P
purpledomgoddes
coco+wick+gh fnb=never dump run-off
after trying many different types of gardening/growing systems, this method has proven to be the most reliable, easiest to construct and manitain; and most of all, most enjoyable. Sharing this experience to give back to icmag in appreciation of all that icmag is. Hope it is useful to the gardeners here that have considered this approach, and to those that have no room/time/inclination to experiment. May be very useful to those that cannot logistically water often, do not have room for external res’, travel, or just want a simple garden whose materials are free, cheap, and easy to maintain.
Method objectives
(1) no reliance on machines for delivery of nutes/water;
(2) ability to garden through entire season w/out dumping run-off nutes/water;
(3) ability to leave garden unattended for at least a week, w/out plants drying out or otherwise suffering;
(4) long-term ph stability;
(5) ability to do long slow flush;
(6) ease of acquiring/replacing/re-using materials; and
(7) general ease of function.
All of the objectives have been met thru several crops.
how this has worked for member purpledomgoddes over several crop cycles
have ran aero, dwc, soil, soilless mixes, compost mixes, etc. this method is by far the easiest to construct and maintain, the most productive, and requires least amount of attendance, machine assistance and/or adjustments.
imaginary garden did not permit conveyance of water to/fro garden, or ease in getting water out of buckets once fed.
print resouces:
high times magazine, october 2001 issue, 'the chronic crew' by kyle kushman; and heads magazine, issue no. 7, march 2002, 'no sweat hydro' (the wick system).
occasion and necessity made it so that had to try method, w/ modification learned running krusty buckets, and soilless mixes.
actually have lots of air pumps, air stones, manifolds, entire drip systems, ph/tds/ec meters, etc, etc. only gets in the way now. just want to water couple times a week and enjoy the garden itself - not the machines that may tend to become omnipresent. growing flowers, not machines.
so, had concept of low-to-no machine asissted grow whose parts could be attainable freely, or w/ minimal coins being spent. beleive achieved goal.
dont post pics of garden - though did last night in wreckless mode. wont post here. feel descriptions and images acquired from net should be sufficient for those that want to duplicate. will remain lurker in that regard; yet details provided should be enough for the seriously interested.
4 gallon bucket
lip fits perfectly over lip of round 5 gallon bucket. no need for spacer. approximately 2-3 inches between bottom of 4 gal, and bottom of 5 gal.
able to acquire for free from bakeries and donut shops, restaurants, etc.
5 gallon bucket
4 gal bucket fits into this bucket. the corners will anchor onto the lip of the 5 gal bucket.
able to acquire for free from bakeries and donut shops, restaraunts, etc.
1/2 inch twisted nylon rope/wick.
cut rope to approximately 1 foot lengths. this is scalable. can make length longer if desire more rope to be splayed/distributed in media. have used only 1 (one) 1 foot piece of rope per bucket, but can add as many as desired.
avoid leaded marine rope.
twenty pieces of gold for 100 feet.
can use 5/8", or 1" rope, or any dimension desired.
Am considering using this type of wicking material next run, although cheap rope works real well:
aquasorb microfiber towel
Non-Linting
Manufactured from a bi-component knitted microfibre nylon/polyester material that does not shed lint.
Washable Can be processed many times through a commercial linen service or in-house washer
Super Absorbent Microfibre will absorb 315% of its own weight without dripping.
Autoclavable
Can be steam sterilized at 134 degrees celsius
Durable
May be processed and used repeatedly, works in harmony with moisture repellent drapes
[FONT="]
utility knife
use this to cut lengths of rope, and cut holes in 4 gal bucket. have many blades on hand; blades get dull quickly from cutting rope and plastic.
wood spade bit
can also use this to cut hole(s) in 4 gal bucket, if have drill. utility knife will do job though.good idea to be careful w/ razors, in general.
black gold coco blend
ingredients: canadian sphaghnum peat moss, coconut fiber, eartworm castings, pumice, dolomite lime, and organic wetting agent. dolomite lime assists in ph stabilization. earth worm castings good general amendment.
coco fiber brick
mixed 50/50 w/ black gold coco blend.
perlite
used for bottom 2” of 4 gallon bucket, mixed 50/50 w/ coco, and as 2” top dressing.
hydrogen peroxide
mixed w/ tap water before nutes @ 1-2 cap fulls per gallon. used to oxidize unwanted organisms, oxygenate water, and a general sterilizer. neither pests nor mold like it.
have also used iodine (colorless) to kill undeisrable organisms, @ 1/2 cap full per gallon. terminates all mold, etc. in/on drain holes/rope.
gh flora nova bloom
very good stand alone fertilizer. can use this throughout entire grow (veg/bloom) and never lack anything. excellent @ maintaining a stable ph.
have went entire flowering cycle using this nute as base, w/out ever dumping run-off.
can really use this one nute for veg and flower, and dont really need any additives, if have/want to.
also use the following nutes: gh floralicious bloom, gh kool bloom (liquid), black jack humic acid, mag-i-cal, and molasses. all @ cap full per gallon.
add the h202 first, as it will increase ph. add the rest of the regime, allow ph to settle; adjust w/ vingar if needed. usually settles @~ 6.2 ph/1000 ppm. in early flower, gets dropped to 5.5-5.8 ph, and mid-flower allowed to drift; left unchecked. never really have to check ph or ppms, but do so periodically. ph drift permitted to aloow different nutes to assimilate @ their optimal ph.
tap water.
as a side note, the same regime used to feed the roots are foliar fed to the plants @ ph 6.8-8.0 weekly. There are also foliar fed w/ just h202 and water weekly, ph 6.8-8.0. this stops @~ 14 days left in cycle.
turkey baster (large)
if necessary, these cheap devices can be used to extract all of the water/nutes from the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket, if dont have/dont want to use pumps, and want to make bucket empty fast. surprisingly efficient.
wanted to do entire grow w/out using a water pump or oxygen diffuser, or ph or tds/ppm/ec meter. did it w/out issues using this method.
watering/feeding
an advantage of this method is that the gardener can actually observe that plant drinking water, and easily replace it. the wick will simply draw water up into the bottom of the 4 gallon bucket, and up the rope to where the roots will have inter-twined w/ the ropes.
can feed by pouring nutes/water directly into the bottom 5 gallon bucket, so that roots are compeled to go down and out of bucket; or top feed, around edges of buckets. or both.
very appraent when plant needs water: you see 1/8" of water in bottom bucket, when there was 1" day before.
here, dont routinely test ph before feeding, but can if want to. gh seems to buffer very well, regardless of the dilution or concentration of the ferts applied.
however, would feed lightly w/ this method, as there will be build up of salts. the good thing is that that that build can be used by simply applying water. it will dilute nutes already present, and reduce need for constant feeding.
what to do w/ above listed materials
1) cut/drill holes into 4 gallon bucket. here, 4 1" holes are cut/drilled; 1 per side of 4 gallon bucket.
2) rope lengths are cut. here, only use 1 length of 1 foot rope, but can use as many as desired. have used 4 pieces extending through all 4 cut holes too. each end of the rope is frayed/unraveled. this is why twisted rope is used instead of braided rope.
one end of the rope is extended out of the hole(s) ~3-6". the other end is unraveled to spread/splay/distribute in media.
at least one frayed end should be placed in the bottom 2" of the 4 gallon bucket, to accomplish an inner-res, should the bottom 5 gallon bucket dry out - for whatever reason. this incorporates the hempy method w/ the fail-safe of the wick method.
3) place 2" of perlite in bottom of 4 gallon bucket. place rest of media in 4 gallon bucket. spread rope ends around in media. the roots actually lock onto and inter-twine themselves into the fibers of this rope like vines. nearly impossible to tear out of bucket once plant is mature; if snatched out, will tear out chunk of roots. roots can also grow out of the 4 gal, piggy-backing on the rope, down into the 5 gal. bucket, if kept highly saturated.
4) place plant in 4 gallon bucket, w/ roots on top of/surrounded by frayed rope ends. place 2" layer of perlite on top as top dressing (optional). this is done here to discourage bugs, combat algae, and insulate the media.
5) place 4 gallon bucket inside of 5 gallon bucket. nothing need to be done to 5 gallon bucket. water/fertilize. end.
no need to ever dump run-off from watering. ph remains stable (5.8-6.5) throughout flowering.
usually stop feeding @ 2 weeks left. they get only h202 w/ tap water until 3 days left. then they are dried out for last 3 days in darkness.
harvest tasty tomatoes. end.
Next project is to find/mix fert comparable to gh flora nova in media, and only use tap water throughout grow:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=126834 goal: pre-fertilized coco+water only
feel free to post comments, questions, critiques, etc.
contributing due to how much icmag has been helpful.
hope this helps. enjoy your garden! [/FONT]
after trying many different types of gardening/growing systems, this method has proven to be the most reliable, easiest to construct and manitain; and most of all, most enjoyable. Sharing this experience to give back to icmag in appreciation of all that icmag is. Hope it is useful to the gardeners here that have considered this approach, and to those that have no room/time/inclination to experiment. May be very useful to those that cannot logistically water often, do not have room for external res’, travel, or just want a simple garden whose materials are free, cheap, and easy to maintain.
Method objectives
(1) no reliance on machines for delivery of nutes/water;
(2) ability to garden through entire season w/out dumping run-off nutes/water;
(3) ability to leave garden unattended for at least a week, w/out plants drying out or otherwise suffering;
(4) long-term ph stability;
(5) ability to do long slow flush;
(6) ease of acquiring/replacing/re-using materials; and
(7) general ease of function.
All of the objectives have been met thru several crops.
how this has worked for member purpledomgoddes over several crop cycles
have ran aero, dwc, soil, soilless mixes, compost mixes, etc. this method is by far the easiest to construct and maintain, the most productive, and requires least amount of attendance, machine assistance and/or adjustments.
imaginary garden did not permit conveyance of water to/fro garden, or ease in getting water out of buckets once fed.
print resouces:
high times magazine, october 2001 issue, 'the chronic crew' by kyle kushman; and heads magazine, issue no. 7, march 2002, 'no sweat hydro' (the wick system).
occasion and necessity made it so that had to try method, w/ modification learned running krusty buckets, and soilless mixes.
actually have lots of air pumps, air stones, manifolds, entire drip systems, ph/tds/ec meters, etc, etc. only gets in the way now. just want to water couple times a week and enjoy the garden itself - not the machines that may tend to become omnipresent. growing flowers, not machines.
so, had concept of low-to-no machine asissted grow whose parts could be attainable freely, or w/ minimal coins being spent. beleive achieved goal.
dont post pics of garden - though did last night in wreckless mode. wont post here. feel descriptions and images acquired from net should be sufficient for those that want to duplicate. will remain lurker in that regard; yet details provided should be enough for the seriously interested.
4 gallon bucket
lip fits perfectly over lip of round 5 gallon bucket. no need for spacer. approximately 2-3 inches between bottom of 4 gal, and bottom of 5 gal.
able to acquire for free from bakeries and donut shops, restaurants, etc.
5 gallon bucket
4 gal bucket fits into this bucket. the corners will anchor onto the lip of the 5 gal bucket.
able to acquire for free from bakeries and donut shops, restaraunts, etc.
1/2 inch twisted nylon rope/wick.
cut rope to approximately 1 foot lengths. this is scalable. can make length longer if desire more rope to be splayed/distributed in media. have used only 1 (one) 1 foot piece of rope per bucket, but can add as many as desired.
avoid leaded marine rope.
twenty pieces of gold for 100 feet.
can use 5/8", or 1" rope, or any dimension desired.
Am considering using this type of wicking material next run, although cheap rope works real well:
aquasorb microfiber towel
Non-Linting
Manufactured from a bi-component knitted microfibre nylon/polyester material that does not shed lint.
Washable Can be processed many times through a commercial linen service or in-house washer
Super Absorbent Microfibre will absorb 315% of its own weight without dripping.
Autoclavable
Can be steam sterilized at 134 degrees celsius
Durable
May be processed and used repeatedly, works in harmony with moisture repellent drapes
[FONT="]
utility knife
use this to cut lengths of rope, and cut holes in 4 gal bucket. have many blades on hand; blades get dull quickly from cutting rope and plastic.
wood spade bit
can also use this to cut hole(s) in 4 gal bucket, if have drill. utility knife will do job though.good idea to be careful w/ razors, in general.
black gold coco blend
ingredients: canadian sphaghnum peat moss, coconut fiber, eartworm castings, pumice, dolomite lime, and organic wetting agent. dolomite lime assists in ph stabilization. earth worm castings good general amendment.
coco fiber brick
mixed 50/50 w/ black gold coco blend.
perlite
used for bottom 2” of 4 gallon bucket, mixed 50/50 w/ coco, and as 2” top dressing.
hydrogen peroxide
mixed w/ tap water before nutes @ 1-2 cap fulls per gallon. used to oxidize unwanted organisms, oxygenate water, and a general sterilizer. neither pests nor mold like it.
have also used iodine (colorless) to kill undeisrable organisms, @ 1/2 cap full per gallon. terminates all mold, etc. in/on drain holes/rope.
gh flora nova bloom
very good stand alone fertilizer. can use this throughout entire grow (veg/bloom) and never lack anything. excellent @ maintaining a stable ph.
have went entire flowering cycle using this nute as base, w/out ever dumping run-off.
can really use this one nute for veg and flower, and dont really need any additives, if have/want to.
also use the following nutes: gh floralicious bloom, gh kool bloom (liquid), black jack humic acid, mag-i-cal, and molasses. all @ cap full per gallon.
add the h202 first, as it will increase ph. add the rest of the regime, allow ph to settle; adjust w/ vingar if needed. usually settles @~ 6.2 ph/1000 ppm. in early flower, gets dropped to 5.5-5.8 ph, and mid-flower allowed to drift; left unchecked. never really have to check ph or ppms, but do so periodically. ph drift permitted to aloow different nutes to assimilate @ their optimal ph.
tap water.
as a side note, the same regime used to feed the roots are foliar fed to the plants @ ph 6.8-8.0 weekly. There are also foliar fed w/ just h202 and water weekly, ph 6.8-8.0. this stops @~ 14 days left in cycle.
turkey baster (large)
if necessary, these cheap devices can be used to extract all of the water/nutes from the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket, if dont have/dont want to use pumps, and want to make bucket empty fast. surprisingly efficient.
wanted to do entire grow w/out using a water pump or oxygen diffuser, or ph or tds/ppm/ec meter. did it w/out issues using this method.
watering/feeding
an advantage of this method is that the gardener can actually observe that plant drinking water, and easily replace it. the wick will simply draw water up into the bottom of the 4 gallon bucket, and up the rope to where the roots will have inter-twined w/ the ropes.
can feed by pouring nutes/water directly into the bottom 5 gallon bucket, so that roots are compeled to go down and out of bucket; or top feed, around edges of buckets. or both.
very appraent when plant needs water: you see 1/8" of water in bottom bucket, when there was 1" day before.
here, dont routinely test ph before feeding, but can if want to. gh seems to buffer very well, regardless of the dilution or concentration of the ferts applied.
however, would feed lightly w/ this method, as there will be build up of salts. the good thing is that that that build can be used by simply applying water. it will dilute nutes already present, and reduce need for constant feeding.
what to do w/ above listed materials
1) cut/drill holes into 4 gallon bucket. here, 4 1" holes are cut/drilled; 1 per side of 4 gallon bucket.
2) rope lengths are cut. here, only use 1 length of 1 foot rope, but can use as many as desired. have used 4 pieces extending through all 4 cut holes too. each end of the rope is frayed/unraveled. this is why twisted rope is used instead of braided rope.
one end of the rope is extended out of the hole(s) ~3-6". the other end is unraveled to spread/splay/distribute in media.
at least one frayed end should be placed in the bottom 2" of the 4 gallon bucket, to accomplish an inner-res, should the bottom 5 gallon bucket dry out - for whatever reason. this incorporates the hempy method w/ the fail-safe of the wick method.
3) place 2" of perlite in bottom of 4 gallon bucket. place rest of media in 4 gallon bucket. spread rope ends around in media. the roots actually lock onto and inter-twine themselves into the fibers of this rope like vines. nearly impossible to tear out of bucket once plant is mature; if snatched out, will tear out chunk of roots. roots can also grow out of the 4 gal, piggy-backing on the rope, down into the 5 gal. bucket, if kept highly saturated.
4) place plant in 4 gallon bucket, w/ roots on top of/surrounded by frayed rope ends. place 2" layer of perlite on top as top dressing (optional). this is done here to discourage bugs, combat algae, and insulate the media.
5) place 4 gallon bucket inside of 5 gallon bucket. nothing need to be done to 5 gallon bucket. water/fertilize. end.
no need to ever dump run-off from watering. ph remains stable (5.8-6.5) throughout flowering.
usually stop feeding @ 2 weeks left. they get only h202 w/ tap water until 3 days left. then they are dried out for last 3 days in darkness.
harvest tasty tomatoes. end.
Next project is to find/mix fert comparable to gh flora nova in media, and only use tap water throughout grow:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=126834 goal: pre-fertilized coco+water only
feel free to post comments, questions, critiques, etc.
contributing due to how much icmag has been helpful.
hope this helps. enjoy your garden! [/FONT]
. Seems to me a very easy and usefull method that will work. Will defo try this when i have more experiance and some more confidence in myself.
