Tunkers
Well-Known Member
One thing I've discovered since the day I said "Nuts to spending money on something I'm smart enough to grow myself!" is that it really doesn't matter how smart I might think I am, or how much I think I know or have learnt about growing, there is ALWAYS something to challenge you and make you rethink your process or ideas.
My first ever grow, like most peoples, didn't do too well. I assumed from all the word of mouth and general comments I had read regarding growing outdoors that it would be quite simple and nature would take care of most of the work. At the time, quality wasn't of concern. I was a casual toker and just wanted to save money and start a little home project.
My plant grew well. It was a giant Sativa that I had inside a bird aivery. I didn't check soil or anything, just kept it wet and protected. Aphids is what got to it in the end. And boy did they go to town. I managed to save some bud but had to cure too early, resulting in some pretty shitty weed. It was this moment I decided I'd invest more time in research and take a different approach. I wasn't going to let something that was supposed to be easy to do get the better of me.
So along came grow number 2...
After researching and weighing up my options, and because I like a good challenge (clearly) I decided to have a crack at Aeroponics. Hell, the astronauts can do it in space, surely I can do it on Earth! So I went for a cheap approach and made a bucket system. 1 air pump, 1 microjet sprinkler, 1 pale with lid, 1 net pot, nutes and the all important light. Real cheap, real easy. The only obstacles faced attempting this was monitoring everything. My setup was at a farm 15 minutes away. Not knowing if everything was working was difficult, so I used an old iPhone and setup a surveillance with an amazing app called Manything. Was awesome, alerted me when there was movement (light turning on/off) and I could hear whether the sprinkler was running or not.
This grow would have done really well, if it hadn't turned out to be a male.. Mistake I made was gambling on seeds. No idea of strain, no idea of sex. Turned out to be a huge male Sativa which would have eventually struggled with the small LED light I had. Nevertheless, I remained persistent and scored a clone from a mate.
A Nice little Indica cutting was exactly what I needed, but once again, even though I thought I had covered all bases by this time, the poor little girl didn't make it either. Plenty of light, PH perfect, inside away from the nasty pests, on constant monitor to ensure nothing goes wrong... But just because my grow was inside didn't mean it was resistant to pests.. So for the 2nd time my grow was destroyed by aphids. I also naively disregarded the temperature of my grow room. It is now Summer in Australia, and something I didn't have to contend with in the past was heat. The stress on the plant didn't help when I tried to eradicate the bug problem. So back to the drawing board I went....
Which brings me to my improved Aeroponics system and my third attempt. After brainstorming hard, it hit me. Using an old fridge hooked up to a heater / cooler thermostat set at 25C I can control the temperature precisely and isolate the plant from any threats. As of last night, the new setup is done and I got another clone of the delicious looking Indica I scored previously. I am still waiting for the thermostat to arrive so I can control the temperature exactly, but for the time being the fridge is running in conjunction with my sprinkler (15 minutes every 1.5hrs) on the lowest cool settings. Temp has been sitting between 18-28C so far and will adjust Power intervals through monitoring.
I'll upload photos of my entire setup with specs for anyone interested as soon as the Missus gets home from work. Here's a shot from my video feed inside the fridge at the moment. Any feedback or questions are warmly welcomed.
My first ever grow, like most peoples, didn't do too well. I assumed from all the word of mouth and general comments I had read regarding growing outdoors that it would be quite simple and nature would take care of most of the work. At the time, quality wasn't of concern. I was a casual toker and just wanted to save money and start a little home project.
My plant grew well. It was a giant Sativa that I had inside a bird aivery. I didn't check soil or anything, just kept it wet and protected. Aphids is what got to it in the end. And boy did they go to town. I managed to save some bud but had to cure too early, resulting in some pretty shitty weed. It was this moment I decided I'd invest more time in research and take a different approach. I wasn't going to let something that was supposed to be easy to do get the better of me.
So along came grow number 2...
After researching and weighing up my options, and because I like a good challenge (clearly) I decided to have a crack at Aeroponics. Hell, the astronauts can do it in space, surely I can do it on Earth! So I went for a cheap approach and made a bucket system. 1 air pump, 1 microjet sprinkler, 1 pale with lid, 1 net pot, nutes and the all important light. Real cheap, real easy. The only obstacles faced attempting this was monitoring everything. My setup was at a farm 15 minutes away. Not knowing if everything was working was difficult, so I used an old iPhone and setup a surveillance with an amazing app called Manything. Was awesome, alerted me when there was movement (light turning on/off) and I could hear whether the sprinkler was running or not.
This grow would have done really well, if it hadn't turned out to be a male.. Mistake I made was gambling on seeds. No idea of strain, no idea of sex. Turned out to be a huge male Sativa which would have eventually struggled with the small LED light I had. Nevertheless, I remained persistent and scored a clone from a mate.
A Nice little Indica cutting was exactly what I needed, but once again, even though I thought I had covered all bases by this time, the poor little girl didn't make it either. Plenty of light, PH perfect, inside away from the nasty pests, on constant monitor to ensure nothing goes wrong... But just because my grow was inside didn't mean it was resistant to pests.. So for the 2nd time my grow was destroyed by aphids. I also naively disregarded the temperature of my grow room. It is now Summer in Australia, and something I didn't have to contend with in the past was heat. The stress on the plant didn't help when I tried to eradicate the bug problem. So back to the drawing board I went....
Which brings me to my improved Aeroponics system and my third attempt. After brainstorming hard, it hit me. Using an old fridge hooked up to a heater / cooler thermostat set at 25C I can control the temperature precisely and isolate the plant from any threats. As of last night, the new setup is done and I got another clone of the delicious looking Indica I scored previously. I am still waiting for the thermostat to arrive so I can control the temperature exactly, but for the time being the fridge is running in conjunction with my sprinkler (15 minutes every 1.5hrs) on the lowest cool settings. Temp has been sitting between 18-28C so far and will adjust Power intervals through monitoring.
I'll upload photos of my entire setup with specs for anyone interested as soon as the Missus gets home from work. Here's a shot from my video feed inside the fridge at the moment. Any feedback or questions are warmly welcomed.
