v2 'dream system' DIY and diary

[GMax]

Please excuse the question, but maybe i missed something... but why the need for the solenoids?

What are the purpose of the solenoids in a hydro grow...what are they doing a timer can't do? Again, excuse the question...i'm no hydro-pro... i just tore down a hydro setup with rails and a big pump...that i had to put on a digi timer... had headaches because the pump was raising the temp of the water tremendously... etc/etc... mostly my fault..but nonetheless... just asking so i'll know if incorporating one into a system would help me in the future.

Thanks!

Looks good btw.. at times i damn near live in Home Depot..esp since there's one less than 10mins away from the grow..lol

thanks bro

this is my first run using a soleniod and this pump.. i dont believe the pump would work plugged directly into a timer.. this pump is made for a whole house.. in normal application the pump stays plugged in all the times and pressurizes your houses water pipes and releases water when you turn on a faucet.. after your faucet is shut off the pump repressurizes and goes into standby mode... the soleniod acts like a facuet in this situation because the water is pressurized and the soleniod releases it to the system

also i am trying to run another pump for the next system and two of these would exceed the amp rating of my timer

Wow man what a cool DIY/informative thread. Just sat here baked after some cookies my gf made earlier and got really drawn into this thread and read it start to finish. Interesting to read about the SM90/RA mix for an aerocloner, as I recently tried to make clones root in a DIY system similar to yours but without success. So will try tosee where I can purchase some SM90 in Oz. Peace

thanks for stopping by

i see more people who hate aerocloner than love them and i can never see why... i have had minimal headaches with mine and nothing but success since switching to RA

they say that nothing is more set it and forget it than dixie cups but when i was running dixie cups they would still need watered every so often and sprayed if not under a dome.. and all the time making soil and filling up cups ruining my socks

with my aero cloner it is real fast and easy.. after my solution is made it takes me only about 15 min to take 50 clones... i cut the branch..dip in water...remove some sets of leaves..scrape the skin of the below ground part with a razor...take a razor and split stem up the middle in half..dip in water and place in cloner..repeat..come back a week later and they ready to transplant

if i didnt do all the extra steps i could probably cut my clone taking time in half but the extra steps provide better results..and most importantly i can see the results with my own eyes.. and not have to wait for roots to be poking out of cup to know its ready.. cause there no telling what the plants look like under that soil

what was your setup like and what went wrong????

ph is real important and i have had better results since replacing my pH pen with a drip tester... not all solutions are good for a aero cloner..they say a cycle timer is not neccessary, which it isnt, i have rooted with 24hr spray times but you will have better results if using one..and most important is cleanliness because aero cloners can be prone to disease it is true and almost all problems are bactera related...also try to avoid high rez temps

i know that sounds like a lot but basically every few crops throw your neoprenes in the washer..change the solution every so often and check your pH and ROOTS EXCULERATOR comes highly recommended.... there is nothing else like it

i have had no issues with bacteria ( which is 99% of everyones problem) since switching to RA and i even bout to start experimenting with beneficials in the cloner

give me more details and i will lend a hand

 

[bobblehead]

I wasn't a believer until I tried the bennies... they work. Like huge difference. Like adding humidity to dry air huge difference.

 

[GMax]

fasten your seatbelts cause here we go..


i made 50 gal of nutes...

250ml Micro/500 ml Bloom
30ml RA
100ml sm90
50ml Silica Blast
30ml drip clean
1.5 scoops Plant Success beneficials

i use Lucas for the first week..after that i will switch to 300ml Micro/450ml Bloom and start adding Cal-Mg as well... 50gal is overkill i will probably only do 40gal next time...

next, it time to transplant...here one more look at the veg plants before transplant...



and another peek under the skirt..



i lucked out and got a great batch of clones so i am expecting good numbers even from my first crop..my plants are actually over vegged too

here they are transplanted...day 1 flowering





i didnt have to buy another timer for the return rez pumps..i had a seperate timer for the new system, but i plugged the soleniod in with my old systems and use the other timer for my return rez pump...win!

everything is good with the system but there are a few things that i need to do; i need to rewrap it in reflectix.... i want to add a tee and shutoff valves to the drain line to the return rez so i can bypass it and go dtw if neccesary, like during flush... i want to add a float valve to the big ass rez and i need to put a lid over it or at least a peice of plastic.. i also am going to do something to aerate the big rez, airstones, circulation pump, something...and i also have a screen to build..

also the new system has taken up the time i have spent at the grow for the last few trips..so i got rezs to change, clones to take, and i need to transplant a crop into flowering in the coolers

also i have my chillers in the AC exhaust room which is hot and probably making my chillers less efficient so i am gonna move them to the area around the flowering tents

and still plan to duct the cold AC air directly into each tent

didnt take me long to do what i needed to do ..got a math midterm today then i heading back to do more work..probably be a busy next couple days

 

[GMax]

I wasn't a believer until I tried the bennies... they work. Like huge difference. Like adding humidity to dry air huge difference.

Exactly.. i have been using bennies for a long time and dont even realize how much success they are adding me

no matter who you are or how you grow..soil/hydro/aero..chemical/organic.. you should be using beneficials...BEST $20 EVER SPENT

 

[Incognegro]

Ahhh..ok thanks

 

[GMax]

this has been the busest i have been since the start of this thread...i have had to stop by the grow everyday since thursday..the new system has had me a little behind on my regular chores so i had to get caught up...

thurday i stopped by the grow for about 45 min..just check on everything and make sure nothing bad has happened..and make the nutes for my new system and transplant...i put the clones in the new system and plugged it in, and double checked all the plugs.. i had a math test after that and i was planning on going back right after so i would only be away for like 2 hrs tops..but something came up and i couldnt make it till the next day

so on friday when i stopped by i will admit i was a little nervous... i have tested the system without plants plenty,i was planning on keeping an eye on it closely for the first week, but instead i transplanted them and left them by themself for almost 24 hrs.. but when i checked on it everything was running smoothly.. there was no work to be done in the new room yet so got caught up on chores... i harvested my last crop of revegged clones, now all the crops in my old flowering room are all dialed in and looking great..then i changed all the rezs in the old flowering room...still had more to do so but i had to leave because it was my buddies bday and he was having a get together

so today i stopped back by and finished up everything else.. i had to change the rez for my 15plant veg system and refill it wth clones.. after that i had no clones in any of my cloners..so i changed the rez in my two small cloners and filled them both up with 56 total clones.. including 14 from my new SB mom, which i want to test in my old flowering room first...i am gonna use these clones for the next 2-3 cooler system crops...this is the first time since this thread that i have been able to take a large amount of clones so i am gonna pick the choiciest....and if all 14 of my new moms clones root well i am gonna do a monocrop batch with her.. if not i will throw a few in with the others just to test her out..

then i changed the rez for my moms...gave them a heavy feeding because i am gonna need to take another large batch (50+)of clones for the 2nd part of the new system(unbuilt) in about 7-8 days..so i let them recover from the recent haircut and know that i have enough clones on deck to keep my old room full also

i dont have any pics because while i was there the new room was asleep..i have only been there to catch the flip once or twice but it seems to be doing what is supposed to....if i take pics during the night cycle, will the flash on my camera fuck with my plants??i am assuming it would..while i have been working the last few days i can hear the pumps for the new system running so i know it is working and havent really had to check on it...honestly the new system has proved enough for me, i dont think i am really gonna worry about something going wrong that much because it doesnt differ much from what i have already been using and working for years..just a larger scale version

since i am all caught up in my veg and old flowering room, tomorrow morning i am gonna stop by during light on in my new room and put all the finishing touches on that...

wrap in reflectix
add float valve to 100g rez
build circular screen to train plants

then i am gonna take a 3-4 day vacation from the grow before it is time to change the rez in the new room and start construction of part 2 of the v2 which should onl take few days

pics tomorrow

 

[Incognegro]

Usually not...the flash is so quick, shouldn't do anything... i've never had a prob

 

[bobblehead]

Yes, a flash of light is enough to stress the plants out. Think about it like this... You walk out of the movie theatre into the afternoon sun. Instantly you're blinded as chemical reactions begin to take place as your rods degrade and cones begin to assemble so you can see better in the light... That's what you're doing to your plants. You have to catch them right before or after lights on to prevent stress. Just because your plant doesn't reverse doesn't mean it's not under stress. My grow philosophy is to keep the plants happy, and as close to stress free as possible. That's how I would like my life to be....

 

[GMax]

Usually not...the flash is so quick, shouldn't do anything... i've never had a prob

Yes, a flash of light is enough to stress the plants out. Think about it like this... You walk out of the movie theatre into the afternoon sun. Instantly you're blinded as chemical reactions begin to take place as your rods degrade and cones begin to assemble so you can see better in the light... That's what you're doing to your plants. You have to catch them right before or after lights on to prevent stress. Just because your plant doesn't reverse doesn't mean it's not under stress. My grow philosophy is to keep the plants happy, and as close to stress free as possible. That's how I would like my life to be....

I am just gonna avoid taking night time shots just to be safe...

but just for discussion..

when he said that the flash was so fast that it couldnt do anything..lightning popped in my head

couldnt the camera's flash be like the equivalent of lightning in nature .. i mean if you live in a place that has nightime lightning storms all the time would that mess with your outdoor plants or have they evolved.. idk i am high it just a thought

again i am avoiding any nightime pictures..just gonna have to try to take them when i can..but the schedule of my lights probably means i will be doing a majority of my new work in the room under green lighting...i am gonna try to start visiting more in the mornings

 

[GMax]

got an early start today so i could catch the new room during lights on..

everything running smooth so far with the new system..i havent had to make any adjustments to the systems since transplant...

max temps in the new room are 82f but i havent updated the intake yet.. i need to put the intake in old room on a timer so it only is on during lights on..the cold air from the AC has to go past the intake fan for the old room to reach the new room and since the new room doesnt have active intake the old room steals all the cool air...you can tell this is true because the max temps in my old room are only 80f and those lights run during the day

i wanna have active intake 24/7 in the new room and 12/12 intake on the old room..so once it flips to lights on in the new room the intake fan in there wont be fighting against the other fan..

i have been to the grow the last three days and the humidity has been lower than usual in the old room so i have turned off the dehuey and it has stayed in check for the last couple days, and given me few degrees cooler temps...also still got co2 between 1000-1100 ppms

anyways the focus of today was the new room.. i didnt have all the parts to build my screen so i am gonna build it when i come back in a few days.. also i forgot that i am using 50gal of nutes and i only wanna use 40gal next time so i am gonna have to wait till next rez change to add the float valve..

but i did get the system wrapped up in reflectix....i wrapped around the wyes and around the pipe to cover anything that was facing the lights and taped it all up..then i added a big sheet around the back that i attached with velcro so i can remove it if i need to work on the back side of the plants

here they are on day 3...preparing to explode..running 10sec ON/6.5 min OFF..PS it is lights on, i just unplugged them for pics







only maintenence i had plant-wise was to remove any little shoots that i can tell are gonna be suckers/growing wrong way..and add back some water to the rez (need float) i got a pretty good idea for a pvc screen that will take the same shape as the system that i am gonna build next time i come, and then i will begin training/defioliating the plants to fill every square inch before stretch is over

well thats it... i am all caught up and able to absorb my new rooms work into my schedule easily .. i could easily cram all my work into one day but the schedules never line up.. schedule to take clones isnt always same day as rez change,which isnt alwyas the same day as harvest etc.. so for now i am gonna have to stick with 2 maybe 3visits per week, although i can be away from my plants as long as i want, and the only problems i will have is nute deficiencies after a time...and of course being off schedule... NOTHING will ever run out of water though..everything at my grow except my cloners is equipped with its own float valve (exept the rez for the new system,for few more days)

gotta start getting used to running both rooms remotely so i am taking 3 days off from the grow...when i return i will have weed dry and another crop to harvest and first big rez change

double checked everything before i left and reset all my thermometers so i can see the mins/maxs when i return

 

[Incognegro]

flash is actually quicker than lightning...

the reason you're blinded by the flash of a camera is because your pupils can't dilate fast enough to restrict the light pouring into eyeball...

in nature most night time lighting things are still visible, and the light isn't green... moonlight is VERY bright during half-full moon... plants still flower...

I was told years ago from excellent growers that the more light intensity the plants are given during the lights on cycle, the more light they can tolerate during the dark period b4 they are affected


I've gone by this for teh last 5-6years, and have yet to have a hermie due to light leaks... only bullshit ass "elite genetics"

 

[farmhouse cat]

Dude! Thats lookin nice! How many sprayers are in that system again? Cant wait to see it filled up with buds. Get ready to start tying them back because there gonna start rolling and falling all over as soon as they stretch and start flowering.

How do you like that pump?

Great work man!

 

[GMax]

flash is actually quicker than lightning...

the reason you're blinded by the flash of a camera is because your pupils can't dilate fast enough to restrict the light pouring into eyeball...

in nature most night time lighting things are still visible, and the light isn't green... moonlight is VERY bright during half-full moon... plants still flower...

I was told years ago from excellent growers that the more light intensity the plants are given during the lights on cycle, the more light they can tolerate during the dark period b4 they are affected


I've gone by this for teh last 5-6years, and have yet to have a hermie due to light leaks... only bullshit ass "elite genetics"

very interesting.. so when plants are given heavier doses of light during the day they cant really 'register' small amounts at night..

i am being pretty vigilante of light leaks..hermies are something i havent encountered in years.. they started selling new light leak free zipper doors that i have bought for my tents that work well.. and taping up every other hole or leak i can find

thanks for the info

Dude! Thats lookin nice! How many sprayers are in that system again? Cant wait to see it filled up with buds. Get ready to start tying them back because there gonna start rolling and falling all over as soon as they stretch and start flowering.

How do you like that pump?

Great work man!

thanks bro!!

there are one sprayer per plant..so 48 total.. i could have used more but if they are place correctly one per plant is all you need...

i go by if you can remove the netcup and your get sprayed then it is good.. if the sprayer was incorrectly placed then it would just hit the walls of the vertical part of the wye and drain straight down.. i have been told that is all you need but IMHO i think the roots that are closest to the stem are the most important and where a majority of the feeder roots are...

i have had sprayers get clogged in the past on my coolers and the plant survived off of the draining water from sprayers above and whatever else the roots could find... but when i removed it after harvest all the parts of the roots that were in the diagonal part of the wye were dried and dead.. and that plant yeilded less than others

if i could have made the straight pipes work i could have went with a single shower head type deal at the top...but i dont like having any single plant getting first dibs on the nutes and the rest catching leftovers...so one nute source per plant

i am not going to tie the plants up... i am gonna build a screen for it.. there are quite a few pvc screens that have been built on this site but in a few days you may see the first ever circular pvc screen that is gonna attach to the system..

i know that this would be classified as a SOG but i am going for more of a SCROG...and the screen is going to be used for training/support...i know there is a lot of space left to fill but i am gonna run out before stretch is over


i havent had any issues with the pump so far.. the noise isnt something that needs to be tended to in my situation ...but you talk about boxing in the pump... on mine there is air exhaust from the engine or whatever and i am wondering if you box it in but leave an opening for it to vent or what ???

also i am wondering if the same thing cant be acheived with a 3/4hp ? did you try the 3/4hp first and it wasnt enough, or did you just go straight to the 1hp from the beginning... i ask because i am gonna have to use 2 pumps total and since they cycle so frequently if i can do it with a 3/4hp then i could save my self decent amount in electric usage...and i only have 20 amp breakers and if the wrong breaker flips and i not there that could spell disaster.. i am gonna find a seperate outlet for the next pump either way

thanks for the kind words cant wait to see it full of bud either

 

[Incognegro]

very interesting.. so when plants are given heavier doses of light during the day they cant really 'register' small amounts at night..

i am being pretty vigilante of light leaks..hermies are something i havent encountered in years.. they started selling new light leak free zipper doors that i have bought for my tents that work well.. and taping up every other hole or leak i can find

thanks for the info

That's what I was told... and seems to be true.

O i think the roots that are closest to the stem are the most important and where a majority of the feeder roots are...

I have been told and believe the opposite to be true... i was told the feathers of the roots are very important...hence the reasoning for all these "smart pots" and air pruning" pots...to increase and encourage the feathers on roots.

 

[GMax]

I have been told and believe the opposite to be true... i was told the feathers of the roots are very important...hence the reasoning for all these "smart pots" and air pruning" pots...to increase and encourage the feathers on roots.

either way most of the time my plants go in the system with roots not even reaching the vertcal part of the wye and a majority of them in the diagonal part ...so i got to make sure all the roots are getting saturated

when i tested the new system before it had plants i put a bunch of empty netcups and neoprene lids in the system and let it cycle for couple cycles...then i would take out the lids and make sure the underground part of the neoprene was completly wet

i want the entire area of the inside to get sprayed...not a dry root in the house!

 

[Incognegro]

lol, i heard that!

 

[TommyTwoColas]

nah fuck the wye peices they were something like 6 bucks a peice and i would of need 80 of them ... i got what you meant the first time... i can try to explain ...

if you are looking down at a netcup you remove about 3/4"section of the main ring around the top ( the part with the lip) ...when you go to put the netcup in the hole you pinch the ring so the circle becomes like a oval once you put it in the hole you unpinch it and the lip part catches on the inside of the PVC...real clean and pro looking... then the neoprene fills in any gaps... i will probably secure it with tape as well.. i will be building a screen so they wont fall out due to weight also..i will still take a pic next time




thanks bro i will try to put on a good show

But you only gotta buy them once

Looks good man, lotsa luck with it...........only at this post so I apologize if it's been answered, but how are you running DTW with LP aero?

Also, I'd be kinda worried about the roots growing down into and clogging your return tube if you didn't put a screen over it (again, if this has been addressed later in the thread I apologize).

EDIT: I see my questions got addressed later in the thread.............good idea going with the wyes.

Still not sure why you had the leak issues in your base, but glad you got them solved - FWIW, we have really similar systems

 

[GMax]

But you only gotta buy them once

Looks good man, lotsa luck with it...........only at this post so I apologize if it's been answered, but how are you running DTW with LP aero?

Also, I'd be kinda worried about the roots growing down into and clogging your return tube if you didn't put a screen over it (again, if this has been addressed later in the thread I apologize).

yeah i ended up having to give in and buy the wyes...one time buy though your right

I also ended up having to scratch the DTW idea because the LP aero was using way too much water...when you catch up youll see

i do worry about the return tubing getting clogged.. i thought about putting a sink screen over the holes upside down to help keep the tubes from clogging but roots would probably still build up around the screen ...i gonna check the flow of the return rez everytime i stop by.. if it ever gets clogged i guess i could maybe try to blow really hard back into the tube or something... and if it becomes a real problem i will figure out an answer before starting the next round

this whole system is kinda test in progress after a few crops under my belt i should have a better grasp of it

thanks for stopping by

 

[GMax]

i been looking through my thread just to review some things ...I like to look at the pics in order like a flip book and i thought this was kinda cool...

Scroll slow for full effect


here the plants on first day of veg..they are all real tiny



fast forward 4 days and you get to here

and its like yeah nothing really changed though they kinda look the same

but then you fast forward 5 more days and you get this!!




i got a real update coming just thought i would share that... looking at these pics making me want to go check on my plants.. havent been there since sunday so i should probably check on them... i have some stuff that i bought for the grow that i need to take it over there anyways..so i am about to head there now so i can catch the flip and do a little late night work... and i snap some pics of the new flowering room while lights on... and then i will get to the update tomorrow

 

[GMax]

well just got home from the grow..its real late now but i gonna go ahead and update...

My plants were doing good...system still running smooth...here a shot of the new system on day 6...






i didnt have any plant chores to do yet so i had a few updates i wanted to make...first, the weather outside is unseasonanbly warm and i got my grow winterized..the temps in my grows are up 2deg from the last couple days...and my daytime running room is still cooler than my nighttime room... i decided if i am gonna use my AC i need to use it as efficient as possible..

so i took 2 duct peices over the cold exhuast of the AC to split it in two.. now there is a duct of COLD AC air running to each room...




i also took the intake fan off of the old flowering room and added it to the new flowering room..however it is off atm, so both flowering rooms are on passive intake right now...i want to try the AC upgrades and see how it works and go from there....once we are in full on winter though everything should be good...and i can start using less equipment to cool


the next thing i needed to do was to get started on the new screen...

i used a corner peice to attach another peice of wood to extend the screen out do desired distance and pipe straps to hold the pvc in place.... i also used the cream colored PVC for its superior flexibilty compared to standard PVC...





you can see it starting to take shape here...i need to add more peices of wood with pipe straps to shape it better..another one on the piece of wood that has the green paint and one on the one farthest right in the pic...




it is sorta oval at the moment, but i havent finished it.. when it is done it will be perfectly symettrical.. and you can kinda tell what i am trying to accomplish.. i will put elbows on the (out of picture) ends...add more pvc vertically to reach the desired height..and then more elbows and another horizontal curved peice of PVC...then i will have screws every 3'' and weave some string to make myself a nice circular screen of green to train plants with

the screen will be finished probably before i take pics again so this last pic without it... i have some rezs to change but i didnt wanna make nutes under green light, and i have a few peices i need to pick up for the screen so i am stopping by again tomorrow to do all my plant chores and finish up the screen and i snap some pics and do an update of the old flowering room

thats it for now