bobblehead overtakes

[DHF]

Hey bobble... glad to see u back up and posting... fig'd u'v been slammed w everything.


Remember w we chatted bout the yellow ick on cuts... those bins will bring it about even faste r man. Those cuts u hooked up stayed in water cups w no lids for another day... but open to the air... like 3' from a t5... rh in 30's. Then to the rw starter cubes... same dealio... mid 30's rh w temps anywhere between 78-84. No domes... no misting... eventually dropped the light to 2', after a week or so. 2.5wks later... all rooted... no yellow ick... no death.

Trust me on this one... strip em like I did... cups to cubes... open air the whole time... no rh bumpin... just keep the light really high. I bet my keepers on this method routinely... got the whole library cut down again. It works every time bro. Peace

Gotta respectfully disagree with the low RH Miway , but what works for you is what works for you , and maybe`s better where you and Bobbles are , but......

I`ve never rooted in anything other than red solo cups in 50/50 verm/perl mix or the clear 1`s and my coco mix with pretty much 100% in 80 degree temps and 80% RH in open air after the clear cup domes with holes in the top made sure the cuts weren`t gonna droop and croak after the transplant........

It`s a proven fact that with shoplights raised up higher and leaves cut back to promote rootgrowth waaay before foliage , that cuts root faster and develop a better rootmass before bein up potted /transplanted....

I`m not a proponent of containers that develop condensation and drip on the cuts that can cause all kinds of nasty ick and such shit as you speak of MiWay...... and....

If yas swap those T-5`s out for 40 watt shoplights it`ll decrease your powerbill and yas can use the T-5`s to preveg the rooted cuts till they`re ready for the bloom rooms ftw ......anyways.....

My 2 cents from all them yrs.....DHF.........

 

[MIway]

Truthfully man... I've popped several thou in cuts... and I don't have any issues with mold or water borne disease... which is what the biggest issue is w taking em... die back. It all stems from over watering, using tainted water or wet domes... the way I've found around that... cut in dry environments. Again... if time ain't an issue. Between taking an extra week or two vs losing cuts and not hitting your mark... its not a c choice at all.

They root just fine this way... only have to guard against too much light and heat... which can make em transpire too much and wilt on yahoo. If you keep em in cups o water for a day or two... that helps em slow their transporation rates... means no dome or high rh is ever needed... they root just fine. Raised lights makes a big diff too. I've done the same in 20rh rooms... dry, dry, dry. No rot. No mold. No weak ass cuts. And I'm talkin all of em root... over two to three weeks.


One of those things where there is more than one way to skin a cat... but dry works really well... and it is about as simple (least amount odd work) ways to go about doin it... that you can truly count on. Great results this way. Peace

 

[Bonzo]

Truthfully man... I've popped several thou in cuts... and I don't have any issues with mold or water borne disease... which is what the biggest issue is w taking em... die back. It all stems from over watering, using tainted water or wet domes... the way I've found around that... cut in dry environments. Again... if time ain't an issue. Between taking an extra week or two vs losing cuts and not hitting your mark... its not a c choice at all.

They root just fine this way... only have to guard against too much light and heat... which can make em transpire too much and wilt on yahoo. If you keep em in cups o water for a day or two... that helps em slow their transporation rates... means no dome or high rh is ever needed... they root just fine. Raised lights makes a big diff too. I've done the same in 20rh rooms... dry, dry, dry. No rot. No mold. No weak ass cuts. And I'm talkin all of em root... over two to three weeks.


One of those things where there is more than one way to skin a cat... but dry works really well... and it is about as simple (least amount odd work) ways to go about doin it... that you can truly count on. Great results this way. Peace

so MIway are you sayin' place cuts in cup of strait water for a day or two then into cups of coco?

thanks

 

[high life 45]

Hey bobble, looking like a good start. Im hoping for a good run for ya. Whats your plans for the winter? I know that I have a couple generators just to keep things going out at my place, one time the power was out for nearly two days.

I know I sound like a broken record but you gotta check out D9s ppks sometime. minimal investment, If you use jacks its affordable, stable, and extremely easy.

The only reason I still have plants is the ppk.... I am pretty sure I had the worst RA infestation to date yet I have the healthiest plants and I didnt even have to go nuclear...


With a top off res I have left for three days with no problems, if my res was bigger I could leave for longer in veg.. in flower I gotta make sure that these colas dont get too close to the light.

I keep brainstorming a PPK bed, throw 16 plants in a 4x4 with a 1k maybe even 2. veg for a week or two and flip em. seems bulletproof to me.

Anyways hoping that everything works out well!

 

[MIway]

Basically... yup. Here's what I do almost exactly... I get lazy in my comfort w the process every now and then...

- Strip the growing shoot to one new ssprout and 4-5" of bare stem... keep one good leaf trimmed in half... plus the baby leaf from the emerging shoot tip... while on the mother plant
- Make up some tap or ro water with 2 drops physan per liter
- Cut my stripped shoots and put em in solo cups of the physan... just an inch or two of the stem under the water line
- Let that sit for 12hrs in the dark... or in a room of light just not under the light... shit in cups it don't matter and can put em under a flour as long as it is raised say 3' over the pups
- Day or two after this... pull the cuts and retrim the bottom of the stem and dip it in a rooting powder or dipngrow
- Place in a presoaked rw starter cube that was hit w a .3ec solution plus a ml per gal of roots excel... even better if have a touch of trichoderma of zho or the like
- Feed the same solution as above every 3days... even plain ro water at 5.5-6.0
- Totally open to the air the whole time... no sprays... no nothin
- After first week... dropen lights to 2'
- Wait 2-3wks

Here the cuts I gots last time... some had the ick starting w I got em... had 15, tossed 3 before I cubed em, one was on the edge w the ick and lost her... so really these are 11/12... thought could save the one... and they weren't 100% super healthy to start... which only helps the process out...




Sure it can be done faster... big deal... take em two weeks earlier and drop the stress/worry. ;-)

 

[Hazed]

Heya Bobble, looks like your livin up to the name of the thread! Great improvements, and the girls your runnin are lookin much better!

About the blumats. You gotta keep in mind that air will leak through a fitting when water wont, so when some water passes through a T fitting to another plant that third connection can suck a little air if the seal isn't real good.

I have used tensiometers since I was a kid, and they operate on a similar principle as a blumat. After a good watering it sometimes takes over a day to get a accurate reading with a tensio, so I figure the blumat should take about the same amount of time to get synch'd with the soil/coco moisture.

If ya had a large tub and filled it with coco at the desired moisture content, you could dial them blumats in before you even stick them in the pots.
I dont have all your experience, but this is how I am setting up my blumats.

About the clones,
I agree with these guys! I tossed the damned aerocloner and now just use stadium cups and pure coco.
I take large cuts, mix up clonex solution @ 50% recommended strength.
take cuts that will have 2 or more internodes under soil line.
Peel gently, you only need to peel the outer layer.
Soak the cuts in the clonex solution for about 20 mins (one beer).
Dip lightly in root hormone of choice, and stuff them in a hole made with a pencil all the way to the bottom of the cup.
If ya got strong hands, dont squeeze them to death, just enough to squish out excess water works for me.
Set them just about anywhere with indirect light (shop lights are great).
Ive cloned and had success with only 45% RH (mist leaves when I think about it), but higher RH damned sure helps!

I have tried using tubs and tops to maintain humidity and they seem to slow the process. Getting things ready in advance doing the procedure fast and limiting the amount of time the clone is not in solution or dirt/coco definitely helps make healthier clones!

Not sure where to start my thread at, Im setting up a flat bloom area right now but moving in the direction of vert (have some vert plants started). As soon as I figure out where to post, I hope you guys will come and let me know where I am screwin up,lol.

Take care...Hazed

P.S. I feel ya on the UA's I been looking for work too, and feel like I turned into a pissin machine!

 

[bobblehead]

Hi Bobble! Some very tasty looking buds there, your USD certainly looks dank, props!

IMO DTW is perfect for absentee growing. A good cycle timer, big enough rez, & waste rez that can take care of things for a week and your G2G! The plants will basically take care of themselves.

Looking forward to the future with your grows bro.

HGO

You must be referring to the Headband that's flowering... Cause my only USD was only 1.5 weeks in and just got put back in veg mode. Either way thanks! If I can start turning out AAA buds again I'll be a happy camper.

I'm so confident that I'll be a happy camper when I get some more DTW grows going... It's just a great method period. When you're forcing fresh nute solution through the medium, there is no chance of nute imbalance... The room that had the russet mites recovered so fast... IMO, it was in large part to the DTW feed system flushing out the residual salts. Also some of my coco still has imid in it, and it's tough to flush it out 100%... DTW handles it.

Speaking of the future and my growing... my growing future... The next house is lined up, going over there tomorrow to talk turkey... The fuse box needs updating, can you say 200A service?

Hey bobble, looking like a good start. Im hoping for a good run for ya. Whats your plans for the winter? I know that I have a couple generators just to keep things going out at my place, one time the power was out for nearly two days.

I know I sound like a broken record but you gotta check out D9s ppks sometime. minimal investment, If you use jacks its affordable, stable, and extremely easy.

The only reason I still have plants is the ppk.... I am pretty sure I had the worst RA infestation to date yet I have the healthiest plants and I didnt even have to go nuclear...


With a top off res I have left for three days with no problems, if my res was bigger I could leave for longer in veg.. in flower I gotta make sure that these colas dont get too close to the light.

I keep brainstorming a PPK bed, throw 16 plants in a 4x4 with a 1k maybe even 2. veg for a week or two and flip em. seems bulletproof to me.

Anyways hoping that everything works out well!

My plan for winter is to have a new spot up and running. I had considering having a backup generator installed at the lake house... That'll run me about $6k... The next house is going to cost $8-10k... lol So it seems like the best way to hedge my bet is to open up shop somewhere else. Last winter I didn't lose power for more than a day... So I'm going to count on Consumers Energy to keep the juice flowing.

On to the PPK's... I've kept kinda quiet about what I think about them... but like I said enough self-doubt bullshit. I'm gonna tell you what I think and I'm sure that you, disciple, d9 etc... will understand where I'm coming from.

Personally, I feel that a top fed DTW system will outperform the PPK. I think the overall PPK design is good, and it obviously does a great job of not killing plants, despite the title. My biggest problem with the PPK is that you recirculate the nutrients. Lots of hydro systems recirculate nutes... Some growers swear by it... Everyone's personal standards of what is "good" are subjective. Lab tests don't quantify the full effect of smoking a bud. Residual salts are what create the flavor of our smoke, and play a role in how the buds burn. Living in medville, I've been able to sample world class buds from many different growers. Most of them don't burn as well as my buds used to when I was growing DTW. My buds would burn to a pure white ash, not grey or charcoal colored... WHITE. That is some clean smoke.

So... Where this leads me is that I don't see how a PPK can outperform a smart pot set on top of some lava rocks in a 5 gal bucket, with 1-2" of water sitting on the bottom with a bulkhead to remove the excess runoff. It has all the components of a PPK... Multiple irrigations using a cycle timer, the lava rocks act as a wick, an air gap can be incorporated by filling the rocks up just above the bulkhead... and of course the mini-res on the bottom of the bucket. Runoff should be collected in a separate reservoir as HGO mentioned, so that I can see how much juice I'm wasting. If it's a lot, I can reduce the feed. I will also be able to observe if the plants are drinking more, and increase the feed frequency as necessary. Talk about bulletproof...

Anyway... those are my thoughts. Nothing against you PPK-ers...

Hey bobble... glad to see u back up and posting... fig'd u'v been slammed w everything.


Remember w we chatted bout the yellow ick on cuts... those bins will bring it about even faste r man. Those cuts u hooked up stayed in water cups w no lids for another day... but open to the air... like 3' from a t5... rh in 30's. Then to the rw starter cubes... same dealio... mid 30's rh w temps anywhere between 78-84. No domes... no misting... eventually dropped the light to 2', after a week or so. 2.5wks later... all rooted... no yellow ick... no death.

Trust me on this one... strip em like I did... cups to cubes... open air the whole time... no rh bumpin... just keep the light really high. I bet my keepers on this method routinely... got the whole library cut down again. It works every time bro. Peace

Thanks for the tip. I need to get on that physan as well. I forgot about it till I read your posts just now. It's funny, I used to root all my cuts w/o domes. I also used to root them all in flats too... lol Those were the days when I was growing in the 1bdrm apt... Completely different environment. I have healthy plants in veg now, so I'll take some more cuts next week. I'm gonna rig up a E&F for my cuts like we talked about so they get watered every 3 days and see what happens... Of course I'm gonna try out my tubs as well. Flower Farmer I think had told me about buying a big tray and dome for his cuts... So that was pretty much where the idea came from. Anyway, it's kinda hard to argue with you when it comes to taking cuts... ha ha...

 

[high life 45]

I hear ya bud,

Things to consider:
My ec is really low .8 or .9
My partners did let it spike up to 1.8 while I was out of town, but they are pretty green to growing.
Most hydro guys are running upwards of 1500 ppms.

The media is constantly wet so the salts never come out of solution.
Feeding low ppms you dont get a buildup.

Im feeding 30 seconds every hour....

My sourd's are dtw in 20 gallon smart pots.

I will show some side by side burned nug shots for you to check out.

My first time in the PPK and that was a concern of mine, if you are monocropping there is no reason you cant "flush" in the ppk. With a media like diatomite or turface it seems like you should be able to have more control than coco.

In fact you could change out the solution every time you check on your plants, if need be.

I just think the ppk will give you a better safety net then dtw. Thats all, seems like a better set up for your situation. Just my perspective and trying to help. I am not right or wrong im just HL45.

even if your pump fails or unplugged, the wick tailpiece will provide a nice moisture profile.

Have you ever put your ppm meter in your run off?

I am glad you are sharing your feelings, no offense taken.

I am gonna 2 make it a personal goal to grow some nice herb that burns white in a ppk.

Big Love

 

[Vic Hammer]

Bobbles, are you sure you are getting all the air purged upon setup? That octagon has alot of feet of tubing it will take a bit of water to purge all the air. When you setup at each plant do you have the blumat closed? After fill/soak and drip tube insertion close all the drippers and then insert into the plant. Next, open the drippers to a full flow and let them run till no visible air and then run a little more. Now dial to a cling. Then dial down 2 arrows or less. You should be air free. Where do you think air keeps entering your system? I keep hearing about Blumat systems airlocking and I've asked how air gets into the system. I still haven't heard. Be sure to purge ALL air from the start and keep the rez full and you'll be good to go. If your system isn't tight it will leak water, not suck air.

After human error, I still feel the biggest potential for trouble is caused by environment. Especially using containers and big ones at that. Carefully consider the distance of the dripper tube from the blumat sensor as this affects system response. If the media around the sensor is drying quicker than the dripper moistens it, then you have the potential for a runaway.

As far as initial setup goes, I would say you should be able to bounce for 2-3 days before the media drys enough for the blumats to start dripping. Then go back and adjust, observe for a few (overnight) to make sure you weren't too heavy handed, some blumats seem more sensitive to adjust than others, and then bounce again for a few. Come back and adjust again. You should be fairly dialed in at this point.

Good luck.

BTW, summer time growing sucks.

 

[bobblehead]

Heya Bobble, looks like your livin up to the name of the thread! Great improvements, and the girls your runnin are lookin much better!

About the blumats. You gotta keep in mind that air will leak through a fitting when water wont, so when some water passes through a T fitting to another plant that third connection can suck a little air if the seal isn't real good.

I have used tensiometers since I was a kid, and they operate on a similar principle as a blumat. After a good watering it sometimes takes over a day to get a accurate reading with a tensio, so I figure the blumat should take about the same amount of time to get synch'd with the soil/coco moisture.

If ya had a large tub and filled it with coco at the desired moisture content, you could dial them blumats in before you even stick them in the pots.
I dont have all your experience, but this is how I am setting up my blumats.

About the clones,
I agree with these guys! I tossed the damned aerocloner and now just use stadium cups and pure coco.
I take large cuts, mix up clonex solution @ 50% recommended strength.
take cuts that will have 2 or more internodes under soil line.
Peel gently, you only need to peel the outer layer.
Soak the cuts in the clonex solution for about 20 mins (one beer).
Dip lightly in root hormone of choice, and stuff them in a hole made with a pencil all the way to the bottom of the cup.
If ya got strong hands, dont squeeze them to death, just enough to squish out excess water works for me.
Set them just about anywhere with indirect light (shop lights are great).
Ive cloned and had success with only 45% RH (mist leaves when I think about it), but higher RH damned sure helps!

I have tried using tubs and tops to maintain humidity and they seem to slow the process. Getting things ready in advance doing the procedure fast and limiting the amount of time the clone is not in solution or dirt/coco definitely helps make healthier clones!

Not sure where to start my thread at, Im setting up a flat bloom area right now but moving in the direction of vert (have some vert plants started). As soon as I figure out where to post, I hope you guys will come and let me know where I am screwin up,lol.

Take care...Hazed

P.S. I feel ya on the UA's I been looking for work too, and feel like I turned into a pissin machine!

As for setting up the blumats in moist coco bed and then transferring it to a pot... I was told not to do this sort of thing. I specifically asked if once I had the blumats dialed, if I could just pull one bag and stick another in it's place w/o adjusting the blumat. I was told it wouldn't work. That doesn't mean I'm opposed to trying it... I mean what's the worst that could happen, a few plants die? lol...

Thanks for sharing your experience with cloning. Cloning is one of the things that has been consistently kicking my ass the past 1.5 years. I'm getting better though, thanks to all the help from kind folks like yourself.

I hear ya bud,

Things to consider:
My ec is really low .8 or .9
My partners did let it spike up to 1.8 while I was out of town, but they are pretty green to growing.
Most hydro guys are running upwards of 1500 ppms.

The media is constantly wet so the salts never come out of solution.
Feeding low ppms you dont get a buildup.

Im feeding 30 seconds every hour....

My sourd's are dtw in 20 gallon smart pots.

I will show some side by side burned nug shots for you to check out.

My first time in the PPK and that was a concern of mine, if you are monocropping there is no reason you cant "flush" in the ppk. With a media like diatomite or turface it seems like you should be able to have more control than coco.

In fact you could change out the solution every time you check on your plants, if need be.

I just think the ppk will give you a better safety net then dtw. Thats all, seems like a better set up for your situation. Just my perspective and trying to help. I am not right or wrong im just HL45.

even if your pump fails or unplugged, the wick tailpiece will provide a nice moisture profile.

Have you ever put your ppm meter in your run off?

I am glad you are sharing your feelings, no offense taken.

I am gonna 2 make it a personal goal to grow some nice herb that burns white in a ppk.

Big Love

How do you go from talking about .8-.9-1.8 EC and then 1500ppm? lol... That is really low, I run 1.5 EC on pretty much everything... except cuts, cause SRGB told me that the stem holds enough nutrients to sustain the cut until it grows roots. Apparently, feeding with nute solution may slow down the rooting process.

When I feed DTW, my plants never get dry. I like to feed them every 2hs once roots are fully developed... In smaller pots of course, cause like DHF is always saying, the #5's don't need as much irrigation. Anyway, this is why I need a cycle timer so I can irrigate more often w/o wasting so much nute solution. As for buildups... Man I told my friend the same thing... Nutrients are absorbed in chain reactions, with N, P, and K being the macronutrients... and they pull the micros in with them. The thing is textbook chemistry doesn't always work in real life. So, while I would like to think that adding drip clean increases the P and K so that more micros are absorbed... I just don't know that to be 100% true... Coco does have a high CEC, so I would like to think that it holds on to the excess salts... but again, I just can't prove that!!! lol... I'm not a chemist, I've had 2 college level Chemistry courses. Short of the long is that there is no questioning what's in the root zone with DTW. Changing out the nute solution is more work than I want to do... being why I have auto RO top-off. I would rather just send fresh nutrient solution through the plant every time.

If the pump fails... there's some water sitting in the bottom of the bucket with the lava rocks wicking it up to the pot... As well as the water roots that once established will find their way into that little pool of water... Hempy style yo!

I have measured my runoff pH and EC a few times... I don't do it regularly to be perfectly honest. When I do check it though, the pH and EC are normally the same as what I'm putting in. I suppose I should be checking these things more regularly... Especially since I've been working with these blumats and not DTW... but with DTW, you really don't have to worry about it cause after a few irrigations, any imbalance will be corrected.

2-3 more weeks and I'll put a new DTW system together as described. Hopefully I can grow something nice. You've set the bar pretty high with your regular 1lb plants...

Bobbles, are you sure you are getting all the air purged upon setup? That octagon has alot of feet of tubing it will take a bit of water to purge all the air. When you setup at each plant do you have the blumat closed? After fill/soak and drip tube insertion close all the drippers and then insert into the plant. Next, open the drippers to a full flow and let them run till no visible air and then run a little more. Now dial to a cling. Then dial down 2 arrows or less. You should be air free. Where do you think air keeps entering your system? I keep hearing about Blumat systems airlocking and I've asked how air gets into the system. I still haven't heard. Be sure to purge ALL air from the start and keep the rez full and you'll be good to go. If your system isn't tight it will leak water, not suck air.

After human error, I still feel the biggest potential for trouble is caused by environment. Especially using containers and big ones at that. Carefully consider the distance of the dripper tube from the blumat sensor as this affects system response. If the media around the sensor is drying quicker than the dripper moistens it, then you have the potential for a runaway.

As far as initial setup goes, I would say you should be able to bounce for 2-3 days before the media drys enough for the blumats to start dripping. Then go back and adjust, observe for a few (overnight) to make sure you weren't too heavy handed, some blumats seem more sensitive to adjust than others, and then bounce again for a few. Come back and adjust again. You should be fairly dialed in at this point.

Good luck.

BTW, summer time growing sucks.

I know for a fact that I'm purging all the air... Each week! lol... I run the nute solution to the room with 1/2" tubing... and reduce it to 1/4"... I purge the 1/2" tubing, and then I purge the 1/4". You can see the air coming out, and once all the air is out, there is a steady stream of pressurized nute solution. The rest of the air comes out of the 3mm tubing when I open them up and let them run until the drip tray is full. Then I dial to a cling... Come back the next week, purge the 1/4" tubing, and there is more air in the line! Where did it come from? Good question! My guess is that the dissolved gasses accumulate in the tubing. I pump my nute solution from a 330gal ICB tank up to a 55gal drum, and gravity brings it back down to the ICB tank via 3/4" tubing. My best guess is that the air being sucked in with the nute solution as it falls back down to the ICB tank is the culprit. Tiny little air bubbles invisible to the naked eye...

Like I said and showed... I completely redesigned the feed manifold to keep the air away from the 3mm tubing.. It has no choice but to rise up and away. The air is purged 24/7 now, so I don't have to do it manually. I did this in both of my blumat setups. I should probably do it for my veggie garden too! Which now that I mention it, doesn't have this problem. I simply have an elevated trash can with no RO top-off or any sort of circulation. Just dead water, and time release granular ferts in the pots. The veggies look great for the most part! lol... That's only 18 blumats... They also get rained on and I just don't care if they're a little light cause the veggies don't pay the bills.

As for setting up the blumats and coming back 3 days later... I can't. My grow spot is 3hs away, and I have a life to live... Classes to take. Not to mention all the $$$ spent on gas/wear and tear on my truck. If this new manifold doesn't solve my problems, I'm going to outfit everything DTW at the remote location. At the new spot, I'll be able to check on the plants every 2-3 days and make those adjustments... and then be able to leave them alone for several weeks at a time hopefully.

Ya know what's funny... It was last summer that I had my 1gpw+ grow... and now that it's August, and I have to work harder to keep my temps under control... I finally have my grow turning around! lol... It was last fall that I had to tear down cause I was scarred the DEA was gonna come check up on me... So hopefully this fall/winter will be another story.




everyone for all the great advice and encouragement. This has been one of the most challenging things I've ever done. Sure I could have put up some flood table and hung some reflectors and turned out 50lbs by now... but what's new and innovative about that? That doesn't mean I shouldn't have some brain-dead grows to keep my bills paid.

 

[Mister_D]

Hey ya bob . Glad to see your attitude hasn't soured on us. I fainted at work (no idea why) last week and have been in the hospital until yesterday. Talk about driving a man nuts, just lucky I watered heavily before I went to work that mourning. Anyway I had plenty of time to consider the blumat manifold idea you ran by me, and honestly i'll be doing the same in my flower room. I had planned to setup my manifold more like a cork screw wrapping around the racks to keep air rising, but straight vertical seems more bulletproof in keeping the air out of the lines. Though while I was thinking about all this I began to wonder if you ever added a bleed valve right after your feed res? Seems to me that would eleminate the air issue before it ever had a chance to get to the blumats. At least provided that is where the air is entering your system. You didn't mention this when listing the rules, and it is definitely one of the most important rules of blumats. You know how I like overkill, so i'll be using two bleed valves. One right after the feed res and another like you have shown on the top loop. Got alot of catching up to do, but i'm going to try and update my thread today.

 

[greenmatter]

this is a complete shot in the dark bobble .......

is there a big temperature difference between where your rez is and where the blumat lines run?

i know warmer water holds less D.O. ....... could the nute mix be "sweating" out D.O and causing all the bubbles because because of the temperature change?

like i said, just a shot in the dark

 

[bobblehead]

Hey ya bob . Glad to see your attitude hasn't soured on us. I fainted at work (no idea why) last week and have been in the hospital until yesterday. Talk about driving a man nuts, just lucky I watered heavily before I went to work that mourning. Anyway I had plenty of time to consider the blumat manifold idea you ran by me, and honestly i'll be doing the same in my flower room. I had planned to setup my manifold more like a cork screw wrapping around the racks to keep air rising, but straight vertical seems more bulletproof in keeping the air out of the lines. Though while I was thinking about all this I began to wonder if you ever added a bleed valve right after your feed res? Seems to me that would eleminate the air issue before it ever had a chance to get to the blumats. At least provided that is where the air is entering your system. You didn't mention this when listing the rules, and it is definitely one of the most important rules of blumats. You know how I like overkill, so i'll be using two bleed valves. One right after the feed res and another like you have shown on the top loop. Got alot of catching up to do, but i'm going to try and update my thread today.

Oh man I hope you're doing better... I spend a lot of time in the hospital myself... Of course I'm paid to be there... but I know how it is sitting there in a bed all day... People coming in and out... Sticking you with needles and giving you horse pills to swallow. If you don't have a private room chances are you were stuck with a screamer "HELP ME HELP ME, I'M BEING HELD AGAINST MY WILL!!!" or their noisy family members... LOL... I've seen some shit, let me tell ya.

The rules I posted are from blumat. My point was that if the manufacturer says you need to be there every 2 days for a week, then blumats might not be the answer for me... At least not at my remote location. If I could stay there for a week straight it could work, but that's not how my life works. I've made it clear to everyone that I'm not in this for life, and I have other projects I'm working on at the same time.

There is no bleed valve before entering the room... but that shouldn't be necessary. The 1/2" tubing runs down to the floor from the elevated 55gal drum. Any air should rise up to the drum at that point. From there, the tubing goes up (the res room is lower than the rest of the house) and into the room. The way I designed the new manifold all the air should rise and stay away from the 3mm lines. I was doing the corkscrew with the end of the tubing being at the top, but it just doesn't work! I mean it kinda works... Until the air accumulates and starts clogging the line.

Before I tell you to just trust me and copy my new design... Wait till next week so I can tell you for sure.

this is a complete shot in the dark bobble .......

is there a big temperature difference between where your rez is and where the blumat lines run?

i know warmer water holds less D.O. ....... could the nute mix be "sweating" out D.O and causing all the bubbles because because of the temperature change?

like i said, just a shot in the dark

The temperature difference is significant... at least 10F. You have a point. Warm water holds less DO, so it could be that as the nute solution warms up the air falls out of solution... I think you've validated my hypothesis on the microscopic air bubbles accumulating in the tubing...







Oh, and hey! Big announcement... The next house has been negotiated... $12k, 0 down, $500 a month. It'll be paid in 2 years, costs 1/4 of what my current location is costing me, and it's in much better shape... Granted I have to upgrade the electric before I can get started... but that's a good thing! 2 bdrm, 1 bath, and a basement!

 

[silver hawaiian]

In the sticks again?!

 

[bobblehead]

In the sticks again?!

No broski, in the city! Downriver! It's a real nice neighborhood. I'm gonna be moving in, keeping the plant count under 99 so I can assert a medical defense should something bad happen. I might even keep it 100% legal. That's tough though... I've only stayed in legal numbers a few times. It's overrated.

 

[megayields]

GO big or GO HOME~

MisterD ...hope you feel better, woke up a few times in the hospital myself the last year or two..sucks donkey ballsz....

Bobble - kill em with kindness and just reap the rewards of KILLAH BUDS and hard work!

 

[megayields]

No broski, in the city! Downriver! It's a real nice neighborhood. I'm gonna be moving in, keeping the plant count under 99 so I can assert a medical defense should something bad happen. I might even keep it 100% legal. That's tough though... I've only stayed in legal numbers a few times. It's overrated.

Please save a few houses for OTHER investor's interested in that area, don't buy them all!

 

[high life 45]

Im just saying that most "MPB" or "UC" ir dwc grows you see online have ppms that are off the chart compared to where I am at.

Did you ever read DDs nute schedule? it was something like 2200 ppms at a few points.

My DTW smart pot trees were Organic and I never checked ph or ppm once, and have grew some of the best herb my friends have ever seen. Never got it tested.

Here is my take on my situation reguarding feed.

If my solution level is dropping and the ec along with ph is staying relatively the same level, I feel that I am at a good equlibirum as the plants are "eating" and "drinking" the same amount. This is what I strive for.....I think

If the ec starts to drop the plants are "eating" more than they are "drinking" ... the ec can be raised.

If the ec starts to rise, "drinking" more than they are "eating" there is an imbalance and your are on your way towards a lockout and or salty snap crackle pop nugs.

My ec throughout the grow was 1 a few times it went up to 1.2, when I got back from a trip the ec was at 1.8, brought it back down to .9 -.8 my top off is at .7 if you can believe that.


I am sure if you ask DHF he will let ya know that heath preached never letting your ppms get above 600 or 750 somewhere around there.

Alot of us are using alot of heaths concepts in our grows...

 

[high life 45]

Also look into what capulator ec is, last I remember I think he is feed 500 ppms, and claims he has the healthiest plants he has ever grown...

 

[Guest 88950]

do you have a change of dia in your lines or rough fittings that could cause a cavitation?