Favorite Strain For Aeroflo 60?

Best Single Cola for AeroFlo 60?
I'm about to set up a new General Hydroponics AeroFlo 60 site system. If you've ever seen one you know that it accepts 3" net pots and the sites are pretty close to each other.

I have a Kosher Kush and a Holy Grail mother and I have 60 clones just about ready to get wet. I took the cuts then cloned them in oasis cubes wrapped in Sure to Grow cloth the inserted right into the 3" net pots.

But I'm wondering if anyone has a favorite strain that works well in this type of system? Something short to medium in height with as little branching as possible?

And if you have one that produces fat thick dense drippy colas that's even better.

Anyone have a favorite?

 

Hey RW,
 
No, I've grown it in dirt before. I like it quite a bit as a personal smoke and I'm getting close to finishing my current crop...just a few more days I think, then I'll set up the AeroFlo 60, plug in my clones (40 Holy Grail and 20 Kosher Kush).
 
But I have looked at the way it grows in dirt, and wonder if I might not be better off using someting that doesn't branch so much but will still give me a fairly good yeild of top drawer bud.
 
I'll see how the aeroflow does with the HG and the KK, but meanwhile I'm looking for single cola type strains that would maybe work betting in an Aeroponic SOG or SCROG.....

I took a couple buds off this grow and quick dried them in my food dehydrator and it rocked my world. I expect a really fine product after I harvest, trim , and dry the rest, then cure it for a couple weeks or so.
 
I gotta figure out how to post pics as I'd love to journal the aeroflo grow as I go along.
 
BB

 

No, I'm newer than you here. I still havn't looked at the instructions for posting pics. I hope to journal the 40 HG and 20 KK grow in the new AeroFlo 60
 
I'm up in Humboldt County, or what we call "dirt contry" and have only been hydro on a limited basis for about a year. Otherwise it was all outdoor up in the mountains. That's when I became a frog....
 
I been following your fournal some...looked good last time I check 'em out.
 
BB

 

Wow, what happend to my post?
 
No RW, I didn't. I'm newer here than you are. I've only moved from dirt to hydro recently and its been experimantal so I could learn to do it. And now I'm expanding
 
I was growing about 45 in 5 gallon pots of filled with my own blend of soils and additives. Indoors now for about a year. Before that I lived and worked a square mile in the mountains guerrilla growing under the sun....
 
And now I've decide to expand from the experimantal hydro (whic worked out well after a while) and now I'm putting up a room for teh AeroFlo 60. Maybe next week...

Then I hope to journal that grow.....40 HG and 20 Kosher Kush

 

I just checked out their web page and it does sound tasty. I have not see it up here though. I popped some Tutankhamon (Pyramid Seeds) and I'm looking forward to growing out a mother or two. It's said to be radically strong and good for SOG.

 

Sup Brada,
 
I had Kosher Kush and Holy Grail but I turned my back for a couple days and all 54 of them died or were on their death beds from brown slime. Oh no, they didn't die right away, I took each one out and rinsed the roots under the spray nozzle getting out all visable brown slime, cleaned the system twice with cannazyme, put in some bene's and they died anyway. A slow 5 day death....of course the bene's and the cannazyme did a pretty fair job  but they died anyway...
 
I'd vegged them for a week and had stunning root growth underneath and outstanding foliage up top. Switched 'em to 12/12 after a week.
 
Turns out it was most likely spread from the clones to the AeroFlo......I was bummed but now I'm reloading. I should have checked but I didn't....
 
So I took it down and scrubbed the shit out of it for three days....
 
I am putting an inline UV filter on the unit to kill all water borne bugs, virus, and bacteria and am leaving out the beneficial microbes as I expect the UV would kill them as well. But that will allow me to run slightly higher soup temps as there is not need to worry about bacteria going on a sex spree in the warm water. Ultimately I think the inline UV will be better than more nutes and bene's, at least I hpe so.
 
Today I'm plugging in some Purple AK47, OG Kush, and some Blue Dream, all of which I've grown before.
 
I ordered some Skunk #1 seeds (called baseball bat  by A-B-Seeds) and I'll run them next cycle. These particular Skunk #1 plants grow basically a single cola like a baseball bat. I'll have all 60 holes filled for that.
 
I'm using the GH nutes, Flora Series. I put a DIY chiller on the system and the water stayed between 70 and 75 but I'd like it around 68. I may have to upgrade to a commercial chiller before next summer.
 
My lights are LED from Advanced LED mostly. I have 3 350 watt Diamond series on one side, then I filled in with 3 generic 300 watt LEDs on the other side. I'll be running all Advanced LEDs by January all through the room. The Advanced LED's claim to replace a 600 watt hps but I don't think they do, but I like 'em a lot. Theoretically (if you believe the mfg. claims) I have the equivalent to 3,000 watts or better but I don't believe it. IN LED wattage I have 2050 watts.
 
I run CO2 from a MiniGen and my room is totally enclosed with excellent ventilation. I also have a Titan controller to take care of turning things on and off....
 
I visited the horticultural research center for GH before I bought the system and got a one on one tour. It was awesome learning about how they do it at GH. They only use the 3 base nutes (Flora Micro, Flora Grow, and Flora Bloom and that is all. But they sell a whole laundry list of supplements, which they do not use on site...
 
What are you growing now? Nutes? Tips tricks?
 
Whoa, I just now got an email from GH telling me to use the UV filter on the water before I add the nutes and not use it to run the mix through as it the UV would damage the, well here's what they say...
 
 
"UV sterilizer are great, and are used a lot in commercial ag and greenhouses to control exactly what you are battling, but they are used to sterilize the water prior to adding the fertilizer. That is because the UV will breakdown the chelated micronutrients like Iron-EDDHA, which is found in Flora Micro. The EDDHA chelates are meant to breakdown under UV so they don't pollute the environment if they make it into streams or wetlands. With aquariums, they aren't adding chelated micronutrients to the water, so the use of a recirculating UV sterilizer isn't an issue. To avoid breaking down the micronutrients in your system, so you don't have nutrient deficiencies, maybe try sterilizing the water with UV prior adding in fertilizer. Once the water is sterilized the only other source of contamination would be plant material or media. Also, if the brown slime is still an issue, more frequent reservoir changes might be needed (once a week, instead of 10+days or just topping off)."
 
 
So based on that, I'll simply put the inline UV filter on the inlet line for my master reservoir (64 galleons) which will sterilize it, then  I'll add the nutes and maybe some bene's as well. Hmmm....
 
Brix

 

 Sup Brada,
 
I used cannazyme on the slimy clones and it did clear it up but not to a point where the babies got off to a robust start again. That's why I tossed 'em.
 
Funny, I clone in with Azo's too. I really works well when used with Oasis cubes. My next clone run will be in an ez-clone 120 so no Azo's. I tried using it before in a EZ cloner and it clogged the mag drive pump so I stopped using Azo's in the cloner. I was cycling 1 on 5 off at the time so maybe if I run it 24/7 it won't clog the pump?
 
I replaced the clones that got slimed after cleaning the system really well (all cloned with Azo's but still get slimed) and had to buy some off the street which I hate and they've been plugged in for a week and are looking pretty sad.
 
In my experience, clones that struggle out of the gate will never catch up.
 
My new seeds should be here soon....time to reload.
 
I think I'll journal my next grow with the Skunk #1
 
It seems like keeping the water temps below 70 is a bit tricky when you have lots of lights warming up a small enclosed room. A freakin' chiller is expensive but I don't know what else to do. I thought about moving the reservoir out of the room which would require a good bit of creative plumbing and carpentry, but there must be a better way.
 
I even tried putting a bunch of frozen get packs in the rez but they didn't do much for very long. It's too impractical to use every day.
 
I need more coffee.....

 

Yeah Brada,
 
Everything costs more money!
 
So I now have an inline UV light/filter and it's cleansing the water in my master reservoir so when I'm ready to change out the res I'll be starting with zero critters in the water. I'll add the nutes just before I change out the res.
 
That and air stones at the top of each chamber should do it. If I still have problems with heat (my water temp is now between 75 and 80 which is too warm for me. But if I can keep the pathogens out I should be OK. the water temp is high because my room is sealed and the heat from the lights, while minimal, raises the water temp by 10 degrees or more even at 50% light intensity.
 
But I was looking at mini splits today. Might be good to get one before next summer. I run two dehumidifiers depending on growth stage. Right now I just have one running and it's doing fine, just lowered it to 50 from 60 and will go to 40 when I go to flower.
 
My ventilation system is good and keeps the air temp around 80 in the fall and spring and most of the summer. In winter I have to heat the room but it's small in cubic feet so that's not hard or expensive.
 
I bought a mini fridge and a wort cooling coil and ran my nute mix through the wort cooler which was in the mini fridge. It didn't do shit to the res temps so next I guess I'll either break down and buy a chiller, or I'll bury a 50 gallon drum of water in the backyard and run a pump from drum to the wort chiller which will then be in the res. It's stainless steel so it shouldn't effect the PH (I'll find out).
 
I could run the water thru the EX Cloner to keep it cool as well. If it works.....
 
 

 
The street clones are doing pretty good now and I'm smoking the Holy Grail I grew last time.
 
Life is not so bad after all.... expensive but not so  bad...
 
BB

 

Hi and merry Christmas,
 
I'm loving the Aeroflo 60. I have 40 Blue Dream and 20 OG Kush going right now and they're kicking ass. As it's winter, my reservoir (40 gallon) temps are never over 75 and usually a bit lower. But as you say, it's winter. But if your temps get too high (anything over 75 is too high in my opinion) you can put ONE drop of household bleach into your reservoir every couple days and this will usually kill any pathogens which flourish in the warmer soup.

Your set up sounds good. I had intended to go SOG but had to screen them as they got to 42" tall and while the stems are well developed, the circulation fans pushed the plants over (they're very bushy)....there is nothing to hold them in place except the root ball which is growing in air and a bit of nute soup flowing over them. These are not single cola plants as I was looking for, but they are really stacking up nicely at this point.

If you set your root chamber overflow pipes high for the first two weeks then start to lower them you'll be fine. Just make sure that most of the root ball is getting wet. Right now I'm maybe 3 weeks from harvest and my overflow pipes are only an inch or so high. I really only adjust them maybe three times during a grow. Really high for the first 2 weeks until I have massive roots, Then down to about half level for 5 or 6 weeks, then down to about an inch until they finish.
 
On nutes.....I went to the GH R&D facility in Sabastapol before I bought the unit. I saw the 36's in action. The head of R&D was using only the base nutes of the GH Flora series so I decided to try that on her recommendation. I am using GH Micro, GH Grow, and GH Bloom only and the flowers are looking awesome. I'm using the GH Flora series feeding schedule.
 
Yield will be between 3 and 5 lbs (closer to 5 I think) on this run which is better than what I had for my first couple grows. Experience is a great teacher. I think I can get a bit more.

My set up: first the room is inside a room and is totally sealed. I have an 8" vortex pulling fresh air from under the house to a filter box which I built and hung near the ceiling. The filter box holds 3 filters, a 20x20x1 and 2 10x20x1 upgraded furnace filters. I get great incoming airflow from this setup and the air has no pathogens or critters as they're effectively filtered out. I have a 12" vortex exhaust hooked up to a 12" x 48" Phresh filter which pulls the air off the top of the room (heat rises) and exhausts into my attic space.
 
With the 8" intake and the 12" exhaust i get a slightly negative pressure in the room.
 
I installed a Mini Gen CO2 generator which is water cooled and I keep the pump and barrel of water to cool it in another room to cut down on heat. The mini gen is super cool, the plants love it, and so do I. Much better than running CO2 out of a bottle or tank.

For lights I use LEDs. I have 6 lights, 3 are really good, the Advanced Diamond XML 350's and then I have three genaric LED panels I bought off EBay for cheap.  they are 200 Watts each or so they claim. I'm swapping those out for 3 more Advanced Diamond XML 350's after this grow. I get dense compact nugs covered in tric's using the LED's and my power bill was cut in half.
 
I use a controller to run the dehumidifiers, the CO2 generator and pump, and the room temp (it controls the intake and exhaust fans) They only thing it doesn't control are the lights. I have them on a timer set to 12 on 12 off. I don't veg for more than 10 days because the roots get so massive. The growth rate of the roots and the plants are astonishing compared to dirt. I'm in dirt country so when I stopped bying sacks of soil and all the amendments (cost close to $800 per grow and was a pain in the ass but I did it for years) and started buying hydroponic stuff the folks at teh local garden supply snickered a  bit, but now they're believers.
 
In the adjacent room I have my clones, and I keep my nute barrel there as well. I use the UV light to sterilize the water in the barrel (it's a 55 gallon barrel). So about two days before the nute swap I'll fill the barrel with tap water (under 100ppm here) and turn on the submersible pump and run that water through the UV filter continuously for 2 days to kill every living thing.
 
I bought a water flow meter so I could accurately calculate my nute mix. It works very well and was worth the $100 it cost.
 
Then I'll mix my nutes in the 55 gal barrel and adjust the PH as necessary. When all is good I drain the Aeroflo of the old soup and pump in the new soup. Having the water being filtered for 2 days also prevents temperature shock as the water coming from the tap is below 60 degrees. It warms up to about 68 in the clone room.
 
I also recapture the water from my 3 dehumidifiers. I have 2 70 pint per day and 1 35 pint per day and all 3 are mounted up on the walls with a common drain which drains into my water barrel in the clone room. I also sterilize that water and use it to fill the reservoir as the soup gets lower through transpiration.
 
My 60 plants are using about 30 gallons a week of recycled dehumidifier water. If I put in 10 or more gallons of this reclaimed water I'll adjust the nutes by adding the same ratio's but only for a 10 gallon application.
 
Right now I'm at 100% of the recommended nute strength for the GH Flora series. That's 1200PPM or an EC of 1.7 or 1.8  and I'm running a PH that ranges from 5.5 to 6.0, generally its closer to 5.5 than to 6.
 
I use a product called Mantis BE in the nute mix to controll spider mites and other critters. The product can be used as a folier spray which works wonders and as maintenance when added to the soup.
 
My humidity is very low and I have to keep it low as I live in Humboldt County which is on the north coast of CA and gets very humid summer and winter so I keep my humidity below 40. This was a had lesson to learn and that's why I have 3 dehumidifiers. If the humidity creeps up over 50 for any length of time I'll get mold or mildew but below 40 - no problems at all.
 
The clone room is nothing special. I have an EZ Cloner 120 and I'm now getting 100% rooting with it. I took cuts with some fiskar scissors (not at 45 degrees but just a straight snip) and trimmed the leaves, dipped 'em in cloning gel for a quick second and plugged them in. I ran the nutes in the EZ Cloner exactly as directed (except i used sterilized reclaimed water) and I had roots in 10 days. I let the roots grow out for a couple weeks then trim them all back flush to the stem and then I pop 'em back in the EZ Cloner. That way I can clone a plant 2 weeks in to 12 12 and still have great clones (the hormones have not fully kicked in to bloom) and I'll tirm the roots until they're ready to replace my current crop.
 
I'll take the best 60 and sell the rest.

You know, I bought an RO system and used it for a couple grows but it has a 3 to 1 waste ratio and since we were in a drought, I stopped using it. Since my tap water runs at under 100PPM I'm feeling safe enough. And I sterilize it with UV so.....hay call me an environmentalist
 
Good luck bro