NO RUNOFF GROW

[gmanwho]

Whodi.....It is impossible to "drown" your plants using coco. You can water them all day long and the coco will maintain the same amount of air pockets.

Wrong, try a 4inch plant in a 5gal bucket you just saturated to runoff. water it every day till run off. i bet the house it would be one shitty ass plant, and soon dead. better yet add in the possibility, vegging in a 70 degree room with the bucket on the floor under cfl's.

how else will you know if the coco is fully saturated?

By knowing the weight of the pot. but i agree that picking up every pot in a large grow may be cumbersome and time consuming. especially if drippers are everywhere.

just my opinions.

Whodi grow on, im interested in your results.

Grow on & b-safe

 

[Phillthy]

i was never big on watering to run off. i just water until i see a drip then stop. if i want to flush, i flush. if i want to feed, i water.

 

[purpledomgoddes]

tested ph of run-off water/nutes in bottom 5 gallon buckets.

range from 6.2-6.5, from several different buckets; several different cultivars.

have not emptied run since began flowering.

this is w/ gh flora nova, gh floralicious, and gh kool bloom @ cap full per gallon.

additives are mag-i-cal, humic acid, molasses and hydrogen peroxide.

some buckets had 1 inch of water, some had water over the drain holes, fully saturating wick-rope.

no problems w/ plants after x weeks w/ no dumping of run-off, in full bloom, and the garden is being enjoyed!

*edit*
btw, have not tested the ph in/out since grow began. gh nutes and coco have worked for some time, so know that solution will buffer out, and ph drift will not be extreme - remains in range.

not single drop of water or nutes wasted.

working on visual/pictorial desription of method, so members can see ease and viability of method - if so select to.

props to member whodi for this thread...

 

[purpledomgoddes]

how is it going whodi?

 

[whodi]

Update: 4 weeks in

 

[whodi]

here we go:

 

[purpledomgoddes]

they will begin drinking lots of water now forth.
would be aware of need for more water than nutes during this period.

ok to just water, and let diluted nutes, that may possibly in media+bottom of container, be the ferts.

*edit*
nice looking garden; enjoy it!

 

[JustanotherDave]

Hey fellas

Not too familiar with coco myself...but I just thought to chime in and say that grows are certainly do-able with little to no runoff. Takes experience and more attention...but it works well when you pull it off.
I did a few 2wk veg 150count 1gal grows in soilless with ~20ltrs of total runoff prior to flush time.

 

[tip302327]

Agreed. I was watering (H&G nutes @ 500PPM Veg) with 20% run off every 3 hrs. I am down 2 min on time once a day and and after 2 days I was totally shocked! Never in 6 grows have my plants done so well. In this grow they have looked good from the start but the growth with no to little out the bottom is unreal. H&G rocks for its simplicity too. Plants are 5 and 6 weeks old.

 

[Citizen024]

Great thread, very interesting. I only water once a day right now, with run off. The wicks are way cool, too bad it's not doable for me.

Have any of you had any over or under fert problems in experimenting with this?

 

[magiccannabus]

I'm curious tip302327, why do you use a frosted bulb in your cab? The design of the cabinet looks great, but a cool tube and a better bulb would probably do wonders for your output. Is that a metal halide? I like the simplicity of your design though for sure.

 

[tip302327]

Hi there. Well I dont really know why I am running that frosted bulb. I suppose because I picked it up new at a garage sale for $5 bucks. Its funny but there is another 1000w halide below that one that is clear and it appears that the frosted one is brighter but I doubt it. My ballast are both switchable hps/halide. In this set up I almost wish they were not because I am not real sure that I need 2000 wats in veg but it is what I have so I will keep running it. This project has been a blast so far. I have very little invested and since the shelves just basically set there on there own I can mess with the design without to much work. This is the first run and it is all from seed. Boo! I just took cuts from a couple lemon kush plants and some Fence Line so when there ready I will start loading the top shelf and might do a grow long on here with them. I have about 30 plants on the lower 2 shelves and it is smoking by co-op partners grow all to hell. Same mothers, same nutes, same age. I am gonna enjoy taking his $100 spot. He is stubron and has no use for a vert grow. FOO!

 

[magiccannabus]

Right on! I've used bulbs I didn't prefer simply because they were cheap. It makes sense. Still, 2000W for veg is massive overkill. You could probably do the vegging with a 400W and still be just as good. In my experience, veg plants don't need anywhere near as much light past the recommended minimum(40-50W per sqft)

 

[*mistress*]

................

 

[tip302327]

Yes I have thought about the electric cost running 2000 w in veg but since my ballast are hps/halide switchable I am stuck for now. I still have the top shelf and may put my 400w halide up there for the starting plants. I was hoping to use just the 2 1000 watters for all 3 shelves but I am not sure if it will be enough???

 

[*mistress*]

...................

 

[tip302327]

I have switchable ballasts so I will plop in the HPS's for flower.
My main problem is here in this post and I havent got any feedback. Any ideas?
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=129518

 

[whodi]

ok here we go for the update: 55 days in.. here are some pics of my NCDG. my ak99 snapped in half at 4 1/2 weeks, it was even tied up but I don't think i tied it the right place. It was a lot of heavy top weight.. thinking it'd be awsome for sog.

All my strains in here go no more than 60 days so I'll be chopping soon. I've been giving them water only for the past 5 days. (no runoff) This NCDG smells soooo sweet and will be a breeze to trim. It was the smalellest plant in the garden and it still looks like it will yield well. With propper veg I think this could be great for vertical.

 

[hazy]

pretty nice, man

 

[Weedman Herb]

Plants are 5 and 6 weeks old.

Those plants look green enough but a 5 or 6 week plant here is about 3 times that size ... and you say there's How many watts in lighting?