Uc pro

[SuperDankzz]

any successful grows with the uc pro 35 gal system? Seem like a lot of people are switching to coco.

 

[Apollo13]

I made my own hybrid system and I couldn't be happier. About the only draw backs are root rot which is solved by tea and lots of water use. Uses twice the water as the same system in e&f mode. And I don't use my 100 gallon res in uc or rdwc mode. Just 3.5 gallons in 24 buckets plus a control bucket hold enough. Same nutrients as ebb because I run only 400-500 ppm. You must snip roots to encourage side growth or you will get plant roots going two buckets away and 6 foot long which can clog..go big on drains.
As far as tea goes, any hydro should use tea for taste, roots, and rot protection. And it's just the right thing to do, it is nature's way. I use nature over technologies anytime I can.

 

[UCMETOO]

I made my own hybrid system and I couldn't be happier. About the only draw backs are root rot which is solved by tea and lots of water use. Uses twice the water as the same system in e&f mode. And I don't use my 100 gallon res in uc or rdwc mode. Just 3.5 gallons in 24 buckets plus a control bucket hold enough. Same nutrients as ebb because I run only 400-500 ppm. You must snip roots to encourage side growth or you will get plant roots going two buckets away and 6 foot long which can clog..go big on drains.
As far as tea goes, any hydro should use tea for taste, roots, and rot protection. And it's just the right thing to do, it is nature's way. I use nature over technologies anytime I can.

You got a copy of NATURES recipe?

 

[DapperDon]

What are a "lot of people" that you are referring to? If you are seeing a large influx of cocoa grows it would be my guess is that those are failed UC growers putting their training wheels back on.

 

[DapperDon]

I made my own hybrid system and I couldn't be happier. About the only draw backs are root rot which is solved by tea and lots of water use. Uses twice the water as the same system in e&f mode. And I don't use my 100 gallon res in uc or rdwc mode. Just 3.5 gallons in 24 buckets plus a control bucket hold enough. Same nutrients as ebb because I run only 400-500 ppm. You must snip roots to encourage side growth or you will get plant roots going two buckets away and 6 foot long which can clog..go big on drains.
As far as tea goes, any hydro should use tea for taste, roots, and rot protection. And it's just the right thing to do, it is nature's way. I use nature over technologies anytime I can.

Compost teas are NOT recommended for the UC. It is the equivalent of putting diesel fuel into a lawnmower engine.

 

[Apollo13]

No diesel fuel will not work in gas motor, ever. I use tea everyday in my uc with super succuss. Maybe you meant like running nitrous? A better comparison. I either go sterile or i go tea. Tea is much easier, cheaper, less cleaning, better taste and far more roots. No worries about contamination from hands or tools. If you are new to uc, dwc, rdwc or just have rot problems, go tea and don't look back. Can you explain how running billions of benes in a bacteria prone environment is? I would rather use nature than buy chemicals.

 

[Apollo13]

Oh, I recommend it. I never had issue with tea. At one time tea was only a soil thing, now look. I have had issues with sm90,zone and others. I will always use it in any grow, dirt or dro. If done right, how could there be issues? Now I spend my time making super diverse teas instead of trying to get reliable results. Or buying bottles of crap. Don't buy the hype. Use nature if at all possible.

 

[Apollo13]

Oh, have fun with white slime without tea. And when you run big water volume, tea is vastly superior to all steriles if only because to expense. Tea can be almost free. I could go on and on...in my mind, zone, sm90, could go out of business for all I care. Hydrogen peroxide is for cleaning the system in between runs. Period. Only time I try to be sterile.

I'm sure Heisenberg was told not to put tea I hydro too...
now it's a common thing like pb&j.
I do agree it felt wrong at first, but results speak loudly. And I'm cheap, for me it's abut producing cheap wonderful bud on the smallest dime possible while producing top shelf buds.
Things u don't want will grow in buckets with your girls. You can add chemicals, change water often, or run tea. Choice is yours. With tea, you can never change your water. Just refresh nutrients. I'm done now, peace! Try new things!

 

[DapperDon]

Okay. I have seen your kind too many times to get into this pissing match with you. I am sure you are just the best there is at growing and you more than likely are the one that invented the UC so you can teach us all about it. How long have you been growing now?

 

[Apollo13]

Well, i was trying to help people with the main problems I had starting out. Running 300 l of air, 8000 gallons of reciruation, still had issues. All by the book known technics. With tea, now all smooth sailing with time spent on improving rather than trouble shooting. In fact I believe your a fool if you don't use it. I bet I could cut my air in half, cut my big water pump and lose my chiller and still put out huge numbers with tea. Try that how your running. It just shows you how much I can screw up and still produce reliably, to me it's about consistency and predicability.

Sure sounds like a pissing match. And you are pretty offensive, with your superior attitude. You have recommendations, I have experience. How's your uc going!
oh, and for over 25 years with a drano raid in 1994. More than most.
and as far as being a jerk, try not to say "your wrong" without knowing. It helps people think ur not an ass.

 

[420circuit]

Hey Apollo13, care to share your design? Love the description, sounds like you have it dialed in. My garden is a small NFT/hydro, StinkBud style rack and a few 5 gal soil pots and am looking at ways to grow fewer, but larger plants. I found that the expensive Hygrozyme additive improved root health in the NFT system, enzymes I suppose. Curious about the tea recipe you have settled on, the teas I made seem to be OK, just used a handful of TGA Supersoil, some Great White, Azomite, Ancient Earth and Floralicious Plus, with molasses toward the end of flowering. Still trying to understand why I should brew the tea in a bucket instead of just pouring the stuff into the pots.

This the StinkBud NFT rack with 18 gal res. Pump runs 1 min on, 4 mins off.

 

[Apollo13]

Search heisenburg tea. Will change your life and wallet. Cheaper and better, because u just add a few good bacteria and then they multiply with the sugars and air. You add as much diversity as u can(old compost, new compost, dirt from many different types of soil like woods dirt, field, dark earth..more types u get, more diverse your tea will be. I add great white and voodoo because i got it. Mycogrow i will probably buy when they are gone. You must aerate it or you will grow the absolute polar opposite of what u want and need. I know what my experiences have taught me...and I would never grow in water without it, regardless of method. My dirt girls get all the solids strained out of my tea. Never add sugar to any tea after its brewed. Sugar only in tea and only in beginning. Basically they all starve if everything is going good. Why I add daily. Always brewing and replacing. I add a gallon once a week and a cup a day. New compost has mainly bacteria and old compost is mostly fungus based, why u want both.

Gearing up to build a bubble draw uc running on only air. Rising bubbles push water up and then gravity falls into next bucket. Trying to make a solar uc rig for my greenhouse.

 

[Apollo13]

24 - 5 gallon buckets, twin 1.5 inch drains, grommets, hot tub pipe or hose. It's all compression so can be cleaned. I mylar bubble wrap buckets for insulation and light. I use menards green buckets as a second precaution to light. I run two airpump oNE on both ends with somewhere around 300 lpm. Then I have 800 gph uc pump that pulls from buckets to run chiller. But where I love it is I made a manifold and hooked a 8000 gph pump to rdwc the uc. Water changes out in bucket every couple minues. I can run air only, big pump, or both. In case of equipment failure, either air or pump will work fine. During our last power outage, ran small gen for bubbles, it was fine. It ugly compared to bought systems but I'd drag race my system against any..stay below 500 ppm. Most all uc problems are nutrients. Roots die, then the deficiencies come on and first response is usually to add...big mistakes. If you do experiment, keep half ur plants in dirt so u always get some smoke. Any new system I ever tried had a learning period where lessons are harvested instead of buds..lol if u do a uc, very important to groom roots. I know, freaking scaring. Just a lil. Stay on top of them and like topping, very lil material is removed. Like topping, u encourage side growth, not the tap root the plant wants. I have had roots 8 foot long and 4 buckets over. Ideally you want bucket solid roots but none in drains..short bush roots like top Ramen noodles..lol, no long ropes. But I apparently grow the biggest uc plants on earth. Lol veg for couple weeks, then flower nutes in veg for 10 days or so, then flower. Perpetual harvest and scrog. I guess the size issue is probably based on root plugging isssues. I may switch to 16 gallon tubs instead of 5 gal on next system.

 

[Apollo13]

Big uc pumps must use manifolds because gravity and 2- 1.5 inch drains won't keep up.

 

[Apollo13]

420, I made bubble wrap socks that slide over my exposed pipes. Helps on chiller, reflecting and perhaps light in ur pipes which will help in cleaning and algae. I spray all white pipe black, then white with plastic etching paint or it will come off if u don't sand the pipe prior to paint. Then I run my air lines in sock as well since they are black and get hot. I know ur is different.

When I say don't add sugars except in construction of tea, I mean molasses or brown sugar. I add AN carb to sugar too, I guess even the different sugars make a difference. I'm not a scientist, more of an hillbilly. But I do know what works for me consistently. I'm sure somebody will say " he's such an idiot, blah blah blah.." good luck, experiment and have fun. Don't risk more plants then u can afford to loose, like gambling. No matter how well it'seems going the first time.

 

[420circuit]

I wrapped my rails in silver bubble wrap for a couple years but removed it recently with no problems, the rails stay cool enough and no chiller is needed with the 1 min on, 4 mins off routine. Not using aeration with this, the sprayers, 2 for each plant, keep the solution oxygenated. Running a 388W plasma light with a 300W LED over this rack and am quite please with the results, but always looking for something better and easier. Considering another NFT system with remote res and rails close to the floor, not sure, still thinking about it. Maybe I'll go sit on the back porch with a pipe and think it over. How 'bout some pics of your bucket system?

 

[Apollo13]

Course the flower nutes in veg doing perpetual harvest only happens at startup. Then I had to put two uc in veg. A veg, and a flower veg. I know many run veg nutes in flower. But I believe that is why they grow uncontrollable. Many of my plants have buds forming on them in 24 hour, don't seem to stretch as bad and most of my 12 plus strains grow more uniform and perform better using scrog. Again im about redundancy, consistency and predicability. I try to never have the situation where if one component dies, they all die...

 

[Apollo13]

That's how I can run with just pump. Each bucket has a return that shoots so hard in buckets it is amazingly rough. I originally thought it maybe too much and got a router controller to control pump. By time I got it, I saw the roots in the white water were bigger and thicker than in just slow flow. I guess like wind in the plant making stronger stems. I'm sure there is a limit but I paid same cash for a 8000 gph pump as a 4000, I had plans to expand it so got big pump. And my 800 gph chiller pump also feeds into return so it's probably 8500 or so. I do this so buckets are consistent temperatures. When I did chiller return in uc only, buckets at end were almost 6 degrees warmer then first buckets. Only 4 inch of lift from top of bucket water to return port so i am at almost full pump gph. I was also going to build venturi to draw cold bucket air, but again, with my pump, it pulls down plenty of air in water. Air pu,ps for good measure. I run as much air as I can put into system and keep below 70 degrees. Run tea as insurance.

Ironically I try to keep the KISS philosophy in my technical garden.
I'll see if I can find some picture with out plants so u can see it.

 

[Apollo13]

Well its not like fb I guess, having trouble posting pix.

 

[420circuit]

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