You mean I can run 2 lamps off 1 ballast....!?
huh? what?
big plant ppk
- Thread starter delta9nxs
- Start date
huh? what?
Nice!
Nice!
So anyhow, I did manage to find some turface through John Deere Landscapes. Sweet! 50 lbs bags for $16.
Not gonna lie, due to the growth ive seen in these ppks,im trying to copy this system as a side project. I think i've got the module down, the sub-irrigation down, the module irrigation down, but i'm having a hard time finding some fittings for the lower buckets and the main res.
I saw you referenced carlon electrical fittings, and found many types, but none that would have the o ring like you said. I do have a Lowes nearby too.
I'm hoping i can get away with using general organics in this system, as well, as i'm not familiar with "jacks" and would also have to source it. Not to say i'm not into trying it, but i'll save that battle for later if I can.
Nice!
So anyhow, I did manage to find some turface through John Deere Landscapes. Sweet! 50 lbs bags for $16.
Not gonna lie, due to the growth ive seen in these ppks,im trying to copy this system as a side project. I think i've got the module down, the sub-irrigation down, the module irrigation down, but i'm having a hard time finding some fittings for the lower buckets and the main res.
I saw you referenced carlon electrical fittings, and found many types, but none that would have the o ring like you said. I do have a Lowes nearby too.
I'm hoping i can get away with using general organics in this system, as well, as i'm not familiar with "jacks" and would also have to source it. Not to say i'm not into trying it, but i'll save that battle for later if I can.
this is a Carlon brand 1/2" Liquidtight model flexible electrical conduit fitting. both lowes and hd's have them. also, jrpeterslab.com 5-12-26 hydroponic special and calcinit. absolutely the best fert i have ever used and i have used gh, botanicare, ionic, advanced nutrients, technaflora, and a whole bunch of other stuff. there are no battles with jack's if used right. it simply grows the biggest, healthiest cannabis plants for me.
Last edited:
Is anyone using these 1/2" water tight grommets?
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/241164
used to use them when running DWC, never leaked.
13/16" hole, squeezem in there and 1/2" hose w connector: http://www.hydroponics.net/i/333150
Jacks links, not easy to locate... for me anyway.
Jacks link:
http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Jack-s-Professional/Jack-s-Pro/Specialty-Crop-Formulas/5-12-26-Hydroponic.html
Peters Calcium Nitrate link:
http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Specialty-Nutrients/Buy-Specialty-Nutrients.html
ya might have to cut and paste it.
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/241164
used to use them when running DWC, never leaked.
13/16" hole, squeezem in there and 1/2" hose w connector: http://www.hydroponics.net/i/333150
Jacks links, not easy to locate... for me anyway.
Jacks link:
http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Jack-s-Professional/Jack-s-Pro/Specialty-Crop-Formulas/5-12-26-Hydroponic.html
Peters Calcium Nitrate link:
http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Specialty-Nutrients/Buy-Specialty-Nutrients.html
ya might have to cut and paste it.
SecondAttempt
Active member
I'm using those grommets in the 3/4 inch variety... No leaks yet (knock on wood).
hey, ghudda! as we have gone to saturation pulsing for big plants we have also gone up in tubing size to increase flow.
i recommend no less than 1/2" id for this. my system is back at equilibrium in less than 3 minutes from a total saturation pulse. that is real fast.
Same here in Fla, cant get MVP, paid $40 for one bag delivered and not much, if any, better than:
Mule Mix : http://mulemix.com/products/field-materials thell them you want the larger particl mix. Good people and after using a bag, it is almost the same as MVP, except it is red and the people there were very helpful.
randomharvest
New member
Hey Delta
Long time listener...first time caller. Great evolution. Quick question. When you pre-charged your coco was it 2000 or 3000 ppm?
Long time listener...first time caller. Great evolution. Quick question. When you pre-charged your coco was it 2000 or 3000 ppm?
D
DaveTheNewbie
i believe it was 2000 PPM 4 EC, but im sure the man will confirm
icdog
Member
Hey d9. I think I get 99% of this setup and am about to build one to get the other 1%. You flood for 60 seconds every 30 min?
I read your post on how you use the 1 gallon container with the small hole but I don't get how if you flood for 60 seconds, the level in the control bucket drops because the water is now pumped to the pots which then returns to the control bucket. My question is, in the time the pump is on, the float valve drops and water from the volume res is now coming into the control bucket can it over fill? I'm guessing you rigged it so it doesn't or dialed it someway but I can see that being an issue, unless it refills very slowly from the volume res or the pots drain very quickly so the float valve goes back up and closes the incoming hose.
Hope I explained my question so you can understand it.
Thanks.
I read your post on how you use the 1 gallon container with the small hole but I don't get how if you flood for 60 seconds, the level in the control bucket drops because the water is now pumped to the pots which then returns to the control bucket. My question is, in the time the pump is on, the float valve drops and water from the volume res is now coming into the control bucket can it over fill? I'm guessing you rigged it so it doesn't or dialed it someway but I can see that being an issue, unless it refills very slowly from the volume res or the pots drain very quickly so the float valve goes back up and closes the incoming hose.
Hope I explained my question so you can understand it.
Thanks.
D
DaveTheNewbie
what most people are doing is sticking something in the res so that the float valve cant drop too far and therefore it cant fill too fast so that the overfill is minimal.
my advice is get a res with enough overfill volume spare over the top of the desired height. That way when the water is in the pipes and the float drops to let more in, it doesnt flood so much as overfill in a way that can be handled.
icdog
Member
Thanks Dave I thought that might be a solution, after asking this I had another question because I haven't tested this yet.
D9 says it takes 3 min to get back to equilibrium which I think means the saturation is done and all the water is back in the control bucket.
If you have say 18 plants in the system and the pulse pump turns on it could possibly empty the control bucket, I'd need a control bucket with enough volume to handle that amount since you don't want a refill from the volume res to quick. I'm not sure how to sort this out other then a control bucket with enough volume.
D9 says it takes 3 min to get back to equilibrium which I think means the saturation is done and all the water is back in the control bucket.
If you have say 18 plants in the system and the pulse pump turns on it could possibly empty the control bucket, I'd need a control bucket with enough volume to handle that amount since you don't want a refill from the volume res to quick. I'm not sure how to sort this out other then a control bucket with enough volume.
^
and a larger container doesnt necessarily fix this as you'd still only be maintaining limited solution to keep your "air gap" where you want it.
I used a 1" bulkhead to link a few of those 27 Gal yellow top boxes together. Link them together near their bottoms and water level will equalize between the two.
and a larger container doesnt necessarily fix this as you'd still only be maintaining limited solution to keep your "air gap" where you want it.
I used a 1" bulkhead to link a few of those 27 Gal yellow top boxes together. Link them together near their bottoms and water level will equalize between the two.
howdy, randomharvest! welcome aboard!
2000-3000 i really don't know because i just dumped in a heaping tablespoon of each part into approx 4-4.5 gals. it pegged my meter and it reads up to 2000. (bluelab)
but this is into an already wet medium that has just stopped draining. i rinsed my coco in the grow container one last time and let that run out. when it totally stopped dripping i would pour in the charging solution and then let it run all the way out.
that's it. put a clone in it and watch it go. no displays, no stalls, nothing but rapid growth.
icdog, you are going to build 18 plant positions?
the first place to start is deciding how big you want the containers to be. you said 18 plants as large as you can make them so i calculate that you will need approx 360-450 sq ft of floor space and a minimum 7' ceiling for the plants to justify using the tractor supply feed pans. do you have that? 360 is 20 sq ft and 450 is 25 sq ft.
if not then you need to downsize appropriately.
get back to me on this and then we can proceed to reservoir needs from there.
the first place to start is deciding how big you want the containers to be. you said 18 plants as large as you can make them so i calculate that you will need approx 360-450 sq ft of floor space and a minimum 7' ceiling for the plants to justify using the tractor supply feed pans. do you have that? 360 is 20 sq ft and 450 is 25 sq ft.
if not then you need to downsize appropriately.
get back to me on this and then we can proceed to reservoir needs from there.
ok, then i recommend you try to duplicate my build here as it is working flawlessly.
it is all balanced from a flow perspective.
i'm using the truck box to supply 10 positions now and it's way too large so it or something like it would work for you with 18 positions.
what i failed to calculate in advance that has a profound effect on the reservoir sizing is the volume held in the plumbing.
i have approx 80' of 2" pvc in the system and it holds about 13 gallons. 3.1416 x radius squared x length in inches / 231 = 13.056
each bottom bucket at 8" holds approx 2.857 so with 18 you would have 51.43 there.
so you are at 64.43 gals without the res already. assuming you have 80' of pvc.
now we have to establish how large the res needs to be to function without running dry or starving the pump.
this is dependent on how fast you can flood your containers.
right now in both flower and veg i'm flooding a full flood every hour and i like the way the plants look. not too wet, not too dry, leaves out flat, no droop, good turgor. looks like they are diggin' it.
i have a magdrive 2400 gph in flower and it will flood my 10 containers at about 30 seconds run time. a pulse takes about three minutes total from start to finish. and by finish i mean back to equlibrium in the res.
this is really fast and the plants are loving it.
so that's a pump capacity of 240 gph per position. you can function fine with much less but get the biggest pump you can for those 18.
in veg i run a magdrive 950 gph on 3 plants soon to be 4. so with 4 that would be 237.5 per position. it also floods these 3 in about 35 seconds.
the idea is to complete the watering event in as short as a time frame as possible to give the plant as much time as possible in the most dynamic growth conditions between pulses.
a smaller pump will work fine but it has to run longer per event as the grow container is rapidly draining at the same time it is being filled.
and this affects your decision on reservoir size.
with the 2" pvc pipe on mine the surface in the res begins rolling from the water from the returns or drains before the pulse is even finished.
so this decreases the reservoir volume necessary.
i could have gotten by with a smaller res but the shape of this one is really nice. it's up against the wall but the lid still opens fully and stays up on it's hinges. it protrudes less than 2'. and it is perfectly flat on the bottom so has max contact with a giant concrete slab for cooling and has flat vertical sides for ease of installation.
and it must have been condensation on the outside because i turned on the de huey and it stopped.
go back and look at the build and feel free to ask anything else.
editing to add that it doesn't cost much to operate a big hairy pump in this system as mine is only actually running 12 minutes per day right now.
in my bio-bucket set up i ran 2 950's 24/7 for 2 years. and got nowhere near the yield.
it is all balanced from a flow perspective.
i'm using the truck box to supply 10 positions now and it's way too large so it or something like it would work for you with 18 positions.
what i failed to calculate in advance that has a profound effect on the reservoir sizing is the volume held in the plumbing.
i have approx 80' of 2" pvc in the system and it holds about 13 gallons. 3.1416 x radius squared x length in inches / 231 = 13.056
each bottom bucket at 8" holds approx 2.857 so with 18 you would have 51.43 there.
so you are at 64.43 gals without the res already. assuming you have 80' of pvc.
now we have to establish how large the res needs to be to function without running dry or starving the pump.
this is dependent on how fast you can flood your containers.
right now in both flower and veg i'm flooding a full flood every hour and i like the way the plants look. not too wet, not too dry, leaves out flat, no droop, good turgor. looks like they are diggin' it.
i have a magdrive 2400 gph in flower and it will flood my 10 containers at about 30 seconds run time. a pulse takes about three minutes total from start to finish. and by finish i mean back to equlibrium in the res.
this is really fast and the plants are loving it.
so that's a pump capacity of 240 gph per position. you can function fine with much less but get the biggest pump you can for those 18.
in veg i run a magdrive 950 gph on 3 plants soon to be 4. so with 4 that would be 237.5 per position. it also floods these 3 in about 35 seconds.
the idea is to complete the watering event in as short as a time frame as possible to give the plant as much time as possible in the most dynamic growth conditions between pulses.
a smaller pump will work fine but it has to run longer per event as the grow container is rapidly draining at the same time it is being filled.
and this affects your decision on reservoir size.
with the 2" pvc pipe on mine the surface in the res begins rolling from the water from the returns or drains before the pulse is even finished.
so this decreases the reservoir volume necessary.
i could have gotten by with a smaller res but the shape of this one is really nice. it's up against the wall but the lid still opens fully and stays up on it's hinges. it protrudes less than 2'. and it is perfectly flat on the bottom so has max contact with a giant concrete slab for cooling and has flat vertical sides for ease of installation.
and it must have been condensation on the outside because i turned on the de huey and it stopped.
go back and look at the build and feel free to ask anything else.
editing to add that it doesn't cost much to operate a big hairy pump in this system as mine is only actually running 12 minutes per day right now.
in my bio-bucket set up i ran 2 950's 24/7 for 2 years. and got nowhere near the yield.
Last edited:
this is a simple roughly accurate test for air filled porosity.
materials needed: container of known capacity, here i used the ubiquitous 18 oz solo cup all growers know and love. it holds 18 full to the rim.
fill it with your medium, do not compact it but you should load it in and thump it, tap it, settle it. fill to the top.
slowly fill with water, also to the top, tapping and thumping to get the air bubbles out. top with additional medium if necessary and it usually is.
some media, like coco, requires a soak time so fill it and wait a while, add more of whatever is necessary.
materials needed: container of known capacity, here i used the ubiquitous 18 oz solo cup all growers know and love. it holds 18 full to the rim.
fill it with your medium, do not compact it but you should load it in and thump it, tap it, settle it. fill to the top.
slowly fill with water, also to the top, tapping and thumping to get the air bubbles out. top with additional medium if necessary and it usually is.
some media, like coco, requires a soak time so fill it and wait a while, add more of whatever is necessary.
Last edited:
full of mediium and water.
holding it level to avoid spillage, cut one corner off.
drain it until it's done.
but is it really done? actually no, because the perched water table has formed and is holding a bunch of water up in the medium.
so, stick a toothpick or something up into the medium about halfway to drain it.
this could take a while so tilt it tap it whatever to get the water out.
holding it level to avoid spillage, cut one corner off.
drain it until it's done.
but is it really done? actually no, because the perched water table has formed and is holding a bunch of water up in the medium.
so, stick a toothpick or something up into the medium about halfway to drain it.
this could take a while so tilt it tap it whatever to get the water out.
Last edited:
