So through everything I've bought and through all I've learned and read I wanted to make a thread on how you can accomplish growing hydro , in tents , with co2, for quick perpetual harvests. I know you would need a good inventory of select clones. And a positive attitude. So I believe if you decrease the plants root system by purposely stunting it's growth it has no other choice but to stay smaller and put all it's efforts into bud production. Now my question to you experienced SOG, scrog dudes....what hydro system would be the easiest to maintain and could possibly be used again with a few items rebought like rockwool and what not is fine? I want to fill a 4x4 tent up with plants. Eventually if it's productive I will incorporate it into my other 4x8 tents. I've been dealing with root rot with these homer buckets badly, so I need to know a system that can be productive as I have a perpetual grow tent system already put together just want perfect the hydro system in which it revolves around. Spent a lot of money this far and would enjoy a little advice thrown my way cuz im just wishing for a helping hand to complete my headache shit story and start my testimonial book!
The best imo would be a ebb and flow table and whatever size pots you want..lots small ones for sog or bigger for scrog...my friend does it and you can use those hydro grow rocks for the medium and reuse them each time..either that or other friends do strait coco..you could even split it in half with different reservoirs for a perpetual
The less roots a plant has the less nutrient and water uptake it has. thus the Smaller buds it has. Where did you pull this theory from?
Theory is a ton of small plants don't grow that tall so u have a ton of single big budded colas... Instead of 6 huge plants it's more and covers more surface area of the tent. I'm not asking about if it will work just need a system that will be fool proof and is easiest to maintain a grow of that concept
@tintuzzy you know of a design that would work in a 4x8 tent. Maybe perfect it in a 4x4 then double the design on other side? Very new ti hydro as it apparently gives u better yields.
I do something similar to what u are talking about except for I'm in soil not hydro I flower plants when they are a foot tall all lstd and its workn fine for me..check it out
Here ya go this explains a lot..saw they have 3x3 tables so that would fit in a 4x4 http://www.bghydro.com/bgh/static/articles/0806_byos.asp
My idea of this would to make 2 hydro boxes out of walmart storage totes and about 20-30 holes with auto flowers in each one. Say each auto flower has 1 cola that weighs an oz you could pull 60 oz in 60 days but it would be quantity over quality. I find auto flowers dont get me nearly as high as my photoperiod girls 6 feet trees seem to be my style of growing
@silentsvd yea autos do suck as far as resin production goes. I was thinking maybe a smaller indica strain trained and tamed . Plus if the get a little taller great but that will just damper the penetration of the 1000 hps light. The ebb n flo / flood and drain seems easy enough, yet still don't know what type of medium set up would be best? Do I dump a ton of hydroton and cover the Rockwell Cubes in the 3x3 or Do I do bigger cubes and drippers? New to hydro so not sure how to maintain ebb n flo but will def leave it outside the tent to stay colder and less'n root rot or psyllium to set in. Anyone know someone who's done SOG type grows with ebb n flow please advise me on how the f that shit pulls out a ton of main colas and still be good smoke.....???
lol, micro grows will not produce 1oz coli's. Entire plants the height you are talking will weigh an ounce or two, when ya clip. Remove the sucker leaves and dry, and you'll end up with 1/4 of that weight. Ive been dwarfing strains for several years, using bubblers and 400watt over 3x3 coverage. I can expect a dry whole Z from each container, even tho the clippings weigh a QPr before drying. I like the shorter grows for many reasons, first and foremost......light penetration.....not worth extra time in veg if ya dont have enough light for the size of your plants. I have found MOST strains will let you dwarf them, be patient. Second reason I prefer short grows is the 10-12 harvests I have in a year, compared to two or three light hungry monster grows. For example, I spent the last year and a half working with a sensistar/sourdiesel strain that started out maturing 5-7 feet tall with a 10week flowering time, but over a dozen generations later, Im throwing 8"to one footers into bud for them to mature around 3ft in 6-7 weeks of flower. My cycles are short and the harvest is continual. Its less money to run less lights. Dont be discouraged by smaller yields, they come more often this way. Its unrealistic to expect large yields from ANY micro grows. I know that a litte fresh medicine, makes me feel better.
Exactly, I've been experimenting with Bigger grows as these are my first time. But I just felt the way I'm doing things could be a little more proficient if I grew a bunch of shorter plants and maximized my wattage. Using 2 1000 watt hps lights in 4x8 Wanted to perfect the set up in a 4x4 before I went to the 4x8's. So I like the 10-12 time harvest instead of 3 harvests in one year... So ebb n flo / flood and drain I take it is the most forgiving so I believe it would be where I would start. What do u think? Started with dwc but would love to go to this system if it yields good. Strain specific? Great reply!
Very new ti hydro as it apparently gives u better yields. See, thats where the Myth lies... Soil Rocks. The credit for these 2 pictures goes to my buddy Maina. j
no myth. Although a very nice soil grow pictured....far from micro grow, pros of hydro......no bugs and eggs from soil, doesnt stink, plants grow faster, handsdown.....soil provides a resistance to roots thats unneeded and the medium compacts each time ya water. Hydro is really easy to nute as long as the ph is just a bit acidic, half point best imo. for your large ballast, plan on LOTS of ventilation, which takes away your opportunity for CO2 usage. I think your 1k's will add lots of heat. Remember you are only wanting a 15degree F drop when lights off. I skip 18's altogether. 24hour for veg and 12hour for flower. I grow in soil OUTSIDE, lol. Nice about ebb and flow if you are considering that method, is the table is only ONE plant, no matter how many coli;s, the root system is connected, however, that being said access gets challenging when the reach is beyond 2ft deep in gardens. If your res gets corrupted by bad ph, all the plants suffer tho. I like the bubblers, cheap to make, house as many sites as you need and ya can adjust the nutes for different plants. I use a 400 for a three by three spot and sometimes add fluoro for secondary light and up lighting, not much juice. You have your ballast already, but two 1k's would light up a ten by ten bud room great with low height plants. Best wishes!
400 for a 3x3 ? Does it yield ok? What size is your res? How many times u chsnge ur res? How long does it take ur pump to flood the tank? How large is your pump? Going to start the system soon buying parts now. So a reply would be nice so I can order right stuff! Thanks?
158gal pump for $8 @ harbor freight, 11 gal res rubbermaid container(10 gal filled). Cheap timer 15min increments, I change the res(it has air stone in it) after each cycle, not during, i make adjustments with the nutes, disapating the food after 4wks flower, almost none by end of cycle. I only use dynagrow/bloom and calmag/promag and white vinegar for phdown, never have i had to raise my ph water, very alk. best wishes
That's it for a 160$ pump dang! If we are pumping slower than I'm guessing that there's a benifit .... Question ?? What do u y'all fill the tray with? I see all different methods on YouTube but nothing seems to be the ideal setup for the majority so I'm asking here. Cheapest easiest cleaning , would love to reuse stuff but if it's not hopefully then it's cheap enough to buy again. I think im gunna have the tray sit up on cinder blocks ...also planning in leaving my res outside the tent. How often do i flood the table and for how long...?
hydrocorn medium, lil clay balls. Id leave res in the tent, in order to keep same temp for plants. cheap timers run in 15min increments, so the slower pump works well for me, depending on the plant, you can run 3 times a day or several more. try it out, experiment. Yes cheap. If plant height isnt a problem in your grow space, DWC can be cheap too, container grows lift the plant a bit, a foot to 16" high, compared to table trays with res underneath. Best wishes