help building hydro bucket

Discussion in 'Hydroponic Growing' started by tropicaze, Jul 23, 2015.

  1. Sorry for all the confusion, I was just trying to clarify my own doubts because I didn't know how you were measuring you plant, and 4 Oz is not a lot for a plant with a root that big.
    I got 4 Oz per plant on my last grow and the stems ranged from as thick as a No2 pencil to a sharpie marker.
    Yes, the plant that gave me 12oz was blue dream and the stem was not bigger than the 2" net pot and the plant was about 8 feet tall, under 1000W Hps.

     
  2. I never had a stem like that before, how long you veg for?
     
  3. It's hasn't finished yet. It's 3 weeks into 12/12 right now. It damned near fills a 4x4 area.
    That's one of two that are in my flower room. Not sure on yield yet. Hopefully at least a pound each.


    IMG_1543.JPG




     
  4. that sums up my point perfectly, thanks Crankz
     
  5. an 8 foot plant giving you 12 ounces and the trunk was narrower than 2 inches? Do you have a photo? I just can't see how it's possible to have the stem so thin and support that amount of growth
     
  6. #28 GoldGrower, Jul 29, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 29, 2015
    it's difficult to see without zooming in but that's a 3" pot and the plant totally annihilated the pot. Roots grew through it and just broke it up.


    The stem is over 2" wide and produced 14 ounces.


    The pot popped through the lid but luckily the plant couldn't go anywhere because the reservoir is only 7" deep and the top part was fully supported by the ScrOG screen. Without these two factors it would have toppled over


    Can you see a couple of aluminium rods going across the res? Those were put there to take some of the weight as it was pulling hard on the screen


    [​IMG]
     
  7. I don't have pictures of that plant, it was my first grow, had so many problems because of the size that I only veg from 1-4 weeks now.
    Here are some of the bigger stems from the last run I pulled out of the trash, they are dry now but the size is about the same as before; I got 4oz per plant with them.



    image1(1).JPG

    image2.JPG


    I have decided to order 4" net pots, I still have some weeks before I can start so I'm not going to experiment with the 2".
    Thanks to everyone for their input and help.






     
  8. those look normal to me, I could see them supporting enough growth for the plant to give you 4oz for sure.


    I'm sure it will be worth getting the bigger pots. I have 3" pots in a DWC right now, autos, only just starting to flower and its already broken it open lol. Net pots never seem to last long
     
  9. They do, even these little girls break and crack the bottom of my 6" net pots...


    I was wondering what you use to change your water, do you have a drainage hole on the bin or do you pump it out the top?

    My plan right now is 2 net pots, air lines going in through them and a 1" hole on the top to add water and maybe pump out the same way.
     
  10. sometimes I don't change my NS at all. The plant drinks it and I top it up. When I do change it, I drop an aquarium pump in there and pump it out in to my bath. I lift my lid and top up with a hose
     
  11. Thanks Gold, that's one of the options I was thinking about, no problems with roots clogging the pump? or the trellis not letting you lift the lid?
     
  12. I can't speak for Gold, but my plants are pretty huge and I can get the lid open enough to get a pump in. However, like him, I've not changed out the soup. I've just been tailoring it with top-offs. If the necessity arose, due to any issues the plants may show, I'd just be careful fishing the pump down in with the roots.
    A few little broken roots won't hurt anything, so long as you run some enzymes to convert it to food.
     
  13. its worth using a sponge filter with the pump I would think. Mine doesn't have one, and I haven't had trouble but it could happen. My reservoirs are 2'x3' wide and only 7" deep when full so it's pretty easy to push the roots to the side.


    When I ScrOG I have the screen fixed to the lid on 4 legs so it lifts up with the lid
     
  14. #36 efarley, Aug 2, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 2, 2015
    I used to refresh my res every week or two and this last week I've switched to to just topping off and adding nutes as needed. My plants and me couldn't be happier with the results. I used to have my PPM drop over the week until by the last day there's almost nothing for my plants and my PH would swing from .2 to 1.0 every 24 hours. After a few days of fine tuning to get my nute levels where the plants wanted them and not dumping the bucket I've gotten a steady PPM and PH and the plants are showing how happy they are with the change.


    When I start my SCROG I am planning to cut a U shape into the lid so I can just flip a flap of the lid open to refill, kind of like a spice bottle. I'll use some weather striping to seal out any light, it's not tested by I don't know why it shouldn't work.
     
  15. I'm happy to hear the balance system is working for you. The old dump every week system is probably the most common but it's a ridiculous waste of nutes and work.


    Cutting a flap in the lid is an option, and one that works perfectly fine.


    But another option would be to have a remote reservoir, this is made by fitting an overflow pipe to your plant's reservoir that runs in to the remote reservoir, and a small pump pumping the nutrient solution back in to your plant's one. That way your plant's reservoir will have a waterline that never moves, and you can test and top up in the remote reservoir


    Just an option to have, once set up it usually makes the maintenance a bit easier
     
  16. you can even have the remote res outside the tent helping keep it cool and you can test and adjust the nutrient solution without opening the tent so great if you need to do it when you're on 12/12 and its lights out
     
  17. Yeah RDWC seems the way to go and once I'm back on a mono strain grow I'll be running one. My next grow is going to be two strains that I've never grown so I'll use a bucket for each strain in case they have different needs
     

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