Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks?

[DutchDude]

I have been thinking that I want smaller harvest, more often. Smaller plants will be more manageable, and so will a single large cola.

So after reading a bunch, I am thinking of doing the Stinkbud setup, with a few modifications. I know the choices that I am about to make will not provide me with maximum yield, but it should provide me with a steady yield.

So, here is the proposal, and please speak up and let me hear your opinions.

Start out with a HD bucket, with four 3.75" net pots, neoprene inserts, pump and sprayers. Straight 5.8 pH-ed water with Clonex. The usual cloning setup, right? Just with larger net pots. No special light on top of this bucket, I figure if it is close enough to the two main stations, it will get enough stray light. All three stations will have a 375 gph pump that is on for 1 minute, and off for 5 minutes. Three pumps will share 1 timer.

The reason that I want to do larger pots is so that I can move them from station to station, and since they are within neoprene, the plant should not care how large the initial pot is.

Station one will have a 14 gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck on the bottom, and a 10 gallon Roughneck on the top. I know that Stinkbud's setup calls for two 18 gallon tubs, but I think that I want to limit the total height, unless someone can give me a compelling reason not to go with the smaller versions. The heights are 8.5" for the 10, 12.5" for the 14 and 16.5" for the 18 gallon. So, 21" versus 33", what would you guys do?

There will be eight 3.75" net pots in station one, in two rows of 4. Of course it will have the pump in the lower tub, the sprayers in the upper tub and the upper tub will drain into the lower one while keeping the roots contained. The first station will get vegging nutrients and a 6700k 250W MH right on top of it.

Station two will be the same setup as station one, but will have flowering nutrients and a 2700k 250W HPS above it.

Visual (thanks to Google SketchUp):

From the picture, I hope that you can see what I am planning on doing. There will be 5 phases, of 3 weeks each. The light will be a constant 12/12, no matter which phase the plant is in. Every three weeks, the plant moves up a row. Cuttings are taken at the 9th week and there should be a harvest every three weeks.

So, keeping in mind that I am not going for maximum yield - are there any major flaws with this setup??

Please discuss?

 

[Bill C]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

Hi Dutch,

The constant 12/12 concerns me a little. Your cuttings at week 9 will already be flowering, which along with only 12 hours of light, might cause your clones to fail.

Any chance of putting some sort of light curtain between the 2 lights to allow for one chamber to run at 18/6? I think you'd have better results and more likely to achieve your perpetual grow.

 

[DutchDude]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

Thanks for your thoughts Bill. I am really trying to keep it as simple as possible, keeping it all in one room. I think that if I start monkeying around with a screen, then it would be inevitable to have light leaks, and I would invite hermies?

The other thing is, the screen would have to sit half way between the rows on the first.

Do you think that I should count on getting the cuttings at the end of week 6 instead?

 

[DutchDude]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

So, the next proposal is trying to incorporate some feedback, and making the most use of the space provided (it is to scale)

Two 18 gallon tubs, one for bud drying (since that stinks ), the other 18 gallon for station 1 and station 2, clones and week 3-6.

The other 2 systems have pretty much stayed the same, other then that I have 6 stations now to allow for more 'vegetative' growth.

Six stations, three weeks each = 18 weeks = 126 days Should be decent enough time to produce a nice size plant with decent yield?

If I put a black poly between the first row, and the second row, therefore shielding the first two stages, and the bud dryer. And I run a 6700k 96W power compact light there on an 18/6 cycle, with the two 250W MH on a 12/12 in the middle of the 18 hours (3 hours on each side of its light cycle might have a slight light leak from the veg chamber) I do not think that I will get that seal light tight - but I want to know what the risk would be to the flowering crop producing hermies. They will have 6 hours of absolute darkness, and three hours on each side of a tiny bit of light from leakage.

Am I creating another problem by trying to provide a veg chamber in a non-ideal setup?

 

[DutchDude]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

Really looking for some more feedback guys - help me out here please!

 

[willoby]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

I think it looks like a great idea, although I have no experience with it ...I'm also waiting to see what others tell you about this setup Dutchdude!!!

 

[DutchDude]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

Thanks for pulling up a chair. I am just trying to combine all the information that I have gathered, and trying to adapt it to my smallish situation without creating a ton of work or overhead for myself.

To be honest, I don't think that any of the heavyweights check out this part of the forum too much. I think it is mostly people looking for ideas for a setup, not the established.

 

[DutchDude]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

Alright then - the next iteration. Don't know why I should make it hard on myself to screen an entire section off, instead of just building a 'tent' out of 1/2" PVC pipe and some black/white vinyl sheet. Hang the 96W PowerCompact from the top of the tent, and just set it over the first six weeks tub. Probably have to make sure the entry overlaps, but that really shouldn't be a problem. Some Velcro, and done?

 

[shaggie-420]

Re: Planning my next setup - harvest every 3 weeks ?

i like your original plan with the 12/12 no mercy and i do think it will work just fine. few things to mention on going all 12/12 is that after 3-4 weeks you will start to see pre flowers sometimes faster.
9 weeks is a little late to take the clones id shoot for more like 5 weeks or a week- week and a half from showing preflowers.
using a 12/12 no mercy perpetual is a great way to have a steady supply for your self as it is still possible to get upwards to 4 oz per plant still!
i also wouldnt really worie about movint the plants as if you plan it right you will just have a nice fluid rolling sea of green

now on the other plans, if you decide to do a veg chamber you will absolutly need it to be light sealed... not for the veging plants , but if light hits the flowering plants while in the dark it can make them hermi... even a pin hole of light hiting the plant dead on can have a chance of making it hermi. easy fix is build a box and use calking to get the pin holes
you can easly get a harvest every 3 weeks or les with any of these methods just depends on how you set it up
also last thing before i go... clones dont need light to grow their roots.. they need humidity and water.. all of our clones are under our Hydro table set ups in the veg room as it is warm humid and out of the way, every 2 weeks we take a group rooted clones stick them in the grow cubes and let them veg for 2 weeks, toped and given another week before flowering. (thats work) at home i have a perpetual 12/12 although i dont harvest every 3 weeks it will be every 2 months and will change around in time
like the set up
good luck with your new grow

 

[DutchDude]

Shaggie - you make a whole lot of sense. And thank you for putting me onto SpeesCees' thread of the No Mercy 12/12. That was so exactly what I was looking for. I really like hearing about one huge cola to deal with, very neat, very clean, very efficient. Like I said before, I do not have any commercial ambitions, so 4 ounces per plant already sounds like overkill to me (might have to start sharing then).

You are even correct about not really having to move things around, except for their position under the lights (one 6700k and one 2700k), because I have to change the nutrient water anyway. Would I be alright with straight water in the first system, veg solution in the next, and flowering in the last? I have not really worked out yet how I can flush the ready to be harvested plants with the 3 weeks to go plants, but I guess I'll sleep on that one.

Thanks again!

 

[shaggie-420]

i would think that you would be fine with the three different mixes... maybe a light mix instead of just water. as for the different lights i have always liked a mix in flowering useing both MH and HPS in flowering so moving them isnt as nessesary its all prefference and depends on how easy it is to move.
i think it would be easyer to just re make the mix than moving plants from box to box because the roots will be come tangled in a hydro set up.
Speecees is a bad ass that is for sure glad u found his post. check out my grow for another comparison of seed Vs clone no mercy
keep up the good work i like the planning

 

[DutchDude]

Here is an update on phase one of the next project.

I have build the cloner box, and the tent surrounding it. The cloner tub is just the standard design from Stinkbud with a few modifications. I did not do the end caps, but put in 90s to connect the next leg, thus creating a circular design for pressure equalization. I also had to make it a bit shorter, otherwise the 3.75" pots would not go down all the way in the lid. I added a 4-way instead of a T in the middle, and make it go through the side for a fill/drain. Lastly I added a clear tube for a level indicator. For nutrients I have added to the 8 gallon tab water (160 ppm): one teaspoon of the spa pH down granules, one tablespoon of each the micro, grow, and flower, and three tablespoons of some B1 root stimulator from HD. Ph is now 5.9 and we are at 480 ppm.

Here are the 3.75" net pots installed with the foam. The back row: the left three are the Jock Horror, and the right one is the Emerald Jack. The front row: the left three are Grapefruit Krush, and the right one is also Emerald Jack. The timer is a 50 second timer for 40 minutes and repeating. It is set to be on for two cycles (1 min 40 sec) and off for 4 cycles (3 min 20 sec)

The outside tent is just a simple frame (like a clothes hamper). On the inside of the frame I stapled 6 mil Visqueen all around, while leaving some flaps on the front door area. Then I sprayed it with glue, and stuck some emergency blanket to it.

Then i covered the outside of the 1"x2" fame with another layer of Visqueen. That way there is a 1"-2" pathway between the two layers of plastic. I use this to make feed air to two holes that I made in the bottom right and left inside visqueen. The air is drawn from the front panel, in between the plastic layers, to the hole on the inside layer, towards the top - where there is a 100 mm computer fan, going over to the other side of the top, again, in between the plastic layers, and then outside through the little grate you see.

The front flap is weighted down by another piece of wood, and is a little over sized. The sides of the flap are tucked back into the 1 inch space which is created by the two layers of plastic, providing a light tight door.

The light is a 96W power compact in 6700k (anybody have any idea on the lumens?) and you can see the little computer fan to the left. The light is on 24 hours for now, until I get another timer. Then I will do the 18/6.

Oder control is done by a little jar of ona gel, with a tiny cpu fan above it.

What do you guys think?

This is waiting for the space to clear up under the stairs, so it is in a temporary place for now.

 

[Sky Rocket]

Skyrocket is all in. How are the clones doing?

 

[DutchDude]

Skyrocket is all in. How are the clones doing?

Well, we are 11 days into the cloning process, and nothing is "dead". So, I suppose it is going alright. . .

A few days ago I posted a pic of one of the clones that had some purple spots on the leaves:

We were thinking that it might be some nute burn, so I emptied the resevoir, and put in just pH-ed water and took some of the large leaves off all the clones. Figured that I should let them concentrate on roots instead.

The current result is not much better, but like I said, they are alive.

Does it look like they are not happy having no nutes?

The second problem that I am having is displayed in the middle. I tried to germinated two Strawberry Haze seeds using the wet paper towel in a Ziploc method, but after 10 days, I had nothing! So, now I put them in the peat-moss pellets, and see if they will germinate in that. . .

 

[Sky Rocket]

Some strains root faster than others. My og kush clones took forever to root vs my ak 47 wich rooted much quicker. In my experience I just give them plain tap water til they start to root. I don't give thme any nutes because its pointless. They have no roots to uptake the nutes.

 

[DutchDude]

Cloning day: 15 The Emerald Jack cutting is finally showing roots:

So, I do not know what is going on with the cloner, but perhaps it is just patience. As you can see above, that is one of two clones who have roots now. If you recall the previous picture of the 8 clones - the ones that rooted are the upper left one (Jock Horror) and the lower right one (Emerald Jack).

The others really don't show much interest in rooting. They do look to have perhaps a few bumps, that is, if those are not just water bubbles. But, after all this time, there is a distict difference between these two, and the other six. Cut at the same time, about the same place on the plants, in the same manner, treated the same, etc. etc. etc.

I guess we will just see how the rest we behave - or not, but so far it is a mystery to me.

 

[DutchDude]

I checked in on the clones this morning, and noticed to my amazement that there is only 2 gallons of water left in the system instead of 8.

So, I checked all around it for leaks, and everything is dry. . . When I look at the clones, 6 out of 8 now have at least one root, and the other two look like they are about to have a root. Is it possible that the little clones consumed 6 gallons?!?!

 

[PrairiePoet]

I checked in on the clones this morning, and noticed to my amazement that there is only 2 gallons of water left in the system instead of 8.

So, I checked all around it for leaks, and everything is dry. . . When I look at the clones, 6 out of 8 now have at least one root, and the other two look like they are about to have a root. Is it possible that the little clones consumed 6 gallons?!?!

In less than 12 hours? I wouldn't think so.

 

[DutchDude]

In less than 12 hours? I wouldn't think so.

Thanks for visiting Prairie!

No, it wouldn't be over 12 hours - more like 5 or 6 days. But still, even then, don't you think that is quite a large consumption?

I am redesigning the cloner this weekend. It is going to be a two part unit, just like the flower units. With a 10 gallon on top of a 14 gallon unit (only 3" taller in total). Cords coming out of the lid, and leaving the sides nearly in tact. Still debating if I'll even do a clear measuring tube. . . So, I will for sure eliminate any and all leaks.

 

[PrairiePoet]

Thanks for visiting Prairie!

No, it wouldn't be over 12 hours - more like 5 or 6 days. But still, even then, don't you think that is quite a large consumption?

I am redesigning the cloner this weekend. It is going to be a two part unit, just like the flower units. With a 10 gallon on top of a 14 gallon unit (only 3" taller in total). Cords coming out of the lid, and leaving the sides nearly in tact. Still debating if I'll even do a clear measuring tube. . . So, I will for sure eliminate any and all leaks.

Good sized plants in hydro in the middle of flowering can suck up a gallon per day. I have seen in my grow with two plants in a 10 gallon tub do about 1.5 gallons a day.

So, yes.