input on new perpetual grow

[TL4]

right now I am just finishing up my current scrog grow and I am looking to start a perpetual grow to hopefully harvest every 2 weeks. My flower room is 5x9 running 2000w, drip hydro in stacked 4" cubes. My idea is to put 4or 6 plants in every 15 days to end up with either 8 or 12 under a light. I currently have 2 3x4 trays in there so I can move around the plants in the tight space. My thoughts were to get 2 3x2 trays so that one quarter of my room could be running veg nutes for the first period of flowering and the other 2x3 would run nutes for flowering. My other issue is climatizing the new batch to the 1000w light. I don't want to have to be moving the light up and down and dimming it all the time. Maybe a lower table height?

I am happy with my current scrog grow but it is too tight and the 4' depth is a pain in the ass and watching individual plants grow is much more satisfying to me

 

[supdro]

I like the idea I'm currently doing something similar I'm going perpetual. Only issue I see with Your Design is you want to have different nutes with putting in a different stage plants..may be confusing IMO. If you run every 3 weeks you're putting in new plants may be better while running 9-week strain. The 1k..wouldn't worry about it unless you having heat issues. Any pics? Happy growing

 

[The_Enthusiast]

I firmly believe that it's kind of a hoax to change NPK ratio during flower phase, as it's not used in general greenhouse (food and flower) business.
Try to reach 100N-90P-200K-60Mg-(180-240)Ca + other elements (but include your water if you aren't using filtered water) in whole flowering stage and maybe flush it last week.

 

[chemphlegm]

my lights changes never caused an issue.
maybe keep one tray in flower with a dialed down light if its concerning you? that tray could be for newcomers only

 

[whitey78]

I firmly believe that it's kind of a hoax to change NPK ratio during flower phase, as it's not used in general greenhouse (food and flower) business.
Try to reach 100N-90P-200K-60Mg-(180-240)Ca + other elements (but include your water if you aren't using filtered water) in whole flowering stage and maybe flush it last week.

I'll be up front and honest I just got into running hydro, also in a perpetual manner; I'm getting there but the kinks of a new garden location like different water for one have caused some speed bumps not to mention I have been growing in organic, "water only" highly amended soil for years and have just jumped into the water so to speak... but I as a layman have no idea what your numbers mean, obviously it's to do with amounts of elements and I couldn't even begin to guess what they mean... but I have to disagree with you on the effect of nutrient differences throughout the course of flowering....

My first run in food tables, sog style with zero veg clones, I went half dose of the manufacturers amounts (blue planet nutrients 3 part, basically the same thing as general hydros 3 part but better imo) and I got very short plants, tallest was maybe 8"... next run, same strain... I used another growers amounts who runs a similar grow with the same brand of nutes....that are geared more like a veg formula and by the time I hit week 3 when I changed to a more flowering based formula similar to the manufacturers suggestions, my shortest plant is 16-18"...

In a sog style grow, or honestly any synthetic bottle fed grow, soil or hydro I feel you gotta run a full on veg formula for at least the first 2 if not 3 weeks, or if you can read your plants; once they start bud setting and stop stretching switch it up... it's the only way to get the max stretch out of the plants... especially with lesser veg times it's honestly necessary to get as much stretch as possible...

Now as far as getting your perpetual on a 2 week flip, you need to get your cloning game on point and you need to find an 8 week +/- strain and you need 4 trays or way to run 4 separate nute regiments... you can get away with 3 but one tray will need to be able to hold double the amount of plants your trying to rotate in and out... for a 3-5 week period you can run the 2 rotations at the same nute regiment... weeks 1 to 3 in one, weeks 3 to 6 or 7 in the double and the last week or 2 in the last tray with the batch ready to be outgoing... it would be way easier with 4 trays for separation but even myself due to high expectations I fucked myself by buying a 4x4 and a 4x2 to start and it wasn't enough, I just picked up a 2nd 4x2 but now I have to rebuild all my table supports/frames to get everything to fit in the room.... my 3rd rotation is about to come out and I'm gonna say it's gonna take at least another 2-3 maybe 4 go rounds to get it on that 2 week schedule... I initially wanted to run 10 day rotations but it's just not realistic without some $$$ upgrading that isn't gonna happen at the moment...

I plan on putting together a journal but I just don't have the time right now... basically I'm rebuilding and shrinking everything to make it work in my space and I've been going for like a month straight in trial and error mode but it's coming together and after I nail this down I'll be able to maximize my yields in any grow method or space.... I didn't want to switch to hydro but I'm glad I did, it's another method of growing/skill set that makes me a better grower in the end...

I'm not sure when I'll get that journal together seeing on top of the logistics of making this new method, grow space and all that work I have probably a dozen phenos I'm trying to work through but once I get everything on point I'll put together a journal....

 

[supdro]

Very true bro but you know I like your idea as it said I'm doing the same thing I run Dynapro Foliage Pro in one 4x2 ebb tray and next week starting 4x4 on veg and Bloom. I throw plants in when they are tall enough

 

[tyler.durden]

Hey, op. I'm doing what you seem to be talking about in a similar sized space (8 x 6.5 x 8h). I replicated Al B. Fuct's set up as closely as possible with less space than he had.

Everything is in the same small room.

Here's my light-proof veg tent. I have a dozen mom's in the tray above -

And room for a 36 site aero cloner and rooted clones in cups below -

In the flowering space I have 4 trays, each containing 22 sog plants, under 1600 watts pf HPS (2 trays under a 600w, and 2 under 1000w) -

new plants in tray 1 -

Week 6 plants just moved to tray 4 -

I use Dutchmaster Gold nutes, and Zone to keep it sterile. I use the flowering nutes for the moms in the veg tent, as well as for all trays. Full strength nutes for everything, and full light for the newly rooted clones into tray 1. They'll be fine as long as the have a great spray of roots. Moms are nice dark green, and my clones seem to root faster with lower N. They get about 33% fatter in the last 2 weeks of their 8 week cycle. I harvest 11 oz. every 2 weeks, and sell it all retail to a small, discerning clientele for $350-$480 an oz. I pull in around $100k from my little room, and my shit is uber dank.

You really do have to have your cloning game on point for a sog perpetual, I've tried many different ways, but I now use pool shock for sterile cloning and dip n grow. I like my results...

I'm cutting my clones pretty big these days, been getting more yield out of my sog...

My op been dialed in for 5 years. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions...

 

[TL4]

I have a separate veg room so I was thinking of doing fewer large plants instead of a sog. I am looking to keep it simple as possible and I can easily veg for a long time and not have to deal with so many clones. I'm kinda thinking either 2 or 4 plants every 15 days into the bloom room. I see a lot of guys claiming to get 10 oz a plant and if I could get near that I would be happy.
You are the first person who is suggesting using th same nutes strength throughout bloom. I have a 3x2 tray I was thinking to run veg nutes for the first 15 days of a plants bloom phase then have the rest of my trays run off of one Rez runnning full strength bloom nutes, opposed to a lot of input I am getting suggesting I need to tailor the nutes to each phase of growth. To flush I can hand water the plants finishing up. This all seems about as easy as it gets. I grow drip in rock wool if I didn't mention that.
I wish I could get 350 an oz. top quality stuff goes for 220 a zip around here, or less. I'm in Ontario

 

[supdro]

Hey, op. I'm doing what you seem to be talking about in a similar sized space (8 x 6.5 x 8h). I replicated Al B. Fuct's set up as closely as possible with less space than he had.

Everything is in the same small room.

Here's my light-proof veg tent. I have a dozen mom's in the tray above -

And room for a 36 site aero cloner and rooted clones in cups below -

In the flowering space I have 4 trays, each containing 22 sog plants, under 1600 watts pf HPS (2 trays under a 600w, and 2 under 1000w) -

new plants in tray 1 -

Week 6 plants just moved to tray 4 -

I use Dutchmaster Gold nutes, and Zone to keep it sterile. I use the flowering nutes for the moms in the veg tent, as well as for all trays. Full strength nutes for everything, and full light for the newly rooted clones into tray 1. They'll be fine as long as the have a great spray of roots. Moms are nice dark green, and my clones seem to root faster with lower N. They get about 33% fatter in the last 2 weeks of their 8 week cycle. I harvest 11 oz. every 2 weeks, and sell it all retail to a small, discerning clientele for $350-$480 an oz. I pull in around $100k from my little room, and my shit is uber dank.

You really do have to have your cloning game on point for a sog perpetual, I've tried many different ways, but I now use pool shock for sterile cloning and dip n grow. I like my results...

I'm cutting my clones pretty big these days, been getting more yield out of my sog...

My op been dialed in for 5 years. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions...

Good-looking room brother have a very similar to mine. For your pool shock what is your recipe in your cloner? Plus how do you like growing in perlite? You do ebb & flow right?

 

[tyler.durden]

Good-looking room brother have a very similar to mine. For your pool shock what is your recipe in your cloner? Plus how do you like growing in perlite? You do ebb & flow right?

I use double the amount of calcium hypochlorite (pool shock) I read about, so I do 1 gram per half gallon to make the shock solution. I add about 5 ml per gallon of this solution per gallon of cloner rez water, so 15 ml of solution to the cloner every 3 days. No splitting or scraping the clone stems, I just dip them in dip n grow for about a minute each for a really thick root cluster. I do flood and drain, so easy and nearly as productive as my old dwc set up. Perlite is awesome, virtually impossible to over water and super cheap, but holds enough nute solution in the pots for about 3 days in case a pump fails. I put a thin layer of grow cubes at the bottom of each pot to keep the perlite from falling out, and I only need to flood once a day. Do you also grow in perlite?

 

[tyler.durden]

I have a separate veg room so I was thinking of doing fewer large plants instead of a sog. I am looking to keep it simple as possible and I can easily veg for a long time and not have to deal with so many clones. I'm kinda thinking either 2 or 4 plants every 15 days into the bloom room. I see a lot of guys claiming to get 10 oz a plant and if I could get near that I would be happy.
You are the first person who is suggesting using th same nutes strength throughout bloom. I have a 3x2 tray I was thinking to run veg nutes for the first 15 days of a plants bloom phase then have the rest of my trays run off of one Rez runnning full strength bloom nutes, opposed to a lot of input I am getting suggesting I need to tailor the nutes to each phase of growth. To flush I can hand water the plants finishing up. This all seems about as easy as it gets. I grow drip in rock wool if I didn't mention that.
I wish I could get 350 an oz. top quality stuff goes for 220 a zip around here, or less. I'm in Ontario

I learned about the same nute strength throughout from Al B. Fuct. You can, of course, dick around with custom ppms for your different tanks/phases of growth, but I'm lazy and like to keep it as simple as possible. Remember that your clones are fully mature plants identical to their mom, so they were getting full strength while on the mom. If growing new plants from seed I would ramp up the nute strength slowly, but not clones. Drip is cool, but nothing easier or more reliable than F&D imo. $350 per oz. is a bargain here in the midwest, $400 is more common for top shelf dank, but I have suburban custies that don't mind paying $480. God bless 'em

 

[Tim Fox]

this grow is so cool,,, pulling a chair

 

[The_Enthusiast]

I'll be up front and honest I just got into running hydro, also in a perpetual manner; I'm getting there but the kinks of a new garden location like different water for one have caused some speed bumps not to mention I have been growing in organic, "water only" highly amended soil for years and have just jumped into the water so to speak... but I as a layman have no idea what your numbers mean, obviously it's to do with amounts of elements and I couldn't even begin to guess what they mean... but I have to disagree with you on the effect of nutrient differences throughout the course of flowering....

My first run in food tables, sog style with zero veg clones, I went half dose of the manufacturers amounts (blue planet nutrients 3 part, basically the same thing as general hydros 3 part but better imo) and I got very short plants, tallest was maybe 8"... next run, same strain... I used another growers amounts who runs a similar grow with the same brand of nutes....that are geared more like a veg formula and by the time I hit week 3 when I changed to a more flowering based formula similar to the manufacturers suggestions, my shortest plant is 16-18"...

In a sog style grow, or honestly any synthetic bottle fed grow, soil or hydro I feel you gotta run a full on veg formula for at least the first 2 if not 3 weeks, or if you can read your plants; once they start bud setting and stop stretching switch it up... it's the only way to get the max stretch out of the plants... especially with lesser veg times it's honestly necessary to get as much stretch as possible...

The numbers are exact (absolute) number of element:
The expression "1 ppm" means a given solute exists at a concentration of one part per million parts of the solution. These are two common ways to think about what the concentration "1 ppm" means:

a) it is one-millionth of a gram per gram of sample solution.
b) it is one gram of solute per million grams of sample solution.

Notice that the more general word 'part' is used above, but 'gram' is used in (a) and (b) just above. This is because 'gram' is used almost exclusively when parts per million is used.

OK now on premixed liquid fertilizers, everyone i checked (and tried to calculate real PPM) wasn't in sync with general hydroponic high feed (most of them have sometimes with "PK boost" 2x of high feed...).

The thing is in greenhouse business they don't have "formula" for each week of flower/bloom/generic phase.

I saw some tomato, lettuce, strawberry research when they tried holding EC 4.0, and the thing they found out is this (i can quote the book but l8ter if someone is interested):

Lettuce that is 30 day crop was fine with EC 4.0 for these 30 days, but tomato wasn't because his generic ("bloom") phase can and does last longer. If i remember correctly EC about 2.2 was OK for tomato for a long time (half year I believe).

So I still believe (this is from experience and extended reading/learning) that you can have EC 1.9-2.1 through the whole 10+1 week bloom in DWC. You only need to watch each element max ppm if you don't cross it you will be fine (but you cant hold EC 2.0 with premixed liquid fertilizers because they have to large P or K or who knows what)

 

[TL4]

So I started my new grow journal that will chronicle my perpetual grow. Stop by my new thread as things get going. Input and critique is always appreciated


https://www.rollitup.org/t/perpetual-grow-setup.931173/