the whole assembly over the system and contain as much light as possible. With the help of a small computer fan, I keep the temps inside the 'tent' around 78F.
In summation. the re-configuration gives me more room and simplifies the system by removing the external reservoir below the plant that was attached by a hose. I still get the same speed of drainage with the plant draining directly into the main tub as I did with the external tank connected by the hose. Obviously, this works for something this small but I'm not convinced this configuration would work with a system of many plants.

that was same thing I though at first why you didn't eliminate the control tank since is just one plant, I like your diy leveling gauge also you can replace the reservoir to a shallower one like sterilite under bed storage, that are like 7" tall and 20" long to make more head space in case you want to veg longer or be ready for a racy strain

Rocketman64 said:

I re-configured my mini PPK system to make it even more compact. I realized after a few weeks running this thing it uses very little additional water from the reserve tank. My PPM's are staying over 600 in the main reservoir so, in veg, I don't see any benefit to using a float valve and reserve tank. Even when I leave town for three days, the level stays adequate. I removed the float valve and the reserve tank to the flower room where the plant will probably drink a bit more. I also removed the external lower res. that the planter used to sit on. This was connected by a hose back to the main reservoir. Now, the main reservoir tub acts as the only reservoir in the system. The planter now sits on a piece of plastic with a hole in it for the tailpiece. It's supported by a piece of PVC attached underneath to the white plastic platform that the planter sits on. The PVC has grooves cut in the lower portion of it to allow the water to flow to the tailpiece. I've also included a little level indicator (orange piece of straw sticking up next to the planter). Once the indicator shows the level dropping more than an inch, I can manually add more liquid directly to the planter to bring the level up. The pump now lives in the main tub and supplies the planter via the delivery hose attached to the side of the planter.
The only thing different about the system in the flower room is the float valve is inside the main tub along with the pump. This allows me to attach a separate, gravity-fed holding tank for reserve water. The separate holding tank only holds about a gallon of water, should be enough to supply the plant for a couple weeks. I also added some additional reflective material to the light so I could drop the whole assembly over the system and contain as much light as possible. With the help of a small computer fan, I keep the temps inside the 'tent' around 78F.
In summation. the re-configuration gives me more room and simplifies the system by removing the external reservoir below the plant that was attached by a hose. I still get the same speed of drainage with the plant draining directly into the main tub as I did with the external tank connected by the hose. Obviously, this works for something this small but I'm not convinced this configuration would work with a system of many plants.
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Click to expand...

Evolution!!! Nice!!!

Looking great bro....

Every space has it's own set of required tweaks and as long as you keep the core concepts in place... Air gap,tail piece,floods then things will continue to rock and roll...

One of my 1st builds and still one of my favorite designs...