Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing
- Thread starter Hyena Merica
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #782
Well, the only limitation to total autonomy for my secret attic grow lab is water supply...there is absolutely NO discreet way to connect a permanent water line. So, my grow lab has to hook up with a refill now and then.
We have a laundry room right inside the garage door and the attic entrance is about fifteen feet right above that same door on the garage side, so I have a coiled hose at the ready up there and about once a week when the coast is clear I drop it down and refill the main reservoir and the two auxiliary reservoirs in under ten minutes. Works great unless the outside temps are below ten degrees for a week which is a freakish cold snap where I live but it happened.
So the hose froze.
Like just about everything, I have back-up plan for just such an emergency...it's one of those expandable TV hoses, I can run it all the way up there if needed but it wasn't necessary this time...I knew the weather was about to get warmer and the problem would pass and it did so I just filled everything yesterday with no problem.
The room is all reconditioned with a number of improvements. PROJECT 27 is about ready to begin. I'll post an update today.
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #783
Small update:
I have been trimming and jarring the now-dried harvest for six hours now. What I got from this last project is WAY nicer than I even hoped.
So much is happening today, I will write it all up later in a really knockout full update on the re-done grow lab and the finishing of the P26 harvest.
Meanwhile, I have so many gigantic buds around here they come in handy. This one's my doorstop.
Peace, Hyena
I have been trimming and jarring the now-dried harvest for six hours now. What I got from this last project is WAY nicer than I even hoped.
So much is happening today, I will write it all up later in a really knockout full update on the re-done grow lab and the finishing of the P26 harvest.
Meanwhile, I have so many gigantic buds around here they come in handy. This one's my doorstop.
Peace, Hyena
Lol love the door stop, stoner ingenuity at its best!
- Thread starter
- #785
Happy Thursday!
PROJECT 27 UPDATE
Seems strange to say that since technically the project doesn't start until the seeds hit the rooter plugs but here's the story...
After chopping, trimming and hanging everything over about three grueling sessions totaling maybe eight hours, the room was blown apart. It took many hours to recondition. Made some big changes.
First, the HID Fixtures are finally gone, updated to all-LED.
I also updated the exhaust system, now it isn't cooling any lights and it can completely empty the room once every 2 minutes if necessary through a 30 pound carbon filter.
The normal reconditioning of the 9 buckets and the reservoir is always a bitch. My theory that only a small amount of all added nutrients are actually absorbed by the plants is bolstered by the sludge of condensed nutes that cover the floor of the main reservoir after four months of use.
I could probably just refill the reservoir and swish it around a bit and accomplish another entire grow using only this nutrient residue. Like I always say, plants only sip the stuff.
I may not be the laziest grower on Earth, but I'm in the finals. I'm proud to have a setup that is very close to automatic, requiring minimal intervention and allowing me to take week-long breaks without a second thought. Few grows are this independent and my setup is the reason. Using Dutch buckets along with a simple closed-loop, gravity-based irrigation system has made my grow room a slave to me, not the other way around.
I am also now a proponent of all-natural seed starting...it's Nature's way and in this system it works perfectly, eliminating all the fussing with paper towels, etc, and the damage to sprouts often caused by handling.
Shift change is a great time to show how my little system works for any newer growers or those who may be longing for a simpler way to accomplish this stuff. Since one of the main reasons for a grow journal is to pass around knowledge and techniques, experienced members please bear with me and let me briefly show the parts of my setup and how it works.
Nine Dutch buckets form the basis of my setup. Dutch buckets are a form of hempy-type bucket, where top-down watering reaches a level in each pot where the excess can drain through some sort of overflow hole. These buckets have a built-in two-inch reservoir in the bottom, and as the level rises it contains a little siphon tube that pulls the water from the very bottom and into a common drain pipe, where gravity returns in to the reservoir.
The siphon tube is cool, it regulates the small amount of water that stays in the bottom, giving the plant a nice reserve for several days even if the pump failed.
Having fresh water three times a day keeps the solution at the roots oxygenated and clean. The plant roots are fed continuously, all they can absorb 24/7 using this method. Roots reach maximum possible efficiency by being fully immersed in oxygenated solution, allowing a far smaller root ball to support a much bigger plant mass, especially compared to soil. That's how I can get phat five-foot monsters using only 2-gallon grow buckets.
Here's how I prep them:
I use a 5-gallon nylon paint strainer so no particles return to the reservoir. It simply and easily contains and strains everything, and when you're done you yank the whole thing out and discard. Simple.
My preferred medium is Perlite. Until recently I used a base layer of Hydroton balls but I'm not sure that did anything but add a lot of red clay to my water. Perlite is cheap and wonderful. The absolute perfect canna medium.
So there it is, simple and elegant. A 40-gallon reservoir, and a simple system of blue-colored 1/2-inch aquarium tubing (blue inhibits algae growth) fed by a nice fountain pump that provides enough pressure to feed nine tubes, without being so powerful it could blow the system open somewhere.
One problem with these systems is the different tubes get different pressures along the way. The easy key to perfect distribution is an adjustable valve at the end of each tube. Once the pump is on you can easily "tune" the system by adjusting the valves until each bucket gets the same flow.
Here's how everything looks once ready for new babies:
So, a final 24-hour light and plumbing test...going to make damn sure nothing leaks...nothing. It would be death.
That's all there is! I believe there is no simpler nor more reliable hydroponic setup. Unless the pump or gravity fails we're in business!
So now all is in readiness.
Today I guess I'll go up there and poke these seeds into rooter plugs and stick them right in front of the nozzles, so each plug is indirectly watered and a wet path is created down through the perlite for the new roots to follow. I can just stick the seeds in and done. Last time I got 15 out of 17 I think, so no more paper towels and all that crap.
And off we go!!
Still trimming and jarring buds, probably another 4 hours or more to finish then I'll give the final result.
When I finally took them down I couldn't believe the length of the Blue Hyena colas. I know it's my little breed but even so, this was the back-cross (F3 I guess) and this one pheno was amazing.
The Amnesia and the Blueberry both produced literally piles of frosty goodness.
It's so sticky you can't touch it.
But the star was still the super-tall Amnesia pheno that produced the MOAC. That one bud came to over 23 grams dry as a bone. And yes, I zeroed the scale with the cup on it first.
I have to buy more jars this morning but later I'll post the final shot.
I think I'll enter her in the NOM. Why not?
"I love it when a plan comes together" -Hannibal from The A-Team
Peace, Hyena
PROJECT 27 UPDATE
Seems strange to say that since technically the project doesn't start until the seeds hit the rooter plugs but here's the story...
After chopping, trimming and hanging everything over about three grueling sessions totaling maybe eight hours, the room was blown apart. It took many hours to recondition. Made some big changes.
First, the HID Fixtures are finally gone, updated to all-LED.
I also updated the exhaust system, now it isn't cooling any lights and it can completely empty the room once every 2 minutes if necessary through a 30 pound carbon filter.
The normal reconditioning of the 9 buckets and the reservoir is always a bitch. My theory that only a small amount of all added nutrients are actually absorbed by the plants is bolstered by the sludge of condensed nutes that cover the floor of the main reservoir after four months of use.
I could probably just refill the reservoir and swish it around a bit and accomplish another entire grow using only this nutrient residue. Like I always say, plants only sip the stuff.
I may not be the laziest grower on Earth, but I'm in the finals. I'm proud to have a setup that is very close to automatic, requiring minimal intervention and allowing me to take week-long breaks without a second thought. Few grows are this independent and my setup is the reason. Using Dutch buckets along with a simple closed-loop, gravity-based irrigation system has made my grow room a slave to me, not the other way around.
I am also now a proponent of all-natural seed starting...it's Nature's way and in this system it works perfectly, eliminating all the fussing with paper towels, etc, and the damage to sprouts often caused by handling.
Shift change is a great time to show how my little system works for any newer growers or those who may be longing for a simpler way to accomplish this stuff. Since one of the main reasons for a grow journal is to pass around knowledge and techniques, experienced members please bear with me and let me briefly show the parts of my setup and how it works.
Nine Dutch buckets form the basis of my setup. Dutch buckets are a form of hempy-type bucket, where top-down watering reaches a level in each pot where the excess can drain through some sort of overflow hole. These buckets have a built-in two-inch reservoir in the bottom, and as the level rises it contains a little siphon tube that pulls the water from the very bottom and into a common drain pipe, where gravity returns in to the reservoir.
The siphon tube is cool, it regulates the small amount of water that stays in the bottom, giving the plant a nice reserve for several days even if the pump failed.
Having fresh water three times a day keeps the solution at the roots oxygenated and clean. The plant roots are fed continuously, all they can absorb 24/7 using this method. Roots reach maximum possible efficiency by being fully immersed in oxygenated solution, allowing a far smaller root ball to support a much bigger plant mass, especially compared to soil. That's how I can get phat five-foot monsters using only 2-gallon grow buckets.
Here's how I prep them:
I use a 5-gallon nylon paint strainer so no particles return to the reservoir. It simply and easily contains and strains everything, and when you're done you yank the whole thing out and discard. Simple.
My preferred medium is Perlite. Until recently I used a base layer of Hydroton balls but I'm not sure that did anything but add a lot of red clay to my water. Perlite is cheap and wonderful. The absolute perfect canna medium.
So there it is, simple and elegant. A 40-gallon reservoir, and a simple system of blue-colored 1/2-inch aquarium tubing (blue inhibits algae growth) fed by a nice fountain pump that provides enough pressure to feed nine tubes, without being so powerful it could blow the system open somewhere.
One problem with these systems is the different tubes get different pressures along the way. The easy key to perfect distribution is an adjustable valve at the end of each tube. Once the pump is on you can easily "tune" the system by adjusting the valves until each bucket gets the same flow.
Here's how everything looks once ready for new babies:
So, a final 24-hour light and plumbing test...going to make damn sure nothing leaks...nothing. It would be death.
That's all there is! I believe there is no simpler nor more reliable hydroponic setup. Unless the pump or gravity fails we're in business!
So now all is in readiness.
Today I guess I'll go up there and poke these seeds into rooter plugs and stick them right in front of the nozzles, so each plug is indirectly watered and a wet path is created down through the perlite for the new roots to follow. I can just stick the seeds in and done. Last time I got 15 out of 17 I think, so no more paper towels and all that crap.
And off we go!!
Still trimming and jarring buds, probably another 4 hours or more to finish then I'll give the final result.
When I finally took them down I couldn't believe the length of the Blue Hyena colas. I know it's my little breed but even so, this was the back-cross (F3 I guess) and this one pheno was amazing.
The Amnesia and the Blueberry both produced literally piles of frosty goodness.
It's so sticky you can't touch it.
But the star was still the super-tall Amnesia pheno that produced the MOAC. That one bud came to over 23 grams dry as a bone. And yes, I zeroed the scale with the cup on it first.
I have to buy more jars this morning but later I'll post the final shot.
I think I'll enter her in the NOM. Why not?
"I love it when a plan comes together" -Hannibal from The A-Team
Peace, Hyena
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Awesome update hyena. What a pile of nutes in the res.
I'm liking the empty pics so we can see what's going on down there. Top notch bro!
I'm liking the empty pics so we can see what's going on down there. Top notch bro!
I didn't know you were using perlite, perlite has crossed my mind a few times.
Nice stuff. Like your setup, really tempted to try some hydro of some sort. And those colas look tasty
- Thread starter
- #789
Happy Friday! Time for the PROJECT 26 FINAL WEIGHT REPORT.
In short, it was good!
Trimming the last plants was a pleasure indeed...the Jack Herer turned out to be a super nice choice, with a great aroma and nice frostiness. Got quite a few phat colas from her.
But in the end the Blue Hyena was my favorite.
I grew two and the one in the front left was kind of an average plant production-wise but that spot doesn't get nearly the light the others get so that is understandable. However, the one in the back center was one of the greatest plants I have ever grown. She produced over fifteen dense, delicious colas that were over a foot long! In the end it was still the least of the four varieties gross, but that's because there were more of the other plants. She held her own as far as density and punch per branch .
The Chalice bud was her best. It trimmed down to over 16 grams totally dry.
So, the final PROJECT 26 results.
These numbers are the dry weight of trimmed buds only:
AMNESIA HAZE: 3 plants, 200 grams
BLUEBERRY: 4 plants, 298 grams
JACK HERER: 2 plants, 167 grams
BLUE HYENA III: 2 plants, 140 grams
GRAND TOTAL: 805 grams, 28.75 ounces of prime phat nug. PLUS, there was another 1.5 pounds of sugar trim and smaller buds.
Woo Hoo!!
The "smoke report" will be more of a running update on taste and stoniness but everything I have smoked for the past two weeks came from this grow and I'm almost in rehab. Seriously, mission accomplished... Such great taste and great buzz from each variety, each has their nuance but all are awesome and any of you who have followed my adventures know how brutally I have reviewed some of my own creations over the last several years, if it sucks I say so. This cannabis harvest doesn't suck. Rapture!
On to the next project!
But first, I am committed to improving my health in 2018.
My goal is a full serving of greens every day...
So, we're off on PROJECT 27.
Today all the new seeds were planted and watered in. I changed the lineup slightly, eliminating the Critical Plus in favor of a few more Big Nugs Fast...I want to get a really good idea of what this variety can do since a faster-flowering variety might be a good mate for my Blue Hyena down the road, maybe we could then find some phenos that produce the Blue Hyena sativa goodness but flower in half the time...hmmmmm. That would be a great project.
Now we wait for action. According to my not-too-precise calculations, we might see babies in about 4 days.
Have a great day!
Peace, Hyena
In short, it was good!
Trimming the last plants was a pleasure indeed...the Jack Herer turned out to be a super nice choice, with a great aroma and nice frostiness. Got quite a few phat colas from her.
But in the end the Blue Hyena was my favorite.
I grew two and the one in the front left was kind of an average plant production-wise but that spot doesn't get nearly the light the others get so that is understandable. However, the one in the back center was one of the greatest plants I have ever grown. She produced over fifteen dense, delicious colas that were over a foot long! In the end it was still the least of the four varieties gross, but that's because there were more of the other plants. She held her own as far as density and punch per branch .
The Chalice bud was her best. It trimmed down to over 16 grams totally dry.
So, the final PROJECT 26 results.
These numbers are the dry weight of trimmed buds only:
AMNESIA HAZE: 3 plants, 200 grams
BLUEBERRY: 4 plants, 298 grams
JACK HERER: 2 plants, 167 grams
BLUE HYENA III: 2 plants, 140 grams
GRAND TOTAL: 805 grams, 28.75 ounces of prime phat nug. PLUS, there was another 1.5 pounds of sugar trim and smaller buds.
Woo Hoo!!
The "smoke report" will be more of a running update on taste and stoniness but everything I have smoked for the past two weeks came from this grow and I'm almost in rehab. Seriously, mission accomplished... Such great taste and great buzz from each variety, each has their nuance but all are awesome and any of you who have followed my adventures know how brutally I have reviewed some of my own creations over the last several years, if it sucks I say so. This cannabis harvest doesn't suck. Rapture!
On to the next project!
But first, I am committed to improving my health in 2018.
My goal is a full serving of greens every day...
So, we're off on PROJECT 27.
Today all the new seeds were planted and watered in. I changed the lineup slightly, eliminating the Critical Plus in favor of a few more Big Nugs Fast...I want to get a really good idea of what this variety can do since a faster-flowering variety might be a good mate for my Blue Hyena down the road, maybe we could then find some phenos that produce the Blue Hyena sativa goodness but flower in half the time...hmmmmm. That would be a great project.
Now we wait for action. According to my not-too-precise calculations, we might see babies in about 4 days.
Have a great day!
Peace, Hyena
425jesse
Well-Known Member
Such a great harvest, I can't believe you are planted and up again!! I've got a few weeks to go of room work and whatnot. You are a growing master bro!!!
Awesome yield Hyena
- Thread starter
- #792
RANDOM SMOKE REPORT
Okay, it's about 8 pm where I live and I was just smoking some of the bounty of this latest harvest. I don't know what the fuck I just smoked but i'm so high I'm looking down at myself. I was a random bud from the collection plate of shit that fell on the floor while trimming or something. It tasted great. I'm so high.
Tis is funny because it took me like 20 minutes to write this spell chek went nuts
Peace Hyena
Okay, it's about 8 pm where I live and I was just smoking some of the bounty of this latest harvest. I don't know what the fuck I just smoked but i'm so high I'm looking down at myself. I was a random bud from the collection plate of shit that fell on the floor while trimming or something. It tasted great. I'm so high.
Tis is funny because it took me like 20 minutes to write this spell chek went nuts
Peace Hyena
Lol that happens from time to time
Mars Hydro
420 Sponsor
Happy harvest, congratulation ,Hyena
Lmao
- Thread starter
- #796
I totally forgot I posted that. That's just silly, sorry. Might have been some beer involved too.
Peace, Hyena
Peace, Hyena
pino0911
Well-Known Member
All good! Glad you have a awesome harvest!! And from the sounds of it you had a mighty fine night last night!! Lol!! Glad ur round bud!!
- Thread starter
- #798
Happy Sunday!
PROJECT 27 UPDATE
Except, there's nothing to update.
Waiting for the eggs to hatch...
Like a mother hen, all I can do is watch the baby monitor and wait. So much depends upon everybody starting at the same time so this is crucial.
There are two beans in every pot except one so I like my chances of full occupancy.
Hope your Sunday is great wherever you may be!
Sunday funny:
I heard somewhere Oprah was talking about running for President...
I have only seen this clip which outlines her main policy position on cannabis:
I could be persuaded!
Peace, Hyena
PROJECT 27 UPDATE
Except, there's nothing to update.
Waiting for the eggs to hatch...
Like a mother hen, all I can do is watch the baby monitor and wait. So much depends upon everybody starting at the same time so this is crucial.
There are two beans in every pot except one so I like my chances of full occupancy.
Hope your Sunday is great wherever you may be!
Sunday funny:
I heard somewhere Oprah was talking about running for President...
I have only seen this clip which outlines her main policy position on cannabis:
I could be persuaded!
Peace, Hyena
pino0911
Well-Known Member
That is too funny!! Oprah for president!!
The rooster
Well-Known Member
Hahahahaha hyena you crack me up brother.
Let me know when you want to try those rooster nukes. I've been in a giving mood lately
Let me know when you want to try those rooster nukes. I've been in a giving mood lately