Sobergrower Gorilla Glue 2022 - PPK

[Sobergrower]

Today is a new day! I recently chopped 4 girls and made them hang. They will stay hanging for approximately 10 to 14 days at 60% RH and then into the jars they go.

For this grow I am drowning 3 Gorilla Glue seeds to prep them for life beyond their current dormant status! They have been in deep water for the last 24 hours and will be moved to peat-moss pucks as soon as the tails are long enough. I plan to take two of these girls to the dance and keep one as a mother if needed. (My intentions are pure)

A little introduction to the system. I am using what is referred to as a PPK style of growing. PPK stands for passive plant killer and evolved from some great minds over the years. This system is as close to set it and forget Ronco growing.

There is a main reservoir which holds the prepared nutrients ready for action. From the main reservoir the nutrients are fed into sub irrigation modules (one per plant). All of the modules are connected to each other, allowing nutrient flow and stability. A simple float valve is used to keep the water level in all of the modules constant.

On top of each module is the plant container. Over the years it was determined that width (or girth for those of the like mind) was more important than how tall the container was (I am leaving that one alone). In the bottom of each container is a pipe which connects the container to the sub irrigation.

This system is a top fed hydroponic set up with a redundant wick system. A simple magnetic pond pump is used to transport water from the sub irrigation system to the top of each container. Every 90 minutes the pump feeds water and saturates the media then drains back into the sub irrigation tub under each plant.

For nutrients I am using Jacks 5-12-26, Calnit, and Epsom. I am also going to incorporate great white, fluvic, and kelp in this grow. I will get more into this as the grow continues. I have found this to be a very stable nutrient lineup.

For lighting I was fortunate to obtain a Mars Hydro FC3000 through luck and persistence, which will be used for this grow (thank you @Mars Hydro )! This light has a veg footprint for a 3x3 space and flowering for a 2.5x2.5 tent. I may add supplemental light as I am currently in a 4x4 tent.

I plan to provide pictures of the setup, and tent once the current residents are placed in jars.

For now, thanks for stopping by! All are welcome and I am always interested in learning.

Peace…..SG

 

[TorturedSoul]

flowering for a 2.5x2.5 tent. I may add supplemental light as I am currently in a 4x4 tent.

Seems like a good idea; the area of a 2½'×2½' tent is only 39% of your 4'×4' one. Therefore (assuming the manufacturer's product specifications are accurate), you'd want a couple more of the same product. But then you have a "footprint issue," in that you'd be throwing much of the light into the walls of the tent instead of directly onto the plants.

 

[Sobergrower]

Hey @TorturedSoul thanks for stopping in! My last grow had two lights. I will probably replace the old reflector series light with this one. I am planning to run these two plants as waffle style.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Hey @TorturedSoul thanks for stopping in! My last grow had two lights. I will probably replace the old reflector series light with this one.

I suppose you could run both on a diagonal, and move (reorder) your plants daily. Depending on how much light-energy that would be, of course. On the other hand, electricity costs money, lol. I find myself wishing that I had a 2'x2' (or thereabouts) grow tent, as it'd require less light to adequately illuminate it.

I am planning to run these two plants as waffle style.

I am familiar with pancake engines, but not waffle gardens. What is this thing?

 

[Sobergrower]

I am familiar with pancake engines, but not waffle gardens. What is this thing?

TS, I think people call it quadlining or something similar. I probably interpreted it as looking like a waffle in my head and that is how it got stored in the grey matter.

 

[Nine Toed Hippie]

I suppose you could run both on a diagonal, and move (reorder) your plants daily. Depending on how much light-energy that would be, of course. On the other hand, electricity costs money, lol. I find myself wishing that I had a 2'x2' (or thereabouts) grow tent, as it'd require less light to adequately illuminate it.



I am familiar with pancake engines, but not waffle gardens. What is this thing?

Dude grows some good chit is what that thing is!!! Ha!

 

[Sobergrower]

. I find myself wishing that I had a 2'x2' (or thereabouts) grow tent, as it'd require less light to adequately illuminate it.

I agree. I may decide to get a smaller tent for this light. I struggled finding a tent that would fit my grow space. I have a height limitation so the 8’ tents are out. Maybe I will get lucky in the Mars giveaway.

 

[Nine Toed Hippie]

TS, I think people call it quadlining or something similar. I probably interpreted it as looking like a waffle in my head and that is how it got stored in the grey matter.

Happens to me all the time. Come up with names for things and wife looks at me like wtf? Even my kids are like what did you call that ?

NTH

 

[Sobergrower]

I forgot to take pictures of seeds with tails but was too eager to get these babies in the peat pods. There are four pods but only three of them have a seed. Even after all this time sober, my short term memory sucks at times and do not remember which one doesn’t have the seed. I guess it will be like wack a mole, and I will just have to wait. Oh the suspense begins.

 

[Sobergrower]

New life above ground begins today!

 

[Sobergrower]

Well all three of these girls decided it was time to see what this world has in store for them! Glad they made it out of the dirt womb!

Their home currently has other tenants, who will be living in glass houses very soon.

I am hoping my light from @Mars Hydro Led arrives this evening and I can unpackage it. The light is an FC3000 which is small for my 4x4 tent. I am going to use this light as designed for the veg stage for sure.

While I would love to do a grow journal with this light on its own, I am also wanting to maximize the potential of the space. Maybe I will end up with two tents in flower with the new light in a 3x3 and compare this light to the other two.

As luck would have it, the light just arrived! Let the unboxing begin!

Peace…….SG

 

[Sobergrower]

First impression - the FC series is a well thought out and built light!

Package was a plain brown box and labeled fragile. I think the guys took care in delivering as there were no major signs of box damage.

The contents include mounting brackets, electrical cords, and a set of adjustable ratchet ropes. The light itself is already built so my previous idea about using the bars separately may be a mute point.

After indulging a quick (and I do mean quick) read of the destruction manual, I went to work mounting the driver (which will probably be dismounted and moved outside the tent) and connecting the the electrical cables, I plugged it in and turned it on.

I gotta say, this light is BRIGHT!

Peace…..SG

 

[Bill284]

First impression - the FC series is a well thought out and built light!

Package was a plain brown box and labeled fragile. I think the guys took care in delivering as there were no major signs of box damage.

The contents include mounting brackets, electrical cords, and a set of adjustable ratchet ropes. The light itself is already built so my previous idea about using the bars separately may be a mute point.

After indulging a quick (and I do mean quick) read of the destruction manual, I went to work mounting the driver (which will probably be dismounted and moved outside the tent) and connecting the the electrical cables, I plugged it in and turned it on.

I gotta say, this light is BRIGHT!

Peace…..SG

Great Light Mucker.
Is it the 3000 I just put one in the greenhouse.
Bugs love it.
I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.
What did you think of those plastic screws?
Shite!



Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Sobergrower]

Great Light Mucker.
Is it the 3000 I just put one in the greenhouse.
Bugs love it.
I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.
What did you think of those plastic screws?
Shite!



Stay safe
Bill284

Hey Bill,

Yes, this is the FC3000. Are you talking about the plastic thumb screws the hold the driver in place or something else?

I will take a closer look when I put it in the tent.

Peace….SG

 

[Bill284]

Hey Bill,

Yes, this is the FC3000. Are you talking about the plastic thumb screws the hold the driver in place or something else?

I will take a closer look when I put it in the tent.

Peace….SG

Yes those ones.
I didn’t think they were the best for the job.
But I guess they work.



Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Sobergrower]

have lurked through other posts over the last week and thought it time to add content to my journal.

There are several comprehensive threads by folks way smarter than me about the PPK system. However, with that said, I want to pay respect to those folks again and say thank you. The knowledge imparted was for fun and for free. Something not always found today. So THANK YOU For paving the way!

PPK stands for passive plant killer. It is a simple design, using simple nutrients, designed to run like a hydro system but without the chillers and bubblers and constant running of pumps etc.

This is the bulk storage reservoir. Mine is 17 gallons. I drilled a hole with a step drill one size smaller than the thick walled garden hose I purchased previously. I used the male end of the garden hose with about 4” of hose still attached and shoved it through the hole.

This is the outside of the tub where the garden hose exits. I attached an elbow along with a connector that comes with a float valve kit used for RO systems. Below that is a 1/4 shut off valve which is nice to have if there is a reason to drain the sub irrigation portion.

The small blue water tubing goes into the tent and attaches to the float valve. This valve is housed inside of a plastic cereal keeper. I drilled to small holes (I think they were 3/16”) at different heights in the side of the keeper. I also placed some glass beads in the bottom to keep it weighted down. The purpose of this part of the system is to maintain a set water level in the grow tubs. It is important to maintain a perched water table.

These pictures show a two module system. They are connected by thick walled garden hose as well. The float valve is shown for reference. There are two pumps shown as well but only one is really needed. I am planning to use two pumps. One is 500gph and the second one is 80gph. The 500gph unit will top feed both plants using a manifold of tubing. The 80gph pump will just circulate nutrients from one tub to the other.

The individual plant containers sit on top of the tubs. Previous intelligence identified that short wide planters work great in this system. There is a drain pipe located in the middle and makes a hydraulic connection to the nutrient water in each tub.

And finally, here are the three babies getting acclimated to their new home. They are sitting below the Mars FC3000 and seem to be enjoying bathing in the light.

They have received kelp infused water to this point but will begin getting a light dose of nutrients from this point forward.

Peace….SG

 

[Sobergrower]

I had an opportunity to get an upgraded Mars-Hydro FCE-4800 for this tent and placed the order this morning. I am excited to have this opportunity and looking forward to seeing how well it performs in a 4x4 tent!

So with that said there is obviously a slight change to this thread but still representing one of our forum supporters!

Peace….SG

 

[Sobergrower]

Thought I would take a minute and update the thread with a few photos.

I have the three young ladies hanging out in the tent. RH is being maintained at -65% and lights on temps between 73 and 75.

I started feeding them jacks tap water nutrients at about 300 ppm this week.

The one in the middle went limp a few days ago and I have her propped up for now. We will see if she makes it. I may have had to much air movement for her at this stage.

They seem to enjoy the light from the Mars Hydro FC3000. I have it about 16 inches above the plants and set at about 40%. Current light cycle is 18 hours on and 6 hours off.

Peace…..SG

 

[Sobergrower]

There were a couple of questions asked on a different forum so I thought it would be good to answer them here.

Does the pipe extending from the bottoms act as a wick?

You are correct in your assessment that the tube extending from the bottom of the planter acts as a wick. It sits in the solution in the sub reservoir and actually works in both upward and downward mobility. I use chunky perlite (rinsed well) in this section. There is a strainer cap on both the top and bottom of this tub to keep the perlite in place but to allow nutrients to flow. I will be taking pictures of this in the near future to help with the description.

What is used for media in the planter?

As for the planter section, the media I have used is called turface. The originators tried many different types of media including perlite/vermiculite (hempy style), coco coir, even cheep floor dry from Napa. I have read recently that the OG is using mostly perlite/worm castings and DE. Here are a couple of quotes.


the medium consists of almost 100% perlite with a topping of worm castings which is worked into the perlite wet.

and then, a topping of the same volume of vermiculite with 10% diatomaceous earth. this can be applied dry but should be worked in slightly. not as deep as the worm castings (2-3") but about half as deep.

this topping combination adds significant cec to the perlite which is practically devoid of cec.




the mechanical properties of the medium are more important than the composition of the substance itself.

most of our choices of hydro-type media are relatively inert.

i have found that a capillary rise of 6-8" and an air-filled porosity (AFP) between 30-40% to be ideal in the ppk device.

you can remove fines or too large particles by rinsing, sieving, or floating, depending on the material.

once you get your afp adjusted the only other consideration is cec. coco is around 70 meq/l and turface, other clays and pumice are around 30-40%.

perlite has none but the above amendments give it a substantial CEC thus turning it into a viable soiless media.

the decision after this is how much work and money you want to put into your medium.

prepping turface is a lot of work. it has an AFP of about 22% out of the bag but it can be brought up to about 35% by sieving over a regular aluminum window screen. you will lose about 30% as fines but it is infinitely re-usable. turface is bug-free as it and perlite have been processed in high temp kilns.


Do you check the PH in the bottom reservoir?

You asked about checking the PH. During my last run of the Bruce Banner, I did check PH in both, the main and sub reservoir but never added any PH adjusters the entire grow. I was targeting a PPM of 850 or 1.7 ec for the main reservoir . My sub reservoir hovered between 6.2 and 6.5. Before that, I chased PH (probably with a meter that was out of calibration) and struggled to manage it well. Jacks is a very stable nutrient line. I do have a new PH meter and will be using it but will plan to allow the PH to drift up and down rather than try to hold it at a certain point.


How do you add in the other nutrients?

On to Great White, Fluvic, and kelp. I plan to use Great White during the initial nutrient mix which will go directly into the sub irrigation portion. I will then introduce the Fluvic and Kelp through the main reservoir.

I may revert back to running the PPM at 650 for the main reservoir.

I am open to ideas or thoughts in the subject and will add more pictures of the planters going together for reference (the girls are getting close to transplant).

Peace…..SG

 

[Sobergrower]

I am hoping that by the weekend the girls are ready for their new home. I bumped up the PPM’s today and will begin prepping the modules for transplant. I got some advice to remove the grate section on the top of the down tube which I will do as well.

Here is some good bad and sad pictures. The good girl is looking strong and healthy and ready for vigor. The bad girl is still being supported by a pole (maybe she is a stripper, who knows)! Damn I love bad girls! The sad girl (because I don’t think these plants are ugly) looks to have a bit of a deficiency in the leaves.

The grow is what it is. Always learning!