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passive plant killer

M

*mistress*

Member
Veteran
simple wick
2 containers
container 1 hold c0c0 w/ material wick @ a drain
water until run off. stop.
container 2 hold 1-2in nute solution/run-off
wick draws up solution runoff. water again.
standard ferts. feed-water-feed.
:joint:
 
Last edited:
C

Carl Carlson

This is what I use for houseplants and have been thinking about expanding on it for a pot plant. Maybe I should sell these locally with house plants in them?

Mediums used so far are Turface MVP, perlite and hydroton.

One cotton wick through the bottom of the clay pot. A hole cut or drilled into the cover for the wick to dip into. For a larger version you could put a fill hole with with a cap. I just take the plant off, put it down in the sink, pop the cover off the container and refill the res. as needed. edit: I have used this with the Peters + Calcinit solution.



I forget what size sterlite containers those are, but you all get the idea.
 
J

jjfoo

Member
Carl Carlson said:
This is what I use for houseplants and have been thinking about expanding on it for a pot plant. Maybe I should sell these locally with house plants in them?

Mediums used so far are Turface MVP, perlite and hydroton.
Click to expand...

I want to make sure I am understanding correctly. So you are wick feeding a plant in hydroton?

I wouldn't have thought this would work.
 
C

Carl Carlson

jjfoo said:
I want to make sure I am understanding correctly. So you are wick feeding a plant in hydroton?

I wouldn't have thought this would work.
Click to expand...

Yes! - the second one from the left in the photograph. I mean it's a house plant and a small one at that, but even during the summer with a full day of sunlight through the window, it worked well. The plant second from the left is entirely in hydroton. It doubled in size in a few weeks after transplanting back in August... One long wick up through the bottom. Correction to the first post, I've used both rope (polyester?) and pieces from a cotton t-shirt.

edit: also in the photo, the two plants on the right are in Turface MVP and the plant on the far left is in a mix of perlite and Turface MVP.
 
J

jjfoo

Member
carl

wow, I would have bet against the hydroton (and lost!)

I want to get some and set up a plant for observation. I love coco and am using it now, but am always searching for a better medium. I really want reusability. I used to reuse coco, but my last few plants with ppk tech have the root ball so dense it is hard to reuse... good problem... My yard gets it now.

I'd like to find a totally inert medium with a very low CEC that wicks. Something that is easily reusable. I dn't like perlite and its friends.

I wrote off using bioballs (a aquarium product) because I assumed that if you didn't flood and drain them then there was no way water was going to spread around.

bioballs are little rubber balls with tastles comming off them, they are rubber and are easy to wash. They hve massive surface area for their size. I doubt they wick at all, but now I doubt my doubts.


I'm currently thinking of a system that has a 3 gallon bucket with a tailpiece sitting inside a 5 gallon. The tail piece fits perfect with those black buckets from hydro stores. The bottom buckets could be connected like the undercurrent system and have massive flow (or less massive) that would keep the EC the same.

I wnt to do an expiriment with a side by side of these next to the same set up but with holes in the bottom so the roots could get into the water. It would be ppk on top and shallow or deep water culture below depending on your water level. I dont' think I would top water except for maybe a weakly topping with RO water (unless the tops are wet enough to have the salts circulate.

If there was low gravity I would love to do this with bioballs. They have a low CEC and are inert (as mentioned earlier). They are easily leached.

It would be wierd to see the way surface tension would be observed in the absense of gravity. Like water would coat things. With micro gravity, it would wick really high on things that normally don't wick well.


but back to reality... I wonder how hydroton would work with a media wick. I don't like hydroton, but at least it is reusable.
 
J

jjfoo

Member
Carl Carlson said:
If you want reusability, Turface might be best. I know for a fact that orchid growers use hydroton without wicks by sitting the container on a pool of or another container of water. or this http://canttypes.blogspot.com/2006/09/hoya-hydroton.html

but as a thin media wick? I don't know.
Click to expand...

I have stuff called Axis that is very similar to turface. When I do side by sides it seems to not do nearly as well as coco. Maybe I should actually get turface or mabye I need to learn how to fertilize it differently.

I have used Axis in a smart pot. it sat on a stand that had another smart pot upside down that reached the liquid below. It did fine but not like the coco.

Coco is hard to beat.


In theory (if I undstand the perched water table idea correclty) a thin wick should work. The width isn't the issue but rather if it cam wick against gravity or not. Once it got up it could easily wick sideways.

I really want to see some bioballs in a glass with some water in it. If they wick enough to be used for a bottom water system or even enough to be used in a ppk with pulse watering, I will try them out.

I wonder how wide the wicking tube would need to be. I think it might be a shock to see how narrow it can be and still wick to the potential of the media.

I'm going to place an order...for some bioballs.
 
C

Carl Carlson

Turface MVP

26% solid
74% pore space
39% water holding
34% air holding

Axis is

18% solid
82% pore space
ABSORPTION: AXIS Regular - 114% weight in water, AXIS Fine - 142% weight in water

I don't know how to convert and compare that to Turface MVP. Maybe D9 does.
 
J

jjfoo

Member
I am using regular

A guy at gardenweb that seems to know what he is doing (Al Tapla) said it could be used as a turface substitue. Later after he read more about it said he felt it may be superior. I don't know why he said that, but have some on hand... I just happen to have a rooted clipping in pure Axis. I just tranplanted it into a plastic insert used for paint guns. It is like a funnel. I've been playing with them.

here is what I'm talking about in picture form:

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high-volume-low-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html

I was treating it like coco. I'm going to start caring for a plant in this stuff and measuring the EC of the runoff. I just had a group of clones. Some in coco, some in coco/axis mix, some in axis. I was giving them all the same nutes. Maybe I should treat the axis different and it will respond better.
 
J

jjfoo

Member
so far, it is entertainment,

so far the only thing that is work is trimming

this thread is some of the most entertaining material and practical info I have come across in recent memory

it inspires me to do more research and embrace my maniac tendencies.
 
S

SCROG McDuck

jjfoo said:
so far, it is entertainment,

so far the only thing that is work is trimming

this thread is some of the most entertaining material and practical info I have come across in recent memory

it inspires me to do more research and embrace my maniac tendencies.
Click to expand...

"MANIAC" I'm in!
 
S

SCROG McDuck

Is it essential for the control rez to have individual
feeders to each PPK; or could one run a single 'feed line' into the grow area and then split it from there, to individual PPKs?

Something tells me we're looking for 'interaction' between the rez and the control rez.. yes?
 
J

jjfoo

Member
I have mine in a loop. My system uses a second bucket for the bottom. all bottom buckets (individual res) have t's. they are part of a loop that includes my control bucket (s). I have a second control bucket in the middle of the loop to easily measure EC. I don't have access ports on my buckets...

I thought about individual lines but would need to make a manifold. I am currently thinking that I am going to connect all my buckets in a loop with pvc and uniseals. This would help keep the EC consistent. With the T's I dont' think the buckets exchange water much, it is more of a drain. They do mix in the control res, but I'd like better bottom flow. I just wont be able to move my buckets around. I may not like hard lines, but I am doing only 4 buckets as a test

I do water for run off. I've never really had to adjust pH, I just add to the system with hand watering. I need to connect my float valve. Then I can add water slowly and not need to hand water.
 
S

SoorcNor

New member
Long time lurker and first time poster. First a little history, I'll try to make it quick.

About a year and a half ago I decided to get a MMJ card and get legal. I had never grown before. So I got my applications in and started doing research on RollItUp. I came across a link by StinkBud and decided to build his system, as they would fit in the space I have available to me (5' x 12' total area for veg and flower). The StinkBud units are an Areo-NFT combination. I started my first clones at the end of March 2010. I have a perpetual grow under a 1000W light mover and harvest a set of plants every 3 weeks, about 4 oz per harvest. I continued to do research and found ICMag and k33ftr33z defoliation page and started practicing that technique. Through that thread I found this thread and have learned more here and through the links provided here than all my other research combined. THANKS. I have also really enjoyed following oldone and ImaginaryFriend PPK grows.

So antway I am tired of checking 5 different reservoir levels and PPM and PH and cleaning 6' fence posts and changing nutes every 3 weeks and on and on and on. I too want to be bored.

So I am switching over from my StinkBud units to the PPK's and have just few questions.

1. I am currently using Botanicare Organic Nutrients should I flush them out as much as possible before switching over to Jacks?

2. What is the difference in smoke between the organic nutes and Jacks?

3. I have had no pest problems in my room with no medium for them to live, except for the plants themselves. Am I going to have a lot more problems when introducing CoCo into the room?

4. I bought 2 gal white buckets from HD and am going to use them for both the plants and the reservoir underneath Should I either paint the bottom bucket black or wrap it with duct tape to block light?

5. The way the buckets fit on top of each other there is not any room for the plant bucket to drain any runoff (from the air pruning holes) into the bottom bucket. Would it hurt to put a few holes in the very bottom of the plant bucket?

6. I am going to use the HD CoCo and pre-treat it as outlined. Can the CoCo be cleaned and reused after harvest or it better to just toss it in the garden and start with fresh each cycle?

7. Delta, When you move a plant from veg to flower do you move the whole unit or just the top bucket?

8. If you move the whole unit how do you keep the nutes in the bottom reservoir from draining and keep the nutes from flowing through the feed tube?

9. In flower do you always harvest from one end of your room and move the plants each week to a new location (like a very very slow conveyor) or when you move a plant into the flower room do you leave it there until it is harvested?

Please let me know if you need any clarification on anything.

Thanks in advance for your help with these questions.

Soorc
 
I

ImaginaryFriend

Fuck Entropy.
Veteran
I am currently using Botanicare Organic Nutrients should I flush them out as much as possible before switching over to Jacks?

Sure.

2. What is the difference in smoke between the organic nutes and Jacks?

From my perspective, it is a systematic approach to delivery methodology... The general options being the use of an intermediary-microbiological element or a direct-to-root delivery process (there is space between). If you are using organics to encourage microbiological development in the root zone (as certain salt levels is detrimental to this process)... sweet... you are encouraging a self-regulating smart-bio system. If you are attempting directly deliver nutes to the plant by way of organically derived concentrates, I would argue you are essentially doing the same thing as feeding salts. In this later case, a good balanced regime combined with moderate and continuous feed results in a clean plant material... imbalance or hot nutes can result in concentrated elements and that can result in shittiness.

3. I have had no pest problems in my room with no medium for them to live, except for the plants themselves. Am I going to have a lot more problems when introducing CoCo into the room?

Maybe. I didn't. Because I am lazy, I haven't followed this advice I'm about to give you: Consider preemptive sticky traps. They'll let you know if anything is going on, and might slow down 'infestation' rate to give you time to respond. I think the systematic use of these should be included in all gardens. I don't know why I don't have any in mine... oh, wait... 'Because I'm lazy..."

4. I bought 2 gal white buckets from HD and am going to use them for both the plants and the reservoir underneath Should I either paint the bottom bucket black or wrap it with duct tape to block light?

Can't hurt. I have a clear 'bottom' in my 'cPPK'... and sometimes gets algae blooms running Jacks. Okay, now that I read that: I'm officially recommending light-proofing the bottom...

5. The way the buckets fit on top of each other there is not any room for the plant bucket to drain any runoff (from the air pruning holes) into the bottom bucket. Would it hurt to put a few holes in the very bottom of the plant bucket?

You are using a top on top of the bottom, right? (EDITED: to maintain confusion, and then again to increase it.) If so, any roots growing out of the bottom of the top should remain isolated (unless they are excessively ambitious... in which case who the hell are you to tell them how to live?), and will allow 'over-pulsing' to drain back into the lower res...

6. I am going to use the HD CoCo and pre-treat it as outlined. Can the CoCo be cleaned and reused after harvest or it better to just toss it in the garden and start with fresh each cycle?

Carl Carlson, I think, reuses his coco with an enzyme soak between cycles. I think it would be a question of your personal circumstances--is coco readily available? If so, you might want to chuck it into the garden for the sake of the veggies, rather than any concern for the indoor garden.

Roots will eventually break down and change the consistency of the media and it's characteristics. It might be good. It might be bad. It might start out bad, then become good, then become bad again. Or the other way around. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to reuse my coco, and just watch the effects.

7. Delta, When you move a plant from veg to flower do you move the whole unit or just the top bucket?

I'm not him, but I'm pretty sure he moves just the top bucket, but cleans out the bucket he's going to put it in, so it starts with fresh Jack's.

8. If you move the whole unit how do you keep the nutes in the bottom reservoir from draining and keep the nutes from flowing through the feed tube?


9. In flower do you always harvest from one end of your room and move the plants each week to a new location (like a very very slow conveyor) or when you move a plant into the flower room do you leave it there until it is harvested?

I'm not him, but I'm pretty sure they live there until he belly-crawls in an cuts them into a huge tote and drags them out...

I have also really enjoyed following oldone and ImaginaryFriend PPK grows.
Click to expand...
Ahhhhhhhh... my desperate need for approval thanks you! (I'm not sure this comment is serious, sarcastic or drunk. I tend to cycle through these dispositions in no predictable order, and sometimes combine two or all three. Underlying it all, though, I think I sense... um... appreciation for your comment. Sarcastic or drunk--but possibly serious--appreciation.)
 
S

SoorcNor

New member
Thanks IF for your reply.

From my perspective, it is a systematic approach to delivery methodology... The general options being the use of an intermediary-microbiological element or a direct to root delivery process (there is space between). If you are using organics to encourage microbiological development in the root zone (as certain salt levels is detrimental to this process)... sweet... you are encouraging a self-regulating smart-bio system. If you are attempting directly deliver nutes to the plant by way of organically derived concentrates, I would argue you are essentially doing the same thing as feeding salts. In this later case, a good balanced regime combined with moderate and continuous feed results in a clean plant material... imbalance or hot nutes can result in concentrated elements and that can result in shittiness.

I think I understand this since currently I have no medium (the roots are growing in air and being sprayed 1 min on and 5 min off) I think the Jacks will actually be an improvement.

Consider preemptive sticky traps. They'll let you know if anything is going on, and might slow down 'infestation' rate to give you time to respond.
I like this idea.

I'm officially recommending light-proofing the bottom...
I will do this

You are using a top on top of the bottom, right? (EDITED: to maintain confusion.) If so, any roots growing out of the bottom of the top bucket should remain isolated (unless they are excessively ambitious... in which case who the hell are you to tell them how to live?), and will allow 'over-pulsing' to drain back into the lower res...

Yes I am using a top on top of my bottom or a bottom on the bottom of my top or my head is stuck up my bottom. Whatever the answer is 42!

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to reuse my coco, and just watch the effects.

I guess I will just watch and see what it looks like after harvest and go from there.

Quote:
I have also really enjoyed following oldone and ImaginaryFriend PPK grows.

Ahhhhhhhh... my desperate need for approval thanks you! (I'm not sure this comment is serious, sarcastic or drunk. I tend to cycle through these dispositions in no predictable order, and sometimes combine two or all three. Underlying it all, though, I think I sense... um... appreciation for your comment. Sarcastic and drunk--but very serious--appreciation.)

No sarcasm and not drunk at the present time I have truly enjoyed and laughed out loud more than once at your sense of humor.
 
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