What's up all. Been working on these girls for 5 days now. I have them in rapid rooter on clay pellets with 6.0ph about half way up the solo cup, been misting them a few times a day with some FF grow big/big bloom solution. I have 3 6400k cfls and 1 2700k cfl. Each equivalent to 100watt. I'm running in a 35 gal plastic bin as my controlled environment. I have a 3 speed fan kicking in air from the back and a small inside fan blowing exhaust out the top. I normally run about 35% humidity and 77-83 degrees f. I plan on growing these in the solo cups til I can sex them. Then the healthiest girl will go into 5gal DWC with drip line. Only 1 plant. My questions would be. Is this method ok to get them to wear I need to sex them? Is the lighting okay? Is mistying with very light nutes spray okay? All and any help much appreciated. Stay token. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Stop spraying them, nothing good will come of that. If they need nutes put them in the water so the roots can absorb them. Wetting the leaves will just slow transpiration and hinder growth. The bulbs are equivalent to a 100w incandescent bulb. Not equivalent to a decent light. If they are 23 watts, then that's what they are The lighting is plenty for around 2-3 weeks, after this they will appreciate some more, but could still go on for a couple of weeks longer without a problems, but at a reduced growth speed all else being equal. Keeping them in a cup of clay balls will have you eventually needing to water every 4 or 5 hours, without an automated system that is quite a commitment Right now the cubes look a little water logged and the plants look a little oxygen starved, but that will change soon enough when they get a little bigger. they will suck that cube dry in an hour lol. It looks good though mate
I think I'm gonna tend to them often until there a little taller with at least 1 nod. Then transfer to a rdwc can I put 2 plants in 1 10" basket 5 gal dwc? My grow area is in a closet. Minimal space to be changing buckets in and out and doing all proper tests..ect.. I'm wanting to turn my one 5 gal DWC into a two 5 gal RDWC. the reason being i just don't really have to room to lift roots, pull bucket do test, ect. This is where the second bucket will come in that will be sitting outside of my controlled environment so i can easily access it do run test, change water ect. has anyone else done this? I'm attaching a VERY rough sketch of what i think my system will turn out to be. and i will also explain my sketch in writing. SKETCH: Showing my controlled environment with the bucket that will be my grow bucket. I have an air pump running to my air stone, i have a submerged pump running a drip line. Now here comes the tricky part. Can i put in another submersible pump to run the water from grow buck to res bucket and also have a pump in res bucket to transfer water to grow bucket? Is there an easier way to do this?? Thanks for all the advice!! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
There is no need for the two water pumps. One is perfectly fine. If you have two one will inevitably pump somewhat faster than the other eventually emptying one bucket all over the floor. There isn't much need for the drip feed in that set up. The extra pump is just going to add extra heat to the water so isn't really worth it. There are generally two types of RDWC, overflow and under current. I prefer overflow as it keeps the waterline constant, if you get a leak you won't empty out all of the reservoirs. Only the control res. The plants will be left with their own full res of water. Also the pipes are less likely to get blocked by roots. The one advantage of the undercurrent is the waterline drops equally with all the reservoirs so topping up can be done less often when you have a lot of reservoirs. However, having just 1 plant res, and 1 control res it's the overflow that will require topping up less often because you can let the waterline drop right down to the pump if you wanted to You will need an air stone in every reservoir btw And have the return lines wider than the feed lines
I couldn't thank you enough! Thank you for putting time and effort into your reply. Much appreciated! I think I'm gonna run an undercurrent, I think it will work the best for my situation. So as long as buckets are level with each other and I run a line at the bottom connecting them, that should run both grow and res bucket from res bucket right? Sorry so many questions. Just want to make sure I get this right. Thanks again!! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Can I just ask why you chose the undercurrent over the overflow? It's just most people do the same. But to me the overflow is the superior design. I suspect I have missed something As you have chosen the undercurrent and only have the one plant reservoir you could have the feed line going in the top. That way you get a good flow through the bucket and get the top feed like you originally wanted
What gpm pump should I use to run the water in an overflow? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Sorry I just started thinking about it and the over flow is a much better way. So I would just drill 2 holes in grow and res bucket at where I'd want my water line to be. (Correct?) connect them. One hose connected to pump. Other just for the flow back(?) Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Or drill wholes on the bottom of both for the pump feed and drill holes in mid top for overflow from grow to res bucket. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I'm not sure what's best here but the smallest of pumps should be more than enough. You only need a trickle, the plants simply don't use up the nutes quick enough to justify a big water pump Yeah that's pretty much it. Have the return line wider than the feed line so you don't get any water backing up
It will work yeah but make sure you don't get a leak at the bottom of the bucket or you could come home one day with a very wet floor and a very dry plant
So it would be the best route to have both holes at top just incase of a leak it won't flood? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
In my opinion yes as a leak will only drain the control reservoir and not the plant's reservoirs. But undercurrent is more common/popular. I have no idea why, maybe I am missing something. I have tried it both ways. I had a leak with the undercurrent and ended up ruining my new wooden floor. The plants survived but they were lucky. So that really put me off undercurrent
I forgot to say, when flushing undercurrent has the advantage because you can easily drain all the reservoirs. With overflow it's a bit more complicated
How do you feel about just a dwc for one plant. If I can find a way to hold my lid(plant and roots) while I do tests and Change water ect. Update on girls. Today is day nine from seedling. They seem to be moving pretty slow. Prob due to solo cup? Prob gonna transplant into dwc soon? Can I put 2 plants in 1 dwc? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
It's how I do it. I fix my screens to the lids so the whole lot gets lifted up slightly and slid back exposing the nutrient solution. It's the simplest way. You can have as many plants in there as you want If I'm honest I don't really understand what you are doing with those cups. I put my seedlets straight in to a net pot of clay balls that's already set up in DWC
This is a reservoir of mine, the screen is attached to the lid and the net pot is in the middle When I lift the lid I can see the roots and adjust the solution
Wow look at those roots! The cups I figured I could keep them in to sex them. But that isn't gonna work. I have transplanted one of them into the dwc and have had it in there for 1 day now. If it's a male. I chop and start over with some fem seeds. This my first grow so just using bag seeds. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum