cravin morehead's bio-bucket c99 bx1

[cravin morehead]

hey krypt buddy. lights on temps are no higher than 80*f and humidity about 50%. those 2 weird looking spikey buds with the 'cupping' are sitting right in the 'hotspot' of my light. the rest of the canopy is fine. i just let them get a little too tall there. thought the stretch was over, oops. next time, next time...
letsgrow- thanks bud. start a thread for your bio run, i'd love to tag along. good luck.

man i can see bud growth daily now... can't wait to taste

cm

 

[KryptKeepa]

EEEEE I want some.. lol!! Mail haha

 

[cravin morehead]

update flower day 44 today, 5-5-13.
hey guys, just keeping you up to date. the temperature around here shot up to 100*f for 2 days this week. that sudden change really pushed my set-up. with my ac, room temps got up to 80*f. inside the tent at the canopy got up to 84*f. i could see a little more 'tacoing' on the leaves, but nothing too serious. also, my chiller took a crap on me too. late on Wednesday night. its ok though, it was over 8 years old and only had 3 runs off in its entire life. it served its time with me well. i got a new one installed after work the next day. so about 20 hours with no chiller. the roots look fine, no damage. i topped up nutes twice this week also. back up to 500ppm/1.0ec. i think i may stop topping up the nutes from here on out. from what i've read, i will most likely be harvesting somewhere around the mid to late 50's. depending on the trich's, i'm thinking about 55 days or so. we'll see. the plants are starting to know the end is near. i can see some fade to lower, bigger fan leaves already. the scent, to me, reminds me of guavas or some kind of tropical fruit. sweet and delicious.
so, thats about all to tell you guys this week. thanks for hanging around here. we're getting real close to the end now! stay tuned:

more root porn. i friggin love the roots!

size reference shot. not trying to brag, just showing the size.

overall shot from a slightly different angle than ususal.

random bud shot

my horrible macro photo skills

thats it guys. thanks again for checking this run out. starting to think about next round...

cm

 

[RM - aquagrower]

Sorry to hear 'bout the chiller taking a shit. At least ya caught it quick. What brand/size is the replacement amd 'bout how big is your rez?

Girls are looking tastey.

 

[cravin morehead]

hey there RM, ya i got lucky i caught it quick. i'm lucky i had the means to do something about it right now. although i did a couple runs without a chiller, and everything was fine. but i like the 'reassurance' of knowing my chilled water is helping keep everyone involved safe. plus, 69*f water holds more dissolved oxygen than, say 74*f water.
so, i got a good price, i think, on a new 1/10 hp Eco-plus. i didn't have time to shop around much, but i'm familiar with the going rates of alot of stuff. my usual LHS (local hydro shop) had what i needed. they offered me a loaner until i got my old one repaired. but i didn't want unknown contaminates in my system. but it was a very cool gesture. eco-plus is not my first choice, but i've heard some good reviews. so far its held the temp at a steady 69*F. i double checked that with other thermometers. no complaints.
my res holds 24 gallons, but i fill it to 10 gallons. with the water level low, i have the room to get a good waterfall return, oxygenating the water. the entire sytem holds less than 40 gallons. 6- 5 gallon buckets, holding less than 5 gallons each and 10 gallons in the reservoir.
so, anyhow just wanted to answer RM's questions. waiting for the lights to turn on now so i can check out the girlies. checked my ec level, 400ppm. -100 points from yesterdays top up.
thanks for the rep and compliments guys...

cm

gotta at least put 1 pic in...

 

[KryptKeepa]

Dude, they look phenomenal. Im living vicariously through you until I get going.

 

[cravin morehead]

must spread rep around...
thanks again Krypt bud. i can't wait to see you buried in bud at the end of your outdoor this year. you deserve it man...

cm

 

[RM - aquagrower]

just wanted to answer RM's questions.

Thanks.

A while back someone dumped a bunch of 1/4 horse units on ebay. Watched the first few go for about $300, then the prices started to drop. I was able to grab 1 for about $200 shipped.

Instead of running nute solution thru it, I have been thinking that I could hook it to it's own rez and run RV antifreeze thru it and fab up a few "wort chillers" out of 1/2" stainless tubing in order to cool more than 1 rez. Also have a 8" "ice box" heat exchanger I can hook up to my (8") active intake.

Another question, if ya don't mind. Since you've been running bio-buckets, have you had to go thru any power outages?

I also have 1 of these on hand http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-AAPA110L-112-Watt-110-LPM-Commercial/dp/B002JPPFJ0 and was thinking I could hook it up to a "piggy-back" sump pump float valve and a battery back-up. That was if power goes out, the nutes in the feed lines will drain back into the rez, raising the water level and activating the "emergency air-pump". Power comes back on, water level in rez drops back to set level, de-activating the emergency system.

Seems like a good idea, but just not sure if it's worth the effort to set up.

Thanks again.

 

[cravin morehead]

hey RM- wish i would have seen those 1/4 hp chillers. would've picked 1 up for sure too. oh well...
*i think you are on to something about chilling multiple rez's with that 1 chiller. i would think you may need to have a decent amount of tubing in each rez in order to have enough surface area to cool efficiently. but, i do think there is definately some promise in your idea for sure. me personally, i would use it to chill an outdoor hydro project i have been thinking about doing. let me know how this works out for you.
*yes, i've had 2 power outages since i've run bio-buckets. one was about 4 hours. the other was less than 1 hour. the only issue i had after the longer outage was re-priming my pump. since that happened, i changed the piping from the res to the pump to incorporate a kind of 'priming trap'. it keeps enough water in the line before the pump to get the system flowing properly. also, in the beginning, when my old pump died, i had buckets with almost no water in them for, i'm not sure how long. i'm guessing, at least, 30 hours. seems the humidity in the buckets and the bennies took care of the roots just fine.
*now your next idea. i really like your thinking on this one. i have a couple questions and points. first, BigToke's design of bio-buckets uses a drain at the top of each bucket. in this location, the drain regulates the height of the water in the bucket, not allowing all the water to be drained. leaving your roots high & dry. second, with the feed line 90* fittings only entering the bucket and pointing down, without an attached tube going to the bottom of the bucket, it is impossible for the nutes to be siphoned back to the res. so, in the worst case scenario, your roots would be sitting in non-moving water/nute mix. this is just another of the brilliant little things that make this system so cool.
if designed an emergency back up system, i would do it a little differently. i've been an electrician for over 20 years. in order to operate a AC powered pump off a DC power supply would take some space and money. given that the water in the buckets would stay filled to normal levels during the outage. i would get a or some battery back-up air pumps to bubble each bucket individually. in the aquarium world, they sell air pumps that charge a battery when plugged in normally. as soon as power goes out, they start pumping air off that charged battery. just my
let me know what you come up with...

cm

 

[cravin morehead]

hey guys
day 52 update-
its been HOT here lately. in the 100*F + the last few days. i can see the affect on the plants. leaves are 'tacoing' a little more than before. my A/C is keeping temps at the canopy under 85*f, but heat still is affecting them. the leaves are fading to a nice yellow-green color. with some darkening or purple colors showing in the leaves also. the girls are putting on their fall colors. since its day 52, these might be the last pics of the girls still growing. trich's are pretty much 100% cloudy now. i'm thinking of harvesting on Saturday, day 57. i usually like to see a little amber before i chop. however, i keep reading about Cindy losing some of her 'electric' sativa buzz if let to go too long. Any advice, anyone? today when i opened the tent, BAM! i huge waft of guava-y, pineapple-y, tropical-y goodness. the scent really intesified and changed the last 3 days. i can't wait...

look close, these could be the last pics of these girls alive, hahaha:

here they are. all fat and sassy

a little more heat 'tacoing', but still a nice change to fall colors. they know the end is near.

random bud shot.

random close up bud shot

and the root porn

theres more pics in my album bio-bucket c99bx1.1.

thats all until the harvest pics. most likely. i'll do my best to document the chop and manicure. after that, i'll keep this going through the cure and smoke report, if you guys are interested still. i just took some more cuts off this c99 mom. looks like i'll be running her again next round.
until next time,

cm

 

[paperchaser825]

Dude those roots. So frickenasty. I made that one word abomination of a child of two words just to describe them. That's how awesome they are. One day me n you have to get my roots lookin anywhere near that.

 

[paperchaser825]

Any updates?

Also, am I correct in saying bio buckets get all their "bio" from recirculating the system very quickly? Or is there bennies I need to be adding? I am currently just using Floranova Bloom @ 1.4 EC.

 

[KryptKeepa]

There airborne bacteria that colonize in the porosity of the medium.

 

[paperchaser825]

There airborne bacteria that colonize in the porosity of the medium.

So I can create the same "airborne bacteria" using Floranova nutrients and simply high volume of recirculating water plumbed to the top of the buckets and drained from the top with a 1 foot return line waterfall for oxygen?

Just trying to get my understanding of the science of the system correct.

I read through Biotoke's threads and didn't see any special additions of bacteria through say mycorrhizae or some other thing. Just making sure.

 

[cravin morehead]

hey guys-
paperchaser, yes, you and krypt are correct. plumbed to the top, but pointing down to keep everything circulating with no dead spots. the bennies are airborne all around us. you need to give them a nice comfortable place to live. i use lava rock, you can use grow stones, lava, or even filter floss as yoru medium. i'm sure there are many other options out there, but those 3 are the only ones i have any experience with. i like lava rocks for the added silica they bring to the table. silica helps strengthen cell walls and makes for nice sturdy branching. also helps to fight off some of the blood sucking creatures we sometimes have to deal with. one of the big keys to 'bio-buckets' is to have no dead spots in your system. those dead spots let anaerobic nasties breed and fight with the bennies for control. you mentioned that you liked the roots i have going in my grow. i get roots like that because my system moves a ton of water per minute, has high D.O. levels, and the bennies are colonizing in the root zone (the lava rocks). also, my system has been running 24/7 for around a year or so. in that time the bennies have really got a good foot hold, and are working very efficiently.
sorry its been awhile since my last update, been busy working. update to follow next.

cm

 

[cravin morehead]

alright guys, the girls have been chopped. i cut 'em down last saturday, day 57 of flower. i had 99% cloudy trichs, saw only a handful amber heads. the heat in my area towards the end of the run had a little affect on the girls, but not too much. i kept reading to not let cindy go too long, so down they came. was a good harvest. BIG THANKS TO MOSCA for such well worked genetics. the high calyx to leaf ratio made trimming a breeze. when i chopped, the girls reaked of what i can best describe as guavas mixed with bananas mixed with citrus. the leaves had gotten a nice yellowish fade to them, with hints of purple. the scissor hash was frigging awesome. very sativaish, up and energenic. can't wait to sample some bud. i got some huge colas, so i had to go out to find some big jars. didn't want to break them down to small nugs just yet. they're hanging in my tent with fans on and lights off. they're getting a little dry on the outside, so i may put some in a jar today and test the humidity with my caliber III's (thanks Simon). so, thats about all i can think of to include in my chop update, for now. stay tuned for curing and smoke report.

oh ya, you guys probably want to see some pics i suppose...

overall shot of the girls at harvest time.

a little closer up

heres the biggest bud set. came from the middle left girl with the spikey head.

this is one girl all trimmed up and ready to hang.

most of the buds hanging in the tent to begin drying.

well, thats it for now. i will follow up with some more pics, a little bit on the cure, and whatever else i can think of later on. if you guys are still interested in seeing more. my clones are rooted (from same mom) and are ready to go as soon as these dry enough to jar. i'm going to put 4 cuts in this next run and experiment a little to see if i can't up the weight a little more. let me know if you guys want me to post that grow as well.

so thanks for following along. thanks for all the compliments and questions along the way. let me know if i can be of any help to you guys. more to come. talk to you guys soon...

cm

 

[petemoss]

Beautiful buds, cm! Best bio bucket grow I've seen in a long time.

 

[Cabinet Ninja]

Beautiful big buds there

I'm a huge fan of the C99, live her smoke!

 

[paperchaser825]

NICE!

 

[cravin morehead]

thanks alot petemoss, it means alot. i'm glad this run made it to the end without much trouble.
thanks guys, i appreciate your kind words...

cm