Diy ...not Sure What To Call It. Flexible Mini-farm I Guess

  • Thread starter LVSkunkWorx
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
Hey gang, here is something I came up with and maybe it will help others. Kind of a neat system for me. Not saying it grows pot better than any other method but I CAN state w/o reservation how well it works for me and solves some problems unique to my situation. Due to my disability I needed some way of growing and transplanting plants where my shaky hands cant kill anything. Two other needs I have are being an inside grower I needed to make the most out of the space I had, yet it has to be flexible enough to work with all the growing methods I use. Finally, it has to deal with the extremes of desert growing.

Now for my main grows I have four Autopots going in veg and 6 going in bloom. The way Autopots work make them ideal for desert environments because they really help stablize temp and pH swings. However, starting plants outside of them and then transplanting the seedlings resulted in plant-death in about 50% of the cases. No mystery why, shaking hands really screw the pooch at the wrong times. Thats why I came up with this:

I got these 32 ounce heavy-duty plastic to-go containers, used a hole saw to cut the bottoms out, then a 3/8 inch drill to poke 3-4 feed holes in the sides near the lid. Then I use it upside down and grow the plant out of the hole I cut in the top. Looks like this:
Diy not sure what to call it flexible mini farm i guess


So WTF right? Well here is why I do it like that. First, I can fit 8 of these in a tub of oxygenated nutrients and have a min-farm that can start anything from clones to seedlings:

Diy not sure what to call it flexible mini farm i guess 2

What is here is one Uranium 420, two Afghan Kush seeds (already germinated), two Alpine OG, and two Sugar Black Rose. Float-valve in the tub hooks right into my Autopot reservoir and keeps the veg fluid level precise. This allows me a great deal of flexibility in a tiny space. Can fit four good-sized plants in here or 8 smaller ones.

However the pay off is this: when I go to transplant these into autopots, its incredibly fast, simple and safe. I just dig a hole in the autopot soilmix the size of the upside down pots (still trying to think of name) , pick the target plant out of the minifarm, remove the bottom lid and set it in the soil. Then I just fill in the soil *around* the plastic pot until the Autopot is as full as I want to make it, then I can just slide the upside down pot up and over the whole plant, leaving the roots and pre-existing soil behind...and I never had to risk fucking up a root. Looks like this:

00 start 600

01 newstylepot 600


...dig hole in target pot...

03 holedug 600


Remove bottom of plastic pot and place in hole...
04 lidremoved 600

05 potinplace 600
06 potfilledin 600


Now lift the remaining plastic pot up and around the leaves and all done. Never had to touch or otherwise endanger a root...

Diy not sure what to call it flexible mini farm i guess 9


This is getting long here but I think you will see the utility of such a setup. Best part is for indoor growers, I transplanted the above plant in less than five minutes and made ZERO mess.

There is more to the seed-starting side but like I said, this is getting long....

Peace brother growers...
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
How did the stress of transplant, nice set up ..
Just finished my first 8 plants completely through the system (haven't shown the seed bit yet) from seed/clones to harvest and haven't lost one yet and every one done this way is thriving so far. This setup is very simple to get going and to maintain. I am currently using a soil mix that is about 50% organic soil with the remaining 50% a combination of hydroton, perlite, vermaculite and sphagnum moss. Even from seed I never have to touch a root or really endanger them much. Short answer on the seeds is I take a tray with a lid, almost anything will do. as long as its about 3 inches deep. I add some kind of support to it (in this one I am using a dollar store cupcake holder and as the support I am using the top of an IHOP to go container) and then wrap enough capillary mat material around the support so half the mat is on the bottom and the other half is on top. Key thing here is, I fill this with water and maybe a little B1 and the mat wicks the water to the upper layer keeping it moist. Then I take those Rapid Rooter plugs, cut each one in half and then almost in half again, creating a taco-shell like thing. I stick each seed in one of those and then set all of those on the capillary mat and put on the lid. The mat wicks the nutes and the rooter plugs make sure each seed stays just moist enough, never too wet or too dry. This is important in the desert, maybe not so much other places.

Anyhow after a day or so the seeds start to germinate and have nice nails. At this point I can just take one of the upside down pots with soilmix in it, dig a small one inch hole in the stop and set the rooter plug in the hole. Thats it, the plants root nicely here and once big enough, I do the above to transplant them to Autopots to finish. Point is, never had to touch the seed/root after initially adding it to the seed starter...so at least from that standpoint the seeds have the best chance of survival in this house....my seed starter looks like this; already taken 6 germinated plugs from it, now only waiting on the LA Alfie seeds..

Seedstarter 800x800
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
Update: the Alfies are just stagnant but the rest (Alpine OG, Black Sugar Rose, Afghani Kush) are doing great!
Seeds in minifarm 800

Alfies were freebies anyways..thing is, the pots are working as-designed.
 
shemshemet

shemshemet

623
143
Great idea!

Keep in mind, roots do not like light!
Always room for adjustments
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
Great idea!

Keep in mind, roots do not like light!
Always room for adjustments
Well actually in my "designers head" I saw these pots as being cylindrical (no bevel to top or bottom), blue/black painted and has fitting for adding wicks. The whole system is in a state of evolution as I try stuff, make improvements, etc. As well as this, in my head I saw the tub part as looking more like a really big plastic drink carrier...IOW only openings on top fit the pots exactly. Tub itself is of course completely opaque.

Still have a ways to go but this setup really saves my ass with it comes to my disability and anything requiring delicacy like transplants, etc. The fact that it gets the job done about 2x as fast as the old way of repotting is a bonus....I think I lost like 6-8 GOOD plants in the past six months due to shaky hands. Haven't lost one yet this way. It just *feels* solid...
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
cool idea pal.
Cheers; it actually is working out well. Its funny though; I was working all this out in my head (and paper, and CAD software, etc) and found all of the benefits to *me* as the grower....but one of the comments above brought home what could be the most important point:

With this I can transplant things with absolute minimum stress and shock to the plant.

At the end of the day, isn't that general idea why we are all here?

Also FWIW I have taken to adding some Hydroguard to the nute-mix to control algae. Until I can fabricate a cover for the nute rez that allows easy insertion of the pots w/o letting in too much light overall, I am stuck fighting it that way. Hydroguard will take care of it until I can figure out the rest.
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
Update: Here is the plant you saw above and 5 others all done this way happily going in bloom. Important point to me: zero casualties...
Bloom 800

5 Uranium 420s (all looking female as of this morning) and one lone Exorcist....
 
LVSkunkWorx

LVSkunkWorx

37
18
Final update: I just finished transplanting four of these seedlings to soilmix in Autopots. BFD but I went from this:

Nextstepsinveg 800


To this in less than 15 minutes with no stress to the plants, almost zero mess...never had to touch a plant or roots using the above technique:
4seedlingsxplant 800x800


So now when these girls get to be of age I can just lift out the Autopot and set it in the bloom tent. I almost have the process of the continual harvest as simplified as I can make it I think.....on the left, pair of Afghani Kush (WOS), on the right top is Sugar Black Rose (delicious seeds) and on bottom is Alpine OG (Moxie)
 
Top Bottom