Ambre's New Grow Setup

[Guest]

Mariman-

Yes, I start the seedlings in perlite. One of the advantages of perlite is that it wicks moisture well.

I use a cup that is about 5" tall. I punch several holes in the bottom of the cup and set the cup in a shallow container. Wet the perlite and let the excess water flow into the container. Loosen the top of the perlite so it isn't packed tight, then set the seed in place and cover with about 1/8" to 1/4" of perlite; mist to moisten this top layer. If it's a strain I know has a hard-to-crack shell, I use a bit of vermiculite around the seed to hold extra moisture. Cover the cup with a piece of plastic wrap to retain moisture until the seed sprouts. Keep about 1/4" to 1/2" of water in the container; the perlite will soak it up as it needs it.

When the seed sprouts, remove the plastic wrap and put it under a weak light. The seedling should have enough nutrient to get it to the first set of leaves, then I use a weak hydroponic fertilizer solution to water it. I usually alternate plain pH adjusted water with the weak fertilizer to avoid burning the seedling. Put the water and fertilizer in the container, not over the top of the seedling; this encourages the seedling to dig deep with its roots to get to the larger amount of moisture at the bottom of the cup. Since the perlite will wick water for about 8", it won't be short of water in the cup.

When the seedling is about a week to 1-1/2 weeks old, I remove it from the cup gently, rinse the perlite out of the roots with lukewarm water, and put it into a cloning-size bubbler with a nutrient solution of about 300 ppm. I greadually increase the strength of the nutrient solution as the seedling grows and transfer it to a full size hydroponic unit (bubbler or ebb & flow) when it outgrows the cloner-size bubber.

The collars are about 3/4" long pieces I cut off of a tube of foam pipe insulation. Home Depot and Lowes both sell 6' lengths of it for about $1. I use the 1/2" size for the small seedlings & clones; it also comes in a size for 3/4" pipe which I use for the larger bubbler. Don't buy the foam that has the adhesive strips on it - get the plain stuff.

 

[Guest]

Hey Ambre! Found yer thread!

Nice to see other DIYers planning and building! Love the attention to detail. The bathtub grow caught my eye - that was the first grow I ever did, in the spare bathroom.

 

[Guest]

Hey 1Toke-

This is actually my second bathroom grow - this time it's in the main bathroom & not the spare! The main bathroom is away from everything; the spare is right on the road - I figured it was better to vent 80' away from the road than right on the road.

I really miss Michigan basements. Basements don't exist around here; the ground isn't suited and the water table is too high. Underground would be so much cooler here.

That Rubbermaid tub looks familiar - I've got several of those sitting around the house!

I like doing things myself. I've been a hobby-type person all my life. Both my parents were, so I came by it honestly.

I've already started planning the next crop. I've seen so much better growth in my experimentation with the bubblers that I'm going to go with bubblers for the flowering garden next time. I found wonderful rectangular kitty-litter buckets that are about 11" x 9" x 11". I could fit 8-10 of them into the garden depending on plant size and how much reservoir room I have. I want to do recirculating bubblers with a reservoir for the convenience of being able to change out nutes without hving to do each plant individually.

Since I'm going to be doing a test-grow of the Johnny Blaze next round, that will go in my main flowering garden. I'm building a smaller Rubbermaid tub container that I figure I can use to flower 3-4 small indicas using SCROG. I'll probably set that one up for recirculating bubblers, too, by putting it up on a table or stand.

 

[Guest]

Good common sense with the venting farthest away from the traffic.

The Michigan basements are great - the dozen knots on the back of my head from those beams attest to that.

Good idea with the seperate res - I was along that line of thought at one time. Throughout a few experimental hydro grows I noticed how rare I needed to access the tank, and my original plan was low maintenance, the best of a few techniques (F&D, E&F, Bio and WaterFarm), and a single contained unit aiding mobility. Notice on one end of my tub is a clear tube water level gauge, doubling as a fluid viewer, drain and fill hose. I underestimated the enormous rootball expanse, tho, and had to access to clear the roots from the air wands. I noticed that they reach for and grab the wands, creating a stagnant spot by imparing circulation and inviting slime and rot, so I had to stir them to rinse them a couple times. I like your net filter for the roots getting into the lines, and I may add a screen shelf just above the pump height to keep the roots at bay above it away from the air wands and pump input.

Home dePOT had some 10" net pots for a buck each, and they are 10x10. With the right size tub one could probably fit 6 in a tub top. I like the square kitty litter buckets too - never thought of those!

I'll be pulling up a chair, if you don't mind to watch the show, if the trich production of my clones is any indication at this early stage - I think we'll be more than pleased with this new strain! Got a feelin it's gonna be a very good show!

See ya in chat sometime! The gurlz are taking over some nights.

 

[Guest]

1Toke-

I know what you mean about the lumps on the back of the head! The house I grew up in had a nice high ceiling, but the 175 year old farmhouse my parents bought after I was out on my own only had ceilings about 5' to 5'6" tall depending on what section you were in. Ouch!

I noticed the water guage; I've actually used that before. I've also come to the conclusion that making holes in containers below water level is just an invitation to a leak (sooner or later). I'm designing the system so that the only hose in danger is the drain hose and, since that will be at the top of the bucket, it won't be in much danger. The feed & air hoses will go in from the top the same way I run the feed hoses for the E&F units. The end of the feed hose will be an inch or two from the bottom of the bucket; that way, if there is a power failure, there will be some reserve water for the plants (the rest of the water will siphon into the reservoir, meaning I need a reservoir large enough to hold the drain water from all the planters plus reserve).

I don't use air stones, I use lengths of 1/4" rubber soaker hose that is sold for irrigation systems. I use a large pin to poke extra-large holes every inch or so along the hose when I assemble it; as long as I wiggle the pin around enough to make the hole big enough, they work for several weeks. I figure if I have air bubbling inside of each planter, air bubbling in the reservoir, and water dropping through the air from the drain hose back into the reservoir, I should get plenty of oxygen to the roots.

I check water levels in the current bubblers with a dipstick that is marked with gallons (as I fill the container the first time, I put the stick in with each gallon and mark it). That way, I just slide the dipstick in through a hole in the lid, pull it out, and see where the water level is. I also have one of these dipsticks for the E&F system reservoir. This hole is also used for top-offs and to pull a sample of water to check pH and TDS every day. I completely change out the res every 2-3 weeks; in the winter I may not need to so often, but even now the res temps are close to 80. I changed the reservoirs last night and the amount of cloudy gunk in there was pretty bad (3 weeks). I add H2O2 every couple of days, too. Since the current bubblers are holding the mother plants, not flowering plants that will be disposed of in a few weeks, I have to keep up with maintaining the res a bit more carefully.

How many days of flowering on those clones? Those are some gorgeous flowers & awesome trichs. Your macro photography skill is pretty good, too! What camera do you use? I've got a 5MP Sony DSC-F717. Once my flowers are big enough, I am going to pull out the tripod and see how good my camera is at macro. I can focus to about 2 cm (just under an inch) in macro mode. I had real macro extenders for the lenses on my old film cameras, but I haven't used those cameras in at least 5 years.

Well, I'd better get the litter boxes cleaned & trash put out. They collect trash in the morning before my alarm goes off, so I have to do it before bed.

 

[mariman]

thanks for the info Ambre!!!

 

[Guest]

Rubbermaid Container

Rubbermaid Container

I put the info on the stand-alone rubbermaid container garden in a separate thread, so I thought I'd put a link to that thread here for those who are interested.

Rubbermaid Container Garden

 

[Guest]

ambre... i gotta say
<<<<<<< BIG FAN!

really like what your doing.

 

[guineapig]

ambre you rock out loud!

Your DIY looks like a professionally produced product!! When do you open your hydroponic technology company? kudos, gp

 

[bad wizard]

ambre i guess your making fans all over.... count me in.
i'd love to show you my simple top feeding table (no digi cam ) ... all in due time.

but your skills at converting closets are far beyond what i've concieved.. very gonzo.
right on!
yea open your own shop we need more in TX.

 

[BullsNBowls]

Great job and aesome idea. I have one of those Rubbermaid tubs in the covered patio I use to mix and keep my soils. But now you're giving me ideas. Never grew with cfl's before though. Just started using them for the sprouting beans till I get them in soil and under the thouey. Great DIY'er and you deserve an A+.

 

[Guest]

Recirculating DWC Build

Recirculating DWC Build

I was going to put my new Recirc DWC system in here, but decided to give it its own thread.

Recirculating DWC

 

[HiKing808]

hey ambre i was wondering, that shelf in the first picture in post #8, what is it made of and how did you make it???
great looking cab by the way!
thanks for any help

 

[Guest]

hey ambre i was wondering, that shelf in the first picture in post #8, what is it made of and how did you make it???
great looking cab by the way!
thanks for any help

Thanks!

It's made of 3/4" plywood sealed with three coats of Kilz mildew-resistant primer. The corners are cut out to fit around the PVC fittings and holes are drilled in the shelf to allow air flow from the bottom. It just sits inside the framework resting on the crossbars.

 

[HiKing808]

wow thanks for awnsering soo fast!
i noticed you are using reflectix for your walls, i was wondering were you got it from? my
home depot here doesn't have it! do you know of any online stores that sell it??
thanks again

 

[HiKing808]

oh also how did you attatch it to the pvc? did you just use tape? will that be strong enough?

 

[sysprog]

ambre, I hope you are well and safe.
Thoughtfully yours
sy.....

 

[Guest]

System Updates

System Updates

Here are some changes I've made to the system since I built it and some extra notes:

Reservoir (Post #34, pg 3)

Intake - the filter made of polyfill on the intake hose was a mistake. The suction from the pump pulled fibers out of the polyfill and then "wound" it into rope on the impeller, which eventually broke the pump. Use the intake filter that comes with the pump; it's much safer!


Manifold - Do not use the prebuilt manifolds or fittings from Walmart. They plug up easily and don't allow enough nute solution to go through.

I now build my manifolds from 5/8" or 3/4" garden hose (lightweight but reinforced).

Close off one end of the hose. You can either put a male hose connector on the end and buy a screw-on end cap or do it the "pluggers" way. I dip about 2" of the end of the hose in hot water to make it soft, fold it over twice, and hold it closed with a cable tie - I tug the tie tight with a pair of pliers to make sure it's secure.

Use 1/4" straight fittings to connect the feed lines to this length of garden hose. I put them all in line about 1/3" apart starting about 1" below the closed-off end. I use the pointy end of a pair of trimmer scissors to make the hole in the garden hose, but they sell a hole punch for the purpose. I prefer the scissors; I can customize the size of the hole. Once you have all the fittings placed, cut the hose about 2" below the bottom fitting (leave extra length if you think you may need to add more feed lines later).

To connect directly to the pump: Use a 1/2" to 3/4" size hose clamp to secure this manifold onto the output of the pump. Again, I usually dip the end of the hose into hot water to help it adjust to the new size smoothly and grip tight.

To connect to a "Y" splitter: put a female connector on the open end and use teflon tape on the threads to secure the manifold to the "Y" splitter.


Airstones - I don't use purchased airstones any more. I now use the recycled rubber (porous) type of soaker hose in 1/4" size as airstones. I don't use the laser drilled type hose that has holes every couple inches; the recycled rubber hose allows fine air bubbles to come out and aerates the water much better. Walmart sells it during the summer in the garden department in 50' lengths; I usually buy 3-4 packages each year because I replace the hoses periodically. Flex and twist the hose around before using it to get the pores open good; if the air flow slows down, simply flex the hose around again to open them up. Eventually the salts in the nute solution will crud up the hose, which is why I replace them every 4 months or so. They are still cheaper and plug up less than any real airstone I've ever tried!

Building: I use two circles of airhose per container. I make the circle big enough to cover from one end of the container to about 3/4 the way to the other end (this way the two hoses overlap and there are bubbles in the middle of the container as well as around the sides). Use a "T" fitting to connect the two ends of the hose into a circle and then connect the third prong of the "T" to the air pump. I use two-outlet airpumps, so one circle of hose gets connected to each outlet.

The hoses will tend to float up. To stop this, I make weights of stainless steel nuts held with 4" cable ties. The nuts are from the hardware dept at Walmart (the ones in the green packages are stainless steel). I thread 5 nuts onto the cable tie, wrap the cable tie around the soaker hose, and zip it shut. I find that spacing weights about 8" apart is usually enough.


Carbon Scrubber (Post #51, page 4)

Two layers of the thin quilt batting put quite a restriction on air flow. I have reduced this to one layer of thin batting in order to allow more air to flow through.

 

[sysprog]

Nice to see ya Ambre! Improvements, improvements! Good job. I use the same soaker hose and buy it in the fall when wally clearances off the garden dept. I pick up T's, hoses and such at usually 50%-75% off. I use the black river stones instead of SS nuts, a few dabs of hotmelt glue glues the stones to the soaker hose and the bottom of the tub. 99% of the time the glue seperates from teh tub but the glob keeps the stone connected to the hose. I've also just dropped the whole bag of stone on each end of the hose to hold it down (when I found the hose floating it was a quick fix). Picked up in the craft/flower dept. As always, the best to you!!!

 

[Snowboardergnu]

looking good man. Thanks for all the good ideas.