Educated grower first time true hydro.

sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
Here is my system
4.5’ x 4.5’ x 7’ tent
1000 watt light
Air cooled hood
Digital dimmable ballast
133 can filter
6” and 8” inline fan
4x4 flood table
David’s grow line of nutes – local and it works for me
Coco and perlite
3 – 5 gallon pots depending on the strain
Hurrican oscillating Fan

I have been growing now as outlined above for 3 years, I have grown normal as well as autos without issues. I now only have room for the one tent mentioned above. I have moved to auto’s for now, no big deal, I have 8 going and going well I must say.

I want to move towards a full hydro setup, maybe drip maybe ebb and flow, this is where my questions begin. Money is really not the object here; the correct system is the object.
Question one, how would hydro work with plants in various stages of veg to bloom, keep in mind one tent now has all the autos in various growth stages.

What is the best system to go to starting from where I am now, and how do I deal with the various stages of growth?
 

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Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
sssmdg said:
What is the best system to go to starting from where I am now, and how do I deal with the various stages of growth?
Click to expand...
Are you determined to have every plant at different stages? If it could be 1/2 the plants beginning at the same time and the other 1/2 later----I can show you how---if not----I have an untested idea.

Also, I have no experience with autos-----can you tell me how big they are at finish and how long from seed to harvest?

A~~~
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
That works for me my friend, basically I run 6 - 8 plants, and stager them so I have a harvest every month or so. Really I think my posting was incorrect, I have 3 in flower, 3 not in flower and 2 seedlings at this time.

Typical autos are 8 maybe 10 weeks from germination to harvest, people will claim 6 weeks and some will claim 12 weeks, mine are 8 - 10 weeks.

In 3 gallon pots they get from 3 foot to 5 foot tall - I use to grow in 10 gallon pots, they just got to big for my area.

They yield 10 - 14 zips a plant - grow after grow - the none autos were bigger and yielded more - life has taken me to one tent so I am doing the auto's for now, WTF I have about 100 seeds to grow through now.
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
sssmdg said:
Really I think my posting was incorrect, I have 3 in flower, 3 not in flower and 2 seedlings at this time.

They yield 10 - 14 zips a plant - grow after grow - the none autos were bigger and yielded more - life has taken me to one tent so I am doing the auto's for now, WTF I have about 100 seeds to grow through now.
Click to expand...
Thanks for answering my ?s about autos.

I'm confused (as usual)----when you say "3 not in flower"----I thought autos have that biological clock thingie?

Also, how many watts to produce 10-14 zips from 6-8 plants?

A~~~
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
I use 1 - 1000 watt hps light, Air cooled hood, Digital ballast.

I get 10 -14 zips off each plant every time without issues with my current setup.

Auto's as normal plants have a grow cycle so to speak, seed, germinate, seedling, veg, sexed and growth like crazy and then pre-flower and flower.
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
I am thinking I will need two reservoirs - 1 for veg and 1 for flower nutes, I can't figure out any other way to get around it. I have been looking at DWC systems as they seem very easy to use.

I am still interested in knowing what people think the best setup would be, keeping in mind I am not a pro grower, just small and easy.
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
^^10 zips (dried bud weight) each plant x 6 plants=60 zips or 3.75 lbs from a 1K hps:o:o:o

Wish I could do that-----why change anything?
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
It's crazy, the biggest upgrade I have done period is stepping up the lighting, no expense was spared when I went from T5's to HPS, my harvests tripled and the buds are rock hard. I would like to mention that I use some cheap ass nutes from my local hydro store. I tried the expensive stuff, fox farms and so on, i really did not get that much more for the cost.

Also keep in mind I am not crowding my plants, no lst, no scroggs, just let grow, I do the hands off approach and it works well for me. I have plenty of height so no issues, the 1000 Watt penitrats the entire tent, agian no over crowding so everything gets allot of light. I had as many as 15 in the same space, less is sometimes more.

My next upgrade will be some form of hydro and very soon.
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
Yes you are correct - wet -
I grow 8 tops at a time - in 4.5 4.5x7 I find that leaves plenty of room in case one goes bad shit crazy as they do from time to time.
I am after a harvest a month, that keeps me in supply and a happy smoker. I stager them in, when I harvest 1 I start 1, keeping in mind only autos now, as long as I keep starting as I harvest the tent stays full.

Any suggestions on hydro, dwc, drip, thoughts concerns hints and tips are welcome.
 
DirtyMcCurdy

DirtyMcCurdy

Well-Known Member
Do you flush your plants before harvest? If you do it makes it challenging to run in hydro at different stages of growth. Say you're trying flood and drain, one of the most effective systems imo, and you wanted to flush 3 plants but the other 3 are only week 3 or 4... This will not work as they all are fed the same nutrient solution.

Individual, not recirculating, dwc buckets would be right up your alley, I think. Different stages doesn't matter. Its an easy jump from soil/soiless to dwc... Each plant is still in its own bucket.
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
DirtyMcCurdy

DirtyMcCurdy

Well-Known Member
That would work but, like you said, you would need two as they share the same reservoir/mixing bucket. No big deal. You could make that system for a fraction of that price though.

If you want to do two systems to allow for just two different stages of growth then you could do any system you wanted. You would just go back and forth harvesting every 4 weeks or so from each one. That's what I would do.
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
Thank you, that's the route I will start going down. A bit more research is needed. I found that this hobby works best if I read allot and purchase once.
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
sssmdg said:
Yes you are correct - wet -
I grow 8 tops at a time - in 4.5 4.5x7 I find that leaves plenty of room in case one goes bad shit crazy as they do from time to time.
I am after a harvest a month, that keeps me in supply and a happy smoker. I stager them in, when I harvest 1 I start 1, keeping in mind only autos now, as long as I keep starting as I harvest the tent stays full.

Any suggestions on hydro, dwc, drip, thoughts concerns hints and tips are welcome.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clearing up the weight thing:clap:

I was under the impression you were trying to have your staggered harvest plants all the same distance from the light?

If so, two ways I know to do it.

1) scorg with recirculation in totes/buckets.

2) height adjustable hanging tubes running constant circulation / aero constant or timed.

As far as the multiple rez setup----from my experience, I've run flower nutes all the way till harvest---no flush---ppm ~1000(.7 conversion). 1g per watt in 60 days x 4K----I can live with that.

fl33.jpg

A~~~
 
sssmdg

sssmdg

Member
Nice harvest to watt for sure.

I've never run bloom nutes in veg, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

I'm going to visit my local shop and get more of a visual as well as a physical foot print, maybe then I can pull the trigger.
 
DirtyMcCurdy

DirtyMcCurdy

Well-Known Member
sssmdg said:
Thank you, that's the route I will start going down. A bit more research is needed. I found that this hobby works best if I read allot and purchase once.
Click to expand...
Yeah, for what you're wanting to do I would say just two seperate systems would be easiest. Two 2x4 flood tables side by side. You could have one sit a little higher also, so you could keep the younger plants the same distance from the light and keep from being shaded. Like what Alaric was mentioning.
 
StinkBud

StinkBud

Well-Known Member
Alaric said:
^^10 zips (dried bud weight) each plant x 6 plants=60 zips or 3.75 lbs from a 1K hps:o:o:o

Wish I could do that-----why change anything?
Click to expand...
Let's try this again. Wet weight is not a "zip". If you put your wet buds in a zip then you're going to end up with zip of goo in a couple of weeks! lol What is your dry weight harvest per plant?

Have you thought about just running one big harvest every couple of months? I'm assuming you're running autos because you don't have a veg space to start normal plants. If I were you I'd buy some Kandy Kush, Blue Cheese and Kosher Kush seeds and start them all at once. You should be able to hit around 4oz (dry) per plant in the space you have.

I just pulled 20oz from one of my racks taking about the same amount of space as your tent. Aero/NFT is fucking unreal!
 
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Melbs92

Melbs92

Well-Known Member
sssmdg said:
Here is my system
4.5’ x 4.5’ x 7’ tent
1000 watt light
Air cooled hood
Digital dimmable ballast
133 can filter
6” and 8” inline fan
4x4 flood table
David’s grow line of nutes – local and it works for me
Coco and perlite
3 – 5 gallon pots depending on the strain
Hurrican oscillating Fan

I have been growing now as outlined above for 3 years, I have grown normal as well as autos without issues. I now only have room for the one tent mentioned above. I have moved to auto’s for now, no big deal, I have 8 going and going well I must say.

I want to move towards a full hydro setup, maybe drip maybe ebb and flow, this is where my questions begin. Money is really not the object here; the correct system is the object.
Question one, how would hydro work with plants in various stages of veg to bloom, keep in mind one tent now has all the autos in various growth stages.

What is the best system to go to starting from where I am now, and how do I deal with the various stages of growth?
Click to expand...
I would love some info on that drain table man? Where did you get it? And how much did it cost?
 
Alaric

Alaric

Well-Known Member
StinkBud said:
Let's try this again. Wet weight is not a "zip". If you put your wet buds in a zip then you're going to end up with zip of goo in a couple of weeks! lol What is your dry weight harvest per plant?

Have you thought about just running one big harvest every couple of months? I'm assuming you're running autos because you don't have a veg space to start normal plants. If I were you I'd buy some Kandy Kush, Blue Cheese and Kosher Kush seeds and start them all at once. You should be able to hit around 4oz (dry) per plant in the space you have.

I just pulled 20oz from one of my racks taking about the same amount of space as your tent. Aero/NFT is fucking unreal!
Click to expand...
Hey Stinky,

Have You taken any of those strains to harvest? If so, can you provide any feedback about seed to harvest time and your favorite smoke.

My assumption about autos??????

Great for potheads that don't have the facilities (space) to maintain a dark cycle?

Also, can buds be kept for a couple of months without turning brown------I've never had any around that long:smile:

Begin ramble:

Got some critical kush from attitude with some free beans, of which one was an auto (didn't realize it).

Any way, took cuttings before 12/12 flip (yea, cloned an auto) it rooted and grew like nothing I'd ever seen before---a single stalk
of flowers about 12" tall.

End of ramble,

A~~~
 
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