Problem and a question

Fordprefect42

Well-Known Member
First I wanted to thank everyone for their previous feedback. I had an auto that wasn’t making much headway early on. I was advised to be patient and now that sucker has pretty much filled a 3x3 tent. I feel way less whiny about that now.

Anyway this is an ebb and flow setup with the plant in a 3.5 gallon bucket. The roots have been growing down both the intake and drain tubing. I have been pulling those out as I don’t want them submersed in water, and don’t want them clogging the pump. Has anyone else had this kind of problem? If so how did you solve it? Wondering if I can maybe cover the valves with mesh or something in the future to allow water through, but prevent the roots from growing into the tubing? Any ideas?

The question is just about time to harvest. I am in the third week of flower. Just starting to see some trichomes showing up, most prominently on the main cola. Is there a rule of thumb on the time between the appearance of the first trichomes and harvest?

This is a sweet auto gelato.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 

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Can you show pics of the bucket/plumbing?

Attaching a couple pics here. The picture of the fitting is the same thing that is in the bottom of the bucket.
 

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Kudos to you and ingenuity of your design. I would guess though you'll have that issue with the roots clogging up your drain, just by design. Most flood and drain set ups aren't like yours....but, carry on, I like your idea. As to a correlation to when trichomes appear and when a plant is ready for harvest; it doesn't really exist. You have quite a ways to go, but you're going to have a nice haul at the end of it all. Good luck friend.
 
Kudos to you and ingenuity of your design. I would guess though you'll have that issue with the roots clogging up your drain, just by design. Most flood and drain set ups aren't like yours....but, carry on, I like your idea. As to a correlation to when trichomes appear and when a plant is ready for harvest; it doesn't really exist. You have quite a ways to go, but you're going to have a nice haul at the end of it all. Good luck friend.

Thanks on both. Maybe it’s unavoidable if I’m not using a flood table. I am starting to wonder if I need design changes for the second grow. I was planning to expand to 4 plants either in a 4x6 or 4x8 with the 8 just allowing extra room for a humidifier/dehumidifier in the tent.

Feel like the existing reservoir and tubing with one pump per plant might be too much of a pain in the ass for more plants. I wanted to avoid the table because I can flood this thing in about 60 seconds. I have been running 2 minute floods. That lets me flood a lot more often than if I was running 20 minute cycles on a large table. Also felt like segregating plants rather than using a shared reservoir for everything would let nutrient levels per plant be more accurate.

I think it’s like your first kid though. You dote the hell over that one as if they are made of glass. The second you assume is bullet proof. I don’t think I want to fawn over 4 plants. I’m leaning towards treating number 2 as bullet proof and taking an easier approach.
 
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