Step's 3rd Journal - Ebb & Flow

[steppedinds]

finishing up the new setup. just waiting on a few more pieces to come in from online orders. cant seem to find any platinum 60, or 40/90s in stock...using a homemade version for the moment. on my way to home depot now to pick up a few things to finish the recirculating system; need two reservoirs that fit in my space, and another pump for the 2nd reservoir. 470g on my last soilless grow.

This Grow: gonna be running two 5gal smart pots in each side with 6" rockwool cubes filled with hydroton as media. maybe be adding another 1200/1600 mars ii before they finish. if not i'll buy one for next round, and also probably another for a 3x3 flowering tent. each side has a 21g 3'x2' flood tray wih a botanicare flood/drain kit on each. nutes will be pumped from each reservoir, respectively of their weekly schedule, for a few minutes up through the drain (i'll have to time to see how long it takes to hit the overflow - this is when it should be turned off) for probably 4-6 times a day. also in the process of making a 2-sided double layered scrog. by this i mean each side will have its own double layer scrog. the first layer for bending, the 2nd for bud support, each left and right side independent of each other so i can have different stages of growth

New plans: - i also actually moved the fan into the bathroom above ceiling to add more room


**Aeroponic/Ebb&Flow Starters**
Clone King - aeroponic - 8 site (couldn't find a large enough graphic picture to upload, but same model just 25 site) - seeds will be left here for ~10 days after sprouting and planted in GH starter plugs (plus 2 days in napkin)


Platinum 60 Series w/ 6" Rockwool cube - GH plugs are planted into cubes and roots are gently packed into the bottom of the pre-drilled hole in the rockwool


Grow tubs - rockwool cubes will be planted into 5gal aero pots and then fill with hydroton. pots will sit on a piece of egg crate to keep them from stagnating (and by egg crate i do not mean the drink cartons in the bottom pic. the ones that go in panel ceilings). should most definitely have the scrogs done by then...and hopefully another mars ii

 

[Stinky Snid]

re: Step's 3rd Journal - Ebb & Flow

Let the fun begin, I like that diagram of your room. It's so descriptive and organized. Except for the scribbled outdoor area should have drawn a tree... Jk! Sounds like your in for another great grow. I'll watch the fun unfold, goodluck and...

KiG cheers

 

[steppedinds]

re: Step's 3rd Journal - Ebb & Flow

preciate it bro. hopes/dreams are getting higher every grow. gonna be putting a lot of work (for me) this grow and really starting to get the hang of it.

 

[steppedinds]

re: Step's 3rd Journal - Ebb & Flow

- got things up and running. pumps are a little bit overkill, 800gph, but at least they are getting the job done lol. water level is filled above the overflow in about 30 seconds. ordered a seconds timer from ebay; should be here in the next week. till then i'll just turn it on manually once per day since these little crapper plants are in peat.

- these poor ladies didnt get alot of attention, and were burned pretty bad early on while i was out of town for 2 weeks. i let them go on and live their lives after i planted my 5 backup seeds, sweettooth - same package, did not have a single sprout.

- still waiting on my mid-level hydroponic grow system. i've been told it is being sent directly from manufacturer. i had this stuff kinda laying around and made a non-ideal version of the system until it arrives. also defoliated today and chopped the top, so that's why they look so small

 

[steppedinds]

re: Step's 3rd Journal - Ebb & Flow

a nice video showing how my setup works. not my video [video=youtube;oeZ6XY_G_OU]

[/video]

 

[steppedinds]

6/1 - Good morning ladies! Blueberries :30s after lights on

 

[arteekay]

Front Row!

 

[steppedinds]

Front Row!

sup bro. welcome as always

 

[steppedinds]

the two blueberries arent looking too good. i forgot that they were replacing two others i had, and my schedule was off by at least a week. so, they were put on nutes a week too early, and just are not doing well at all. i'm about to replace the rez with h2o and hope they heal/catch up to the sprout-lings. if not, i planted 3 more in the clone king, 2 AK47 and 1 Amnesia - Canuk Seeds...4 or 6 on a close schedule should do fine either way, though. the first ak i planted is a week younger and already the same size as the bb's lol. always damn something. still confident. going for 2 lbs this grow; got 466 last grow.

this clone king is legit though. great bargain and misters work perfect. rapid rooters seem to be doing well, too, now. i think i killed the last batch of seeds just because i planted them in the cubes and put them in a plug dome; though i did soak them for 2 days in napkins with no visible roots when planted. thinking that the fresh water spraying on the cube waters down the nute strength and doesn't over-do them to start. it's always a pain in the ass to make nute batches for seedlings, so if i can get this to sprout consistently i'll be extremely happy.

just got off the phone with the co. my platinum 60 should be shipping out this thurs and be here by next week.

sweet tooth - day 5, ak47 - day 1

 

[arteekay]

At least it was early, right? it'd be horrible if they were 6 weeks in or something when it happened...

 

[steppedinds]

At least it was early, right? it'd be horrible if they were 6 weeks in or something when it happened...

for sure. i dont think its a big problem this early. just a reminder to be careful lol.

 

[steppedinds]

*update* trimmed the death off the blueberries and have had them on plain water for the past few days. also moved the sweet tooth into a cube. one of the seeds, ak47 i think without looking it up, fell down into the basket so its pretty stringy looking due to lack of light. good thing i caught it when i did. i could use hydroton in the baskets to keep this from happening again...but i just don't want the roots to attach and break when i replant into the rockwool cubes. will just have to keep a close eye from now on during popping or maybe drill holes into the center of the neoprene plugs.

another note. they shipped my platinum ebb and flow earlier today. cant wait for it to get here

 

[steppedinds]

*Update - 6/19* Chuggachugga chuggachugga. Been kinda busy with school this summer. damn hydro setup still isnt here...blah...gonna do a nute change tonight and move the other 2 into rockwool cubes. seedlings have been on plain r/o, the others on half str week 1 schedule. gonna keep them all on same schedule. cant wait till the damn rockwool setup comes in.


these girls are 15+ days old



these girls are around 10 days old

 

[steppedinds]

ok..so looks like the medium flood/drain setup isnt going to come in. the manufacturer keeps bs'ing the retailers. so, i decided to just make my own. gonna use one of the heavy duty totes, 17g, from home depot and get one of the smaller concrete mixing trays like the ones im using for the top shelf. i'll remove the lid and set the tub recessing into the tank to give more clearance, because i believe it will fit perfectly. these are 10g mixing pans instead of 21g. shouldnt be too difficult and will save me a few bucks as long as everything fits right like i think it will. will keep posted as i build/finish

and a quick ghetto copaypasta for a visual idea...sitting inside the tank instead of on top

on another note...transferred the 2 aks from the cloner to 6" cubes, and man that thing is awesome paired with the gh rooter plugs. perfect for seeds or clones. wwith the gh plugs all you have to do is keep the res full to the line and leave them alone for 10 days. although, the gh plugs are a bit smaller than most rockwool cubes so you may want to poke a few clay pellets in the sides to prevent any light getting to the water, or, as i learned, to keep a leaning seedling that hasnt opened yet from falling down into the pot. you can see a very big diffence between the two aks. the one that cannot hold itself up yet is the one that stretched all the way to the bottom of the starter pot looking for light. will be fine in the long run, just glad i caught it when i did.

 

[steppedinds]

*Update 6/26* the drains are in and everything is hooked up! turned timers to once per day, flood for 1 min. also ordered some rockwool covers to prevent algae. 50 pack on ebay for like 15 or 20 bucks i think. tonight is 3 days after a lot of defoliation. trying to get them to branch out before i start LST. also, gonna shorten the cfl bar and move them more efficiently sometime soon. also thinking i might add a spotlight or two on the front side so i would be able to move them to actually get to the plants

 

[steppedinds]

*update - 6/30* - the bottom was still stagnating a bit in parts so i added some hydroton underneath to keep them out. timer is on once per day now for 1 minute and solution fills over midway of the cubes. added rockwool covers to eliminate the algae. Also got rid of the non working sockets and single sockets, added all double flood sockets, and one on each side. 10 - cfl 6500k, 4 - led 3000k. gonna swap for some more 3k but the leds were just too expensive at home depot, and none of their cfl's were 3k. there maybe just as much wattage downstairs as upstairs now, lol. girls have been on 1/2 str week 1; put them on 1/2 str week 2 last night and for the next 7 days. also pulled out my co2 stuff last night...noticed my solenoid was 220v..no wonder i couldnt get it to work. gonna order a new one and start using it low flow on a timer...dont really have the cash for a sensor right now, even though i think i have a controller laying around somewhere...

 

[steppedinds]

611 watts down below, 763 up top

 

[steppedinds]

*Update - 7/5* - temp was getting a little high downstairs so i added a 100cfm exhaust fan porting up near the top of the closet. Also removed a few unnecessary bulbs. two of my clip on fans burned out...always scary when that stuff happens. glad there was no fire. gotta find some more durable clip on's soon; put a large house fan to replace it for now, but the babies are not getting full air flow. went ahead and ordered a new solenoid for my co2, so that will help with the heat (and actually benefit from it). temps were over 100 now they are ~95. have been removing large fan leaves once a week, after topping ~day 15. gonna let them bush out from here on and begin/continue LST. in the 2 blueberries i have began lst and used the drip spikes from my auto-watering machine. gonna go to the hw store and pick up some hard thin gauge copper wire soon.



blueberries


sweet tooth


ak47s

 

[Blazinjones]

Nice setup i jus finished seting up my first ebb and flow table tht i orderd online and now am makn one from scratch my self its way cheaper thn buyn a kit n getn it tht way but yea ur ladies r looking amazing im excited 2c how they turn out good luck

 

[steppedinds]

*update - 7/12* - did another large defoliation on 7/7; changed to week 2 same day. co2 solenoid came in today. tomorrow will be day 1 of co2. gonna run for 1 min every hour. got it and the exhaust hooked up to a co2-2e. temp is set at 95, humidity at 65. co2 controller will not let exhaust and co2 run at the same time, and will not let the co2 run at night. also should mention that i added a tarp to help close in the sections and prevent as much co2 from leaking as possible. it folds/hangs down in front of each level...try to get some pics of it next time

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