First Grow-Aero-Stealth Box

[Skybound]

@ African Grower,
My sincere apologies for hijacking your DIY Ebb & Flow thread, I should've posted my query here. Don't know what I was thinking.

Today I plan to redesign and rebuild my aero/Ebb&Flow/DWC setup. The reason is that the flimsy materials used in the totes in conjunction with the fact that the totes fits snugly into my crammed grow box make for a recipe for disaster everytime I have to change nutes, or check the pH/PPM levels and I want to get away from those downfalls, but also have the ability to change the way the system operates simply by raising the spill tube.

In the above images, you can see what I have verses what I want. As of now, the system is still all 3 design setups (aeroponic/Ebb-n-Flo/DWC), but in order for me to be able to switch from one to the other, I need to completely remove the lid/net pot table and carefully, but forcefully pull on the spill tube. With the proposed design, I should be able to accomplish this w/o removing the lid/table. The spill tube can also hold my float indicator, and if I find a way for it to slide up and down while maintaining the seal, will also be able to control the water level inside the root chamber. as of now, I am having a hard time finding a seal that would give me this freedom of sliding the drain pipe up and down at my discretion. I am hoping one of you have an idea what I can use to accomplish this?

TYIA

 

[AfricanGrower]

Haha as I've already replied to your comment in my thread, feel free to respond to it back on here!

 

[Skybound]

Too late bro, already replied there. should I copy and paste here?

 

[donpaul.p]

right, for the soil hydro question on last page, is it possible to use soil and hydro together, i think thats what its asking,
well im not sure about hydro as i dont grow hydro, but i do grow the odd 2ltr dwc, now the part that i grow the plant in holds soil, so like the net cup you use in hydro well with my dwc i have something similar and start the plants in soil, then the roots grow out the bottom of the soil and thats when i put them in the res, the pot sits above the water level so the soil is not actually in the res, the roots just grow into the res so their is no soil at all going into the res, if the soil was in the res then it would just cause the plant to rot at the soil level due to high moisture levels in the growing medium,

in my sig below their is a link for my 2ltr dwc hempie, i basically have a res thats just shorter that a 2ltr pop bottle, this i fill with the nutrient mix and it has an air stone in the bottom keeping plenty of air in the water, then i put my plant into the top of the res so it sits on top and the soil level sits just above water level, this then allows the roots to grow down into the res, so i have about 3 or 4 inches of soil in the top part and the roots then grow down into the res, my dwc's work well and its the only method i have tried,

 

[Skybound]

Saturday 9/7/13 update;

Last night, I mixed up 3 gallons of nutes, 2 for the hydro and 1 for the soil plant. Also, I cut some veg ties to LST the 4 main colas to allow for deeper light penetration to some of the shorter branches that I topped. Hopefully these smaller branches stretch out b/c I'd like for them to flower, but if they can't compete for space in the scrog, I will cut them off when I lollipop the plant.

Feed mixtures are as follows;

--For soil--
1 Gallon of distilled water
Flora Micro - 5ml @100% strength
Flora Gro --- 2.5ml @50% strength
Flora Bloom- 2.5ml @50% strength
Armor si----- 2.5ml @100% strength
pH in - 6.5 ----pH out - 5.9
ppm in - 530 --- ppm out 1120 (irrelevant factor)

--Hydro--

2 Gallons of bottled distilled water
Flora Micro -- 6ml @75% strength per gallon
Flora Gro ---- 7.5ml @75% strength per gallon
Flora Bloom -1.8ml @75% strength per gallon
Armor Si ---- 2.5ml @100% strength per gallon
H2O2 -------- 2ml @ 66% strength per gallon (recommended use is @ 3ml per 4 liters)
pH in 5.9/6.1 - pH of old res 6.2
ppm in 750/695 ppm of old res 515

Because the ppm was so high, I pH'ed a 3rd gallon of water to 5.8 and added another half gallon to the res. I may add the rest to bring the 695 even lower. I realize for seedlings/clones, the ppm should be way lower. I'm still new and dialing in my skills as I go and learn. Like many things in life, I have to learn the hard way. Can someone chime in with what my pH and PPM should be for a Hydro grow? I'm of the belief that it should be about 5.5-5.8 and 200-300, is this correct?

Also, i completely rebuilt my hydro bucket to be able to drain and fill from the top w/o having to pull the entire thing out. I guess I will consider this a half success, but b/c the micro sprayers are in the circuit whenever the pump is running, when I bleed off nute water, I am also filling the root chamber at the same time which is counter productive. Though with the addition of the extended drain pipe and the side access drain hole on that pipe, I can control where inside the root chamber the water level will be which right now is just below the manifold. To better make this system operate as intended, I will likely have to chock the bottom tote so the water rolls to the pump, and chock the top tote so the water rolls away from the pump and towards the drain pipe. This will ensure that as I drain, and the sprayers spray, the majority of the water is allowed to cycle back down to the pump and out. i have to be comfortable that this little pump won't get it all out. I may even elect to stab the tie in pipe right out the face of the cabinet. As of now, I have to get in between the plants with a channel lock to firmly grab the pipe while I twist off the snug cap. The compression fitting does not hold this pipe enough to keep it from spinning.

 

[Skybound]

Oh, and another note,

I may have to pull out the spray bar (and am happy I can do that now) to reposition the sprayers. When I initally poked the holes, I did not realize the ones on the end of the bar were so far away from the net pots. Ideally the first 4 will spray the 4 cups above that area and the 2nd grouping of 4 sprayers should spray the 4 pots above that grouping. So the 2 center pots will get the most access.

 

[Skybound]

Are those calyxes with hairs?

 

[KingJohnC]

It looks too soon to tell, i do not see any signs of sexual maturity yet.

 

[Skybound]

KJC, would you advise not going into flower soon? I estimate this plant to be about 13 weeks old today (+/- a few days). does a plant need to be sexually mature to go into flower, or just to be sexually identified?

TYIA

 

[Skybound]

Finally discovered a way to have an easily moveable spill tube. Currently I have a 1/2" Hydrofarm rubber grommet in the base of the root chamber, but this past weekend I got a 3/4" Uniseal from the hydro store. The Uniseal was a bit too big for the 1/2" PVC and wouldn't hold a water tight seal, and the 1/2" grommet holds too tightly and was not designed for a pipe that moves. So I was playing around with spare parts and noticed how the 1/2" pipe fits into the 1/2" coupling. Inside the coupling is a slight taper. So I cut the coupling at the center and sanded out the edge a bit. When I stuck the 1/2" PVC pipe in, it fit snugly, but still allowed the pipe to slide with slight hand pressure. This will work perfect in my Sky Grower. With a small push or pull, I can convert the Sky Grower from an Aeroponic to an Ebb & Flow. If I also reprogram the timer, it will be an RDWC with the pump on 24/7, but this version has the capability of controling water height to suit the growers needs. I'm stoked!!

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi Sky.
The plants are looking great. I love all your DIY stuff, good work and +reps. As for the big plant, you say its 13 weeks old? If it is, its definitely ready to flip into flower. The plant doesn't need to show its sex before flipping to flower, If your not sure about sex though, keep a close eye on it for pistils or seed sacks until you are sure of the sex, and cull any males if necessary.
Good luck.

 

[Skybound]

Brother, as fascinated as I am with this hobby, I inspect the progress nearly every 20 minutes, and if I ever get my own field, I will never leave except for trips to the hardware store. Because I am sending everyone into flower to wipe the slate when done, I want to give the little ones just a bit longer in veg to give them a fighting chance. Also want to dot all my I's and cross all my Tee's before b/c once that scrog net goes up, I doubt I'll be able to get anything out of that cabinet until I can get everything out (except for any males, they're coming out regardless of haw many pieces). Maybe I can make me a BAR salad if any pop up?

 

[stealthgrow]

Makes sense, you can hold off til your ready for sure. You can veg plants indefinitely, when all your plants are ready to flower together, flip the switch.
Beware, the big plant will continue veg growth till lights flip, and then can double or even triple in size during flower.

 

[Skybound]

That's why I can't hold off too long. Maybe 1 more week. Yeah, I'll flip when Cap'n and s1ing flip for their bake off.

 

[AfricanGrower]

Sounds like a plan I finally see what you mean about that Uniseal piece. Nicely done Sky!

 

[B A R]

Beware, the big plant will continue veg growth till lights flip, and then can double or even triple in size during flower.

I WISH that would happen to Laverne!

 

[KingJohnC]

KJC, would you advise not going into flower soon? I estimate this plant to be about 13 weeks old today (+/- a few days). does a plant need to be sexually mature to go into flower, or just to be sexually identified?

TYIA

your larger plants can be put into flower now. a plant does not need to express its sex before it is put into flower, many plants will grow pistils from the calyxes at their nodes.

 

[donpaul.p]

as king says you can flip to flower at any stage of growth, you can even go 12-12 from seed and get yields of 14g and anything around 28g per plant, plants will also show sex under veg depending on the light schedule your using, i find under 24-0 plants take much longer to show sex in veg, plants under 18-6 tend to show sex much sooner and under glr they show sex within 4 to 6 weeks, so it depends on light schedule and strain,

so you dont need to wait until they show sex before flipping to 12-12, if they was showing sex under veg then this means they will start to flower a bit sooner under 12-12 compared with a plant thats not mature, so when you think the plant is big enough to go into flower then just flip it 12-12, i usually go on height then flip when my plants are roughly the height i want to flower them at knowing that they will finish around twice as big

 

[Skybound]

I want to flip on 9/15 (same day as Cap'n & s1ing cook off), Should I start with a bloom feed schedule and GLR for the rest of the week before going into 12/12? i'm @ 18/6 now.

 

[stealthgrow]

Hi Sky, hope your having a good day.
You can use veg nutrients for the first week or so of bloom phase if you want, it won't hurt the plants or slow the change from veg to flower at all. Its really up to you, you can start bloom nutrients right away also if you like. I would keep an eye on the TDS PPM though and try to keep it around 700-800 max IMHO, some like it even lower when you first flip.
Are you gonna try putting your plants into the dark for 24-36 hours before flipping to 12/12. I did this with both my grows and seen many others do this also, it is supposed to help with the transition from veg phase to bloom phase. Builds up the flower hormones in the dark so when the lights turn on finally, the plant is ready to stretch out.
Hope this helps, whatever you do, good luck.