My journey to the MPB Universe!

[easypleasie]

Ok, I was gonna wait to get this thread started but I have so many questions so i've decided to start the thread now to get some help. Besides, now that i've started the thread, it's gonna force me to get off my ass and get moving!

Let's start off with the veg setup. DDS just put up a great thread about his new veg setup. I like it :) Super Simple!



My setup is basically the same as the one dds detailed, just smaller scale. I have six 10" netpots in 5 gallon buckets, cut down to about 3 or so gallons. I only plan on flowering either 4 or 5 so i'll be able to choose the best for flower. They sit in a 2'x3' tray that will drain into a 35 gallon res. I have a 1/10 and 1/3 hp chiller. I won't know if i'll need the 1/3 till I fire things up for a test run :)

The only strain I have ready are Mosca's C99 bx There's a short pheno that might work. I won't know for sure till I harvest the first round this weekend.

Here are a few pics of my works in progress. Veg setup and a sneak peak at my version of the mini-res :)

 

[Boots Sugarleaf]

I'll be watchin' cause we're pretty much at the same stage...I think i've narrowed down the strains I'm using so I'm setting up the veg tomorrow...I plan to use a basic old school dwc bubbler with top feed lines to veg and will probable use an air cooled 600 since I'm only gonna flower 4 or 5.

anyway, I'll post some pics of my progress 2morrow, and I'll be watching yours

 

[easypleasie]

RobotChicken, lucky you getting a BG cut! I can't wait for the chop this weekend! Actually, I'll need to wait a week for it to dry but finally, i'll get to sample a strain i've wanted to try for a very long time. I'm not sure how they're gonna do in the mpb system but only one way to find out! If nothing else, i'll have a good stash of c99 for a while :) If I wait a little longer, I might be able to get another strain in there that might be better suited for the system. I really wanna run dds's 13 dawgs just cause I've seen how well it does. Gotta camp out to get the beans! lol Reminds me, I need to buy some coffee :)

Hey Boots, this should be fun starting our setups together. The atmosphere here at the farm has been pretty exciting lately with all of dds's latest threads. I'm glad to be on the bandwagon with everyone :) This is gonna be fun!

 

[true grit]

Looking good man! Can't wait to keep an eye on this one and see the progress....

Are you going to be running the buckets in your vert room?

 

[xX Kid Twist Xx]

im along for the ride bro.:mysterymachine:

soon as i get a place im gonna set up one these systems myself. or should i just wait and buy it in the spring? wonder a ballpack how much it would cost all set up? honestly im not a great DIY guy id rather just buy it

 

[easypleasie]

Yo grit, i'll be running these in my vert room for sure. It opens up at the end of the month and i'll be able to go in there and do all the plumbing and final touches that I didn't finish last time. I'll have a couple girls along the outsides in coco :) scared to go all out with it. Though I have plenty of meds finishing up in the ojd room lol Getting bushy in there

Hey Kid, you can make these things pretty cheap and it's not hard at all. Actually, it's hardly any effort. No idea what they are gonna sell for but with how the retail world is, it's not gonna be near as cheap as if you built them yourself. Sometimes it's nice to just buy something and not spend a whole lot of time building things.

I'm a diy guy so I like tinkering :) I think I enjoy building stuff more than actual growing! Ok, maybe not more but it's close :)

Good to see ya here, north! More pics to come soon!

 

[easypleasie]

Perlite vs. Hydroton

Alright, my first question. I have two big bags of chunky perlite and two bags of hydroton. Are they equally good or does one have an advantage over the other?

I'd rather use the perlite but if the hydroton works better, then i'll stick with that.

Thanks for the input folks!

 

[Boots Sugarleaf]

Alright, my first question. I have two big bags of chunky perlite and two bags of hydroton. Are they equally good or does one have an advantage over the other?

I'd rather use the perlite but if the hydroton works better, then i'll stick with that.

Thanks for the input folks!

I think the perlite will be too likely to cause problems like cloggings lines or pumps, etc...

I call em like I see em and that`s a clean setup from top to bottom EP........

Where yas get them bottom containers......Look killer......Just remember guys that you can buy electrical pvc fittings that`ve got sealed threads and put O-rings on each side of your bottom container and you`ve got a "thru hull" bulkhead fitting for peanuts.......Plumbing white sch40 PVC won`t seal so always get the gray electrical pvc....

Usedta run my krusty buckets like that but seems perfect for this DIY setup........

Take care and good luck.......DHF.....

pvc fittings are what I am planning to use and you can connect straight to plastic barbed fittings that connect easily to all the tubing!

 

[easypleasie]

Thanks dhf, good to have ya stop by. Those are 10 gallon walmart specials tubs! They also make 18 gallon tubs that I almost used instead. Even cheaper tubs at home depot. The top I made out of 1" hdpe plastic. It's not gonna flex at all! lol I had a friend that had scraps of the hdpe, otherwise that stuff is over $300 for a 4x8 sheet. They just bolt onto the bucket with 1/4" weather stripping to seal things up.

Great tip with the electrical connections. I had to use them when I wired up my mini-split.

Boots, thanks for the input. I'm still undecided as to what to use. I got some coco mats that I had planned on putting at the bottom of the net pots to catch anything from going into the res.

 

[doubleds]

Alright, my first question. I have two big bags of chunky perlite and two bags of hydroton. Are they equally good or does one have an advantage over the other?

I'd rather use the perlite but if the hydroton works better, then i'll stick with that.

Thanks for the input folks!

You cant use perlite bro, mediums not heavy enough and the perlite will get into everything, pumps, fittings...... i shudder just thinking about it.

dds

 

[easypleasie]

Thanks bro! Hydroton it is :) Time to give it a good soaking.

 

[easypleasie]

I've decided to wait till one of my moms is big enough to take cuttings from and run that instead of the c99. C99 isn't a huge yielder and I don't think I can take advantage of the system with this strain.

This will be a good test as I know my gifted strain better than any others that i've grown out. I was told it was Matanuska Tundra but it doesn't fit any of the descriptions i've read. I know it's a good yielder though so looking forward to my first trip into hydro with her :) It will be a good comparison to see how much faster she grows compared to coco. Hopefully, I can get rid of the long ass veg times i've had to do to get good yields.

But you never know :) I could still change my mind with the strains lol

 

[doubleds]

I've decided to wait till one of my moms is big enough to take cuttings from and run that instead of the c99. C99 isn't a huge yielder and I don't think I can take advantage of the system with this strain.

This will be a good test as I know my gifted strain better than any others that i've grown out. I was told it was Matanuska Tundra but it doesn't fit any of the descriptions i've read. I know it's a good yielder though so looking forward to my first trip into hydro with her :) It will be a good comparison to see how much faster she grows compared to coco. Hopefully, I can get rid of the long ass veg times i've had to do to get good yields.

But you never know :) I could still change my mind with the strains lol

Grow with the strain that you know like the back of your hand. I was lucky i new my g13 so well when i started to design this system. It made the job so much easier!!

dds

 

[easypleasie]

Ok, I have my mom vegging and hopefully in a couple weeks i'll be able to get some good cuts from her. I really wish I had something else to run but as dds mentioned, it's best to run with a strain you know the best.

I'm a little concerned about the size/shape of my mini-res. It holds the same amount of solution as dds but it's not wide as dds recommends. Didn't know this till reading his recent post. I'll stick with it for now as it's still 3-4 times the size of a regular kbs bucket. I'm only running 4k so not sure if it's gonna make a difference not having a longer "drip line". I hope not!

I've discovered hydroton needs a ton of washing to get all the crap out! Better safe than sorry :) I was wondering if there's anything that you soak the hydroton in or just plain ph'd water ok? I ph'd my water at 5.5 but it went up a lot after I put the hydroton in there. I'll do another wash/soak when it's time to actually use it.

Also, when using this veg system, how do you start your cuttings? Do you just put the cuttings in rockwool straight into the 10" baskets? OR do you select the strongest rooted cuttings first?

Here's my list of nutrients/additives. Please let me know if i'm missing anything.

Advanced Nutrients
Grow A+B
Bloom A+B
Bud Blood
Big Bud
Overdrive

House & Garden
Algen
Roots Excelerator
MultiZen

Hydro Fungicide
Superthrive

Ok, that's all I got for now...

 

[easypleasie]

pics

I've decided to stick with my round mini-res for this run since I had already put in the effort. I'll swap them out next run if results are poor.

I'm using 1" and 1/2" ebb and flow fittings for the feed and drain lines. I'll have the buckets and lines fully covered in reflective material once they are done. Trying to reduce any radiant heat so my chiller doesn't have to work as hard.

I have 5 buckets ready for testing once my flower room opens up at the end of the month. Still need to run the feed lines, drain lines, air lines...basically all the plumbing.

Next up is the stands for the buckets. I'm trying to get the most ceiling height available so I need to make the stands as low as I can get away with. I need the feed lines to be above the height of the res so the nute solution will drain back into the res when it's time for the weekly change out.

 

[Boots Sugarleaf]

Lookin' good EZ!

How low is your res? gonna be at floor level? How high do you have to raise them?

Is the top just that foam board from the depot? I used that stuff in a 4x8 pond deep water culture I did years ago and it held up the whole round with 15 1 gallon pots and no middle supoort in the 4x8...anyway, it's good stuff...I plan to use the ez cloner neoprene discs where I am putting my airstone lines in at, I'll post a pic of that in a bit on my thread

 

[easypleasie]

Yeah, res is ground level. Wish I could sink it down but not an option. I think the res is 12" tall so it needs to be raised at least that much if I want to use gravity to drain the tubs. I suppose I could T off and use a pump to drain it out if I needed the extra height.

Foam board! lol :) Nah, It's 1" thick plastic. It's what cutting boards are made out of. No flex and I don't have to worry about moisture with it. My original plan was to use plywood but I lucked out on getting the plastic.

 

[Boots Sugarleaf]

ok, cool, yeah anything is better than plywood, esp plastic....with plywood you can end up with funky mold and shit, I learned that one before....

 

[Lost]

Looks like were about at the same place with our room rebuilds. Like you it will be another month untill I can totally change the room. My system was originally based off or DD's stuff before there were all the tutorials, lol. Like you I am adapting things.. Still using the yellow lidded tubs and Im going to stick with 1 /1/4 drains like I already have and instead for it going from tub to tub, each tub will have a fresh feed.

What res size are you going to use again? Im only going to do 3-4 so I am figureing out if I really need a 90 gallon res for just the 4. Total gallons with the 90 gallon res would be around 150-160 gallons...

Good luck, looks like it is coming together well!

 

[easypleasie]

Awesome brotha! All of my original "prototypes" were done during the Summer when I first started thinking about the system. Didn't have a whole lot of info to go on, just the basics. And waiting sucks! lol I wanna make the changes now :) But I won't have clones ready for a good 2-3 weeks.

I remember seeing some of dds' early mpb system with just a single 1" drain hole. I think he started using two in case one gets clogged. Something to consider, bro.

I'm going with a 70 gallon res. DDS recommends a minimum of 50 gallon res per 5 plants...at least that's what I remember reading. I'm trying to simplify the weekly res change so I want to have one big enough to fill all the tubs and still have enough left in the res for the system. Mixing nutes one time only. If it's not enough, I should be able to add a little bit of RO water without it affecting much.

It's a blast being in the middle of this new "movement" lol