TheCapn's - Not So Simple - Aeroponics

[TheCapn]

Ok gang, here is a sneak peak at the "un-announced" strain. This is the same plant as the aero plant, also the same plant that I said had a flowery / soapy smell. This was grown mini "capn style", in 5.8 gal of grow-cubes. It is refreshing to see some nice sized colas again. The reason I'm not announcing the strain yet, is because I want to do it "justice" before people find it in a google search. I'm hoping (like cult said) that the DWC colas will be even beefier and longer.

I gotta tell you, these babies are heavy. Absolutely no early or late flower pollen sacks, no mold, despite my humidity pushing 70%. The only thing I'm worried about is how it will taste. It has a unique smell. The other pheno has a more classic "dank" smell than this one.

The pictures look good. You will notice a few dehydrated tips in the tops of the colas, but not on the leaves. I got this one up to about 1100PPM for a couple weeks, which may have been a tad too much for it. I'll keep it's clone (the aero plant) well under that.

This picture shows them with no flash, under regular light. This is the truest representation of them. You can see toward the tops of the colas, they have a blueish tint.

 

[Vick074]

OMG!

incredible buddage Capn!

 

[AfricanGrower]

Yea what Vick said! Those leaves are going to make some fine hash! I'm dying to know what strain this is and if it readily available for purchase? +Reps nonetheless!

 

[Gozgrow]

Great lookin buds cap'n.

 

[TheCapn]

I got all the "unannounced" strain harvested and out of the flower closet. Now I was able to spread the two plants apart, and lower the center light a bit. It is about even with the tops of the plant. Should I go lower?

I still have the PPM about 500-600, and these are the healthiest, the biggest plants I've ever grown. I'm feeling so good about this grow. They are about 48" in diameter, and 52" in height from stem base to top. The OG is so bushy. Between the two, I cut off a 5 gal bucket FULL of undergrowth, and I still have more to cut off. I could have provided everyone on this Thread a few clones.

Thanks for watching, I'll check in when we see some bigger buds. Meanwhile, I bought and installed an ozone gen, and I'll be blogging about it.

 

[AfricanGrower]

Huh, funny thing about those ozone generators. I'm writing up a blog post about the effects of 'good' vs. 'bad' ozone. I'll be sure to link you to it. Other than that, your plants always exceed my expectations, looking very green in there. Don't go having too much fun now Capn

 

[CronicHempHog]

subbed hope im not too late

 

[Bassman59]

Hey Cap'n, just a thought, don't know if it will work for your area, but I build slip-fit pvc framing around my grows to use so I could run a few rungs of string for branch support. Not gluing them allows me to easily adjust height or add an in between level to run strings. I do a ton of bending and this gives support. Also allows me to customize where I want the string each grow. And the pvc is even strong enough to clamps small fans onto.

 

[BigIrishDoode]

Well now I'm curious bout this unknown strain after seeing it in those last few pics, kinda looks like an ak

 

[CronicHempHog]

Happy Munchday Capn

 

[TheCapn]

In case you're just joining us, this journal is focused on a DWC / AERO hybrid grow for a single plant, who's strain I have decided to NOT announce until after the grow. In addition, I'm using a different technique on this grow than Usual. I'm NOT using a trellis, and I have just converted to semi vertical lighting. Last week, I finished a grow of two plants for this new strain. I started with 3 seeds. One didn't do well from the start, of the other two, one was radically different and more vibrant than the other. So, these two plants I'm talking about here are NOT the focus on this journal. I'm only talking about them now, so we know what to expect from the new grow.

This picture is from a few weeks ago.

Smoke test: Keep in mind neither has had a chance to cure yet:

Plant #1 (furthest in the picture, less vigorous) Has been in jars for one week. Traditional dank, strong, smell. Fine smoke. Great effect. I was happy, high, and functional at the same time. Great yield, 8+ zips! A pleasure to trim. Branches weak.

Plant #2 (closer in picture) Floral smell, not a strong smell (that's a good thing for me). Nice smoke, even though it just came off the rack and going into jars tomorrow. Effect....

I tried some last night while my girl was out. At first, it was nice, but not real intense. Then about 15 minutes later, I started feeling all sentimental about my girl, happy with my life, thankful for my family and everything I've accomplished, yeah yeah, I know... corny. I was relaxed, happy, stoned, and at the same time I was clear headed and able to function fine. It wasn't a couch lock effect but when I got up I did feel heavy. Then my girl got home, and she tried it. I was working and about 15 min later she called me upstairs. The rest was fireworks, my friends.

The the yield on plant 2... hold on to your seats, 515 grams. In a 3 x 3 screen!! Now, it just came off the rack after 5 days, so I will lose about 15-20% of that in the next week, but still, almost a lb. Unbelievable for that small of space.

Now compare those nugs with the size from my last A.O. Quite a difference.

 

[TheCapn]

Hey Cap'n, just a thought, don't know if it will work for your area, but I build slip-fit pvc framing around my grows to use so I could run a few rungs of string for branch support. Not gluing them allows me to easily adjust height or add an in between level to run strings. I do a ton of bending and this gives support. Also allows me to customize where I want the string each grow. And the pvc is even strong enough to clamps small fans onto.

I would love to see pictures of this contraption. I might need it.

 

[TheCapn]

Can I get a vote for Fan Leaf OTM ?

Has anyone ever seen fan leaves like this? The middle leaf is over 10" and the stem is almost the size of a pencil. Maybe this is common but I've never seen it before with any of the strains I've had in the past.

 

[CronicHempHog]

bubba kush gave me huge fan leaves like that

 

[Jimmy6000]

You got my vote.lolThat's a huge leaf.

 

[Skybound]

Congrats on the awesome harvest and awesomer time with the missus

 

[BigIrishDoode]

I have had a few strains that will put out those monster fans, royal purple kush, bubba kush dad,was one I remember ,I got foot long fans under cfl's!! But that's a whopper!

 

[CronicHempHog]

Happy Tokerday Capn

 

[TheCapn]

Happy Tokerday Capn

Happy day to you too, cronic. I appreciate you following along, but please use private messages when it's not related to the thread. That way, readers don't have to scroll thru dozens of pages to get to the good stuff. Thanks!

 

[BarlesCharkly]

Hey all, I just joined up and would've rather sent this in a pm to TheCapn, but forum rules disallow anyone with under 50 posts from doing that. Anyway, I switched over my DWC to your low pressure aeroponics system. Thank you for posting the detailed pictures, that really helped me get an idea of how to do this thing. I couldn't do everything like you did. I am only using an 18 gallon container so everything was kind of scaled down from yours. You used 3 rails of sprayers in PVC, I used 2. I had no idea how to get sprayer fittings into PVC, so I used poly irrigation hose. Worked fine. I also decided to scale up and use two 264gph pumps. At the bottom of my reservoir are two 3" net pot bulkheads, wrapped in panty hose and tied around the pot to act as a root guard. Works great.

For my chiller, I went to advance and bought the cheapest heater core they carry. I think it was sub $24. If you get one make sure the inlets and outlets are the same size. It took me and the dude quite some time to find one with two 5/8" outlets.

I'll have to post some better pictures, but one pump charges directly into the sprayer manifold, the other pump charges directly into the heater core (chiller), then out to the manifold as well. I decided to use a valve on the chiller to control flow and temperature somewhat. I put it in a cooler of ice water, it keeps my temperatures around 67-70°, but if I dump ice cubes in it I can get it down to 57° measured at the bottom of the reservoir. I realize I will need to shield the silicone tubing soon to keep algae from forming. All they had at the Depot was clear tubing. I realize now that I could probably throw a frozen water bottom in the bottom of my reservoir, but this keeps me from ever needing to disturb the tubs. On the other side of my outer tub is a 3/4" hose bib.

Plants started from clones from various dispensaries around town. Some are looking good, some obviously have a deficiency. I'm pretty new to this, so I'm learning as I go. As far nutrients go, I'm using half green air products microbase and half fox farms grow big in a quarter strength solution. Up until today I had been running only ph-balanced tap water. They were yellow when I checked on them this morning. The bigger ones have 8" of thick, healthy white roots. Right now I'm using it to vegetate smaller plants, but I do have another lid for an 8" net pot. Thanks again for the great writeup, here is my setup.