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New 4 Plant Site RDWC system - Grape Gas

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
I needed to top off this morning as usual but I went ahead and diluted the res down from about 600 to 525 or thereabouts. I'm afraid I did hurt this grow with overfeeding and it's a lesson well learned, thanks for all the input and feedback. Lots of dark green still and clawing on the larger fans. Not sure what this means, but some of the big fans are starting to turn a dark shade of purple.

So Moe, I am still having trouble with this app for the light. I did what the guy said yesterday and it's not working, I still have all the locks on my recipe sliders and I can't get it to positively do what I want it to do with confidence. For example, when I try to rename the copied recipe from Scynce, the app locks up and won't let me save the new name....the only way out is to reboot the app. I'm guessing they are still working out the kinks in the app? I dunno.

If I have time today, I am going to try to create a recipe from scratch with all the parameters you have set forth and go with that. Lowered the light again today another foot or so.
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
OK, so I took a closer look. Apparently there was something in the cup when i measured ppms the other day. I checked the tank directly and I'm sitting at about 45ppm....not too bad I guess? Better than I thought anyway.

I'm guessing I screw one of those filters off and test right in that filter assembly? I know the filters definitely look used but from what I understand, they will get a lot more gunked up before they are toast?

Here are some photos of the system.

IMG_2357.JPG

IMG_2358.JPG


IMG_2359.JPG
 

Moe.Red

Active member
agree with steam

To test output directly,

Turn off the valve going to the tank on the blue hose
disconnect the push to fit on the tank side of the valve
Open the valve, grab a cupful of water
test water

If water directly out of the filter is less than the tank, you still have some contamination. At 40PPM, I wouldn't sweat it. But at least you will know.
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
Your prefilters look OK.
45 left from 800 would be reasonable.
DI which needs regular replacement and is the most expensive media in RO would get you 0.
Is that the pressure the unit runs at showing on the gauge or is the feed valve off?
That is really low.

So that pressure gauge is on the low side at the time of the photo because it's at the low end of the pressure tank shut off switch. We're on a well and if you are not familiar with that sort of system, there is a pressure tank that maintains water pressure when the pump is off. When that kicks on, the pressure goes up and then as it's filtering the water, the pressure drops until that switch kicks on again. What you see there is about as low as it goes, never really goes into the yellow.
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
The pump I have for is a beast if you want it.
Probably too much pump.
1270GPH at 13'head!
Blue line 40. https://www.aquacave.com/blueline-40-hd-x-external-aquarium-water-pump-by-pan-world.html
It runs 130 watts so may really not be what you want. Not sure if that is good or bad?
If you want it is yours.
I have replacement DC pumps stacked up new in boxes.

Wow, thanks bro. Let's see what Moe has to say about it and whether or not it would be overkill.

What do you need for the pump if we go that way? I imagine it's heavy too for shipping purposes?

I'm kinda excited about this, I thought that Jeoba was beef noodle.....this one makes the pumps I am currently using look like toys 😀
 

steamroller

Active member
The Jeboa honestly is a good pump and think they list it as external use also.
It is just years of interaction with people all over the world when DC pump first hit the market that make one wise. They were a hit on the fish forums when first introduced.
The funny on it if it leaks is it will exactly in the same spot as the double maybe triple the cost German who invented or first mass produced it. It is all in the molds tooling! For both of them?
If you were in between a grow and could play and find out I would try it, but be prepared to adapt.

The pump is yours if Moe says you can work it. Shipping is cheap doing flat rate.
It is heavy but fits in a medium flat rate box well protected no problem!
I got the pump when someone on a fish forum was giving away his 120g marine tank with everything.
The givers only requirement was on his schedule and he was going to be no help at all. He was becoming a snow bird so the tank had to go.
I went to NJ with a 16' trailer and buddy who I shared the spoils with and came home with a documented [receipts, owners manual and all] for over $14,000 worth of equipment!
Here it is after I added corals and such from my existing tank.
1679598456813.png


My buddy got like 2 outrageous LED set ups and his RO set up from the trip. It was all he wanted then.
I gave him several tanks and made sumps for him.
The passing it around works for than weed.
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
What an awesome story, coolness factor off the charts! Thank you!

OK, lets see what Moe has to say. I think i remember him saying he runs two 800 gph pumps in his two site system which would be 1600 total for two plants. Four divided up by 1270 is only going to be a tad over 300 gph for each site, which is much less than Moe is seeing, that is if I am remembering right.

Your tank is gorgeous bro, wow! I looked at a video you posted a while back in a fish store or something like that. I didn't watch the whole thing but did see quite a bit and it's a fascinating hobby for sure with the side benefit of helping you grow Cannabis.

Was that you in the video?
 

Moe.Red

Active member
OK, lets see what Moe has to say. I think i remember him saying he runs two 800 gph pumps in his two site system which would be 1600 total for two plants. Four divided up by 1270 is only going to be a tad over 300 gph for each site, which is much less than Moe is seeing, that is if I am remembering right.

Yes, I have 2 800s which are total overkill. I had this res plumbed for a different setup, and when I changed to current I could replace the pumps or leave them. I took the lazy route.

If you are turning the plant sites 10x per hour, that is plenty for our needs. So 8 gal pots - 80GPM x 4 = 400GPH would be plenty.

More does not hurt, except in heat, noise, and power use. It also does not help once you get over 20X IMO.

When I rebuild this system, I'll put smaller DC pumps in.

Now where is this video SR is in?
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
OK, well perhaps I'm fretting over nothing. The pump currently in the system is 400 gph but the steam just seems weak compared to the single site system, which runs a 250 gph and has a strong stream. It's like a young man at a kegger vs and old guy like me with an enlarged prostate.....:LOL:.

I'm having good luck with the single plant system so in my mind I wanted to get up to speed with the bigger system and did not seem to me this 400 has what it takes to do that.
 

Moe.Red

Active member
I completely overdo the aeration too.

My plants are OK :)

Go for the big one if it makes you feel better. It will stir better.
 

Moe.Red

Active member
Do you have a favorite photo or two of one of your flowers? I'm realizing I have never really seen any of your bud porn, would love to see.
I don't know why, I just never got into posting bud porn right from the start. Never posted in the "show us your frosty flowers" type threads either. I guess to me, the bud pic is not that important, the smoke is. Quite often the smoke is better on the scraggly little plants that fought to survive.

I've said this before, my wife's favorite of all time is a plant that got pushed out of the way and barely got any sun, and just did the best it could. Smoke was amazing. Looked like dog crap. That was Shark's Breath. You would laugh at the pics

Then I got pics of Critical Mass - 2 foot long buds that are big around as your forearm. Smoke was just meh. But man was there a lot of it! :rolleyes: Looks cool! I converted it to concentrate rather than smoke it.

I've played with all forms of UV and can make plants be all purply and pretty. Does not improve the smoke.

In the end, I find that the normal sized, full green plants tend to be the ones I'm after. Nothin flashy, but they work the way you want them to. FWIW, I'm not even turning the CO2 on with my current grow, just don't care about donkey dicks any more. I know, boring. I'm kinda - been there, done that, don't need to any more. And I can't possibly use all I grow now. So yield is not important to me in the slightest.

Lemme see what I can come up with all the same. I got lots of stuff on the gopro at home that has never seem the light of day. I'd just rather show the roots than the bud for some weird reason. Anybody can get lucky with a pic of the best bud out of a whole grow in just the right light...
 

SweetLeafGrow

Active member
I hear you. I guess I am just a sucker for these gorgeous flowers even if they are not potent. Even the ugly ones to me are beautiful. Of course the best of both worlds are beautiful, potent flowers. That's what I want to see from your work.
 

Moe.Red

Active member
OK, digging thru old pics. I think you will appreciate this.

Here's what the trim from the Critical Mass I mentioned looked like. The BD (far right and 1/2 full in the back) are Blue Dream after freeze drying. You can see the difference in bud structure and color. They are very light in color because a significant amount of chlorophyll gets extracted via the vacuum with all of the water.

IMG_2257.JPG


This is the process I used for making ETOH Extractions. TLC testing of cannabinoid content behind to the right. The red things are 3D printed funnels that screw down with the mason ring and have a mesh filter inside. So they plug into another bottle to fully drain them. I stick them back in the freezer at -40 as soon as I can with it still stacked on top. Then wash multiple times. I can type all that out for you step by step if you want.

From your standpoint @SweetLeafGrow , this Critical Mass example is what you are looking for. Just massive amounts of THC laden buds.

I know you dig music, this stuff is ACDC. Loud, predictable, nothing special, just fun. :headbange So we extracted over 4 pounds of it over time. It became what we call the base med. I extract it with a 5L rotovap. The result is pristine full spectrum oil. I have a video of the process, and the freeze dried buds come out of winterization blonde. That's the special kinda med.

So you have a concentration of THC and other molecules concentrated down to a small space. The other molecules are what make this ACDC.

ACDC is the shit you listen to when you just need to get thru some shit. Diggin a ditch. Whatever. But sometimes you want to be up, sometimes down. Sometimes you want Clapton. Rush. Or a special favorite that fixes your mood like Black Sabbath. So what do we do to make Brian Johnson sound like Ozzy?

Strip everything out but THC. (short path distillation or chromatography column) Then add back in what you want. So you got terpenes, cannabiods like CBD, CBG, CBN, THCv, and 200 more, as well as other things that both normally exist in cannabis, as well as those that do not, like caffeine if your feeling fruity. You have access to this technology to design your own medication. Oral or otherwise. Additives to speed up uptake. Whatever you want to add.

Or, what we found was more effective was to use a strain you love in the first place and just do a very clean extraction on that and let nature build the med for us. Then add a shitload of CBN if you want to convert it to a sleep med.

Shit, I've only showed you buds in a jar, got off track there. :rant: I'll go look for pics.
 
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