jj's garden

[Smoking Gun]

Hey there Dr. JJ. You have really done your homework. I am really impressed by all the testing and experimenting you have done with your set up. Your hard work and effort is certainly reflected in you final product. I do think this setup would work with many strains. The only thing that would throw a wrench in things could be that most elite strains that float around often need to go a full 70 days in flower for best results. But I am sure you would be able to figure out how to make that work for you.

 

[jadins_journey]

Hey bro, thanks for another really informative update.

Question:....have you experimented with the different sizes of hydroton? What are your thoughts here?

My hydro shop carries 3 sizes; large, medium and small(tiny). I started off useing the large but by mistake one day I picked up 100L of medium and loved the stuff, it's all I buy these days. The large is just too large, not enough space for root developement as they tend to grow to the outside of the pot and circle. The medium does great with plenty of root zone. The small is just too darn tiny to put into a 6" pot let alone a 2 gl. bucket. I used it some a while back to top dress plants going into the herb garden but it was not worth the effort of picking all of them out later on.

jj

 

[jadins_journey]

Hey there Dr. JJ. You have really done your homework. I am really impressed by all the testing and experimenting you have done with your set up. Your hard work and effort is certainly reflected in you final product. I do think this setup would work with many strains. The only thing that would throw a wrench in things could be that most elite strains that float around often need to go a full 70 days in flower for best results. But I am sure you would be able to figure out how to make that work for you.

Your too much Smoking Gun but thanks, a BS. is a long way from a DR. This might sound really strange but growing plants in a system like this or really with any system it can summed up into one simple phrase: it's all based on math.

Seriously, our ventilation is based on CFM's both intake and exhaust. Nutrients are based on numbers ie, ppm EC PH. Lighting is based on numbers ie, watts lumens footcandles etc. Growing the plants is the same way, veg time clone time flower time, it's all mathmatically based.

I need a bowl,

jj

 

[jadins_journey]

Time for some changes in the garden. Will be moving some equipment around here in the house over the next few weeks and I decided that with the cool weather I might move the 400MH into flower and do a small 2x2 SoG. I have the clones, equipment and space so no $ involved just trying to push the flower room to max capacity. The 2x2 holds 16 6" pots, what ya think? worth a try?

jj

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Sure it's worth a try. I heard it said once that the largest industrial expense was unused space. If that's true, then any unused garden space is a REAL waste. I say if you have the space, DO IT!

 

[Smoking Gun]

Go for it JJ. If there is no $$ involved in doing it, I have to agree with PGW, it would be a waste not to go for it. We could also compare a MH harvest vs. HPS with the same strain in the same set up.

 

[jadins_journey]

I think the best thing to do for now would be to admit defeat on the shadow garden and flower those plants out. They are some decent girls that have been topped and formed a nice bush structure. Would be a shame to waste these and start with week old clones. Problem is what they are planted in, transfering these size plants into 6" net pots would be a disaster.

One of my earliest experiments was to veg in the same pot as I flower in, problem here was the plants got way too big with a 60 day veg cycle as I was running only one flower system at the time. Would have been a perfect system if I had the head heigth or a different strain.

If I can find the DIY manifold I made the system can be converted and the plants will never be touched other than having the top pot removed and set aside. Can't move the lights around until this Sunday so I have time to dig for parts.

Here's a shot of what I built way back when, hopefully I didn't toss it.

jj

 

[Smoking Gun]

That looks like a nice secondary set up. And go for it with whatever you have in them already. Look at it this way, whatever those plants produce is simply extra on to whatever you would normally get, and by the looks of G13 it will be a nice harvest. Good luck finding the part you are looking for, I bet it will be in the last place you look.

 

[jadins_journey]

Smoking Gun - the old system worked fine but not with the head room I had where it was located. Those 6" pots in a flood table sure do work much better here.

Hadn't gotten any recent pics of the plants and I was bored tonight so I got in there 5 minutes early. G13 is at 42 days here and bud set is shaping up well. G14 is at 14 days here and stretch is about half way over. First plant hit the string tonight and the rest will soon follow. G15 is at 7days from cloneing here. It's their second day of full sun and nutes and they are happy little girls it seems.

 

[Smoking Gun]

JJ, like I have said time and again, all those girls look beautiful and healthy. I have to say, I am kinda jealous; you are so close to harvest and I am just starting to put my girls into flower, and mine will probably go 75 days. Those G13 girls look nice and frosty, and like they taste and medicate fantastically.

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Yup.....gettin close huh JJ? I have to admit, it's pretty cool watching you roll your system--seeing as how you have it dialed in so well. You make full hydro look like it' a breeze.

 

[jadins_journey]

ProGrow - hydro is a breeze once you get it dialed in. Not that this system is dialed in but it's getting there atleast during the winter months lol.

Found the manifold I was looking for, it's nothing more than a 5 gl. bucket with holes in it. I put a fill a drain set in the bottom and five feeder lines coming off of it. Set the bucket above the resv, put it on a timer and let it go. Since I had drilled an extra hole in these buckets for the last experiment I ran an extra supply line to each.

The thing that makes the double pot system so handy is that you can move or re-arrange your plants at any time with out damaging them. To disassemble the old table and re-build it all I had to do was sit these girls in the corner. Sitting the flood heigth is simple with the flood and drain kits. The drains are 1" or 1/2" tall pieces that stack on each other with a screen at the top, add as many drain pieces as needed to set the flood heigth.

These girls had stretched some so I super-croppped them, well I tried. You can see some of the tops that did not like my twisting and bending LOL.

jj

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Before all is said and done, I'm gonna give in to temptation and try to run a system like this...but I'm not ready for that leap just yet.

Thanks for showing us how it's done, man.

 

[Kilo]

hey JJ your making me green with envy ...my dream is to run one of these system as silly as it may sound...defo be hitting you up for advice if thats cool....just loving the grow details man :) i will hopefully have my next grow in iws or multiflows or what ever you want to callem...f&d buckets :)

back real soon

 

[GDP]

Hey guys, ive only ever grown in soil systems, do u get any better taste and yield from hydro systems?

 

[FastForward]

That's a fantastic setup/system you've made there JJ....a friend of a friend uses a similar system and pulls HUGE yields off of it, only his was loads more money :) What I love about yours is the simplicity - no need for a float valve as the IWS system uses. Thanks for sharing....kickass work fella...

 

[Monkfish]

intence show jj,:muscle so much detail ' cheers for shareing

mf

 

[Smoking Gun]

Hey guys, ive only ever grown in soil systems, do u get any better taste and yield from hydro systems?

In my opinion you loose taste and gain yield from hydro set-ups. I can almost always taste if the buds I am smoking are grown in hydro, they are always a bit harsher and almost never as tasty as they look and smell. But there are people out there who prefer hydro, and now there are lots of good organic methods for hydro, so the results can be a bit better. But the furthest I would ever get from soil is coco.

 

[jadins_journey]

Before all is said and done, I'm gonna give in to temptation and try to run a system like this...but I'm not ready for that leap just yet.

Thanks for showing us how it's done, man.

Why wait ProGro, there are bunches of simple DIY hydro systems out there. Couple of plastic tubs and a pump, your set. Obvious you have the skills, experiment a bit.

jj

 

[jadins_journey]

hey JJ your making me green with envy ...my dream is to run one of these system as silly as it may sound...defo be hitting you up for advice if thats cool....just loving the grow details man :) i will hopefully have my next grow in iws or multiflows or what ever you want to callem...f&d buckets :)

back real soon

any help I can give ya Kilo, consider it done.

jj