Okay.. time to break it all down for anyone that wants to know my exact methods.
Firstly, Skybound is correct, we are growing in a recirculating top feed system, that's coined "Capn-style" here on 420. But its much more than just an RTF system, so i will explain from start to finish how i grow with this method.
Firstly, the rockwool I use is Grodan grow cubes, not the chunks. The cubes measure 1cmx1cmx1cm, and the chunks are a bit bigger. I buy it by the box (6 cu.ft) as Its always cheaper to buy in bulk, plus it saves trips to the grow store. One thing i like about rockwool is its pH neutral, retains a decent amount of moisture, drains evenly but also allows a great deal of air penetration to the roots, which supplies them with oxygen which helps with rapid root development.
I start my "Capn-Style" voyage (lol) by making a root drench with my Subculture-M. I've explained it before, but i take 4gals of water in a 5gal bucket, add some water conditioner ("Prime" brand aquarium water conditioner in case anyone's wondering). 1ml per 10gal is all thats needed to treat the water, so if i'm doing 4gals, i take my micro syringe (GF works as a Veterinary Technician, so i get cool shit to dose my nutrients with haha) and i pull 0.4ml of conditioner from the bottle cap and mix that into my water.. No need to wait around, just give it a really good mix in the bucket and by the time the water stops swirling, you're good to go.
I then add one level tablespoon to the water and mix with a whisk to make sure its incorporated. the Subculture products both come with measuring spoons so you don't have to go fishing through the crap utensil drawer in the kitchen looking for the measuring spoons.
I take a small drinking glass worth and take it aside.. then i take a food storage container (a 1/6 cambro container if anyone knows what that is, if not, think those square plastic containers you see at Subway with all the veggies in it.) and i fill that with just enough Subculture-M solution to cover a 1.5" rockwool block. I then add 15ml of Aquashield and then drop my paper towel in to soak.
I then take that drinking glass of Subculture-M (no Aquashield in this) and drop my bean or beans in the cup for 30 mins to one hour max to inoculate. After this soaking period is over i take the beans, put them in the paper towel, and put it into a ziplock bag, and close it up.. making sure to not press the air out of the bag, just close it as it is. From here, i place it on top of my Playstation 3 to add a little warmth to the germination process.
Anywhere from 30 hours to 4 days, you will have a taproot about 1/2" to 1" long pretty much every time using this method of germination.
Upon the bean cracking and taproot exposing, i will mix a bucket of Subculture-M root drench again, and take that food storage container worth and add Aquashield to it again, but this time i will drop in my 1.5" rockwool starter cubes.
After about an hour of soaking (with an airstone if you got one. Although totally not necessary, the oxygen helps activate the microbes in the Subculture-M and Aquashield even more) i will take the RW block out, slide the wrap 3/4 the way off, take a sterile razor blade and make a slice down the side of the RW cube so i can pry it apart gently, and slip the bean and taproot into the RW then close up the slit, and slide the wrap back over the RW cube to keep it tight.
I've tried a few different methods once i get to this stage of the game.. My favourite so far has been using tupperware containers that have semi-clear lids, or coloured lids that allow light to penetrate. But i've since bought a humidity dome/T5HO combo that has a 24w T5HO with reflector sitting directly on the humidity dome in these grooves for the T5. The low wattage light is amazing for starting sprouts and fresh cuttings. This has proved much more effective for me than using tupperware containers, although i have had pretty much 100% survival rates in the early sprout stage using this method.
Like Sky mentioned, once the initial tap root has exposed from the bottom of the starter RW block, i transplant into a 4" square pot full of grow cubes. Early on like this is not the time for air pruning roots! This is also the first time the sprout will get any nutrients as i will add a very light solution to the water when i soak my rockwool. Other than that, it just gets the Subculture-M and B root drenches.
It sits in the humidity dome under the 24w T5 until a second set of leaves start to form, then i put it under my 220w, 4ft, 4-bulb fixture for about a week. At this point, i will water only when the pot feels light, but after about a week, that ends up being every day, or every second day. after that week, its usually needing a transplant into a 1gal container and is put under a 600w MH to veg.
I will top it as early as i possibly can.. to be honest.. 2nd or 3rd node is usually when i like to start topping.. I have since perfected the FIM technique and almost prefer it to tipping, cause i know i'm going to get 4 nice, even tops, that i can then tip each one to promote more side branching and creating more tops. Also, i recommend slightly bending your plants' branches down. no need to tie them, but each day if you keep bending them slightly, they will hold that bent down form, and all the smaller branches will then grow straight up and your plant will be even bushier, and it will make it easier to tie the plant down if you need to even the canopy out some.
The nutrient recipe is just as important as the attention as everything else, however, all the brands work, so pick whatever brand you like, or want to try, and figure out a good recipe. I've altered the "Recipe for Success" (this makes me lol everytime i read it) from Technaflora slightly because i don't have a couple things, like awesome blossoms or sugar daddy or thrive alive red (I will be getting them tho as soon as funds allow it) so i improvise with the rest of my GH stuff i have left.. Gotta use up my KoolBloom, dry and liquid, cause that shit wasn't cheap!
i am liking the ease of mixing up Technaflora over GH like i mentioned, but i'll get into that once i have the full Technaflora line up.
Vegetative growth is important to getting a plant up to size before putting it into flower. If you have a goal dry weight (for me its 16zips a plant), then you want to make sure you do what you can to make your plant grow as fast as you can.. Don't defoliate in veg, this slows down growth. Tipping is okay cause you want lots of side branching and many tops. but leave the damn leaves on!
one important thing people overlook is beneficial bacteria. Pick up a good mycorrhizae product and make Root Drenches with it. Get some aquashield and use it as a foliar spray for some good results. The root drenches are key.. AT LEAST once a week, i'm doing it once a day tho, about a couple hours after a regular feeding, so the rockwool has time to drain and dry slightly so the concentration of salts and metals isn't as high, which can alter the effectiveness of the beneficials.
TheCapn just posted a video on youtube, and he has his flower room packed wall to wall to wall with 4 Purple Dream plants.. and i have to say, each plant will hit 20 zips or more! The reason i bring this up is because of two things. First one is container size for flowering, and the second is Scrog or not?
Actually, let me talk about container sizing throughout the whole grow. Transplant your plants as often as you can before flower. This builds a massive root ball, which in turn grows a massive plant up top. The first container my plants go into are 4" square pots.. in about a week, they go into 1gal pots, in about 10 days they go into 2 gal pots. About 2 more weeks after that, they go into 3.5 gal pots, then about a couple weeks later they go into 5 or 7 gal pots for flowering, if i have time till space in the flower tent is available, i will go into a 5gal container then transplant into a 7gal container just a few days before flowering.
TheCapn has stopped using Airpots actually, and is using standard flat bottomed nursery pots. he says he gets slightly better growth this way, and looking at his plants in his video, he's onto something. I am going to run a side by side test of this and see if its true.
Scrog's:
TheCapn loves his scrogs, and if you've seen his harvests, you'll see why. He has 4 Purple Dreams in flower right now and the smallest of the 4 is under a scrog. It really all depends on the strain you grow.. Some strains, like his purple dream, can yield more, if trained right, without a scrog, than with a scrog. You can grow longer, bigger colas that weigh more and add to your final weights.
What you need to do is get an idea for your plant. Run a few of them at the same time and do each one a little different.. i'm runnin Dinafem OG kush, and it NEEDS to be in a scrog, or be staked up and supported as the plant can get rather large and really weigh a lot, which, as i've learned, can snap whole plants in half at the point they were first tipped!
SCrogs are great if you want to keep a nice even canopy, and you don't want popcorn buds, cause usually you trim off the crappy stuff below the screen, which is all the small stuff anyways, and the plant then focuses on growing big buds up top.
Flower machine:
I made a video of it, its in my signature, but its super simple. I use the cheapest rubbermaid roughneck totes, some 1/2" PVC for the drip rings and the plumbing and a 200gph submersible water pump for the irrigation. I'm going to switch the containers i use actually to 15gal Brute totes if i can find them here in my area without having to order them online.
I drill 4-6 2" holes for drainage. TheCapn uses a 6" hole or something for drainage, and a 6" hole to take water readings or get a pump in there to empty the reservoir. Its all up to you and what you wanna do.. He uses like thee 6" net pots stacked on each other and puts that in the 6" access hole to block the light. Make sure that you pick a tote that holds the container that you are using too.
When growing Capn-Style, it isn't necessary to have an airstone in the reservoir, as the roots get oxygen through the RW cubes. However, if you use a product like Floralicious plus, or something similar, in which the bottle states to keep it aerated, then do so.. but regular nutrient formulas do not require aeration. The water return each day into the reservoir adds enough oxygen into the water for it not to go stagnant.
The number of irrigations depends on your strain.. I noticed with more daily irrigations i was seeing calcium lockouts in my Dinafem OG's because overdoses of nitrogen and potassium cause Calcium to become lockout even if its readily available to the roots. So i knocked the waterings back to 4 times a day from 6.. i've since gone down to 2 irrigation a day, but i might just go with one and see if there's any difference.
Defoliation:
Don't do it.. I don't do it.. TheCapn doesn't do it.. s1ingblade doesn't do it. Those two guys alone pull in bigger harvests than everyone here on 420 combined i betcha!! Although in TheCapn's latest video he mentioned pulling some fan leaves off his biggest Purple Dream plant (which will probably hit 24zips or more) probably to open up the MIDDLE of the plant where large buds are growing.. Not the bottom of the plant where theres no energy being focused anyways.
that's really about it. If i've forgotten anything, trust me i'll post it quickly!
Anyways.. my sleep schedule is all messed up.. 830am and i'm off to bed haha!
I'll be back later guys!
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