XGS, Organic Hydroponics, solo cup tray

[KineBoisin420]

Here's my next little project, m8y's.

I got a new tent recently, replacing a very cheap chinese one I bought a few years back. It was in rough shape...just look at one of the corners.

All of the corners had stress cracking to some degree. It was really ready to fall down on me one day soon, for sure! Anyhow, new tent is larger 1" metal poles, all metal connections and corners, so I'm stoked to get going with it.

My newest project is an Organic/Hydroponic hybrid ebb & flow system that I've built and have been testing the last week. I also just added a solo cup tray, as I'm going to use this system for the next Party Cup comp also.

The top buckets are loaded 1/2 up with hydroton, next layered with a 2" layer of coco coir, and the top is a soil/soilless local greenhouse "pro-mix", EWC, guano, and perlite. I'll hand feed organic base nutes along with molasses, and cal/mg as needed.

The bottom system is flooding up to the top of the hydroton with regular H2O for 15min, every 6 hours, and drains back down into the res. The coco coir acts as both a separator between the upper organic system, and the lower hydroponic system. It also acts as a wick, up to the upper system.

Once the roots grow down, they'll push through the coco coir and wrap around the hydroton. The top 1/3 roots are primary nutrient uptake roots, while the lower 2/3 roots are the main H2O drinkers, and will suck up all the lovely earth juice they're fed.

I put in a couple of Plushberry's into the system Saturday, so they'll be the basis of this test run.

They're currently in the veg tent, under T5's, but I'll be moving the whole shemazzle over to the new tent once my Gator arrives and I've got that setup in the new tent, under the XGS and a pair of 46W 2700k T5s for the duration of flowering, and for the entire 5th Party Cup comp.

Looking forward to this little project.



Note: when the party cup comp begins and I germ my beans, I'll take pictures of the layering of the medium and what not, in case anyone's interested in my process.

 

[dojoking]

Here's my next little project, m8y's.

I got a new tent recently, replacing a very cheap chinese one I bought a few years back. It was in rough shape...just look at one of the corners.
View attachment 3209825
All of the corners had stress cracking to some degree. It was really ready to fall down on me one day soon, for sure! Anyhow, new tent is larger 1" metal poles, all metal connections and corners, so I'm stoked to get going with it.

My newest project is an Organic/Hydroponic hybrid ebb & flow system that I've built and have been testing the last week. I also just added a solo cup tray, as I'm going to use this system for the next Party Cup comp also.

The top buckets are loaded 1/2 up with hydroton, next layered with a 2" layer of coco coir, and the top is a soil/soilless local greenhouse "pro-mix", EWC, guano, and perlite. I'll hand feed organic base nutes along with molasses, and cal/mg as needed.

The bottom system is flooding up to the top of the hydroton with regular H2O for 15min, every 6 hours, and drains back down into the res. The coco coir acts as both a separator between the upper organic system, and the lower hydroponic system. It also acts as a wick, up to the upper system.

Once the roots grow down, they'll push through the coco coir and wrap around the hydroton. The top 1/3 roots are primary nutrient uptake roots, while the lower 2/3 roots are the main H2O drinkers, and will suck up all the lovely earth juice they're fed.

I put in a couple of Plushberry's into the system Saturday, so they'll be the basis of this test run.

They're currently in the veg tent, under T5's, but I'll be moving the whole shemazzle over to the new tent once my Gator arrives and I've got that setup in the new tent, under the XGS and a pair of 46W 2700k T5s for the duration of flowering, and for the entire 5th Party Cup comp.

Looking forward to this little project.

View attachment 3209824 View attachment 3209823

Note: when the party cup comp begins and I germ my beans, I'll take pictures of the layering of the medium and what not, in case anyone's interested in my process.

I have been wanting to try something similar after reading about it in this article.

"Organic Hydroponics
A simple way to use organic nutrients with a hydroponic system"

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1534.html

 

[KineBoisin420]

That article was the basis of my inspiration to try this.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Its been a few days since I've posted to this thread...just not too interesting while I'm still vegging the PB's.

I have finally finished the new tent setup, and have installed my fantastic 3rd place prize from last party cup round. If you're looking for a filter, just get a Green Gator, and forget the rest. I'm impressed by the ease of installation (the collar rocks!), and the air quality is superior to what I've been using to this point.

Its a big filter, so I'm glad my new tent's rated for the extra weight. Here she is hung. Everything is snug up there, but solid in place.

Going to be flipping into 12/12 shortly, so the action will get going in here.

 

[KineBoisin420]

And, we're off, Day 1. Everything is fired up and ready to begin. The party cup tray will be filled sometime after the germ window opens.

The PB's are on the left...this is the last run I'm going to do with them for a while. They're super frosty and tasty, but I've only got so much space, and the CBD strains are more important to me, at this point.

I'm doing some pheno hunting on the right this round, under the Apollo. I got some new Z7 beans from MNS and am looking for the CBD queens, and I'm also looking for some females among some NL#5 x Afghani that I planted, which are also MNS genetics. I like Shanti's gear.

 

[KineBoisin420]

I'm thinking the PB's are happy under the XGS, the way they're reaching to the sky like that.

 

[KineBoisin420]

I guess since I'm talking to myself here, pretty much, I'm going to blab on about making some sweet bubble from some PB I ran earlier in the spring - about 100g, plus about 25g of the Love Potion #1 leaning pheno of AL, all of which has been in the freezer for a little time.

Love making bubble from heavy trich strains like PB. Got a ton of heads in the 120 bag and again with the 25 bag, not as much in the bags between.

See how efficient I was in a few days when things dry up.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Back to the current PB's, I stuck my finger down in the soil, trying to get it as low as I could, to see how the lower soil was, moisture-wise. I think the two zones are working effectively, but I doubt the roots have grown down into the bucket far enough yet to take advantage of the water infusion down low. I'm hand watering on top, similar to how I always have in soil.

Growth is steady and unexciting at this stage.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Some fine PB bubble, anyone? Isn't a 10% rate of return a pretty decent extraction rate from a rather inexperienced bubble maker? I've only run bubble a few times.

 

[The Gator]

I guess since I'm talking to myself here, pretty much, I'm going to blab on about making some sweet bubble from some PB I ran earlier in the spring - about 100g, plus about 25g of the Love Potion #1 leaning pheno of AL, all of which has been in the freezer for a little time.

Love making bubble from heavy trich strains like PB. Got a ton of heads in the 120 bag and again with the 25 bag, not as much in the bags between.

See how efficient I was in a few days when things dry up.

Im watching to see how things are going. I don't normally talk much cause i sound like an idiot with anything that doesn't have to do with filtration LOL.

 

[KineBoisin420]

I gotta say, you know your filtration! I am so pleased with my experience with your product, so far. I don't have a massive setup as I just grow solely for my own therapeutic purpose, but plant scent is always a potential issue that I don't take for granted. While my grow area is secured, I can't have errant scents permeating other parts of the house. With the Gator on guard, I'm 100% scent secure.

 

[FrozenChozen]

I don't think I'll ever stray away from gator!

 

[KineBoisin420]

An update at day 6. Growth is coming along nicely. I gave them a couple of shots of cal/mg last week, due to some mild mg def. Seems to have worked. I usually give them regular cal/mg since I switched over to LED, perhaps every 3rd or so watering.


I'm doing some pheno hunting of a MNS NL#5 x Afghani under the Apollo, and sex is showing already on all the plants. Here are a couple of males, that I'm culling. No room for males right now. I did a few rounds of selective breeding in the spring, and have a ton of beans as a result.


I'm considering when to start up my party cups for the comp...I was one of the first out of the gate last round, and one of the first finishers. I think I'll let the eager beavers start up the banter before popping mine in a few days or so.

 

[The Gator]

I gotta say, you know your filtration! I am so pleased with my experience with your product, so far. I don't have a massive setup as I just grow solely for my own therapeutic purpose, but plant scent is always a potential issue that I don't take for granted. While my grow area is secured, I can't have errant scents permeating other parts of the house. With the Gator on guard, I'm 100% scent secure.

I don't think I'll ever stray away from gator!

Thanks guys! We appreciate!

An update at day 6. Growth is coming along nicely. I gave them a couple of shots of cal/mg last week, due to some mild mg def. Seems to have worked. I usually give them regular cal/mg since I switched over to LED, perhaps every 3rd or so watering.

I'm doing some pheno hunting of a MNS NL#5 x Afghani under the Apollo, and sex is showing already on all the plants. Here are a couple of males, that I'm culling. No room for males right now. I did a few rounds of selective breeding in the spring, and have a ton of beans as a result.

I'm considering when to start up my party cups for the comp...I was one of the first out of the gate last round, and one of the first finishers. I think I'll let the eager beavers start up the banter before popping mine in a few days or so.

They are looking good!

 

[KineBoisin420]

They've responded well to the system, so far. And its easy as ever to maintain, since I'm not using the ebb & flow system for any nutrients, only H2O, so no ppm, no ph, no fuss.

 

[sethimus]

what volume do your buckets have?

 

[KineBoisin420]

what volume do your buckets have?

They are 9.5 Litre buckets. I had originally thought of using 13.25L buckets, but I couldn't find any available locally. Only the 9.5L or 18L .

 

[KineBoisin420]

I did the first top up of the H2O bottom res, throwing in a good 10L of earth juice into the res. NIfty little trick...since the solo cup tray was empty, I poured right into there, to drain down to the res.

H2O was still quite clear when I checked the system running, so I'd say the coco barrier between the two zones is doing its job, and I believe I'm pouring the right quantity of nutes on top. I'm trying to get away with as few actual res changes as I can.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Day 12: The stretch is pretty much all but over on the PB's. This is a good pheno of the PB...yields well, tight dense flowers that look like they've been dipped into a vat of trichomes, smells/tastes great, pretty straight forward to grow, not too stretchy. Nice little flowers starting to develop now. They'll finish closer to the XGS than last round, so we'll see if the XGS bleaches the closer flowers...I doubt it tho.


Here's a wide shot of the tent, with my MNS NL#5 x Afghani and Z7 pheno hunting project on the right side, under the Apollo, along with an older Z7 pheno that I've been running the past year. I'm going to be retiring it once I check out the phenos being spit out with my new Z7 beans.


The NL#5xAF shot up during the stretch, but I started them out small, in 3.78Litre pots, to save space while checking out a number of different phenos. I know you all bitch about the Apollo LED's, but mine grows dank. While its not the quality of the XGS, it works for me, so far.


Going to take some clippings this weekend, then focus some attention on getting my party cups going for the comp.

 

[KineBoisin420]

Day 19, and the flowers are developing nicely. Starting to smell a bit inside the tent. Smells lovely!