Dirtbag's Method to Growing to a Better Life as written by tobh

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sportyridr

sportyridr

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tobh said:
don't get me started on the UX of this platform. i HATE xenforum (the PaaS this runs on). Too facebook-y and they eliminated a ton of features the old platform (pretty sure it was phpBB) had.

onto the next planning phase for a project. plan is to setup a two tier NFT system for the lady and the kiddos to grow some lettuce with (obviously I'll be the guiding hand on making sure they're successful). Now I'm split on how to proceed.

Placement will be in the living room next to the entertainment center. I'm most partial to running T5's as they aren't crazy intense so won't burn the lettuces and herbs we're planning on running. You know, easy shit for kids and hydro newbs to run.

Dimensions of the space I'd like to use are 30" x 20" x 48". This will give the kids a tier and the adults a tier.

14" of the vertical height will be consumed with reservoir space.

I'm having the quandry now though, should I just get a tent for out there? That'll keep us from having to endure the excess light while watching tv and whatnot. However, I could run the lights at a weird offset schedule when we won't be bothered by the lights for the majority of the time we're using the room. Lettuce and herbs only require 12-14 hours of light a day, and I'm sure ambient won't affect them significantly enough to really be a problem.

Whatchu all think? I don't really want another tent, but it would make the build a bit more cosmetically pleasing and a good conversation piece when guests come over (what's that? BAM bitch, home grown lettuce. $5 a head.) I'm just hitting dead ends finding tents that fit the size requirements.
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Maybe you could define your space with a couple room dividers that can be opened/ closed whenever. Bonus points for being astetically pleasing, much more than a tent.
 
tobh

tobh

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sportyridr said:
Maybe you could define your space with a couple room dividers that can be opened/ closed whenever. Bonus points for being astetically pleasing, much more than a tent.
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give me a sec, i'll snag a pic of the area i'm thinking about. a room divider wouldn't work for reasons you'll see shortly.
 
tobh

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Alright, to the left of the fireplace is where i'm thinking under the records on the wall. disregard the big ass tote full of paper bags, full of weed that was drying unevenly lol

PXL 20220124 031540567MP
 
PK1

PK1

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i've seen some nice pvc builds and gutters to hold plants on youtube. I thought you were going to put it outside. I don't know for inside. It would be a nice conversation peace for sure.
 
tobh

tobh

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it might spend time outside. i've wanted to set up a similar system outdoors for the past couple years. i think it would be easier to keep the slugs off my leafy greens longer. the biggest issue outside is keeping the res cool enough though. i don't really give a shit about res temps but no plant wants 80F+ solution running over its roots.
 
tobh

tobh

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the idea is for it to be modular enough i can move it outside during the spring, then when it gets too hot outside, it has a home inside. we're keto/vegan heavy in this house so having a consistent source of quality lettuce would be great, and save a lot of time/money on grocery orders and trips.
 
PK1

PK1

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i'll think about it but can't come up with anything at the moment unless you build two platforms to transfer the gutters easily.
For outside, you can dig a hole in the dirt and place your res in it and then have a plank of wood over it to keeps the res cooled.
 
tobh

tobh

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PK1 said:
i'll think about it but can't come up with anything at the moment unless you build two platforms to transfer the gutters easily.
For outside, you can dig a hole in the dirt and place your res in it and then have a plank of wood over it to keeps the res cooled.
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you wanna come dig the hole for me? lol our soil base is predominantly clay down here. shit SUCKS to dig in. only reason i don't have a permanently installed NFT system out there. at one point was planning on doing a homestead in the city type thing. rather homestead on five acres though.

transferring outside wouldn't be too hard. i'll throw up sketches of the plans once I have everything dialed to my liking. rough idea is the entire system less the reservoir will be on its own frame system. with how light vinyl is, it'll awkwardly be moveable by one person given its size, and easily moveable with two. then, of course dealing with a 30 gallon res will be a whole other ordeal.
 
tobh

tobh

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yeah, i've seen those as well. i'm not terribly comfortable with that design though as stagnant water + roots = infection. keeping the solution recirculating the whole time will ease my mind significantly, plus who doesn't like the sound of water splashing back into a res?
 
Dirtbag

Dirtbag

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You can still definitely do a small res with most of the water suspended in the Gutter sections.
What I'd do is dam the Gutter at the ends so it holds about 1/4-1/2" of nutrient solution. Pump it to the top Gutter and have it overflow the dam in the top one cascading to the gutter below, all the way down and then the last Gutter dumps into the res, so it's constantly recirculating. But the gutters still hold a depth of solution.
That'll give you insurance if a pump goes out too, the roots will still be in a puddle of water until you notice it's down.
 
tobh

tobh

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Dirtbag said:
You can still definitely do a small res with most of the water suspended in the Gutter sections.
What I'd do is dam the Gutter at the ends so it holds about 1/4-1/2" of nutrient solution. Pump it to the top Gutter and have it overflow the dam in the top one cascading to the gutter below, all the way down and then the last Gutter dumps into the res, so it's constantly recirculating. But the gutters still hold a depth of solution.
That'll give you insurance if a pump goes out too, the roots will still be in a puddle of water until you notice it's down.
Click to expand...
was debating about this. my primary concern is that the h2o2 concentration won't keep up with dead spots and lack of movement. there will end up being dead spots, that's inevitable. but, i plan on running this like i do the cannabis grows. same nutrients, same additives, etc. def considering that. i have spare bulkheads from the F&D adventures that will fit fine in the gutters and keep that level of solution around.
 
BionicKroniK

BionicKroniK

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tobh said:
i think you'll be able to find em if you go to your profile and there should be a section in there. i don't use that feature, i use the advanced search if i really need to dig into something. most of the time i just forget about it and wing it lol
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I use to "wing it" too 😅😂, BUT.....Just an fyi regarding "Bookmarks" 🤓🙃...Click on your icon pic thingy in the upper right corner, then click on "Bookmarks", scroll through your list of bookmarks and click on the one that your tryna get to, or not. 😅🤣 (*I noticed CN already mentioned this above, good job CN! 👍🙃😉)

@tobh...Please don't delete my a** if I'm not suppose to "talk" yet! 🤪🤣
Niiiiice job man! 🤯🤩🥳 FREAKIN' SWEET GROW! 👍😎🚬 Now CN is gonna have to step up his game, thanks to YOU AND DB too...TEAMwork! 🤣🤣🤣

When I first saw your thread I told CN, there goes tobh's OCD kickin' in! 😂 🤣👍🤟✌️
 
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