Testing 1-2-3-4, Testing

[CBDMed]

we get the same buckets you do.
if you get them from any major retailer they should be the same. they are all made in china or mexico. i use wastebaskets from the dollar store. they'd be the same there as here.

don't worry so much over the food grade.

Well, I love you, man, and I don't want to argue with you, but there is a reason people pay more.
If you want to go with a simple Big Box bucket, just be sure to scrub it out real well before you go to put soil or liquid or anything in it, because people pay more for them to use non-toxic mold release, different plastics, etc.
If you scrub it real good, and get the mold-release off, that's probably 85-90% of it.


This is just one example:

What Is the Difference Between Food Grade Buckets and Regular Buckets?.

>> In order for a bucket to be considered food grade, every part of the manufacturing process must be non-toxic in case of residue. Some of the most common release agent types include:

• Petroleum and mineral oil-based
• Synthetic and semi-synthetic-based
• Natural-based (for example, vegetable oil or animal fat)
• Silicone-based
• Wax or stearate-based

>> Some of these release agents, like synthetic or petroleum agents, can pose grave health and safety hazards if food products come into contact with the residue and then are consumed by humans or animals.

>> Food grade buckets are manufactured with release agents that are safe and non-toxic. Regular buckets may be manufactured with release agents that leave toxic residue that, while safe for incidental contact, is not safe for storing food.

 

[bluter]

i can guarantee the buckets at a hydro store are same as everywhere.

 

[CBDMed]

i can guarantee the buckets at a hydro store are same as everywhere.

Well, ok, thanks!
I don't like to fight, and I am not sure how you are going to guarantee that when the manufacturers all say that the physical inputs and the release agents are all different, but the reality is that I don't have much choice.
I can hypothetically import food grade for about a bazillion dollars ($70 each bucket times 40 buckets = $2,800.US PLUS 30% tax on goods at the border = $740 USD MORE = $3,540 USD????????
[Cough! Hack! Puke! ]).

OR I can go with local buckets for about $5 each (and I am on a budget).

The reality is, probably I will search for small 7-10 gallon trash cans (i.e., non-food grade), scrub them real good, and see if I can adapt them somehow, because it would be great to have a 7-10 gallon capacity.
They probably won't have that nice lip to where they nest all by themselves, but I am sure I can figure out some kind of stands to maintain the space of the liquid reservoir.

I could not find coarse grade Perlite in country (for the center root net pot), so I had to order it. It will take 2-3 weeks to get here.
I have some other tools and parts and things on order, probably 2-3 weeks before I get all the parts together in the same place.
So maybe in a month I can get time to build my prototypes, assuming a move (either to another city, or out of country) does not get us.

But yeah, probably my hand is forced due to reality.
And I don't plan to worry about it. I just try to do the best I can, and then specifically NOT worry about it.

But thanks for trying to help! It is appreciated.

 

[Azimuth]

I could not find coarse grade Perlite in country (for the center root net pot), so I had to order it.

Doesn't have to be perlite. Coco works great, and mostly the advice is to use your standard soil mix packed tightly.

 

[CBDMed]

Doesn't have to be perlite. Coco works great, and mostly the advice is to use your standard soil mix packed tightly.

Thank you!

 

[Krissi Carbone]

I had the FC-E3000 & I like the SP3000 better. But I'm using it in a 2x4 tent. The FC is for a 3x3. I'd still prefer the TSW2000 over the FC3000 for a 3x3. Mostly because of the hoods pushing the light downward onto the plants.

I have both a 2 x 4 and a 3 x 3 now. I want to run the SP in the 3 x 3 since I have 3 plants going in there but I do like the additional height and light angles I would get from the 2 x 4 that sits 20 in higher...ugh decisions

 

[Buds Buddy]

I have both a 2 x 4 and a 3 x 3 now. I want to run the SP in the 3 x 3 since I have 3 plants going in there but I do like the additional height and light angles I would get from the 2 x 4 that sits 20 in higher...ugh decisions

Which way do I go ?

 

[Buds Buddy]

@InTheShed , somewhere in this journal you made a comment that it's no wonder the leaves were yellowing when the upper 1/2 of the pots / roots aren't getting nutes in the SIP Bucket plants. Well, there just might be something to your conclusion. About every 3rd feeding since you said that I started adding a cup or 2 (24 oz.) to the top of the buckets. 90% of the yellowing has stopped. Thanks for thinking of that. My 1st grow with the buckets, so there's a learning curve that I now know about. Appears as long as I top feed once in a while too things will go even better next grow.

 

[Azimuth]

I found that to be the case for my SIPS and organic nutes. Feeding them thru the reservoir was ineffective but things improved when I switched to periodic top watering. The commercial systems like Earth Bucket and Octopots almost insist that you only water through the reservoir, but that doesn't work for me.

 

[InTheShed]

Interesting confirmation, thanks!

 

[CBDMed]

Sorry, I have not had time to read the thread yet, so I am just going off of novice guessing. But my mind is still blown that the wet-dry cycle is not all supreme, so if I say something that is not helpful, please just disregard it.

Only, if I am reading this correctly, if @Azimuth is top-watering the plants in the SIP, and it works better for him than bottom feeding alone?
So then is it OK just to top water, and then let the reservoir pick up all the overspill (as a strategy)?

So, maybe I am too stoned, but by way of analogy, I guess I am thinking, would it maybe be kind of analogous to planting a cannabis plant on the bank of a creek, or a river?
I am sure the cannabis plant still likes to get rained on good every few days, but then if there isn't rain, it can still reach down and tap the water table as it wants?
So maybe it has an "ideal minimum" of water that it likes, but still likes to alternate between rain and dry?

So, does it make sense to treat the SIP as a top-watering thing, and then the plant can avoid drought by tapping the reservoir as needed?
Sorry if my questions are too newbie, but my mind is still blown that the wet-dry cycle is not all-supreme, so I am kind of struggling to re-arrange my conceptual framework.

 

[Azimuth]

Well, mine is an organic grow and I would assume if you're feeding through bottles with chelated nutes you probably could feed from the bottom and treat it like a hempy.

But, for my organic grow, I've found I have to feed from the top. Don't really know why but assume it has something to do with microbes.

And, I don't do the wicking thing in mine so the tops can dry out and I like to keep the wildlife in the top half of the pot engaged, so I spray them down at least daily and water from the top at least twice a week.

And I'm not saying that's the way you or anyone else should do it, just sharing what works for me.

 

[CBDMed]

Well, mine is an organic grow and I would assume if you're feeding through bottles with chelated nutes you probably could feed from the bottom and treat it like a hempy.

But, for my organic grow, I've found I have to feed from the top. Don't really know why but assume it has something to do with microbes.

And, I don't do the wicking thing in mine so the tops can dry out and I like to keep the wildlife in the top half of the pot engaged, so I spray them down at least daily and water from the top at least twice a week.

And I'm not saying that's the way you or anyone else should do it, just sharing what works for me.

I appreciate that, Azi. You are always real respectful. You share, and you never push.
I am just in a place where my paradigm is kind of blown.
I am a newbie, and I was juuussssttt thinking I was starting to learn wet/dry, and now this!

I was trying to understand just exactly what it is about the wet-dry cycle that triggers growth.
However, if an SIP works (and it seems to work better, judging from Buds' photos, plus your experience), then is there truly a role for wet/dry?
And what, exactly?

And I am not saying anyone else has to do anything my way either.
I am not trying to establish a hypothetical ideal that everyone else must follow!
I am just trying to understand how to give my little plantas the optimal conditions for growth with the least time and money spent on my part.
And that is not to say I do not love gardening, because I do! I just have a zillion other things going on.

I think I will try to get a couple of dark colored 10g / 40L trash cans, and see if I can make a good working prototype.
Probably I am a few weeks away.
Plus we just got my visa today (Hooray!) so there will be moving.

So does anyone have any theories as to why an SIP seems to work better?
(Sorry I have not had time to read the thread! I am running all around....)

But it seems to make sense (to me at least) to water from the top every few days, to keep the top wildlife engaged.
I mean, that is how it is done in nature.

Plus, even with liquid nutes, it is still particles suspended in a liquid?
I would think that water and nutes would wash and trickle down over time, but it would seem counter to gravity to have them trickle up, especially because soil tends to act like a filter for particulates (which is why well water is so clean).
So feeding from the top seems to make sense (at least to my poor autistic brain).

 

[Buds Buddy]

I appreciate that, Azi. You are always real respectful. You share, and you never push.
I am just in a place where my paradigm is kind of blown.
I am a newbie, and I was juuussssttt thinking I was starting to learn wet/dry, and now this!

I was trying to understand just exactly what it is about the wet-dry cycle that triggers growth.
However, if an SIP works (and it seems to work better, judging from Buds' photos, plus your experience), then is there truly a role for wet/dry?
And what, exactly?

And I am not saying anyone else has to do anything my way either.
I am not trying to establish a hypothetical ideal that everyone else must follow!
I am just trying to understand how to give my little plantas the optimal conditions for growth with the least time and money spent on my part.
And that is not to say I do not love gardening, because I do! I just have a zillion other things going on.

I think I will try to get a couple of dark colored 10g / 40L trash cans, and see if I can make a good working prototype.
Probably I am a few weeks away.
Plus we just got my visa today (Hooray!) so there will be moving.

So does anyone have any theories as to why an SIP seems to work better?
(Sorry I have not had time to read the thread! I am running all around....)

But it seems to make sense (to me at least) to water from the top every few days, to keep the top wildlife engaged.
I mean, that is how it is done in nature.

Plus, even with liquid nutes, it is still particles suspended in a liquid?
I would think that water and nutes would wash and trickle down over time, but it would seem counter to gravity to have them trickle up, especially because soil tends to act like a filter for particulates (which is why well water is so clean).
So feeding from the top seems to make sense (at least to my poor autistic brain).

I wish I could tell you more about a wet / dry cycle. But this SIP stuff is all new to me also. My first go at it. But I've always been told the same as you.... That they need a wet / dry cycle. In a way, that doesn't make sense, because you keep Coco moist at all times in a Coco grow. Roots sit in water in a Hydro system. So then why is it that soil needs a wet / dry cycle ? Got me. They say letting the soil dry lets oxygen get to the roots. I'm starting to think that soil should be kept moist at all times the same as Coco. I should test that thought out by growing one plant in a cloth pot & watering lightly every day to see what happens.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I appreciate that, Azi. You are always real respectful. You share, and you never push.
I am just in a place where my paradigm is kind of blown.
I am a newbie, and I was juuussssttt thinking I was starting to learn wet/dry, and now this!

I was trying to understand just exactly what it is about the wet-dry cycle that triggers growth.
However, if an SIP works (and it seems to work better, judging from Buds' photos, plus your experience), then is there truly a role for wet/dry?
And what, exactly?

And I am not saying anyone else has to do anything my way either.
I am not trying to establish a hypothetical ideal that everyone else must follow!
I am just trying to understand how to give my little plantas the optimal conditions for growth with the least time and money spent on my part.
And that is not to say I do not love gardening, because I do! I just have a zillion other things going on.

I think I will try to get a couple of dark colored 10g / 40L trash cans, and see if I can make a good working prototype.
Probably I am a few weeks away.
Plus we just got my visa today (Hooray!) so there will be moving.

So does anyone have any theories as to why an SIP seems to work better?
(Sorry I have not had time to read the thread! I am running all around....)

But it seems to make sense (to me at least) to water from the top every few days, to keep the top wildlife engaged.
I mean, that is how it is done in nature.

Plus, even with liquid nutes, it is still particles suspended in a liquid?
I would think that water and nutes would wash and trickle down over time, but it would seem counter to gravity to have them trickle up, especially because soil tends to act like a filter for particulates (which is why well water is so clean).
So feeding from the top seems to make sense (at least to my poor autistic brain).

Not sure where you're located, but 90% of my equipment I bought used. My 4 Mars Hydro TSL2000's I paid $100 - $120 each for. My Mars TS1000's I paid $50 ea. for. A lot of other stuff I buy when I see a bunch of grow stuff in a package deal for a good price. I buy it, take what I want to keep & sell the rest. Sometimes I put a tent together & sell a complete set up. I usually end up getting the stuff I keep for free & sometimes even make a small profit from it. A lot of stuff I just keep in case I need it someday. I have so much grow equipment from doing this I'm running out of places to put things. Other than my tents & AC the rest is pretty much used equipment. I wont use a used exhaust Carbon Filter though because I never know how used it is. I will use it for Intake Air though.
There's good deals out there if you watch for them. I check offer up & craigslist 2-3 times daily looking for deals I can turn a profit on & maybe get something I can use at the same time.

 

[Trala]

Hey Buds

Just wanted to say if you don’t win Plant of the Month with this absolute goddess of green I’m gonna kick off! Look I won’t.. but I’ll totes want to! Lollllllll

That is on3 of the most extraordinary plants I’ve ever seen!

Hope you’re well and revving that mustang

 

[Buds Buddy]

Hey Buds

Just wanted to say if you don’t win Plant of the Month with this absolute goddess of green I’m gonna kick off! Look I won’t.. but I’ll totes want to! Lollllllll

That is on3 of the most extraordinary plants I’ve ever seen!

Hope you’re well and revving that mustang

I hope I win it. I don't even want the prizes. Just that little title next to my name is all I'm after.... lol. Oh well, it is what it is. I do like Moto's plant a lot though. There's a few good ones I'm up against so who knows.
The Mustang I'm getting rid of in a month or two. Planning to buy a truck & a 1300 cc Honda Fury Motorcycle. Those bikes come all chopped out from the factory & look bad ass. Found one at a shop nearby for $6800 that I really like & has under 10K miles on it.

 

[Trala]

I hope I win it. I don't even want the prizes. Just that little title next to my name is all I'm after.... lol. Oh well, it is what it is. I do like Moto's plant a lot though. There's a few good ones I'm up against so who knows.

They are good/great, yours is extraordinary.

The Mustang I'm getting rid of in a month or two. Planning to buy a truck & a 1300 cc Honda Fury Motorcycle. Those bikes come all chopped out from the factory & look bad ass. Found one at a shop nearby for $6800 that I really like & has under 10K miles on it.

Sounds like a right adventure.

I’m happy for you

 

[Buds Buddy]

I was just checking & it looks like I started Flower on June 7th. So that's about 72 days so far. I need to check the Trichs again. They have to be really close at this point.

 

[Azimuth]

I think I will try to get a couple of dark colored 10g / 40L trash cans, and see if I can make a good working prototype

If you're going to do that with a trash can without a rim you might as well just put a false floor in a single can and save yourself some cash. The trash can will come with a lid that you can cut out. That's what I did for my 2 gal version because of height restrictions.