My journey to the MPB Universe!

[on tilt]

Looks mighty healthy. Great setup.

 

[easypleasie]

Yeah lost, my MT is the closest thing I have to a g13 shape plant. It has decent size colas but nothing like the g13 DD has. Maybe the setup will change that :)

I've been running her for about 1.5 years now so I know how she behaves. I'll do a run without topping next time to see how it compares. I had to top this time to keep the size down cause im a bit pressed for time. She usually does much better topped a few times anyways.

Hey bakers, i'm running the full advanced line and H&G products just like DDS. The nutes/additives are pricey! I would try other brands but I haven't run hydro yet so i'm sticking with his schedule and nutes. The only thing I substituted was bud blood with bud igniter, the liquid form of bud blood. I hope it performs the same.

thanks mc, on tilt!

 

[420CreationZ]

Great system man!

where did you find the net pots that fit in the 5 gallon buckets?

 

[easypleasie]

I just wanted to send a big thanks out to DD for sharing his knowledge. I also wanted to send mad props out to Heath for all he has done. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have without his contributions. Much luv and respect!

 

[easypleasie]

420, thanks for making your first post in my thread! Welcome to the farm, man. You should create a thread and introduce yourself to the farm. That's what a lot of folks do when joining a new forum. Lots of cool peeps here willing to help and plenty of good info to read.

There are several different netpots that fit on 5 gallon buckets. The ones I use don't fit snugly like the other ones with the bigger lip. I chose these as they are a couple inches taller and hold a little more hydroton than the typical ones. Also the holes are only in the bottom inch of the pot.

Here's a link I found.


Shop around, i'm sure you can find a deal on them somewhere.

 

[lollipopman]

thanks guys! So far the girls are still alive lol i'm gonna take some backup cuttings today in case these don't make it.

I wanted to share how i made the drip rings as it may be useful to others. My original problem with the drip ring idea was i couldn't easily expand/move the drip as the girls got bigger. I came up with a simple solution...adjustable drip jets. I say jets cause there is no dripping about it. It sprays out pretty hard when you have a big pump connected. I used 1/4" (actually 3/16") t's that can rotate so you can change the direction of the spray. You just rotate the t and the spray can cover any area you need as it's growing. There are 4 straight ones and 2 t's for each drip ring. If you plug the bottom of the t, it shoots a stream that reaches the other side of the basket! Either that or just pinch the bottom jet (maybe use some heat) so it's a little restricted and you'll get more flow coming out the side. I'll mess with that today to get it more fine tuned. Pics will make more sense :)

hey easy is that 1/2" line for your top feed.. Sorry if u already said just didnt see it.. Thanks

 

[bakershredhead]

Thanks easy maybe I'll start a new thread tonight with my medi grow. I sure could use the help, advice.

 

[easypleasie]

Hey lolli, yeah I used 1/2" tubing for the drip ring. The thicker walls are better. If it's too thin, it tends to buckle. That's the problem I ran into when I cut holes into the ring. Using the jets prevented that from happening. I could use a couple more jets in the ring for extra pressure relief so I can use 90 degree 1/4" elbows without the water shooting over to the plant next to it lol. I could adjust the gate valve so not as much water is going through the lines but i'd rather adjust the drip ring :)

Hey baker, i'll help out however much I can bro. Most of my experience is with building stuff and growing in coco. I can only regurgitate what i've learned from others with hydro. No experience in that area so i'm learning with ya!

 

[lollipopman]

Thanks easy, just picked up some tubing and the rain drips.. Did you use the hole punch or something else?

 

[easypleasie]

I just drilled the holes with a small bit. The hole punch I had didn't make a big enough hole for the drip jet thingies. Make sure you get any bits that break off before closing up the loop. They can clog up your jets.

 

[lollipopman]

last ? easy where did you get the 1/2" hose cause the stuff i just bought sucks... when i bend to make a circle it kinks.. really pissing me off cause i just spent 30 bones on this crap..

 

[easypleasie]

Here's a little more detail:

I get the 1/2" Ts and drip thingies at home depot. The tubing I got from my local hydro shop. It's made by hydrofarm or at least that's what's printed on it. It has nice thick walls.

I put the ring together and then drill the holes. Drill straight down or you'll get the jets coming out sideways and all over the place. You don't need to make that big of a hole. Mess around with a scrap piece of tubing...test how the fit is with the drip thingies. It should require a little effort pushing them in. Then take the ring apart, clean the drill holes and blow all the little plastic pieces out. Oh I forgot to mention, I cut part of the T down so it bends better. doh! That might be an important detail lol. Some T's are really long and won't allow the nice circle shape. I left about 3/4" on each end of mine...hope they don't blow apart! hmm, maybe a little dab of aquarium glue would help. I'll do that with my next drip ring. I have to add even more jets...1200 gph is a ton of water going through those lines. It does seem a bit excessive lol.

Hope that helps out! Let me know if ya got any other Q's :)

 

[lollipopman]

thanks easy..

 

[Papa]

Clean.

Very clean.

much respect.

 

[easypleasie]

2 weeks in the buckets

No problem, lolli. Glad I could help. Thanks for following along, Papa! Thanks everyone for all the compliments!

To start off, I gotta say i've never seen growth like this since i've been growing. It's much more than I anticipated...I'm really digging hydro so far. Girls have never looked greener and stems are much thicker than usual. Leaves are pointing up like they are stretching for the light! I think i'm gonna stick with this veg method :) Next time i'll put my cuttings in earlier with just a drip line for the first week or so. I'll add the dwc part as soon as I see roots. Just a matter of plugging up the hole at the bottom and it's rdwc :)

I made a few changes:

I removed the 700 gph chiller pump and ran the 1200 gph back through the chiller like before. I loss a bit of pressure but the res stays cooler for a much longer time. Chiller kicks on for 5-7 minutes and stays off for about 30 minutes. I don't know if it was the additional heat from the 700 gph pump or the faster flow rate through the chiller that's keeping things cooler longer. There's still more than enough flow for the buckets...I just don't have the same amount of flow coming out of the bypass.

With the explosive growth, I had to change things around to have room for them to grow. I'm only running 5 mpbs so I kept the best 5 girls and put the other one in coco to serve as another mom. I noticed I don't have a whole lot of roots coming out of the netpots yet...this concerns me a little as I was expecting there would be a lot more. I'm wondering if it's from having too much water flow in the top drip? It might be cause there was already a good root mass coming out the bottom of the coco pots when they went into the buckets. No idea...maybe someone could help out? I should have taken a pic when I had them out.

I rearranged the girls in an X formation which is how they will be in their final mpb homes. Girls are 2 feet plus tall and most are wider than tall.

I installed my old light mover so I can keep the light real close and cover the edges better. This way i'm getting light to areas that are normally shaded. It moves 8 inches in each direction from center. I'm hoping that equal intense light will allow them to grow more evenly.

Couple pics :)

 

[luvinlife]

wow very nice ep...looks like things are gettin rollin for ya...thats some realdeal explosive growth man!

 

[lollipopman]

thanks easy...

 

[mcattak]

Post those pics of the roots.....They are beautiful plants..I definitely had roots sitting at the bottom of my buckets at 2 weeks dripping 24/7.....Cant imagine the flow being to heavy...

The only thing I can think is maybe the roots don't need to work hard enough to find water...

 

[easypleasie]

thanks luvin, it's mind blowing how fast they are growing!

yo lolli! hells yeah bro, good deal with the drip ring. I think this is the first time someone has duplicated something I made...i'm stoked!

mc, the roots I have are long strands that reach the bottom...just not a whole lot of them. I've seen lots of little root hairs coming out of netpots from other people's photos. I don't have all those little roots, just the long ones. There's one plant that has a lot more than the others. I'll try to get pics soon. You might be right about it getting everything it needs and not searching. My only thought for next time is to top feed in the middle only and then use the drip ring once roots come down.

 

[mcattak]

thanks luvin, it's mind blowing how fast they are growing!

yo lolli! hells yeah bro, good deal with the drip ring. I think this is the first time someone has duplicated something I made...i'm stoked!

mc, the roots I have are long strands that reach the bottom...just not a whole lot of them. I've seen lots of little root hairs coming out of netpots from other people's photos. I don't have all those little roots, just the long ones. There's one plant that has a lot more than the others. I'll try to get pics soon. You might be right about it getting everything it needs and not searching. My only thought for next time is to top feed in the middle only and then use the drip ring once roots come down.

That is exactly how my roots were before putting them in the big tubs and then they got fluffy..