passive plant killer

[LJB]

I found a nice solution at Home Depot for the elevation of containers over a reservoir in a wick system.

1' x 4' $4.37

Two of these can sit on top of the 3' x 2' cement mixing tub that is sold at Lowe's and HD for $11.50.

Not bad for $21.50 + tax. It's sturdy and I wouldn't mind allowing that shelving to come in contact with water. That's why wood wasn't a good choice for this particular project. The 6" overhang on either end actually helps with the sturdiness.

 

[delta9nxs]

turbolaser, i've never seen 4" conduit fittings at lowes. and either one of the sumps should work fine. i moved to 1 1/2" only because the adapters fit the hole made by my 1 7/8" hole saw better. nice and tight.

themonarch, i get you now! these are going to be used right side up. this should be interesting. please post a pic when you get it loaded. you will need to block light to prevent algae.

ljb, looks strong enough. plastic coated.

 

[TheMonarch]

My first attempt, I decided to drill 10 holes near the bottom and cut extra slits higher up. The polyster prevents the turface from falling into the water and provides space for the roots to grow/expand inside of the baster. The bottle will be wrapped with aluminum foil, so I can watch the roots grow.

 

[LJB]

i have a question for those growing in 100% coco. i now have 3 plants in all coco and the first one has really taken off. i notice a lot of people using 2 gal and 3 gal containers. i'm wondering what kind of yield you get with what veg time in them. thanks

After about 6 months of using 100% coco I finally have a handle on how to correctly manage pH and EC levels. No more than a month veg time is needed and that's been with CFLs. Yields have consistently gone up, starting at .75 g / w, but last runs in two different size rooms were very successful yield wise.

 

[LJB]

full text pdf at the link from the AVRDC website

http://libnts.avrdc.org.tw/scripts/minisa.dll/144/VAVLIB/VAVLIB_SDI_REPORT/SISN+32512?SESSIONSEARCH

Title : Home gardens, hydroponic methods and vegetable production.
Source:in: Training workshop on vegetable cultivation and seed production technology J:1-17, 1996.

Dr. Imai noncirculating hydroponic method and research

 

[turbolaser4528]

full text pdf at the link from the AVRDC website

http://libnts.avrdc.org.tw/scripts/minisa.dll/144/VAVLIB/VAVLIB_SDI_REPORT/SISN+32512?SESSIONSEARCH

Title : Home gardens, hydroponic methods and vegetable production.
Source:in: Training workshop on vegetable cultivation and seed production technology J:1-17, 1996.

Dr. Imai noncirculating hydroponic method and research

yessss vegetable production!

 

[turbolaser4528]

My first attempt, I decided to drill 10 holes near the bottom and cut extra slits higher up. The polyster prevents the turface from falling into the water and provides space for the roots to grow/expand inside of the baster. The bottle will be wrapped with aluminum foil, so I can watch the roots grow.

damn dude thats wild where'd you get that clear polyester? never seen anything like that b4

 

[turbolaser4528]

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HG-44.pdf

cucumbers growing in trash a can lol I dont get how it gets enough oxygen with a sealed lid, I guess its sucked in when solution get absorbed by roots idk its just crazy

LJB- yeah i dont know how lond the roots will last either, but you can always get a bigger container or add a float valve, no prob.

 

[LJB]

The trashcan .pdf is also one of my favorites.

I'm wondering how long that much water will last though, especially outside during the summer.

 

[SilverSurfer_OG]

Only one way to find out!

I am gonna give it a wee tinkle.

Wish me luck!

 

[delta9nxs]

After about 6 months of using 100% coco I finally have a handle on how to correctly manage pH and EC levels. No more than a month veg time is needed and that's been with CFLs. Yields have consistently gone up, starting at .75 g / w, but last runs in two different size rooms were very successful yield wise.

thanks!

i've been looking at the first all coco plant and if they all grow like that i could probably shave a week off my veg time.

want to report that the dry bud weight of #1 actually came to 7 1/8 oz, not the estimated 7.5 that i got from taking 25% of wet weight. to me dry means the stems snap instead of bend. #2 will be a legitimate 8+.

i whacked #3 this morning. a good sized plant but i'll wait until it dries to report. it was all turface and so is #4 next week. after that we get into the other mix experiments. all of them involve coco to some extent.

rotating another plant into 12/12 and transplanting another clone into coco tonight.

the first 2 ppk's are reloaded and back in service.

later

 

[LJB]

I'm finding 20% to be more accurate than 25%. We might have similar trimming styles.

 

[turbolaser4528]

thanks!

i've been looking at the first all coco plant and if they all grow like that i could probably shave a week off my veg time.

want to report that the dry bud weight of #1 actually came to 7 1/8 oz, not the estimated 7.5 that i got from taking 25% of wet weight. to me dry means the stems snap instead of bend. #2 will be a legitimate 8+.

i whacked #3 this morning. a good sized plant but i'll wait until it dries to report. it was all turface and so is #4 next week. after that we get into the other mix experiments. all of them involve coco to some extent.

rotating another plant into 12/12 and transplanting another clone into coco tonight.

the first 2 ppk's are reloaded and back in service.

later

Veg time on #2 and #3 to get 8 zips? vegged and flowered under 1ks with no co2 right? I just wanted to check so I can attempt to get similar results, take care

trying to see how I can get 4-6 zips per with 3-4 weeks veg, 6-8 plants, 2 vert 600's, 3.5 gal ppk, 70/30 coco perlite, canna nutes, what do you think?

no more 4" pvc for me btw

 

[LJB]

Veg time on #2 and #3 to get 8 zips? vegged and flowered under 1ks with no co2 right? I just wanted to check so I can attempt to get similar results, take care

trying to see how I can get 4-6 zips per with 3-4 weeks veg, 6-8 plants, 2 vert 600's, 3.5 gal ppk, 70/30 coco perlite, canna nutes, what do you think?

no more 4" pvc for me btw

Are the bulbs stacked, one on top of the other?

Vertical + coco = forgiving. So depending on your skills and the environment, etc, in my experience, 32 zips from that setup was the baseline, 100% coco, top fed, obviously not the PPK. Bloom at 18" tall. Do not top them.

That baseline first vert / coco grow included both some pH mismgmt. and a lack of a direly needed AC during the first 3 weeks of bloom.

Yields have only gone up from there.

 

[delta9nxs]

I'm finding 20% to be more accurate than 25%. We might have similar trimming styles.

yeah, that 25% idea has been around a long time. it's mentioned in some of my old books and you see it on sites from time to time. i normally don't measure wet weight anyway. i'll just dry em' out from now on.

ljb, could you expound on your ec and ph management a little?

 

[delta9nxs]

Veg time on #2 and #3 to get 8 zips? vegged and flowered under 1ks with no co2 right? I just wanted to check so I can attempt to get similar results, take care

trying to see how I can get 4-6 zips per with 3-4 weeks veg, 6-8 plants, 2 vert 600's, 3.5 gal ppk, 70/30 coco perlite, canna nutes, what do you think?

no more 4" pvc for me btw

veg time was 7 weeks. 1k hortilux in cool tube. no co2 but i run almost 2 volumes per minute through the room with 8 fans. 4-6 zips at 4 weeks veg possible but i think you are going to need every minute of it. my first coco plant is 24" now at the end of 4 weeks and if i were to flower it now i know i would get at least 4.

 

[delta9nxs]

i wanted to add that i have gotten 11.5 oz with this plant and gone over 10 many times. usually between 9-10. 8 zips for me is borderline production with this plant.

 

[LJB]

ljb, could you expound on your ec and ph management a little?

Sure thing. This is a cut and paste from another thread. I haven't had any problems during any stage of growth with any plants since adopting this strategy. Previous deficiency and toxicity problems were obviously my fault and not that of the nutrients, the coco or the water.

When working with the high Cation Exchange Capacity of a 100% coco grow, it's easy to keep the availability of Ca and Mg, from the coco to the plant, in balance by alternating the pH of the solution that is fed to them. I alternate with every new res. The soft tap-water here has low alkalinity (buffering capacity), but that doesn't matter. It moves up very predictably, not down. This is one way to manage pH from seedling or cutting to the chop without the plant suffering from any toxicity or deficiency problems. The point is that cations are what cannot easily be flushed. That's also why I'll keep on repeatedly correcting people in the coco threads when they talk about reliable pH and EC readings from their coco grow runoff. Those readings are always incomplete and that is an indisputable fact. When I started out with coco, looking back, the many problems arose when I stopped treating the coco like coco. Coco is different than other mediums people are used to, such as hydroton and rockwool.

ph below 5.8 and Ca is uptaken at a much higher rate than Mg. (on the right below)

How this has played out with my current grow - the Blue Haze:

- Even with soft tap-water and using two nutrient brands, both with relatively low levels of Ca and Mg, Ca and Mg were only supplemented during the veg. growth period. None at all has been supplied during the bloom. The plants are thriving through 6 weeks of bloom - two new photos were posted this morning. I've just noticed in the last couple of days that fan leaves on the very bottom of the plants are starting to turn yellow.

- As you know the plants are both top and bottom fed. The only problem that has come up is tip burn from the last res. which I started for some odd reason at a high EC of 2.0.

 

[delta9nxs]

Sure thing. This is a cut and paste from another thread. I haven't had any problems during any stage of growth with any plants since adopting this strategy. Previous deficiency and toxicity problems were obviously my fault and not that of the nutrients, the coco or the water.

When working with the high Cation Exchange Capacity of a 100% coco grow, it's easy to keep the availability of Ca and Mg, from the coco to the plant, in balance by alternating the pH of the solution that is fed to them. I alternate with every new res. The soft tap-water here has low alkalinity (buffering capacity), but that doesn't matter. It moves up very predictably, not down. This is one way to manage pH from seedling or cutting to the chop without the plant suffering from any toxicity or deficiency problems. The point is that cations are what cannot easily be flushed. That's also why I'll keep on repeatedly correcting people in the coco threads when they talk about reliable pH and EC readings from their coco grow runoff. Those readings are always incomplete and that is an indisputable fact. When I started out with coco, looking back, the many problems arose when I stopped treating the coco like coco. Coco is different than other mediums people are used to, such as hydroton and rockwool.

ph below 5.8 and Ca is uptaken at a much higher rate than Mg. (on the right below)

How this has played out with my current grow - the Blue Haze:

- Even with soft tap-water and using two nutrient brands, both with relatively low levels of Ca and Mg, Ca and Mg were only supplemented during the veg. growth period. None at all has been supplied during the bloom. The plants are thriving through 6 weeks of bloom - two new photos were posted this morning. I've just noticed in the last couple of days that fan leaves on the very bottom of the plants are starting to turn yellow.

- As you know the plants are both top and bottom fed. The only problem that has come up is tip burn from the last res. which I started for some odd reason at a high EC of 2.0.

thank you! i've been inputting 5.4-5.6 and letting it climb up to 6.3-6.4. seems to be working.

run off measurements are useless.

i have been thinking about discontinuing cal-mag supplements after veg.

later, d9

 

[LJB]

I think the need to switch off pH starting points vs simply starting below 5.8 and letting it climb depends heavily on the alkalinity (buffering capacity) of the water source. The tap water at this location has low alkalinity, but apparently not as low as yours. I typically see the pH climb just a few tenths over the life of a res. Knowing exactly what can be expected from the water supply makes this all much easier to accomplish.