hydro set up for 1 huge plant

greenbob988

New Member
Hey guys and girls,

This is my first post on RIU and first I want to say thank you to everyone who has posted on this site. I have learned more from you then I have in just growing alone. That being said I have 2 scrog soil grows from seed under my belt using subcool's super soil (major props to sub) and I want to get into hydro.

I have 2 4x4 grow tents with 1000W switchable Lumatek digital ballasts with a cool tube reflector and a fat boy of a carbon filter in each.

What I want to do is only grow one (1) plant and scrog it out in each box to start a perpetual grow. I in no way shape or form want to go over 3 plants (1 of which will be a clone) at any time

Looking to veg for 8 weeks, @ week 5 take a clone and start to veg that in the other tent or in a small grow box just while I wait for the other to finish flowering

Growing C99 which takes ~60 days to flower.

Now what I want to know specifically is there a hydroponic system that can handle 1 plant vegged for 8 weeks and flowered for another 60 days? These plants will hopefully fill an entire 4x4 screen by the end of veg or first two weeks of flower.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated but please remember the plant limit. I know I can get more weight faster by doing a large number of smaller plants but I do not want the legal risk of having a large number of plants.

Thanks for all of the help!!
 

drgroove

Well-Known Member
Hi greenbob988,

Now what I want to know specifically is there a hydroponic system that can handle 1 plant vegged for 8 weeks and flowered for another 60 days? These plants will hopefully fill an entire 4x4 screen by the end of veg or first two weeks of flower.
I can't think of a hydro system that couldn't :)

I cannot find the pic of course, but I once saw 1x1m sog in a a pot of yoghurt ! :)
 

greenbob988

New Member
holy crap really?

what I think I mean is how big of a rez and pot should I use if that makes any sense.

For soil it was easy I would use smart pots at #1 to veg and the #10 to flower.
 

BluJayz

Well-Known Member
As a kid I made my first hydroponics system with a Rubbermaid tub and air-stones. It was cheap and worked perfectly.

Depending on size you can have one tub hold one, two or three.

Can even have another tub f your clone.

Something cheap like this.
Untitled.jpg

what I think I mean is how big of a rez and pot should I use if that makes any sense.

For soil it was easy I would use smart pots at #1 to veg and the #10 to flower.
No resivour really needed for one or two as long as you keep oxygen in the water and monitor the ph. You'll probably change the water once a week. You can even use a double 5 gallon bucket method.
 

JesterDev

Active Member
Was watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq72SW_I2qo - Last night. Might fit your needs. It's not scrog and it is with two plants, but he does show you how to build the system. You could easily modify it to suit your needs. From my own experiments, more bubbles makes a huge difference in growth, I suggest two 12" stones, hell maybe even three, but that might be overkill.

Want to see this when it gets going!
 

BluJayz

Well-Known Member
what is the ph thing on the right? and if i did use a DWC like that what size rez do you think? 10 gal?
Digital PH meter. They have poles you leave in the water and it tells you the constant PH.

With that idea, the only water is the water in the tub. That's more than enough. This isn't a cycling system. This would be full submerged hydroponics.


Jester is right more air the better, plants cant process nuts or water without the air and will die.
 

greenbob988

New Member
thanks guys... looks like I have some shopping to do :)

also do you have any recomendations on what to use as the ph tester? I Never checked it with soil so I am not completly sure what to use.
 

BluJayz

Well-Known Member
now I understand a little about ppm & EC & PH so should I get a combo thing? my local hydro shop has a combo one that checks both.

or something like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6in1-LCD-PH-PPM-EC-CF-TDS-Tem-Water-Tester-Hydroponic-Aquarium-Lab-Meter-Digital-/261215541358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd1a8d86e&quantity=1&autorefresh=true
That's pretty serious, yeah will work fine.

You could also get two buckets set inside each other and have a pump, pump water from the bottom bucket to the top and on top of the plant.
 

greenbob988

New Member
so someone recomended that I put a drain fitting on the bottom of the rez(I think I will go with a low profile 30 gal rez) so i assume i should put a drain fitting on it but how do i add my nutes? Just pop the cover and dump in the ro waer, add nutes then ph stabilize?
 

JesterDev

Active Member
I normally mix my nutes and set the PH to as close a match to the tank as I can in a separate container. The PH will vary slightly from day to day. The drain fitting is very handy, my first try I had to empty by hand, it was a nightmare. The drain allows you to change the water, or empty it all out when your done with ease.

Some people suggest you drain and refill once a week, others just let it run on the same water for the entire grow and just top it off. I am doing both just to see, so far it works both ways. I have some small tanks for testing, 10 gallons, but I built two 30 gallon tanks for 4 plants each that I plan on using in the fall. Growth rate is so much faster. I wanted to build my confidence with some smaller tanks first. It's really not as hard as others made it sound, in fact it's really quite easy.
 

greenbob988

New Member
a buddy of mine told me about just doing a plant in a 4x4 ebb and flow table and letting the roots grow all over the place in it. does anyone have an idea how to make a low profile ebb and flow? i figured low profile so I could raise it up and fit that drain plug on it.
 
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