16 Pot Wilma System Hydro

[Cultivator]

Hi and welcome to my journal for my 16 pot Wilma System grow.

Strain:8x flying dutchman pure (75%sativa x 25%indica) and 8x Greenhouse Seeds A.M.S (swiss sativa x swiss indica %unknown)
Medium: Clay pebbles 6.5litre square pots
light: 2x 600w hps, cooltubes, 600w hacienda digital ballasts
method: Hydroponic drip irrigation
Res size: 140litres
flower period: Pure 8 weeks, A.M.S 9 weeks


The system will be placed in a 2.4x1.2x2m grow tent with a 6" rvk fan pulling air through a 6" rhino carbon airfilter (these really are excellent) and 2 6"cooltubes holding 600w hps bulbs. Temps running around 75f through day and 65f at night. Will veg around 3 weeks. This will be a sog style grow due to the closeness of the pots together and mayeven turn into a scrog.

Here are a couple of pics and'll i'll add more of the setup and of the transplantation of cuttings tomoro.

Please ask questions and leave constructive criticisms where necessary. It is my first attempt using this technique and i want it to be a learning experience not just for myself but for others too.

Enjoy

 

[Cultivator]

I am toying with the idea of placing a scrog net in. I havent done this before and i was just wondering how high from the pots it should be installed and when? any help appreciated. thanks

 

[Cultivator]

So i have transplanted over half of the cuttings this morning. As u can see from the pics they were nicely rooted for the most part but some will take another couple days or so before they are ready to transplant.

Temps

Selection of feed/additives

 

[Cultivator]

What a nightmare, i checked on grow today and the drippers hadnt been running due to a faulty timer. didnt take pic as had no camera with me but they looked pretty limp. The problem is fixed but i just hope they recover as the stress of transplantation and drying out may be too much, i hope not as they were lovely cuttings............

 

[sqwheels]

Hi Cultivator,

your setup looks good, really sorry about the timer trouble...hope they survive. Will be watching

 

[Cultivator]

Hi Cultivator,

your setup looks good, really sorry about the timer trouble...hope they survive. Will be watching

thanks for dropping by. Its a real simple system and cheap compared to other systems. Starting to get it dialled in now and will be an update tomoro. I just think it simple setup for anyone manually watering hydro media, u only need a res change once every couple weeks in veg and once week in flowerr and its simple to do.

 

[Xlr8]

Hi Cultivator!

Just wanted to sub quick. Good luck - I'm with Sqwheels, bummer about the timer.

 

[TaylorMade420]

subd how long did it take to get roots like that on our cuttings?

 

[Cultivator]

Thanks for stopping by guys. It generally takes 10 days to get my cuttings rooted like that but upto 14. I just make sure my res is cooled with frozen 2litre bottles to 63f and place air stones in to, this makes such a difference. the roots still take the same time to appear but when they do they just explode!

 

[Cultivator]

Hi folks so heres an update. Not alot happening in the veg period, i know we all like to see the bud shots. I dismantled and cleaned out the system on sun 8th. Even though i'd pre washed the clay pebbles there was alot of crap on bottom of tank. I will show pics of how i did it however on future res changes it will not be dismantled in this way and i will demonstarte how i'll do it in a further update.

I have just bought some climbing plant mesh to use as a scrog net. Not sure how i am going to apply it yet as i need to be able to get access to the res but i'll figure it out. Obviously i cant lift out pots once they are trained. Any tips on scrog would be nice as this is my first real attempt at it and hoping to achieve good yields from it.

To fill the gaps around the wilma i am placing some 2l hempys and they will be manually fed. maybe 40 or so, i have maybe 60 cuttings ready so maybe just do the 60. I'll be vegging the hempys though and not placing straight into flower as the cuttings arent huge and they will be on the same cycle as the wilma.

So here is the 140L res. I use a piece of hose connected to the end of my pump (maxijet 1000) running to the bath to drain and use a hose to fill. I marked a line at the 100litre point to make it easier. Also 4 airstones to give loads oxygen to nute mix and help keep nasties at bay.

Few pics of the girls now, they are coming along great. going to start tying them down and already fim'd a few.

Finally the mesh i'll use for scrog.

I filled the res to the 100L mark and added nutes/additives at following rates: Canna hydro vega A+B 175ml, House and garden Root Excelurator 30ml, Drip Clean 10ml, Nitrozyme 30ml. I plan to use advanced nutrients range for flower period but will detail that more thoroughly at later date.

 

[DrTentgrow]

Nice clean setup mate! will be looking forward to seeing this unfold, i'm starting a hydro grow very soon in a couple of aqua farms.

 

[Xlr8]

Hey there Cultivator -

Ive never done an actual scrog, but I have used netting to help control canopy height, and do a fair amount of "invisible"scrogging (manage the canopy almost like there is a screen there). I've typically seen people put the screen at about 8-12" or so, sometimes a bit higher. You want it to be low so you can start bending while they're still young enough and pliable enough, but not so low that you can't get your hands in there to make adjustments. Nice start to the grow and journal so far!

 

[Cultivator]

thanks guys

so today i have been and started to train the plants. just tied down with regular garden ties, the same type used to seal plastic bags and keep cables together. i am going to place the net 12" about pots and veg until they are coming through then i'll switch to flower. Having a bit of a change of plan on the flower additives as the advanced nute line is so expensive if u want the whole line. I will definately use bud ignitor the first 2 weeks of 12/12 as that gives host to so many more flower sites its great stuff. Also i'll stick with the voodoo juice and carboload. I am thinking of trialing 'explode' by dutch pro as i've heard great reports and may even go on to shooting powder last 3 weeks as that is potent too. so much to think about. I hear everyone giving bpn the thumbs up but since its not available here and the postage is so expensive that is out of the question also. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any. I already have my base nutrient which is the 2 part Canna Aqua flores and I am happy with my veg nutes.

 

[Cultivator]

i've never used an aqua farm, i am quite new to hydro really having earned my stripes in soil and coco. As mine is a commercial set up yield is important and hydro def increases in that area. Quality is very important too and i def dont want to grow shitty bud but to get the taste and quality in hydro u get in soil would be very tough, for me anyway. im open to trying new methods, currently have oxypots, wilmas and manually fed hempy pots. in an ideal world the oxypots would be the way forward as from what i have seen the growth speed and flower production is crazy when done correctly. The down side is that its tricky to manage when ya first starting it out. Be good to see ur aqua farm set up mate.


When i talk of the quality of the soil grow i talk of the fully organic method with no chemicals at all.....

 

[Cultivator]

Hey tentgrower why dont u try a wilma system with coco first? that way u can get used to using drippers and recirculating system and get the soil like medium with the coco, then maybe jump to perlite or clay pebbles. Make sure u have an accurate ph meter and ec meter for any hydro set up mate. dont buy those shitty £20-30 digi pens, they just fuck up and arent accurate. Buy a quality bluelab combo meter or similar. Bare in mind ph meters have a shelf life of a year or so depending on how u clean and look after them so probe should be replaced periodically.

 

[DrTentgrow]

Hello Cultivator i needed a hydro system that would grow 2 plants with a long veg time that would give huge plants growing to there full potential! the aqua farm seemed perfect if not a little over priced. They have a 20l area for the roots and about 20l res so perfect for big plants. I bought a bluelab combo meter as it happens it turned up today, I understand the importance of good quality meters for hydro.

 

[Cultivator]

I have just taken another 20 or 30 cuttings and put them in 2L hempy's to fill some of the space around my wilma.

rooted clone

4parts perlite 1part vermiculite

I'll put clay pebbles ontop of the perlite when they get put in the grow room later to stop algae growth. Just gave them a quarter strength veg nute and some root excellerator. will veg them until i flip for wilma in couple weeks.

 

[Xlr8]

Looking good - I do the clay pebbles on top of my hand watered stuff, too. Works good!

 

[Cultivator]

Looking good - I do the clay pebbles on top of my hand watered stuff, too. Works good!

Yeah ive been doing it a while now. never used to do it with soil but i satrted getting algae and slime on the top of my coco and it helped wonders, plus it def deters pests. I have plants without the pebbles and they periodically have blackfly probs but the ones with pebbles never do. I'll be adding them to all my plants when i get around to it but i manage many many plants so its hard to keep on top of it sometimes. Im a one man band dealing with several of my own grows plus i have a side line helping the locals too. There's an explosion of growers where i live which is great for the cause but most see it as a fast buck and cut so many corners and have so little knowledge its embarrassing at times. people doing hydro grows buying expensive systems then not buying a ph meter because its a waste of money? yet they've spent a £1000 on setting it up???! the mind baffles but then they soon learn not to cut corners and it costs them more money to repair the damage, buy the right stuff and pay me! haha crazy stuff.

Well thats my little rant over.......

I'll try get another update with pics of tying and training tomoro but it may be monday by the time i get around to it.

 

[Cultivator]

also Xlr8 i was wondering how some journals get so many followers and mine has very few??? I post on other threads and my signature is there, am i missing something? I dont think its because my growing is bad or is it???? hmmmm