Pictures Of My Grow Rooms Built Inside Garage With Questions for Suggestions

Hey guys I'm in the middle of building a 3'x6'x7' veg room and 7'x7'x7' flower room in my garage for some grow adventures with my 75-year-old retired father!! We will be running 20 CXB3590 COB LEDs 1000 watts total and about 700 watts total HPS. But we're not sure on a few things and am hoping to pick your experienced beautiful brains on them, mainly ventilation and electrical. Here are pictures along with questions I have I hope you can be so kind as to answer!


Can I vent BOTH the veg room AND the flower room with one straight duct somehow?? would it be bad to pull air from veg room into flower room? (risk of pollination?)

And also, any suggestions on how to integrate a foam board ceiling?? Should I hammer ceiling joists to the top of this frame and then mount the foam boards to the ceiling joists from inside the rooms? Any other suggestions that might be simpler? Any advice, tips, suggestions you can give will be greatly appreciated!

Rectangular hole to round duct, I believe is called a "takeoff". Home Depot, or almost any hardware store has them. Avail in 4", 6",8", etc.
Plug-ins down lower are handy for things like fans, pumps, air pumps, etc.

From the pictures it looks like you are trying to run a passive intake with a full time exhaust with no plans for a/c, This will work fine depending on your local climate and air exchange rate. Basically if you can exhaust the air as fast as it is heated by the lights then you will be able to maintain the same temps as wherever the intake is located.



you can pull air through veg to flower and then exhaust, with a passive intake in the veg room, Or vice versa neither way is incorrect.



I would put the intake in the veg room low on the wall with a house filter, then a hole in the flower veg wall up high with a light trap, then a carbon filter/fan of your choice hung up high in the flower room exhausting out the wall and then ducted to the rectangle hole in the garage.



If you plan on breeding or keeping males past 3-4 weeks then maybe keep them in a separate area, once my males show balls i take them upstairs out of my veg area and let it live in the corner until its pollen sacs open, then the female in question comes upstairs to be dusted, i leave her upstairs for a day and then spray her with water and back in the flower room she goes. the male gets killed right after i dust the female. Water kills pollen fyi.




For that 12/2 romex if you don't plan on using conduit then the shielding isn't strong enough to run bare(without conduit) in my opinion. for nearly the same price you can find UW wire in any gauge and wire configuration, it is much stronger and is okay to bury/run without conduit, so in my opinion it is safer. As far as plug configuration i would put all the lights on one power strip with a high temp shutoff, the fans/accessories on another circuit that is GFI, so when something floods you don't get fried. also get good digital timers with battery backup, not the cheap ones with push pins.




For the ceiling joists i used these nailers.

http://www.fastenersplus.com/Simpso...oStU6_kc5UN7tRLQTHCITAm7YVsmI6_780xoC1hjw_wcB



but you could also just cut the 2x4's to be the same width as your framing and screw the ceiling joists straight to the framing. Also on the long sides of the ceiling joist (the sides that don't have joists screwed to it) wherever the wall meets the ceiling you need a 2x4 on the ceiling side in the corner so that you will have something to screw your foam board rigid insulation to.





For your foam insulation, you will need to calculate the heat load, i believe its called a manual J. Honestly this way overcomplicated it for me, i know some HVAC guys can calculate this stuff in their head but for me my brain doesn't operate that way. I went with 2" foam board That has foil backing on both sides, it is expensive so do your research first. I screwed the insulation straight to the studs with 3.5" deck screws and big washers, i think they are 1-1/2" all the seams of the insulation need to be taped with SHEATHING tape, Don't use aluminum tape like i did, it peels back over time.




Also if you or Grandpa have a temper beware that the insulation board isn't that strong and a fist will fly right through the wall, some people put OSB on the walls and ceiling before the insulation, but I'm a cheap bastard.




If you ever plan on running this room sealed with a/c then i would put up panda/orca film over the insulation board, i had an issue with my foam board off gassing when i ran the room sealed. Now i run it vented and have no more issues.

This is what the off gassing looked like, overwatered/ph issue/chlorosis

Speed of green said:

From the pictures it looks like you are trying to run a passive intake with a full time exhaust with no plans for a/c, This will work fine depending on your local climate and air exchange rate. Basically if you can exhaust the air as fast as it is heated by the lights then you will be able to maintain the same temps as wherever the intake is located.

Click to expand...

Hell yeah bro thanks so much for your response!! Yep! Your observations are correct I am hoping to be able to manage this environment without an A/C. First things first, I am in San Diego California. I noticed you are also from So Cal Hope you can confirm that my setup should be good to go if our weather conditions are similar.

you can pull air through veg to flower and then exhaust, with a passive intake in the veg room, Or vice versa neither way is incorrect.

I would put the intake in the veg room low on the wall with a house filter, then a hole in the flower veg wall up high with a light trap, then a carbon filter/fan of your choice hung up high in the flower room exhausting out the wall and then ducted to the rectangle hole in the garage.

Click to expand...

Definitely going to do something like you mention. Maybe even in reverse if its cold?

My only remaining question regarding ventilation now is my fan choice. I bought this 6" Vortex S-600 fan less than a month ago, so if i need to return it i can. When I bought it I originally planned to flower AND veg in a 6x6 room and read that I could just run the 6" vortex at half speed or less than full speed. But i've decided to go bigger and build a separate 3x6 room for Veg. Now that I have an additional 3x6 room I'm being told by others that my 6" vortex fan probably won't do the job. Altogether my Cubic Feet now totals 460. If I am to add 15% to that figure to make up for my carbon filter than means I need roughly 530 CFM. But do I really need to move that much air each minute? Does living in San Diego make this not a necessity?

If you plan on breeding or keeping males past 3-4 weeks then maybe keep them in a separate area, once my males show balls i take them upstairs out of my veg area and let it live in the corner until its pollen sacs open, then the female in question comes upstairs to be dusted, i leave her upstairs for a day and then spray her with water and back in the flower room she goes. the male gets killed right after i dust the female. Water kills pollen fyi.

Click to expand...

Im glad you mention keeping males because its not a subject ive gone extensively into research with. I plan to grow from seed because i want to LST early and top and move into a SCROG setup in my flower room . I plan to get a strain i like (most likely Gorilla Bubble) from a reputable vendor and am wondering what if i want to produce more seeds of a particular strain to grow in the future? Do I do what you just explained basically? I'm probably totally wrong but it sounds like you take the female upstairs so the quarantined male can pollinate the female?? And then you take the female back down to the flowering room where it will produce seeds and finish flowering? Why kill the male off? Can he only pollinate one time?

For that 12/2 romex if you don't plan on using conduit then the shielding isn't strong enough to run bare(without conduit) in my opinion. for nearly the same price you can find UW wire in any gauge and wire configuration, it is much stronger and is okay to bury/run without conduit, so in my opinion it is safer. As far as plug configuration i would put all the lights on one power strip with a high temp shutoff, the fans/accessories on another circuit that is GFI, so when something floods you don't get fried. also get good digital timers with battery backup, not the cheap ones with push pins.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! Im currently looking for timer(s) for my grow room. I need one to control my lights and another one for my automated dripper system. Ill probably need to research if i need two separate reservoirs for veg room and flower room. If so, i will probably need a total of three timers? one for lights two for watering schedule? But im not sure about my options. Wondering what my best cost-to-value purchase is as far as timers go? Will Titan Controls Apollo 9 do the trick for me?

I'm in dana point, so the weather is somewhat cooler than the inland areas, the rule of thumb is 2x air exchange per minute for hps lighting. There are a couple days where it get in the 90's during the day but running your lights at night should keep you safe. If your garage gets over 90-95 constantly then you may want to look at other options. The ventilation is something you will have to play with and most likely it will take you a few days to get it dialed exactly where you want. As the seasons change you will have to do more dialing haha.

San Diego is a big area, if you are close to the ocean then you're probably okay, just remember that your grow room will never be cooler than the garage temperature, I have a grow near fallbrook and the barn temps can get 110+ easy without ac.

The apollo9 timer looks identical to mine, I think mine are hydrofarm brand though.

Tony green gorilla bubble? I was tempted to order those on seedbay.

An auto water system can work well, if you want to have a simple system that is low mantinence look into PPK. There is a new thread in the hydro forum by D9 that details the build.

If you are in soil then auto watering may not be necessary because it can take a few days to require water, and your plant count will be low.

Pollinating females is done exactly how I said above, I normally pollinate the 3rd week of flower and let the pollinated female finish with the rest of the herd, dry the same way too. The seeds need to mature for a month or two after you harvest them. I cut all the dried seeded bud into a turkey bag and grind it up by hand, then beat it against a wall for a while and most of the seeds will end up at the bottom.

To be a breeder you have to be extremely organized, labeling everything and keeping everything separate. I am not that organized and I mainly breed for seed stock and to cross a strain every now and again, that's why I kill my males, once the female is dusted I have no further use for the male.


PM me when you get enough posts.

Speed of green said:

I'm in dana point, so the weather is somewhat cooler than the inland areas, the rule of thumb is 2x air exchange per minute for hps lighting. There are a couple days where it get in the 90's during the day but running your lights at night should keep you safe. If your garage gets over 90-95 constantly then you may want to look at other options. The ventilation is something you will have to play with and most likely it will take you a few days to get it dialed exactly where you want. As the seasons change you will have to do more dialing haha.

San Diego is a big area, if you are close to the ocean then you're probably okay, just remember that your grow room will never be cooler than the garage temperature, I have a grow near fallbrook and the barn temps can get 110+ easy without ac.

The apollo9 timer looks identical to mine, I think mine are hydrofarm brand though.

Tony green gorilla bubble? I was tempted to order those on seedbay.

An auto water system can work well, if you want to have a simple system that is low mantinence look into PPK. There is a new thread in the hydro forum by D9 that details the build.

If you are in soil then auto watering may not be necessary because it can take a few days to require water, and your plant count will be low.

Pollinating females is done exactly how I said above, I normally pollinate the 3rd week of flower and let the pollinated female finish with the rest of the herd, dry the same way too. The seeds need to mature for a month or two after you harvest them. I cut all the dried seeded bud into a turkey bag and grind it up by hand, then beat it against a wall for a while and most of the seeds will end up at the bottom.
To be a breeder you have to be extremely organized, labeling everything and keeping everything separate. I am not that organized and I mainly breed for seed stock and to cross a strain every now and again, that's why I kill my males, once the female is dusted I have no further use for the male.

PM me when you get enough posts.

Click to expand...

good looking set up, SOG, clean and well constructed... a well written and through post/reply.

Snook said:

good looking set up, SOG, clean and well constructed... a well written and through post/reply.

Click to expand...

Greetings Snook! Welcome to my humble abode (or what ive managed to build so far at least) May I pick your brain on some things? I have been researching PPK for the past couple nights and am still trying to wrap my head around some things. I was set on running coco DTW until @speedofgreen introduced me to PPK and after reading up so much on it I am now trying hard to come up with a PPK build that wont give me headaches down the line (i want to make sure i get it right the first time before i start building).

With that being said I noticed you had a PPK build of your own and I am hoping I can gain some insight through your experience. I understand how and why PPK works but the main things I am stumped with are trying to figure out the ideal sizes for everything in regard to my available space. (I am not worried about space for a main reservoir because I can place a main reservoir(s) outside the grow rooms and plumb it through walls into the grow rooms.)

Delta9 told me i probably shouldn't use a setup like his because of my grow space. So I am wondering what PPK parameters would be different for a grow space like mine? I have a 7x7 ft. flowering room. And my ceiling is 7 feet high. Is 4 or 6 PPK sites way too much for my floor space? Should I be aiming for more smaller-sized plants because of my grow space? Should I do less plants but huge sized? Do I aim for a 4" air gap just like bigger PPK growers do? D9 had mentioned that i should go with a more compact PPK system but im not sure if that just means size everything down? Like container sizes and plant count? Should I purposely aim for a smaller plant size because of my headroom? Can I still run a 3-container module like this one here:


Or does my grow area limit the potential of these kinds of builds?

Sorry if I seem a little wet behind the ears (I am ), I just learned of PPK recently so its still fairly new to me although ive done lots of reading on it. I just don't have experience with PPK and this is actually my first own grow at home where I will be tending my own garden and not someone else's . I just want to make sure I don't build a system with an expensive or painstaking "weak link" or "bottleneck." Hope you can give me some input to help me get the ball rolling on my PPK build!

just signing on to let you know i'll be checking on the thread.

the system you show in the drawing is not right for your space.

i would use a small central reservoir with a pump and a float valve instead of the multiple buckets with a separate pump and float valve for each one.

snook has a nice system you might want to consider.

plants get big fast in the ppk. i have overgrown whole rooms before by using too many plants and flowering too late.

newguy41410 said:

Greetings Snook! Welcome to my humble abode (or what ive managed to build so far at least) May I pick your brain on some things? I have been researching PPK for the past couple nights and am still trying to wrap my head around some things. I was set on running coco DTW until @speedofgreen introduced me to PPK and after reading up so much on it I am now trying hard to come up with a PPK build that wont give me headaches down the line (i want to make sure i get it right the first time before i start building).

With that being said I noticed you had a PPK build of your own and I am hoping I can gain some insight through your experience. I understand how and why PPK works but the main things I am stumped with are trying to figure out the ideal sizes for everything in regard to my available space. (I am not worried about space for a main reservoir because I can place a main reservoir(s) outside the grow rooms and plumb it through walls into the grow rooms.)

Delta9 told me i probably shouldn't use a setup like his because of my grow space. So I am wondering what PPK parameters would be different for a grow space like mine? I have a 7x7 ft. flowering room. And my ceiling is 7 feet high. Is 4 or 6 PPK sites way too much for my floor space? Should I be aiming for more smaller-sized plants because of my grow space? Should I do less plants but huge sized? Do I aim for a 4" air gap just like bigger PPK growers do? D9 had mentioned that i should go with a more compact PPK system but im not sure if that just means size everything down? Like container sizes and plant count? Should I purposely aim for a smaller plant size because of my headroom? Can I still run a 3-container module like this one here:
View Image

Or does my grow area limit the potential of these kinds of builds?

Sorry if I seem a little wet behind the ears (I am ), I just learned of PPK recently so its still fairly new to me although ive done lots of reading on it. I just don't have experience with PPK and this is actually my first own grow at home where I will be tending my own garden and not someone else's . I just want to make sure I don't build a system with an expensive or painstaking "weak link" or "bottleneck." Hope you can give me some input to help me get the ball rolling on my PPK build!

Click to expand...

that's allot of buckets.. .


my ppks go like this: Volume rez (your mixing rez) to control rez (where float is) to pump res - the pump res is what feeds the ppk from the top. each bottom ppk rez is plumbed back to the pump rez, individually sso after the pulse top feed water is drawn from the pump rez goes down from the top of the PPK, thru the wick and into the bottom res that feeds excess back to the pulse rez. allota shit happing at the same time its kinda like drain to waste but the waste is returned to be fed again.. a lot of words to describe a simple system... I use screened turface, using other media (coco) had gnats, no gnats, turface.. many opinions on media. so where does that leave you?? ask away, soma the bright brothers will be along to give more precise and understandable input..


. part of the height delema is the PPK stsacked height and the space at top for the light and hanging apparatus. so your 7' is really only 3' and a bit.. 15" for the ppks stacked and 15" (maybe more) for the light. should maintain some distance between the light and the tops of the plants ??? 12" maybe less. so trees, unless youre talking giant autos aren't happening maybe i'm too conservative??


EDIT: HA! I forgot about this part^^?

Thank you for your replies gentlemen!

As I read snook's response i couldn't help but ask myself "if i plumb the bottom res back to the control res how would i keep the control res from flowing straight back into the bottom res and overflowing up the tailpipe?"

Then i realized DUH THATS WHAT THE CONTROL RES IS FOR!! So as far as the plumbing from the bottom res back to the control res goes, am i plumbing a hole in the control res at the same height as the float valve?? And then the bottom res gets a hole at the same height as the control res right ? So the control res is always keeping a certain water level in the bottom res because its essentially overflowing into the bottom res? and vice versa (bottom res also overflows into control res?) Am i on the right track or am i way off?

i kept thinking about the control res and bottom res and also wondered if the float valve is actually suppose to be lower than the drain hole? so the control res never flows into the bottom res (unless the pump is on and it takes the top water path)? But the bottom res overflows at a certain height into the control res?

bottom rez plumbs back to the pump rez, not control.


the control rez (with float valve) is fed via the volume rez, it manages the height (GAP) in the bottom PPK rez by way of the pulse/floatvalve rez as well as the pulse rez.


each ppk bottom rez is plumbed back to the pulse rez where the flow of nutrients first goes to the pulse rez because of the pumps demand for water (timed for a specific amount of time/volume) during the pulse/flood and when the pulse is finished and that pulsed solution flows thru the medium and into the ppks rez via the wick pushing more back thru the system, overflowing the control reze that has been drippin water into the control rez via the float valve the event from the start of the pulse to equilibrium
(all rezs' being at rest and equal solution in each of the 3 rez components.. it circular kinda..


funny when the boss spells it out it, it seems allot clearer.

PPK is a killer system, maximizing wet/dry cycles per day, plants get big FAST. If you are having a hard time grasping the concept, read through this if you haven't already.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=336515

delta9nxs said:

just signing on to let you know i'll be checking on the thread.

the system you show in the drawing is not right for your space.

i would use a small central reservoir with a pump and a float valve instead of the multiple buckets with a separate pump and float valve for each one.

snook has a nice system you might want to consider.

plants get big fast in the ppk. i have overgrown whole rooms before by using too many plants and flowering too late.

Click to expand...

Good Afternoon D9! I just spent yesterday and the better half of the night doing more research on PPK. I am starting to realize the super simplicity of the system. I'm beginning to feel more confident with grasping and applying the PPK concept . Basically as long as i can get a wick system that is achieving a 4" air gap and doesn't get clogged, while recirculating drained nutes back to the pump res (in my case pump and float valve will be in same res), while top-feeding at max flow to fill medium containers as fast as possible (so it can drain as fast as possible therefore pulling in more oxygen) every 90 minutes, while
automatically topping itself off, I will have a basic PPK system that should be producing super-thriving plants compared to other hydro systems correct?

Here is what I think I've decided on for my PPK system so far:
30+ gallon drum outside of my grow room elevated on a table as a VOLUME RES. This would then be gravity-fed to a central reservoir in the middle of my flower room. I'm thinking a 5-gallon bucket as my Central reservoir. My central reservoir would have a pump and a float valve inside it due to my minimal floor space. This pump would pulse-feed 4 plants in short but maximum-flow bursts every 90 minutes so my plants will continuously be getting food and oxygen, and the float valve in it would make sure my central reservoir is always topped off. Each of the 4 plants would have a medium container (not sure what kind of what size yet) with a 7" long by 2.5" ID tailpipe stuffed with Turface/Extra-large perlite mix, and a plant res underneath it. I will put my PPK system together and the first thing I will do is set the float valve at a height that kept my plant reservoirs and tailpipes with 4" air gaps. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to do it, i just know i need to make sure I can achieve a 4" air gap by playing with float valve water level, while allowing some water to remain in the bottom res so the plant can wick up some to drink in case of power outage. The plant res would then be plumbed back to my central reservoir where it mixes with the "old solution." That's it!! Right?

So during my research I would take notes and write down questions I had. The questions are honestly, the sole reason for this post. WIth that being said, here are some questions I wrote down during my research:

1) In Post #569 of your "a wicked pulse" thread you had stated that the best containers you've seen for limited headroom are 3 gallon Rubbermaid totes. That was actually about 5 years ago. Would you still recommend these 3 gallon Rubbermaid totes for ppl with limited headroom? I have 7 feet of ceiling height and my medium container size and its res size is my biggest question mark. I have no experience with PPK grows and am worried of going too big or too small with my containers . This is the question I would love you or someone to hold my hand with lol, can you please tell me straight out what containers you think i should use . I'm also thinking of running 4 plants for every 15 sq. ft. of space. So 4 plants in a 7x7 room FWIW

2) I noticed a lot of older PPK threads users are using tire valves as ports. Why tire valves? Do you still recommend tire valves as ports? I tried looking at pictures in your new wicked thread but cant see what you are using as ports. And for some reason lots of the older threads appear to have all the images removed so i can't see images for reference in some of your older threads.

3) Also notice some ppl are using smart pots as their medium container. Is there any advantage of using smart pots in a ppk system? I know a lot of people swear by them in coco grows, are people merely using them because they are thinking it won't hurt or because they would be better than a plastic container?

4) Veg Room PPK? I also have a 3x7 Veg Room. I am thinking of running a perpetual with 2 plants in veg at the right time. Should I defintely PPK in veg too? And would you suggest keeping it simple by building veg ppk modules identical to the flower rooms ppk modules? Should I run two seperate pumps from the central res one for veg? I didn't come across much reading in regards to PPKing in veg rooms hoping you can shed some light on this?

5) When I was set on running Coco DTW, my extensive research led me to find that lots of people are swearing by Hydroponic-Research Veg+Bloom nutrients. I read a lot of people on these forums are swearing they definitely get better results versus GH lucas formula, jacks, etc. Has anyone tried HR V+B nutes with PPK? Or does the price difference make it not even worth trying?

Phew. that was a lot. Sorry! Hope you can chime in and help me out some I'm finishing up my build room and ready to start ordering what I need. Thanks for all you've done for the community, in just the past two days I've seen how much of an incredible impact you have had on a LOT of people's grows, and commend you for all your contributions! Thanks again!

Speed of green said:

PPK is a killer system, maximizing wet/dry cycles per day, plants get big FAST. If you are having a hard time grasping the concept, read through this if you haven't already.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=336515

Click to expand...

hey SOG, just noticed your response. Thanks. I read through that thread and a bunch of other PPK threads and i definitely have grasped the PPK concept now. Now that I've learned of the system and how it works I am now in the phase where im researching all the component's details, specifically my container sizes at the moment, given my space constraints. Basically Im researching for my shopping list now. Any suggestions or tips that you might have would be greatly appreciated!

4 small ppk sites in the flower room should work, i know you said you want to do a scrog, the canopy management will be key in your situation. i am unexperienced in LED technology, but i have been led to believe that the light penetration is not the greatest, so you are going to have to train these ladies carefully.

as far as pot size, i would suggest 2 gallon buckets stacked, that should be more than enough, probably overkill.

if you are going to scrog you shouldn't have to worry about headroom.

30 gal volume rez
1 float valve
5 - 2 gal with lids
4 - 2 gal without lids
4 tailpieces
plenty of good hose
step bit
Napa floor dry, or whatever medium you choose.

i'm going to try to answer most of your questions but if i miss anything please let me know. i will put pertinent sections in quotes.

"while top-feeding at max flow to fill medium containers as fast as possible (so it can drain as fast as possible therefore pulling in more oxygen) every 90 minutes"

speed of delivery is not important using an intermittent pulsed watering regime. if you use the right air filled porosity (30-40%) and keep the medium moist you are fine. the medium will have enough air space to naturally contain enough oxygen. atmospheric partial pressures guarantee this.

you may be referring to the "full flood" watering technique in which we would totally flood the plant container totally displacing all gas like a piston in a motor. if so we have since mostly gone to the intermittent pulsed application which has been proven to grow the same size plant as the flood method but is technically a lot more simple to accomplish as it uses smaller reservoirs, pumps, and plumbing.

"Here is what I think I've decided on for my PPK system so far:
30+ gallon drum outside of my grow room elevated on a table as a VOLUME RES."

30 gals is probably about right but because of the weight i would put it on 3 cement blocks stood on end.

"This would then be gravity-fed to a central reservoir in the middle of my flower room. I'm thinking a 5-gallon bucket as my Central reservoir. My central reservoir would have a pump and a float valve inside it due to my minimal floor space."


why put the recirculating reservoir in the same room? you have limited space and it's going to be tough enough just working in there. if you have room outside the grow room put it there. also, i think a 5 gal bucket is too small. it will only hold about 2.5 gals at 7".


"This pump would pulse-feed 4 plants in short but maximum-flow bursts every 90 minutes so my plants will continuously be getting food and oxygen, and the float valve in it would make sure my central reservoir is always topped off. Each of the 4 plants would have a medium container (not sure what kind of what size yet) with a 7" long by 2.5" ID tailpipe stuffed with Turface/Extra-large perlite mix, and a plant res underneath it. I will put my PPK system together and the first thing I will do is set the float valve at a height that kept my plant reservoirs and tailpipes with 4" air gaps. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to do it, i just know i need to make sure I can achieve a 4" air gap by playing with float valve water level, while allowing some water to remain in the bottom res so the plant can wick up some to drink in case of power outage. The plant res would then be plumbed back to my central reservoir where it mixes with the "old solution." That's it!! Right?"

close enough for now! except i would use a standard 1.5" sink tailpiece.


"1) In Post #569 of your "a wicked pulse" thread you had stated that the best containers you've seen for limited headroom are 3 gallon Rubbermaid totes. That was actually about 5 years ago. Would you still recommend these 3 gallon Rubbermaid totes for ppl with limited headroom? I have 7 feet of ceiling height and my medium container size and its res size is my biggest question mark. I have no experience with PPK grows and am worried of going too big or too small with my containers . This is the question I would love you or someone to hold my hand with lol, can you please tell me straight out what containers you think i should use . I'm also thinking of running 4 plants for every 15 sq. ft. of space. So 4 plants in a 7x7 room FWIW"

the 3 gal tubs are ok but, because of your space constrictions, i think i would use 2 gal buckets as SOG mentioned. i would also consider putting only 3 plants in there as you need space inside the room to work. one spot for you and 3 for the plants.

"2) I noticed a lot of older PPK threads users are using tire valves as ports. Why tire valves? Do you still recommend tire valves as ports? I tried looking at pictures in your new wicked thread but cant see what you are using as ports. And for some reason lots of the older threads appear to have all the images removed so i can't see images for reference in some of your older threads."

old experimental technology. tire valves are too small and clog easily. we don't use ports at all anymore. use black neoprene rubber 5/8" id garden hose from hd's or lowes. the hose is 7/8" od so you drill a precision 13/16" hole with a step bit, cut the hose at an angle, stick it in and pull it with a pair of pliers. it will never leak.

"3) Also notice some ppl are using smart pots as their medium container. Is there any advantage of using smart pots in a ppk system? I know a lot of people swear by them in coco grows, are people merely using them because they are thinking it won't hurt or because they would be better than a plastic container?"

well, i've used air pruning containers and yes they do prune roots but i have never seen increased growth using them in a ppk. we already get incredible root masses and plenty of o2. they were pioneered by dr carl whitcomb for use in the ornamental plant industry. when a plant is cultured in and then removed from soil there is heavy damage to the root system. by culturing above ground in easily removable containers that have pruned the roots in a radial pattern you can avoid the damage and get faster growth after transplant.

"4) Veg Room PPK? I also have a 3x7 Veg Room. I am thinking of running a perpetual with 2 plants in veg at the right time. Should I defintely PPK in veg too? And would you suggest keeping it simple by building veg ppk modules identical to the flower rooms ppk modules? Should I run two seperate pumps from the central res one for veg? I didn't come across much reading in regards to PPKing in veg rooms hoping you can shed some light on this?"

i ppk in veg! sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? why do another transplant if you don't have to. i would use the same containers so that you can just pick them up and move them to flower when ready. about the pumps, it depends on how you plumb everything. i'm a big fan of this rubber hose tech now because it all just snaps together but it is only 5/8" id which will restrict a big pump. because of this i think maybe 2 smaller pumps maybe about 500 gph each. they can both fire off the same timer. use mag drive pumps as they will not contaminate your system and the 500's have 1/2" threaded ports.

"5) When I was set on running Coco DTW, my extensive research led me to find that lots of people are swearing by Hydroponic-Research Veg+Bloom nutrients. I read a lot of people on these forums are swearing they definitely get better results versus GH lucas formula, jacks, etc. Has anyone tried HR V+B nutes with PPK? Or does the price difference make it not even worth trying?"

use jrpeters.com hydroponic special 5-12-26 and calcinit (calcium nitrate). it is the most stable nutrient for hydro i've ever used. it is also very inexpensive compared to grow store nutes.

well, i hope i have answered most of your questions. have a good 'un!

delta9nxs said:

i'm going to try to answer most of your questions but if i miss anything please let me know. i will put pertinent sections in quotes.

well, i hope i have answered most of your questions. have a good 'un!

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@SOG and @delta9nxs Thank you so much!! I kinda felt bad typing such a lengthy interrogative post with so many questions! Especially with D9 im sure you are a busy man, especially as the pioneer of PPK im sure you get people inquiring about the system all the time, and i would think at some point d9 would get annoyed with probably answering the same questions over and over lol. So I am extremely grateful for your response, man. I have learned so much about ppk (and our plant's aerobic needs) over the last couple days its amazing how quick I decided to just convert to PPK when I was set on running coco dtw all year lol. With that being said, I hope you can find the time to answer these questions that arose while reading your response. I will try to keep this short so as to save as much of your time as possible!

1) difference between flood and pulse-feeding? im starting to realize i should distinguish between the two. flooding is obviously just that - flooding. but is pulse feeding more like drip-feeding? whereas flooding could be as short as a 10 second burst, pulse-feeding is more like a minute with less flow? did i distinguish the two correctly? is this the pump you are referring to?

2) you suggest i do 3 plants in my 7x7 flower room. This leads me to believe I will be having 3 monsters in this room . Wat im curius of though is if i can be SCROGging this room. My original plan was to divide the room in two so i can have two scrogs, each being 2.5x7 ft scrogs. This would leave me with a little walkway to get under the screens for defoilating and maintenance. would you still suggest 3 plants under my scrog setup? What would you predict happening if i threw two under each scrog for a total of four? Would the plants grow so fast because of the ppk that i would have a hard time training everything through the screen? Would you suggest i scrap the whole SCROG idea completely? I like the scrog idea because i like the idea of flattening out my canopy so more of the lower branches get the same amount of light as the tops. And this plus the fact that im under a 7' ceiling and i will be using COB LED lighting. But if you think a SCROG would be limiting my PPK yield potential i have no problem ditching the SCROG plan!

3) in relation to question #2, do you use any specific training techniques yourself? top? lst? anything? looking at plants in ppks threads pictures, it looks like you just grow trees. Well, FORESTS actually lol. Kinda hard to tell how you train looking at the pictures because all i see is forests and i dont have an eye for that kind of thing yet as im a new grower =p Do you suggest ppk users train however they see fit or do you actually recommend a particular training regime/style due to ppk's nature?

4) in regards to vegging PPK! Space? You recommend 3 plants in a 7x7 flowering ppk space. What about vegging in 3x7 if in PPK? Will these plants get explosive growth in veg also? meaning im only going to fit one or two in my veg space? im hoping to fit at least 3 if im going to be running 3 in my flower space haha.

5) wait, you said both pumps could be run off the same timer!! does this mean your veg plants get fed just as often as your flower plants do with the same solution??? dont tell me its really that simple!?! lol

Thanks again D9, you're the best!!! (and sorry, i tried to keep it short, but i can't help but be such an articulate person lol)

and here are some comments regarding your suggestions:
- i originally planned to have central reservoir in center of room because i thought the central res being equidistant from the ppk sites would somehow make plumbing flow simpler or something haha. But since you mention it, im definitely plumbing my central res outside the room to save space!
- i read somewhere someone said to make sure to have inside diameter of at least 2.5" for the tailpiece thats why i mentioned getting a 3". but if you suggest the standard 1.5" sink tailpiece is enough to drain without clogs, ill definitely go with that!

ok, i've got a little bit better view of your intentions and plans after this last post.

with your plan of two scrog screens with two plants under each you will need 4 plants after all. you will have 8.75 sq ft per plant so you will have to keep them small and flower early.

i am not the right indian to ask about scrogging. i'm about to do it on what is for me a larger scale, 16 plants in 7 gal containers each trained to a 4.5x4.5' screen. i have not done any scrogging in over 12 years. but i intend to top really early and train the canopy as flat as possible in veg before going to the screen. you should go to the coco forum and look at DJM's thread. he is a master at the scrog.

about the irrigation differences. you can fully flood the plant/medium container. this positively drives out all the old gases and pulls in fresh new gas. works great and there is no guess work or experimentation with the volume. full is full.

but it requires large pumps. big reservoirs so you don't starve the pump. large diameter pvc tubing on both delivery and return. multiple valves that must be tuned rather precisely so that you evenly flood all containers at once without any of them overflowing. this approach is more expensive to set up and more time consuming to build than the pulsed irrigation technique.

in the literature "pulsed" or intermittent irrigation is considered to be a subset of drip irrigation. it is superior to a straight drip because you achieve a more evenly wetted medium. i won't go into the reasons for that here but believe me, it do!

to do a full flood in one of the 7 gal containers i use would require about 2 gals of solution because you must have enough to not only fill the airspace but also overwhelm the drain at the same time. with 12 containers that's about 24 gals and it needs to be delivered in a very short period of time requiring all the stuff mentioned above. also you cannot use any media that floats.

right now i'm back to 30 seconds or about 1/2 gal every 90 minutes with the turface/perlite mix. so with the same theoretical 12 plants that's only 6 gals per event. much easier to achieve and much less expensive. the pumps run for only 8 minutes per day.

in the same environment either way grows the same size plant.

in the ppk we are watering the medium, not the plant. we are trying to keep the medium within an ideal band of parameters. so yes you can fire both rooms from the same timer.

Here's some progress update PHOTOS of my grow room build so far.:



Ran some electrical wiring and some outlets


Two 20-amp breaker circuits and one 15-amp breaker circuits



Got some Sheetrock drywall slapped on



Cut Out Hole In Sheetrock for What is Going to Be my Passive Intake




Got all The Sheetrock slapped on!