Hempy style recirculating setup

[Rubix]

This is my 3rd grow but it's my first with this setup. I got the idea from Flowamasta's setup. I'm not an experienced grower by any means, but I've done a lot of reading through forums and books to make sure I do the best I can for these plants(like I'm sure most people do). I haven't seen anyone do anything like what Flowamasta is doing with his setup, so I decided to give it a go.

I built the room out of .5" PVC pipes and fittings. Then I lined it with panda film/Mylar, tacks and duct tape. Once I had the room up I hung my 2 600w cool tube lights. After I had them lined up I put up my ducting to the 6" 435 cfm hurricane and carbon filter.

After everything was good with the room, I put together the recirculating setup. I bought:
(4) 26 gal trash bins
(2) 10 gal black containers
(2) Eco 264gph submersible pumps
(1) black .5"/13mm hose for watering
(2) T fittings for the watering line
(1) 4 cubic ft bag of perlite
(1) 25 liter bag of hydroton
(1) roll of a corrosion, rot, and mold resistant screen

I put the water/nutes in 2 of the trash bins, then put the pump in the bin with the hose hanging out of the top. After that, I drilled holes in the bottoms of the 10 gal containers, put the screen in the bottom to hold the hydroton in, poured 1/2 of the bag into each container then filled it to the top with perlite. I pushed the hose through one of the holes on the edge of the 10 gal container through the top and put my feed ring in place.

From there, I put my two Dutch treat babies in and set the timers up. 18:6 for the lights and water for 15 min every 3 hours. They love it! I'm pretty sure I have a pic of them on the first day attached. I'll put one up of them 1 week in after I make sure this one works.

 

[Rubix]

Cool, got the pic thing figured out. Here's a pic right before I topped them and then one a day later.

 

[Rubix]

Photo update. It's nice to be able to see such a difference in such a short time. Scary too, I found my ph sitting at almost 8. It didn't look like it affected them too much, but I'm checking my ph 3-4 times a day from now on.

 

[daveroller]

I see that the water drains back down into the 26-gallon trash bin under each black bucket. So when you need to change the water you'll have to pull each bucket out of the trash bin and set it aside. I hope that you have enough vertical space inside your grow room, so that you can do this with a full-grown plant in each bucket, without crunching the top of the plant against your lights. If so, it looks ok. (Always plan for what it will be like when your plant is full grown.)

One thing that would probably be useful to add is an aquarium air pump with one air hose leading down into each reservoir, connected to an airstone in the water. You'll probably get some roots growing down into the res through the screen in the bottom of your pot. If the roots hang down into the water, they'll need some oxygen. Even if they don't hang down in there, aerating the water before it gets pumped into the Perlite will supply a little more oxygen to the roots in there, too. I got that idea from Flowamasta.

Besides topping, like you already started doing, have you thought of doing LST (long, slow training)? I did that with my plant. Tied down branches all around my pot. An added benefit is that the strings are anchoring my plant and holding it upright, now that she's tall and heavy. Perlite alone won't hold a plant upright because that stuff is so loose and lightweight. I just learned that from experience last week.

What kind of lights are you using, HPS or MH?

Looking good! I can't think of any other advice to give you right now. Good luck!

 

[Rubix]

Yea, I wasn't thinking about how I would change the water when they get big. I've changed the setup. I have to get a better res setup for my return water. I want to cover the water and put a water chiller in, I just haven't figured out the best setup for my return lines. I'll probably put an air pump as well, it can't hurt.
I've been slowly training the branches by hand, I'll put supports up if she starts to lean. I'll be using a net for support during flowering. I have 2 600 watt HPS cool tube lights set up right now. I was thinking of putting up one of the uv lights that flowa uses to see if there are noticeable differences in the 2 plants. The 3rd pic to the right is the fist plant before I topped one of the branches and did a little training.

 

[Rubix]

Today is the the first day of the 3rd week.

 

[Pop The Trunk]

Perlite alone won't hold a plant upright because that stuff is so loose and lightweight. I just learned that from experience last week.

I use 100% perlite just fine in a 40 gallon hempy tub.

 

[Jbone77]

I think you would have had much better results if you just woulda made an actual hempy. I dont understand what possible benefit this set up will have. Sounds like more of a waterfarm than anything. You can grow a big fuckin plant in a 5 gallon hempy. If you want to monitor a res every day why not just do a rdwc? And your adding a chiller? Wow, maybe it will be the next big thing but I dont get it.

 

[daveroller]

I think you would have had much better results if you just woulda made an actual hempy. I dont understand what possible benefit this set up will have. Sounds like more of a waterfarm than anything. You can grow a big fuckin plant in a 5 gallon hempy. If you want to monitor a res every day why not just do a rdwc? And your adding a chiller? Wow, maybe it will be the next big thing but I dont get it.

Hey, Jbone.

Don't criticize it just because you don't understand it. Some of us copied Flowamasta's setup like this because he always gets 1-2 POUNDS of dried bud off each of his plants this way. So you should ask him these questions that you have. He understands the principle and he likes to answer newb questions. Here's a link to his latest grow journal:

FlowaMasta's Methodology @ How to Grow Monster pound plants!!! ( Jack H X Skunk )

It is just a Hempy Bucket really, only with a reservoir & pump to reuse the water & nutes that run off. One thing special about this is that we use 100% Perlite, which drains faster than a mixture of Perlite & Vermiculite like other people use. So we set it to water the thing every 1-3 hours during the day. This way the roots get lots of air, but also get fresh nutes more often than with the standard Hempy.

 

[daveroller]

I use 100% perlite just fine in a 40 gallon hempy tub.

Maybe your root system spreads out more in that big tub so that they anchor the plant better than mine. I'm only using a 5 gallon bucket. But anyway, it's good practice in general to do LST in order to get more tops growing out of side branches. A side benefit is that the strings anchor the plant (if you tie branches all around) to keep it from tipping over. But getting more tops is the main reason to do it.

 

[Keif.]

Subbed, I am interested to see how this turns out. Maybe I will convert my hempys to a more automated system soon..

 

[daveroller]

Yea, I wasn't thinking about how I would change the water when they get big. I've changed the setup. I have to get a better res setup for my return water. I want to cover the water and put a water chiller in, I just haven't figured out the best setup for my return lines. I'll probably put an air pump as well, it can't hurt.
I've been slowly training the branches by hand, I'll put supports up if she starts to lean. I'll be using a net for support during flowering. I have 2 600 watt HPS cool tube lights set up right now. I was thinking of putting up one of the uv lights that flowa uses to see if there are noticeable differences in the 2 plants. The 3rd pic to the right is the fist plant before I topped one of the branches and did a little training.
View attachment 2843626View attachment 2843627View attachment 2843628

Chillers are good for a DWC setup, but I'm not sure if it's important for this kind. You might want to run that by Flowamasta to see what he thinks. Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. Yeah, you should definitely cover your res to keep light out and prevent algae from growing in there. I'd love to see a wide shot that shows your whole grow room to get the overall view. It looks pretty big, but hard to tell from these tight shots.

Your plants are really thriving under those strong lights. I'm not an expert grower myself, but I wonder if the nodes are spread kind of far apart. My latest plant looked a lot tighter and bushier during veg, but it could simply be a difference in plant genes. Are yours Sativa dominant? Sativas grow taller than Indicas and have skinnier leaves like these look like. If they're Sativa dominant, then don't worry. (I've only grown Indicas, so don't know much about growing Sativas.)

Here's a pic of my plant early in veg:

The broad leaves are most probably due to different genes, but see how short and bushy it is? One thing that can make a plant stretch out excessively is raising the lights up too high. I'm not sure that's what's happening to yours, but you could try lowering them a bit. Just be careful not to put them so close that you burn your plant. The plant's canopy should be under 80 degrees preferably.

Good luck!

 

[spek9]

Definitely subbed!

I *really* am liking your setup. I'm just a few weeks into my perpetual 2L hempy setup from clone now, so I've been researching a ton on the different methods of hydro, aero etc etc.

One question though, and it's possible I'm missing something... in the first pics in the earliest posts, it looks like you've got the pot AND the res completely full of perlite (or at least a layer of perlite on top of a shelf or something). Is this so, I can see managing that to be a pain. Or is that just a cover for the res that looks like the perlite?

Also, do you keep a res at the bottom of the hempy as per Hempy's original design, or does it drain like a soil pot?

As someone else said... this is *exactly* a hempy bucket... there's no difference really at all, there's just no hand watering

-spek

 

[spek9]

Definitely subbed!

I *really* am liking your setup. I'm just a few weeks into my perpetual 2L hempy setup from clone now, so I've been researching a ton on the different methods of hydro, aero etc etc.

One question though, and it's possible I'm missing something... in the first pics in the earliest posts, it looks like you've got the pot AND the res completely full of perlite (or at least a layer of perlite on top of a shelf or something). Is this so, I can see managing that to be a pain. Or is that just a cover for the res that looks like the perlite?

Nevermind I was hallucinating... I see now that the big bins fit inside the res and it just appeared to me as part of the res itself.

-spek

 

[Jbone77]

Will do dave, sorry for asking the guy writing the thread a question but thanks for setting me straight.

 

[daveroller]

Will do dave, sorry for asking the guy writing the thread a question but thanks for setting me straight.

No problem at all. Hope I didn't sound too harsh. Nothing wrong with asking questions. Just thought I'd jump in to defend Rubix. No harm, no foul.

 

[Rubix]

First off, it didn't sound like you were asking a question Jbone, it sounded like you were criticizing the setup. It really doesn't matter to me either way, but to answer the question you did ask, I'm using this setup because of the results I've seen Flowamasta have with the same style. I'm using straight perlite with some hydroton to hold the feed ring and a thin layer at the base to help with drainage. I'm using a 14 gallon tote inside of an 18 gallon tote. I plan to use up all of the root zone in the 14 gal because of the size I'm trying to get with the girls. The 18 gal is for the drainage of course.

The strain is Dutch treat and is definitely a sativa. The nodes are a lot closer now then when I got the clones but they aren't going to be right on top of each other too often with this strain. I can't really bring the lights any closer either due to heat but they're 600w a piece and only about 20"-24" from the top of the plants. I don't think I'm gonna need the chiller either, my res water is pretty cool to the touch. I tried to take the best pics of the room I could.

 

[daveroller]

Now that I know they're Sativa, forget what I said about node spacing. But Sativas do like to grow tall and I see these are doing just that. I hope they don't outgrow your room. I'm sure there are some experts on RIU who can tell you how to keep their height down. I've seen some extreme training that does it. To make your life easier next time, you might want to grow a few Indicas which don't naturally grow so tall.

Thanks for the pics, Rubix. It makes it easier to see your whole setup. Just keep thinking and researching and you'll be an expert in no time. I've been growing for only a couple years and I can't remember how many times I've changed my setup.

 

[Jbone77]

Ok, I was asking questions to try to make a point. A recirculating system with a tub inside a tub with a drip ring is a waterfarm, not a hempy bucket. Google it then tell me im wrong. I get it, your using mostly perlite but its still a waterfarm. Secondly your trying to copy someones growing style, expecting comporable results, in a completely different set up. You have 1 600 watt light 24" over the plant, not gonna get pounds, he has 2 600s 10" above the canopy, thats 1200 watts at 10", 2 lbs is about average for that lighting. If you want a pound per 600 their is many simpler, faster ways to get it, a 600 at 24" is not one of them. He didnt start out growing that way, he learned the ins and outs in a simpler system that could easily be maintained, dialed in his environment and feeding schedule. Hypothetical question, if/ when you have a lockout or a nute burn how will you flush? Flowmast doesnt have to worry about that because he has a routine. How will you combat the slime build up in the bottom bucket that you cant get to and clean? You guys obviously have all the answers and I only have about 6yrs hydro experience so maybe im just dumb for trying to point out the flaws in your system especially after being told to direct my noob questions elsewhere. Thats all I had to say, best of luck

 

[Rubix]

Secondly your trying to copy someones growing style, expecting comporable results, in a completely different set up. You have 1 600 watt light 24" over the plant, not gonna get pounds, he has 2 600s 10" above the canopy, thats 1200 watts at 10", 2 lbs is about average for that lighting. If you want a pound per 600 their is many simpler, faster ways to get it, a 600 at 24" is not one of them. He didnt start out growing that way, he learned the ins and outs in a simpler system that could easily be maintained, dialed in his environment and feeding schedule.

I switched to a different setup before your first post. I don't understand why it bothered you that much to begin with but it's definitely a moot point now. Your facts are a bit off though, I have 2 600 watt lights over 2 plants and I don't believe there are any simple or fast ways to get a pound of dried weight from 1 plant. If all that was for the sake of argument, I'd appreciate it if you find another place for it. I'm trying to share my grow and get positive input/suggestions, not defend myself.

Also, I had no idea that's how fm came to use his setup. Seemed to me that someone showed him how to do it.

My lights are 14" above the plants atm, if anyone is curious. And here's another photo update with the new setup, in case anyone missed the first pics.