H/A's Coco DIY Ebb and Flow

[SmokinWhisper]

Nice Setup buddy! you'll have to stop by and see my getup next time your in town! I don't like the way the clones took this time at all either! they have crazy roots but seemed like it took for ever to get out of the flowering daze! never seen the clones keep all the trichromes before either and have clean healthy new growth! ah live and learn i suppose! that was a narly artic blast! reaked frozen hell upon my ladys during their sleep! even my veg it was freezing about half way down them!

 

[HashAssassin]

Getting ready for aero!

Thanks Whisper! Too bad I just tore it all down! This setup is getting donated to another caregiver and I am making the move back to aeroponics where I had my best results.

When I first started growing in '96 it was in soil and the results were ok but it took forever. I've got A.D.D. so I don't have the patience to watch something grow at a snail's pace which is why I made the switch to hydro in the first place. On top of the that I love to build things and see how I can improve upon them. My first venture into hydro was the "Waterfarm" a drip/DWC system. I saw it at the hydro store and thought to myself...I can make that. So I whipped a few out. My cycle time improved by a couple weeks and my harvest doubled from what I did in soil so I never looked back. From there I kept on learning and trying out new systems. My first aero unit was a cloner, when I saw how well that system did I built a veg unit, then a 36 site "Aeroflow" system which worked amazing especially since at that time I had a 45 day strain that was spot on. My whole setup was like a machine. I would harvest 6 plants a week and get roughly 1.5 oz per plant. Half an L to sell and enough meds for me!
Of course that was a decade ago and life has thrown many a curve ball since then. After I was forced to shut that op down I have only done a few small medical grows since then, all staying with the legal limits of my state. Since I only was growing meds for myself and had extremely limited space to do it in I used the ebb and flow system. Now that I am becoming a caregiver on top of being a patient and I actually have a little bit of space to work with I am making the switch back to aero only this time on a much smaller scale.

Now back to the journal....

I put a few gallons of water in clean trash can and put the 3 Afgooey and 3 TF in so I could gently remove the coco from the roots. Once I removed a majority of the coco I did a secondary rinse in another bucket and placed them in a net cup with lava rock. Once in the net cup they were placed in the veg unit where they will stay for at least 4 weeks.

After these were removed from the e&f I disconnected all the plumbing and reconfigured it to a single table sitting directly on top of the lid to the res.

I will continue to use this system for these four MK-Ultra's but with the table frame and one tub gone I have plenty of room to set up a 6 site aero system. Once these are harvested I will replace it with another 6 site aero unit. Here's a pic of the system I'll be using...with some mods of course.

 

[bud brother]

How dare you accuse my plants of being British!!! ..jk.. It's partially the lighting but mainly recovering from nute deficiencies. The two tall MK's were nitrogen starved and all were in need of some calcium and magnesium. All the old growth is spotted but the new growth looks good.

H.A. Oye mate ,You dont fool around things happen fast over there.You dont like coco no more ? LOL, Oh well should work out for ya.Ill be watching BC

 

[HashAssassin]

They don't happen THAT fast. I wouldn't have made the changes if I wasn't helping out another patient and the aero flower system isn't mine just a pic of what I'll be doing. In regards to the coco, I love it and have used it for years. It is my preferred medium for all hydro systems except for aero.

 

[SmokinWhisper]

Haha! Lame!! I tried to send ya a message north and well gotta have 50 post to send pm's and I'm at 45 haha! I understand the reasoning behind the stipulation. But still a bummer kinda like drooling over a bud that a day away from smokable haha! Any ways I'll send ya my number on the xbox if ur out this way tomorrow hit me up. I"ll be up early tomorrow for a change! Sun does shine, on a dogs ass every once in a while lol!

 

[bud brother]

They don't happen THAT fast. I wouldn't have made the changes if I wasn't helping out another patient and the aero flower system isn't mine just a pic of what I'll be doing. In regards to the coco, I love it and have used it for years. It is my preferred medium for all hydro systems except for aero.

HAsh With all due respect, what i meant was a compliment to your experience with growing all different type of ways.. I would love to try aeroponics with a DIY system like yours.

 

[HashAssassin]

Aeroponics is just like baking cookies. Follow the recipe and everything will be alright.

 

[HashAssassin]

Gone Aero!!

Week 5

I became a designated caregiver for another patient so it's been a busy week in the garden. With my legal limit changed to 30 I got started on my aero project mentioned in an earlier post. I removed the remaining portion of the ebb and flow and transfered the large MK's to a couple of DWC buckets where they will stay until they are finished.

With the tent cleared out I was able to take some inside measurements in order to calculate the cross member width of the aero frame. For the aero system I used the Stinkbud Jr. plans but modified the rack system so I could fit 2 systems in a 4x4 tent. I deleted the lower front cross bar so I could tuck my reservoirs under the rails and the remaining cross bar lengths were shortened to 21". I also joined the racks in the middle using cross fittings. Think I will call this setup the Stinkbud Camper since it is designed specifically for a tent. I only have one side of the flowering rail complete (minus an end cap) as I need the other side for the DWC buckets. After this harvest I will add the additional flowering rails and start the perpetual. Also, I am working on plans and parts list in case anyone wants it in the future.

As you can see I picked up a couple of new strains to fill in the system. They were grown in soil under CFL's so they are tall and skinny. The strain on the right is BushWidow and the strain on the left is "BC1". The BC1 is so named because the original cut came from a grower in BC and the actual strain name is unknown to the grower I received it from. I've seen it in full flower, have sampled the end product, and in my opinion it is actually the blue pheno of Flo. Since these new girls are so tall I will flip them into flower starting tonight.

On the veg side of things there has been a change too. Gone is the pathetic bubble cloner and a new aero cloner is in its place. You can see the difference in clone health between the first 6 cuts I did in the bubble and the second 6.

I also labeled the plants in the veg unit. They are FINALLY starting to get back to full on veg cycle since they were all clones taken after day 21 of flower. The only positive for have retarded plants is that they should be perfect height for flower when I pull the others in 8 weeks.

 

[HashAssassin]

Re: H/A's Gone Aero

Here is a top view of the 2 MK's in the buckets.

They are filling in nicely. The buckets are not true DWC since the roots are just starting to grow out of the pots. It is more like a drain to waste right now since they are being hand watered.

Here is pic of the plants in the back of the rail. BushWidow on the right and BC1 on the left.

No they are not sick...it's just the lighting. Also, I know the res cover in the previous post looks ghetto. The plastic was extremely brittle and did not cut well. Hopefully the next res will cut better.

 

[Tmac12]

Hi Hash, checked out what you have done so far. Looks very interesting!! Be checking back!!!!!!

 

[HashAssassin]

Interesting week so far. The four plants I picked up all had mites! Yuck. Sprayed them down and the next day all was clear. Hopefully they will stay gone. I was contemplating keeping the large MK's in the buckets and doing a scrog on the left side of the garden. I even set up the screen and gently positioned all branches. Then while I was sitting in my chair relaxing in front of the open tent I got to thinking about my schedule for the garden and my current setup.
Think Think Think Think....The screen I installed, as beautiful as it was, was already 3/4 full and I was only on day 2 of flowering. For those of you who know SCROG, you know this is not a good thing. In two weeks it would end up being an overgrown mess and my yield would suffer. The two small MK's in the flowering rails were dwarfed by the new plants and would end up being light starved, another yield cruncher. If I moved the big MK's into the flowering rails and put the small MK's back into veg then not only would be yield be ok but it would open up the left side of the tent so that in 4 weeks I would be able put another 6 into flower and keep my desired schedule intact.

Smoked a bowl and mulled it over for about half hour while enjoying the artificial sun, then I got up and made the changes. Now when the rest of my end caps get here on Friday I can finish my existing system and get started on the new one for the left side.

 

[HashAssassin]

Botanicare Nute Soup

I'm going to try a new formula from superstoner aka sssdad but with a slight change. Switching out the great white he uses for hygrozyme. This formula is based on 25 gallons. Nutrient cost are based on 1 gallon bottles.

Veg: $5.61
175ml pure pro grow
70ml karma
60ml cal mag
premix in milk jug and add first to water.

then add:
50ml silica blast
100 ml of aquashield
50ml hydrozyme

then adjust ph to 5.8.

the night before moving to flower i drain res and add fresh water with 150ml clearex and run for 24 hrs.

Week 1 and 2 flower: $8.92

125ml pro grow
125ml pro bloom
80ml karma
60ml cal mag
80ml sweet
premix in milk jug and add to res

then add 50ml silica blast, 50ml hydrozyme, and 100 ml aquashield

then adjust ph to 5.8

Weeks 3-5:$9.70
250ml pro bloom
100ml karma
70ml calmag
100ml sweet
premix and add to res.

then add 100ml silica blast and 100ml aquashield and 50ml hydrozyme
at the beginning of week 4 add 50 ml of hydroplex ($1.02) and 50ml ($1.02) more at beginning of week 5. When using bloom boosters don't be surprised if it takes a lot more ph down to adjust.

at the end of week 5 empty and do the clearex flush.

week 6-harvest(most of mine finish in 53-60 days)$10.71)
250ml pbp for soil
100ml karma
100ml sweet
70ml calmag

then 100 ml silica blast, 100ml aquashield, and 150ml of hydroplex and no hygrozyme.

Total Nutrient Cost from Start to Finish: $46.19

 

[HashAssassin]

Flower Day 6

Cold temps (60F in the tent) are slowing down the veg and clones but at least they're healthy.

Flower Day 6
Here you can see the changes from earlier this week. MK's were moved into the rail and now I have space for another system. New system will be added sometime between Christmas and New Year's.

Picture of the flowering plants with the lights out. You can really see the difference between the healthy MK's that I've had for awhile and the previously mite infested plants that I got last week. The borg are gone and the plants finally getting the nutrients they deserve.

Considering all the stress these plants have gone through they're not looking to bad. They should green back up by next week especially after the major trim I've got planned for them.

 

[HashAssassin]

I picked up a new light today, 600w HPS with an AC hood, and I finished the other Stinkbud Jr. setup. Now that I am running full aero I will say goodbye to this journal and have it moved to the completed section. Please stop by and check out the new journal found here... Half a LB a Month in an Aeroponic Tent