hush's 2x2 400w tent, after all

[hush]

I honestly thought I was going to be retiring this tent, but I talked the wife into letting me do one more round in it. So here we go!

I swapped out the big reflector for a mini cool tube, and whipped up 5 little hempy buckets. I planted 3 Stacked Kush clones and 2 Lemon Skunk clones. I'll be feeding Maxibloom. They are vegging under MH light right now, but in only a few days I will be flipping to 12/12. I need to have the harvest dried and in jars by late January when I go out of town. Anyway, pictures:

The Lemon Skunks are the 2 in front. The others are Stacked Kush.

 

[Keif]

Woo! Excited for this one. Is that the 250?

 

[hush]

Nope, this is the 400. I actually haven't used my 250 in a couple years... ever since getting the 400, since it can be dimmed down if needed. Plus, I still only have my old magnetic ballast for the 250, never upgraded that one to digital, and I don't like running magnetic ballasts anymore if I don't have to. I wonder if I'll ever run a 250 again, actually, because to me it seems like any situation that works with a 250 would work with a 400 dialed down to 75%.

 

[unregistered190]

Enjoy reading all your journals Hush!
Have you always done hempy buckets or just prefer hempy over other grow methods?
And........straight perlite? or a mixture?
Thanks

 

[hush]

Thanks, friend.

I am relatively new to the hempy method. I was finally urged to try it by someone who I complained to about how warm my res always got in the middle of summer. I have always been very big into DWC and flood/drain. But during the summer I would always have to keep adding h2o2 daily in order to keep things from growing in there, and i would have to change out the entire res more often than I should have.

So I was told that the hempy method offers almost just as quick of a growth rate as DWC, and I figured maybe I should try it out. I'm very glad I did, because that is exactly how I would describe it... the growth rate of DWC minus all the hassles. I admit, flood and drain is still my favorite, but I find it better suited to lots of small plants crammed on to the table, and since I don't like keeping large numbers of plants around, I can't justify it. It's just so much easier and convenient, though.

I have experimented with both straight perlite, and a perlite/vermiculite mix, but I've decided to stick with the mix (75/25) from now on. That little bit of vermiculite helps to retain water in the medium, whereas the straight perlite ones need to be watered more often. Also the vermiculite acts as a wetting agent, helping to spread the moisture throughout the medium, and perlite tends to have dry spots if you don't adjust for that. I'm a huge fan of hempys, because they require barely any effort to get going, and the ongoing maintenance is pretty nil. The downside is the waste, but there are things that can be done to justify that.

 

[rbt]

I like you setup a 450cfm exhaust fan is huge. it must exchange the entire volume of air in the tent every 2 seconds well or capable with max performance of course restrictions but still. I have a similar DR60 going with LED and supplement w 2 CFL's first grow. Have a friend who wants to go HID on his first start. I believe if a group had a clone network going a person could do very well in a DR60. I will be following your grow

 

[hush]

I don't know where the confusion came from, but the fan on this tent is not that powerful. It's actually a 175 cfm centrifugal from iPower. It's the 4" variety. Still though, it provides plenty of airflow. Considering there is only 20 cubic feet in this tent, it is more than enough. It also helps using a cool tube instead of a larger, boxier style air-cooled reflector. Air just whooshes through it!

Thanks for the props. Yes, with a steady supply of clones, a DR60 paired with a 250 or a 400, dialed in, would be quite productive!

 

[seeingthings]

Looking great man!

I'm on my second run of hempys right now, so far so good, just flipped to 12/12 on the first.

Plants were looking pissed off today, mostly lower growth.

How often do you flush with your hempys? I've run into problems with buildup unless I flush about every 4 weeks. I'm using liquid seaweed though, seems to really accumulate after a while.

 

[fonzee]

Good luck

 

[hush]

How often do you flush with your hempys? I've run into problems with buildup unless I flush about every 4 weeks. I'm using liquid seaweed though, seems to really accumulate after a while.

I could imagine needing to flush lots if using organic stuff like liquid seaweed. But no, I don't have to flush like that ever. I use clean salts, and I don't overdo it, so I've never dealt with a toxicity. I generally will feed until the holes start barely overflowing, then I stop. Then once every week or 2 (depending on where in the growth cycle I am) I will actually let it overflow for a couple of minutes before I stop. I do flush at the end though.

Aren't hempys great?

 

[big mike]

where did you get the cooltube?

 

[hush]

Found it on ebay. There seems to be only one seller selling these things, and they really are great. I'm surprised more people aren't making them. It's pretty well put together, too. I honestly don't remember what search terms pulled it up, but off the top of my head, I would say try "mini cool tube."

 

[Mister_D]

Cool shit hush Subbed.

 

[killerweed31]

lookin promising bro, i keep my eyes on this one..very interesting hempy style

 

[hush]

Well today I setup the irrigation system, but I am unable to automate it just yet. I need to install a tee and lower the pressure from the pump, because the buckets start overflowing in 10 seconds, but my timers only go down to 1 minute increments. I might even buy a new timer that does seconds. Anyway, here's the setup:

There is a 5 gallon bucket up above the tent with a pump inside. Half inch tubing takes the nutrient solution down to a manifold inside the tent:

Then the manifold feeds spaghetti tubing that goes to the individual buckets:

The plants look a little chlorotic, but that's just because the roots haven't made it down to the reservoirs yet. This should fix itself any day now.

 

[seeingthings]

Irrigation system looks cool! I tried something similar before except with a pond pump in the storage bucket. This kept the pressure really low, took 3 min to hit the drain hole on the buckets.

Check Home de Pot , they have a manifold in their drip irrigation section. It has 5 or 6 ports each with individual valves. You might be able to slow down the flow pressure some by adjusting the valves. I think it was about $5.
Flowering my second hempy grow right now. Love it!

2 laughing buddha in the back, 2 sweet tooth in the middle, deep cheese in the front and a little critical cheese auto that I didn't get in the flower tent quick enough.

I'm using a 400w in a 3x3.

 

[seeingthings]

I could imagine needing to flush lots if using organic stuff like liquid seaweed. But no, I don't have to flush like that ever. I use clean salts, and I don't overdo it, so I've never dealt with a toxicity. I generally will feed until the holes start barely overflowing, then I stop. Then once every week or 2 (depending on where in the growth cycle I am) I will actually let it overflow for a couple of minutes before I stop. I do flush at the end though.

Aren't hempys great?

I agree on the seaweed. I used seaweed heavily in my 1st hempy grow. At max levels ~10ml a gal. Results were great but the seaweed buildup was insane. Needed a good flush at least once a week. I was feeding with every watering though. This time around I'm using just water with some actinovate and canna rhoto every 2 feedings or so. Using much less seaweed in the nutes too. Instead I started foliar feeding with seaweed which also seems to be working great!

 

[hush]

Nice garden, brother! Thanks for the tips... I ended up installing a couple of valves and a tee that returns water right back into the bucket, so now I have more control over the water pressure.

Here's a quick shot of the plants:

 

[seeingthings]

Nice garden, brother! Thanks for the tips... I ended up installing a couple of valves and a tee that returns water right back into the bucket, so now I have more control over the water pressure.

Wow they've already grown quite a bit since the last photo!

Reminds me, I need to grab one of those flood trays for my tent. Do you use a pump to clear it out or fittings on the tray piped into waste bucket?

 

[hush]

Piped into a waste bucket, so to speak. This little flood table here is actually a flood and drain system by Hydrofarm, called the Megagarden. The flood table sits flush on top of the res, which is only like 8 gallons. So basically I just took the fittings off the table, for quick drainage, and the overflow from the buckets just sinks down below. I'll then pump it all out of there once a week or so. I haven't had to yet, but yeah, that'll be easy enough.