MPB vs UC - what is the definitive difference? (plannng stage)

[applepie]

Wasn't shoting for effiiciency. Using overheads was a last minute decision. Best I could do on a budget for this run. Believe me, I would have loved to use parabolic on these.

Oh yeah, what would One expect to pay for a 4 site system?

 

[woodsmaneh]

or you can use 30 gal footballs, drums, I paid 15$ each

 

[ttystikk]

To reiterate a point I made about airstones earlier; I do NOT use them for aeration. They're in the growing sites ONLY to create splatter to encourage the roots to drop out of the substrate and into the water below. PERIOD.

My next design will dispense with an air system altogether, since waterfalls are both more effective at aeration and mixing in the growing site. I just kept looking at my 'epicenter', aka head bucket, and thinking it was the best site for growing in the whole system- and it was the only one without a plant in it!

So I'll look for barrels like Woodsman's, and run a hose into the top of each one from the return reservoir. This will aerate, mix and feed all the plants equally, which may be the advantage of Thompson's approach.

 

[babyhughie586]

or you can use 30 gal footballs, drums, I paid 15$ each
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those 30 gal drums would be sick if you burried them outside and put plants in them... I have yet to see a proper BIG bucket UC used under sunlight.... I think it would be SIIIICK..

 

[Texas Kid]

The airstones also create a cyclonic kind of effect to pull the water from the bottom of the bucket to the top, they have as much to do with the water circulation within the bucket than anything else..

 

[Capulator]

WOW!!! That means I only have to grow 2 to 4 plants! Whoo Hoo!!!!! Cant wait till I see your thread and the components that's needed for your system.

4 plants, 9 lights. Put them in a mix of hydroton and coco (50/50 works good for me). No worrying about root rot or a water chiller, or lots of pumps and piping, and you can easily get 2+ per plant with 60" centers. So much more forgiving.

I suggest if you go the RDWC route that you should do half of the plants in a chow mix, straight coco, sunshine mix, soil, etc.. Something to hedge your bet in case the RDWC shits the bed.

 

[woodsmaneh]

I have to say that the RDWC is a love hate relationship with me. Every few months I think of going back to dirt because it was so easy for me. Picking up a degree in water culture was not what I bargained for. Now if only I could get the plants to co-operate.

 

[applepie]

4 plants, 9 lights. Put them in a mix of hydroton and coco (50/50 works good for me). No worrying about root rot or a water chiller, or lots of pumps and piping, and you can easily get 2+ per plant with 60" centers. So much more forgiving.

I suggest if you go the RDWC route that you should do half of the plants in a chow mix, straight coco, sunshine mix, soil, etc.. Something to hedge your bet in case the RDWC shits the bed.

Hello Mr. Capulator, Can you please tell me why I wouldn't need a water chiller? I thought the water temp must be consistently at below 68 degree or root rot will be inevitable? Do you also know how much AC I would need in a 12'x 14' room running all 9 lights in bare vertical style? Thanks so much...

Btw, I really enjoyed your wall o dank style. I have also been reading about bennies you make which I will be trying as soon as this grow finishes. what are Alfalfa?

 

[applepie]

Firstly, I would like to thank all of you wonderful people for responding to and offering some very helpful tips to this newbie. It's very much appreciated truly (Takes a bow). I do have a question regarding C02 generator. How does One set this up? What else is needed besides the 4 or 8 burner box thingy? Can anyone direct me to some good How-To reads/threads/articles? Thanks again!!!!!

 

[Capulator]

Hello Mr. Capulator, Can you please tell me why I wouldn't need a water chiller? I thought the water temp must be consistently at below 68 degree or root rot will be inevitable? Do you also know how much AC I would need in a 12'x 14' room running all 9 lights in bare vertical style? Thanks so much...

Btw, I really enjoyed your wall o dank style. I have also been reading about bennies you make which I will be trying as soon as this grow finishes. what are Alfalfa?

For 9 lights you can get by with 5 tons, but if you can get 6 tons you will be much happier (2, 3 ton minisplits would be my choice)

With water culture you need a water chiller. With coco you do not. This has to do more with the dissolved oxygen levels required than anything else. With coco/hydroton mixed there is always ample air circulating through the media, so no need to chill the water you are using to water the plants.

Alfalfa is a plant used for livestock and human food. Alfalfa meal, is used as a fertilizer. Alfalfa meal has tricontanol, which is a plant growth stimulant that can be used to boost flower production and growth in cannabis and other plants. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triacontanol

 

[Texas Kid]

The weights I get off the under currents is much more of a function of how I am setup to grow than any limitation of the UC system...I hit 1.7-2lbs a light with 4 plants and a 3-4 week veg room stay...I like the 32"-36" spacings and finished plant size from that kind of flow....but if I were to go to a tree style grow setup much higher per plant weights are easy especially when you go to 60" center and bare bulb verts but requires double the veg space I have and it kills my flow when trying to whack out 4-5 flips a year per flower room...I always look at a room in 12 month terms, never a single flip..

All I know for sure is that if you went with the UC, you would already be 10 days into flower by now and not still trying to figure out how to source fittings and tubs

 

[applepie]

All I know for sure is that if you went with the UC, you would already be 10 days into flower by now and not still trying to figure out how to source fittings and tubs

Texas Kid, planning is for the next grow. Current 1st time grow will finish in 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[ttystikk]

Once I got my chiller I stopped having pathogen problems completely. Everyone makes mistakes with nutrients, pH, etc, so these can't be blamed on rdwc, although the consequences do show up faster!

Honestly, growing in rdwc has been easier for me than anything else, including soil, ebb n flood or outdoor.

 

[Texas Kid]

3-4 weeks from a well rooted clone in a dwc setup, 18"-24" tall i guess and then strait into flower....I will sometimes do a 10 day veg in the buckets beforeIi flip but not usually....blue dream you can almost pull a 3lb light with 4 plants..

 

[connoisseurde420]

3-4 weeks from a well rooted clone in a dwc setup, 18"-24" tall i guess and then strait into flower....I will sometimes do a 10 day veg in the buckets beforeIi flip but not usually....blue dream you can almost pull a 3lb light with 4 plants..

this is exactly what I'm looking fori want to do some hydro runs with my high yielding strains to make up time while I grow out trees for soil-less.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

In mpb with 60 inch center, I need 1 week of pre-veg in a rockwool cube, then I transplant into mpb at 12 inches in height, then 10 days of veg, then I flip into bud and hit 3 lbs per plant. Unlike a lot of other mpb'ers, I never adjust my bulbs. I put them in the sweet spot and I leave them there.

Are all your lights vert.? Seems like you lose not adjusting them. Just the stretch and branch movement up to week 3 would make me want to move the lights. So you are flipping plants around 24-30"? That must be some dense bud or you have a real stretchy plant. JK

 

[Capulator]

I get 2# flipping at 24" with a pretty good yielding strain. 48" OC.

3# is a far cry from 2#.... but I don't have 60" centers.

 

[Capulator]

Dont measure my height. Just the width. Flip around 30-33 inches in width. I would guess 30 to 33 inches in height. I'm sure I am losing a little weight by not moving my ligts around but I do not have the time or patience to move lights all around. I am all about automating my grows and minimizing my labor. In the end, my time is worth more than the extra weight the plants will put off if any. My plants are not stretchy. When my plants finish, the bulb is centered with the plant. The center of the bulb is lined up with the center of the plant.

you should double stack then.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I like to keep my bulbs on sunlifts so they are easy to move up,plus it helps me to be burned less. I put the bottom of my top bulb at the top of the plant. I do know what you mean about all the little extras you can do and the time required. More then once I have been accused of caring more for the plants then... JK

 

[Capulator]

Bottom of bulb at the top of a plant? It would seem to me that there would be a lot of wasted energy having the bulbs that high. How much of those light rays are actually hitting the plant? But then again I guess you focus more energy on the top of the plant that way.

My next spot I am going to be double stacking 600's and running 1k over each plant. I am gonna have them on a cycle though so the bottom row goes on first for 6 hours, then the middle row for 6, then the top for 6, with overlapping cycles of 3 hours.

6pm-midight- bottom row
9pm-3am- middle row
midnight-6am- overhead.