DIY - It's Cheaper!

[winkyweed]

Here is another system.
The Ebb & Gro (comes with 12 planters and is expandable to 48+) is the most versatile ebb & flow system on the market. With many growers going from large numbers of small plants to fewer, larger ones, the Ebb & Gro fits the bill! It is a simple system that uses 2 pumps and gravity to flood and drain the planters about 3 or 4 times per day.

I do want the ability to add or subtract to a system that I get if I am going with the hydrofarm or Ebb and Grow.

I know the rainforest and eurogrower can't do that but the rainforest may be the way to go for 2 tent method.

Any thoughts on this?

[Osho]

Hey Man,

Well, I always like to build things myself, they are cheaper, and plus I personally KNOW how every system I make would work seeing as how I built it. When you buy systems, you have to read the manual, watch it run a few times to figure it out, know this that all that, it becomes more of a hassle than its worth. The honest fact though, is that purchasing a system can ensure that you will have minimal leaking if any, proper lengths for tubing to prevent loss of pressure, on and on. I would say that if you would like to GROW for personal use, but want hydro, buy a kit. Hydrofarm comes in multiple makes, the all in one that has 6 planters I believe, a single bucket system, and an 8 bucket system so I would really have to know what you want to answer that. The 8 farm with Reservoir is a cheap and effective system. This system is not for miles of use, its for use until your ready to upgrade 5 or 6 grows later when you get some money, you dig?

LED's are good as supplemental light also. For instance having a MH or a few florescent lights and adding LED's to give it some spectrum is no problem. Using them alone I have always felt was a strange grow. Like they were getting light, but didn't grow upwards as fast as usual and had droopier leaves. Thats just me, but with some CFL's, or Fluorescent lighting, would work great im sure. 600w HPS for flower, your LED's, And Fluorescent lighting placed 3" from the tops for Veg would be a great setup. Having a Metal Halide and HPS only is THEE absolute best way to grow hands down. Perfect spectrums through every stage, and you garuntee yourself that your lighting would never be a problem for your plants growth.

HydroFarm you can move the pots to wherever you want, and doing so is smart to help get the little gals caught up. If your using the 8 Bucket system, move your buckets if needed, but disconnect the intake from the one your removing and reconnect it to the bucket that your replacing in that spot. Just makes it more uniform.


NUTRIENTS - All plants need different Nutes for different stages. In any hydro system you must replace the water every 7-10 days, so changing the nutes at the time of water changing becomes easy, no matter what system. My advice is always "Save on the system, spend on the Nutes." NUTES help 80 % in the creation of bangin plants. Dont put regular gas in a ferrari, follow what im gettin at?

Good luck, and if you need anything else, throw a rock, Ill b here

[creosi3d]

Hey Oshso,

Sounds like your a wealth of information. Have some quick questions for you. I am a first time grower and currently growing some bag seed in soil. The girls are about 5 weeks old and looking great. These are for getting my feet wet and working out the kinks. I am looking to buy a 4x4x7 tent and produce as much bud as possible.

In your opinion how many plants could I get in this tent to flower and what system would yield the most amount of bud? Also.....how much bud do you think I could produce every two moths?

Thanks

[Osho]

Well, Im guessing you want a perpetual harvest am I correct? Best advice would be to have a veg room armed with your best mother plant and clones, along with a flowering room, for well, flowering

Surefire way to get maximum bud is to give them space so they are not taking sunlight for each other. I would suggest you put 4 - 5 plants in there MAX, you will get a sick amount of bud if you prune them well and care for them. Any more in that space they will be competing for light, that's never good.

Get a mother plant that you are sure, 100% is female, and get that to a nice size, never taking her away from veg. Take 5 clones, veg them up to the mothers size or the size you want to flower them at (should take 1 1/2 - 2 months tops) and then flower those 5 (or 4). Meaning when you put a batch in for flowering, which takes 2 months, you can cut 5 new clones from the mother that will be able to veg while the previous 5 are flowering. As soon as you cut the flowered plants down, you can put the 5 grown up clones into flowering, and repeat the process every two months. Sounds like you watched a video I saw with a guy doing the same thing.

You can get 1/4 lb to a 1/2 (if your awesome at this meaning you pay very close attention) every two months using this method. Remember, don't take more clones than you need, clones are 90% successful if you can incubate them properly. Its not hard. Hope this was of some help.

[MrWannabe]

Hi Osho. Just starting a first time grow. Strain white widow. Built a grow box in garage - 8x4x6 high, I will build a smaller mother/veg box in time. I have been on the boards soaking up info and started thinking I would use soil but as I read more I am switching to DWC as sooner or later I will move on to hydro. I also thought I would start with a 400w hid but again I will move straight to 1000w hid's as sooner or later I will be upgrading to them. Anyway heres my question. I was gonna simply do DWC in 20 gal totes probably 4 plants in that. Now I was going to just keep the tote like a bucket and just change the water/nutes by taking the top off. As i think more about this I see that taking the top off and changing the water/nutes in the container will be very dificult with some big plants in,Im sure that the root mass becomes huge so I would be pulling out a load of roots, balancing the top with plants and all attached while changing the water and then replacing it all. I really did not want to have to build drainage into the DWC containers and or attach them to a main res which would be used to refil the water/nutes. Let me know your thoughts on how you would make this scenario easiest. I also wanted to know if it would be damaging to the roots to be pulled around while I would be changing water and will the light hurt the roots when they are out of the totes or does it take prolonged exposure to light to hurt the roots? Thanks buddy, peace all

[Osho]

Hey m8, thanks for askin.

I would advise that you dont take the roots out, your just asking for complications. I know in DWC, you need a drip feed system, if you chose not to use a drip feed, buy a pump you can leave in the tank. Instead of taking the top or bucket out to change the water, just pop on the pump and have a hose running to a drain or another bucket. This way you take 90 percent of the work away, and prevent any damages from occuring. Roots are very fragile and if you can veer away from bothering them, you would be much better off. Light does bother the roots and stunts them, but wont kill them unless they are exposed for a prolonged period of time, lets say a few weeks.

If you have 2 pumps, thats even better, one to leave in the tote to pump out, on external to pump water in. It would require no drain spout in the tote giving you no leaks, and just simplifies everything. Try that out, pumps are like 20 bucks each, no major hit there.

I know you didn't ask, but when your using a tote for four plants, put them in positions where they can grow with MAXIMUM seperation from each other.

[PIFF KING]

hey osho, good info you got going on here! im a new grower gonna be growing 10 diesel ryders my space is 2'x3'x4' i have hydrofarm 400w mh/hps,my question is how far do i keep the lights away from the girls? using 2 gal pots enough? i have all my vent holes in the back of the box, is that ok? thanks +rep

[Osho]

Hey bud, thanks, greatly appreciate your compliment. To answer your question, I keep my 400w about 14-18 inches away from the top of the plants at all times, they can grow 3 inches in a day so watch out. If you see your tips and sides of the leaves curling upwards, they are gettin heat exaustion, 18 inches, you should never get that. Also run an osc. fan so its blowing air between the tops of your plants and the lamp, it will help reduce the heat factor greatly.

As long as you have a vent hole in the back of your box located at the top for exhaust and bottom for intake (heat rises) then you will be fine. You want to be able to pull as much air as your pushing in, and be able to exchange the entire rooms volume of air in 4-5 min. With your size, this wont be a problem. Fresh air is your friend, it sounds weird, but keeping fresh air on them is one of the best things you can give them.

2 Gallon pots are fine

[PIFF KING]

thanks, one more question, i have a can fan i think its for 50cfm<i dont know, but its pretty big, can i just stand next to a plant or should i put it above the lights side ways?using 4 6in 250 cfm induct fans

[Osho]

Ideally you want all of your fan equipment away from your garden, meaning have the can fan outside and run duct inside to draw the air out. You can do it either way, it will work work fine.

[MrWannabe]

ta Osho, wish you were my neighbor...

[Osho]

Hahaha, the house next to me is for sale!!

[winkyweed]

what is the best guide to learn about nutes, how and when and why to use them?

[Osho]

This thread is not relative to nutrients, but since im a nice guy I will answer that ;-)

What you need to do is read some grow journals, ask around, FIND out what other people that have been doing this for years and years do because you will learn from their mistakes. There is no Nutrient manual, its parts per million and what ratios are needed. I am by NO MEANS at the level to tell you how and what to use for Nutrients, but I am good at calculating them myself. I learned by reading posts on multiple websites and by taking a leap of faith in following their lead. Just look at brands and the directions they give you. Thats the best way to learn about nutrients because they are all different, but posses the same ingredients. Some more than others, so on and so fourth. Just research because there is no Nutrient Bible out there, I've looked, and if I am wrong, someone tell me what that book is

[PhL0aTeR]

bear with me here..... ive been researching hydro off and on for the past few months, unfortunately there are so many different methods, i have trouble finding out where to start, and different people write about different methods, so its difficult to say whats best for my situation... the answer im looking for will probably come from someone who has used a few different methods in the same situation and can tell the difference between each one, listing pros and cons of each....

right now ive got a very small operation, this will keep me supplied for as long as i continue to grow. id like to grow a lot more, and not do it as often, if that makes sense. So how does one easily transfer from soil to hydro? is one method better for different reasons over other methods?

I dont mind DIY as long as i either, have an idea of what the finished product should act/look like or the instructions are very clear with pics..... in other words, if i can see the reasons for what im doing, it helps me to understand it.

in my mind, im thinking a 10x12' room and about 20 flowering plants... thoughts?