Bentley's DIY Aeroponic HPA, Northern Lights Auto, Grow Journal Jan 2021

[lvumlow]

My GOD. Nice haul. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for letting me pepper you with questions. Superior job, man, really. Congratulations. Will you post pics of the finished buds in a couple weeks or whenever?

Absolutely.

 

[lvumlow]

... here is a little nugget (no pun intended), lol

 

[Jon]

... here is a little nugget (no pun intended), lol

Nice!

 

[lvumlow]

Ok guys, everything has been harvested and put away for curing...

Pretty impressive numbers for one small plant (total grow area was 54ft³).

As for drying, I tried to leave the plant whole but because the density was so high I ended up cutting off some stems to ensure proper ventilation. Everything that didn't fit in the tent went into a drying rack. The room was kept dark with rH around 55% and temperature between 65-70F. I let everything dry for about 11 days, then placed everything in some brown paper bags (3/4full with another bag over the open end) for 24hrs (@12 hr. mark we flipped the bags upside down and monitored moisture content).

From there we felt everything looked good and separated the flarf from the premium buds, cleaned up the final trim and got rid of all the timber for the curing process. My flarf bag was so premium that I just threw the sugar leaves away. I bought a CVault package (referenced earlier in this journal) thinking I would have plenty of room only to find out I packed every container and still had to use some bags for the flarf. I was completely surprised to fill all four containers with premium buds.

We put our first batch in the LEVO II and it is activating now but should be infusing in about 15 min. We are making some gummies tonight and will report back on how that turns out.

On to the numbers....(all stems removed)

Premium buds = 686.4g / 24.5oz. / 1.5lb.
Flarfy buds = 230.9g / 8.24oz. / .51lb.

Total = 917.30g / 32.76oz. / 2.04lb.

The CVault kit I bought estimated it would hold 1 - 3/4 lbs. And this looks right to me with my yield...

 

[Jon]

Ok guys, everything has been harvested and put away for curing...

Pretty impressive numbers for one small plant (total grow area was 54ft³).

As for drying, I tried to leave the plant whole but because the density was so high I ended up cutting off some stems to ensure proper ventilation. Everything that didn't fit in the tent went into a drying rack. The room was kept dark with rH around 55% and temperature between 65-70F. I let everything dry for about 11 days, then placed everything in some brown paper bags (3/4full with another bag over the open end) for 24hrs (@12 hr. mark we flipped the bags upside down and monitored moisture content).

From there we felt everything looked good and separated the flarf from the premium buds, cleaned up the final trim and got rid of all the timber for the curing process. My flarf bag was so premium that I just threw the sugar leaves away. I bought a CVault package (referenced earlier in this journal) thinking I would have plenty of room only to find out I packed every container and still had to use some bags for the flarf. I was completely surprised to fill all four containers with premium buds.

We put our first batch in the LEVO II and it is activating now but should be infusing in about 15 min. We are making some gummies tonight and will report back on how that turns out.

On to the numbers....

Premium buds = 686.4g/24.5oz./1.5lb.
Flarfy buds = 230.9/8.24oz./.51lb.

Total = 917.30g/32.76oz./2.04lb.

The CVault kit I bought estimated it would hold 1 - 3/4 lbs. And this looks right to me with my yield...

1 plant. 2 pounds. There's not a universe where that's painful. Nice job man. Congratulations on your harvest.

 

[Rexer]

Ok guys, everything has been harvested and put away for curing...

Pretty impressive numbers for one small plant (total grow area was 54ft³).

As for drying, I tried to leave the plant whole but because the density was so high I ended up cutting off some stems to ensure proper ventilation. Everything that didn't fit in the tent went into a drying rack. The room was kept dark with rH around 55% and temperature between 65-70F. I let everything dry for about 11 days, then placed everything in some brown paper bags (3/4full with another bag over the open end) for 24hrs (@12 hr. mark we flipped the bags upside down and monitored moisture content).

From there we felt everything looked good and separated the flarf from the premium buds, cleaned up the final trim and got rid of all the timber for the curing process. My flarf bag was so premium that I just threw the sugar leaves away. I bought a CVault package (referenced earlier in this journal) thinking I would have plenty of room only to find out I packed every container and still had to use some bags for the flarf. I was completely surprised to fill all four containers with premium buds.

We put our first batch in the LEVO II and it is activating now but should be infusing in about 15 min. We are making some gummies tonight and will report back on how that turns out.

On to the numbers....(all stems removed)

Premium buds = 686.4g / 24.5oz. / 1.5lb.
Flarfy buds = 230.9g / 8.24oz. / .51lb.

Total = 917.30g / 32.76oz. / 2.04lb.

The CVault kit I bought estimated it would hold 1 - 3/4 lbs. And this looks right to me with my yield...

Incredible...an inspiration as a 1st time grower. I hope it provides the needed pain relief, I've found edibles great for the rough days.

 

[lvumlow]

Incredible...an inspiration as a 1st time grower. I hope it provides the needed pain relief, I've found edibles great for the rough days.

Thanks, we defintately exceeded our goals. I have some Candy Jack seeds ready to drop but waiting on parts; have some changes I am planning on experimenting with to see if we can raise the bar for the next run.

Our gummie experiment failed miserably, where the oil separated in the molds so I am giving it another run with a little Lecithin this time to see if that helps.

I should be back up an running with Rev 2 in a month or two ( have some root chamber changes and want to 3D print some parts for it so I have another whole new learning curve ahead of me).

This journal can be closed and moved into the completed section.

 

[Rexer]

Thanks, I defintately exceeded our goals. I have some Candy Jack seeds ready to drop but waiting on parts; have some changes I am planning on experimenting with to see if we can raise the bar for the next run.

Our gummie experiment failed miserably, where the oil separated in the molds so I am giving it another run with a little Lecithin this time to see if that helps.

I should be back up an running with Rev 2 in a month or two ( have some root chamber changes and want to 3D print some parts for it so I have another whole new learning curve ahead of me).

This journal can be closed and moved into the completed section.

Just click on the report button and ask it be closed in the pop up box.
Feel free to tag me when you start a new journal. You're attention to detail, and write ups we're superb. I wish toys the best

 

[lvumlow]

I finally got some gummies worked out by adding some gaur gum instead of lethicin. We wanted to make them on the strong side so we calculated about 30-50mg I per piece so we can half our quarter them depending on the effect. Will report back soon.

 

[LizardMate]

Thats a really successful first grow man. huge

 

[lvumlow]

Thank you, it is really all the help and support from resources like this that make results like this possible for beginners like me.

I am looking forward to Rev 2 (for to start in the next month or two with some improvements.

 

[Zatoichi]

I was very interested to find this thread, and admire your results, as I am a beginner myself. I'm trying to learn as much as I can and there are not as many current HPA growers these days it seems, at least not posting on forums. I have been devouring all the old HPA grow threads from many years ago, and was glad to see one from the present that turned out such good results. I look forward to Rev 2.

 

[Zatoichi]

I saw this root chamber and wanted to see what you think of it. You have mentioned you are going to be using a new root chamber going forward, and I am curious what you plan to use. This one is sized for 18 plants.

I would like to use a bottom grate with silk screen to keep the roots from ending up in the runoff. I have yet to price this, but I have the room to use it.

 

[lvumlow]

I saw this root chamber and wanted to see what you think of it. You have mentioned you are going to be using a new root chamber going forward, and I am curious what you plan to use. This one is sized for 18 plants.

I would like to use a bottom grate with silk screen to keep the roots from ending up in the runoff. I have yet to price this, but I have the room to use it.

Thanks for dropping in. That looks to be an awesome setup. My approach for Rev 2 will have a little proprietary experimentation so I can't go into every detail (because I may try to market some of it if I can replicate results) but I can say that one of my main approaches will be to look at the plant as a whole. I believe it is very common for people to focus the majority of their attention to the top portion of the plant. Don't get me wrong, I understand that most of the growers out there pay attention to the root zone but I have yet to see anyone address the plant equally with respect to top and bottom. I will say that this is my first run and I feel like an infant looking at the world sometimes when the science gets crazy but I am planning to devote dedicated space for the plant to grow in both directions (up and down) so my next experiment will be to start the plant in the center of the grow space. I am really only focusing on a "pocket grow" strategy at the moment and will scale up later if this works. The holy grail for me will be to get the highest yield possible in the smallest grow space. This first grow was really just a proof of concept and I never expected it to go the full distance but it was a pleasant surprise and we all can use a win from time to time right? I was sure that there was such a steep learning curve (for a first timer to tackle an Aeroponic configuration) that I would lose it along the way but hey, we made it so now it is time to replicate, confirm and possibly improve along the way ...and I have lots of ideas for experimentation pending.

My next root chamber will have some type of cylinder shape but plan to have it as deep at I expect to let the plant grow high (hence the center-point perspective). This strategy is very much in the experimentation phase but one observation from this grow was the when things were optimal (before my roots bottomed out) I noticed that the root structure was very close to the size of the plant on top. It was not until I bottomed out that I lost a lot of efficiency with sprayers and accumulation at the bottom of the root chamber. This next time I am hoping to have just as much space for the bottom as the top so I can keep that root zone optimal through harvest. I probably should say that I am not planning to grow a large 10ft plant, my plans are currently focused around Autoflower strains that stay small and bushy until I can confirm some theories but the main premise is that "bigger roots = more fruit" and I am hoping to illustrate that you don't need to go big to bring in a nice yield - then we get into the quality discussion where I am again hoping that an advanced root structure can provide not only better quantity but also better quality.

Overall, this grow utilized only 54ft³ and the entire plant stood at 3 ft tall. I am hoping to utilize 6 ft of vertical space this time with one plant and compare results to see if I am barking up the wrong tree or not. It's all a work in progress. I also spent a lot of time engineering automation into my processes and now that I have a lot of that worked out I am hoping to be able to spend more time with some creative solutions to amplify efficiency further.

I am expecting my new chamber in the next week or two and will need to design some new parts with a 3D printer but I am hopeful I can get the same if not better results this next time around - shouldn't be too hard since there was so much learned from this last run but I always try to remind myself that it is easy to experience a catastrophic failure at any point and for a wide variety of reasons so this next run is all about confirming results.

 

[Zatoichi]

We are both thinking along the same lines. I would like to have a root chamber so tall that the roots never hit the bottom of the chamber. And perhaps employ a grate and silk screen in the unlikely event that they do to keep the roots out of the runoff. Or perhaps scrog the roots in some way to spread them out or layer them in a way to reduce the depth of the root chamber needed. I too am very interested in pushing the limits of this technology to see exactly what it can produce in reduction of grow time and increase in yield per plant, but like you I am a beginner and new to the game. I agree that trees are perhaps not the most efficiant and economical way to produce large yields. I am hopeful that smaller plants may be induced to produce results like you achieved with your first grow at commercial scales.

I am also looking at electrostatic technology that imparts a negative charge to the nutrient mist that draws the droplets to the roots like a magnet. I came upon a thread called "High Voltage Aeroponics" where an innovator developed a method to accomplish that, and uses a rotary atomizer to produce micro droplets instead of nozzles. He was ridiculed and attacked for his ideas and stopped posting, but I think he was on the right track. I wasn't sure if I am allowed to post a link to that thread on another page, but I can provide it if that is allowed. I think that guy is part of a company called Sperotec. You can Google that name to see their website.

I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish, and will soon start acquiring equipment and hardware to start my first grow as you just did.

 

[Zatoichi]

Thanks for dropping in. That looks to be an awesome setup. My approach for Rev 2 will have a little proprietary experimentation so I can't go into every detail (because I may try to market some of it if I can replicate results) but I can say that one of my main approaches will be to look at the plant as a whole. I believe it is very common for people to focus the majority of their attention to the top portion of the plant. Don't get me wrong, I understand that most of the growers out there pay attention to the root zone but I have yet to see anyone address the plant equally with respect to top and bottom. I will say that this is my first run and I feel like an infant looking at the world sometimes when the science gets crazy but I am planning to devote dedicated space for the plant to grow in both directions (up and down) so my next experiment will be to start the plant in the center of the grow space. I am really only focusing on a "pocket grow" strategy at the moment and will scale up later if this works. The holy grail for me will be to get the highest yield possible in the smallest grow space. This first grow was really just a proof of concept and I never expected it to go the full distance but it was a pleasant surprise and we all can use a win from time to time right? I was sure that there was such a steep learning curve (for a first timer to tackle an Aeroponic configuration) that I would lose it along the way but hey, we made it so now it is time to replicate, confirm and possibly improve along the way ...and I have lots of ideas for experimentation pending.

My next root chamber will have some type of cylinder shape but plan to have it as deep at I expect to let the plant grow high (hence the center-point perspective). This strategy is very much in the experimentation phase but one observation from this grow was the when things were optimal (before my roots bottomed out) I noticed that the root structure was very close to the size of the plant on top. It was not until I bottomed out that I lost a lot of efficiency with sprayers and accumulation at the bottom of the root chamber. This next time I am hoping to have just as much space for the bottom as the top so I can keep that root zone optimal through harvest. I probably should say that I am not planning to grow a large 10ft plant, my plans are currently focused around Autoflower strains that stay small and bushy until I can confirm some theories but the main premise is that "bigger roots = more fruit" and I am hoping to illustrate that you don't need to go big to bring in a nice yield - then we get into the quality discussion where I am again hoping that an advanced root structure can provide not only better quantity but also better quality.

Overall, this grow utilized only 54ft³ and the entire plant stood at 3 ft tall. I am hoping to utilize 6 ft of vertical space this time with one plant and compare results to see if I am barking up the wrong tree or not. It's all a work in progress. I also spent a lot of time engineering automation into my processes and now that I have a lot of that worked out I am hoping to be able to spend more time with some creative solutions to amplify efficiency further.

I am expecting my new chamber in the next week or two and will need to design some new parts with a 3D printer but I am hopeful I can get the same if not better results this next time around - shouldn't be too hard since there was so much learned from this last run but I always try to remind myself that it is easy to experience a catastrophic failure at any point and for a wide variety of reasons so this next run is all about confirming results.

Take a look at Sonotube cylinders. They could be coated with waterproofing to make them usable.

36" diameter 6 feet tall might be the ticket. And they can be pierced with drills to mount plumbing and nozzles. And a base could be formed fairly easily from vacuum formed plastic or fiberglass formed on a mold in the shape of a shallow cone with a drain pipe opening in the center.

 

[lvumlow]

We are both thinking along the same lines. I would like to have a root chamber so tall that the roots never hit the bottom of the chamber. And perhaps employ a grate and silk screen in the unlikely event that they do to keep the roots out of the runoff. Or perhaps scrog the roots in some way to spread them out or layer them in a way to reduce the depth of the root chamber needed. I too am very interested in pushing the limits of this technology to see exactly what it can produce in reduction of grow time and increase in yield per plant, but like you I am a beginner and new to the game. I agree that trees are perhaps not the most efficiant and economical way to produce large yields. I am hopeful that smaller plants may be induced to produce results like you achieved with your first grow at commercial scales.

I am also looking at electrostatic technology that imparts a negative charge to the nutrient mist that draws the droplets to the roots like a magnet. I came upon a thread called "High Voltage Aeroponics" where a guy like us developed a method to accomplish that, and uses a rotary atomizer to produce micro droplets instead of nozzles. He was ridiculed and stopped posting, but I think he was on the right track. I wasn't sure if I am allowed to post a link to that thread on another page, but I can provide it if that is allowed. I think that guy is part of a company called Sperotec. You can Google that name to see their website.

I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish, and will soon start acquiring equipment and hardware to start my first grow as you just did.

Thanks, it sounds like you have a lot of great ideas and loving the direction. Be sure to post a link to your grow journal so I can tag along. I have also read some articles on the impact of negative ions, there is so much cools stuff we get to experiment with. I guess I better get a second complete grow before I get ahead of myself. Send me a PM with you contact info and we can work together on some of that.

Thanks again!

 

[Zatoichi]

Thanks, it sounds like you have a lot of great ideas and loving the direction. Be sure to post a link to your grow journal so I can tag along. I have also read some articles on the impact of negative ions, there is so much cools stuff we get to experiment with. I guess I better get a second complete grow before I get ahead of myself. Send me a PM with you contact info and we can work together on some of that.

Thanks again!

I send you a message with my email

 

[Zatoichi]

Sorry Kevin, I guess I broke the rules by posting my email on your profile for you to see, and it was deleted by an admin. I can't send private messages right now as I am a new member, but when I am able I will reach out to you so we can exchange some information.

 

[sirstich]

im curious, did you ever ween off nutes and do a flush? im about a week away from chopping my first hpa run. and havnt been able to find much on if its necassary with aero..?