Air-Pot vs standard pot grow from clones. 600w in a tent

[TechnoMage]

def exhausting to the attic passive intakes would be from the tent itself pulling air from the closet, closet is 6x5x9 if needed I guess I'll use the portable ac and a y connector to the tent exhaust...that would work I think

You're taking air out of the closet into the attic. Where is the replacement air coming from?

 

[SirusSirus]

You're taking air out of the closet into the attic. Where is the replacement air coming from?

hmm now that you put it that way I guess I can't just keep pulling passive air from the closet itself...the closet does get fresh air from my room but only through the door itself which looks like this

where else would/could I pull colder air from?

 

[zibra]

GOOD STUFF. I'm in for this one. I'm currently using smart pot but I've seen air pots out perform smart pots.

 

[TechnoMage]

I'm making a few additions to the tent.

1. I'm making dust filters for all the intakes.
2. I'm going to add the second passive intake. My temps are staying below 77 degrees but I'd like to keep them at that level or lower and still be able to turn the fans down a little.

Here is some filter material that came with the carbon filter. You use it on the outside of the filter if you're sucking air into the filter. I'm exhausting air through the filters so I don't need it. Spray painting the inside black did a fantastic job of killing the light reflecting.


Here you can see the flexible duct that is used for the reflector air intake. On the chair I've got a 6" splice, hose clamp and the filter material.


I put the spice inside of the flexible duct to give it some rigidity. Then I just wrapped the filter material around the end and fixed it in place with the hose clamp.

I did the same thing to my one passive intake for the tent that's made out of the semi-rigid hose. I spray painted another semi-rigid hose today and I'll add that to the tent tomorrow night. I'll do the same type of air intake on it.

 

[kevin murphy]

nice additions mate...

 

[GodSlave]

I'm subbed on this one, just what I was looking for as I contemplate spending the cash for the Airpots. Nice looking grow, I'm lovin' my tent too.
Peace out,
GS

 

[7cotton7]

I haven't read through this all yet but I red some of the first page and wanted to mark it so I can read it all when I get home

 

[sicks stuff]

i've .. i believe seen the root-mass light.. root mass = bud mass simple....

in an extreme circumstance, i'm growing in a party cup.. after 5 weeks of 12/12 this was her root-mass... it's pretty obvious she needs some help..

my quote..

the buku bush was feeding good, but looking a little weepy, and not putting on pounds like i'd hoped, the only thing it could be was IMHO root-bound, so i popped the cup today, sliced off a bunch of rootmass, re-aerated the rootmass, and popped her back into a DIY custo-made airpot..

let's see if she picks up some steam to the finish!!!

i realize it's not an airpot per-se... but a variant... let's see how she does...


.

 

[PetFlora]

Contrary to popular belief, a large root mass does NOT necessarily equate to more nute uptake = better bud mass. Low Pressure Aero, DWC, and NFT roots are often reservoir clogging huge, but they lack efficiency. Look at those root pics you will notice that they look like a mass of swollen spaghetti noodles. Sure they grow nice plants, but so much more is being harvested from smaller root structures, where the environment is favorable to the root developing lots of side branches (as seen in the AP video), which CAN then lead to root hairs.

Root Hairs are very tiny and look like fuzzy cotton candy. The amount of surface area is exponentially larger than LP/NFT/DWC roots.

The most efficient root structure is that which develops in a High Pressure Aeroponic environment. I have been using HPA for 5 grows and when all the parameters are dialed in (easier said than done), HPA out performs any other method. I have a journal that started out as all HPA, but due to some unexpected timer issues was going south fast, so I quickly put together a F&D rig, then came across this thread so I bought some APs. My journal is now comparing HPA v Flood & Drain v Air Pot. I moved one near death plant to a 4" AP and after a week of recovery and explosive growth I transferred it to a 1.5G AP. The roots were very similar to HPA roots. AP is a whole different ball game for soil growers. I pulled that plant as it was a male, but was very impressed with how thick the main stalk and primary leaves were. It's actually outside as I plan to cross it with my F&D female. She is 4ft tall and about 3 feet wide, looks like a Christmas tree. Her leaves look very Indica, but she is growing like a Sat. The male looks pure Indica, so the cross should make for shorter plants that are smaller versions of the mother.

Most soil growers use pots that are too small for the size plant the amount of bud they will harvest. Until AP, the rule of thumb was 3 ft plant needs 5G pot. Based on what I saw with my male plant, my gut tells me you can easily grow a 3ft plant in a 1.5-2G AP, That is a huge advantage for many stealth growers, plus the root structure is superior to anything short of HPA.

I have a bunch of clones rooting right now, so my next test will be all the same clones in the 3 different mediums. All will be under the same light as I am using now: a Quantum Bad Boy 8 bulb HO T 5 mixing Quantum Bulbs with coral bulbs. hth

 

[cacamal]

Contrary to popular belief, a large root mass does NOT necessarily equate to more nute uptake = better bud mass. Low Pressure Aero, DWC, and NFT roots are often reservoir clogging huge, but they lack efficiency. Look at those root pics you will notice that they look like a mass of swollen spaghetti noodles. Sure they grow nice plants, but so much more is being harvested from smaller root structures, where the environment is favorable to the root developing fish bone like structures (as seen in the AP video), which CAN lead to root hairs.

Root Hairs are very tiny and look like cotton candy. The amount of surface area is exponentially larger than LP/NFT/DWC rootd

The most efficient root structure is that which develops in a High Pressure Aeroponic environment. I have been using HPA for 5 grows and when all the parameters are dialed in, HPA out performs any other method. I have a journal comparing HPA v Flood & Drain v Air Pot. I started one plant in a 4" AP and after a week transferred it to a 1.5G AP. The roots were very similar to HPA roots. AP is a whole different ball game for soil growers. I pulled that plant as it was a male, but was very impressed with how thick the main stalk , primary leaves were.

Most soil growers use pots that are too small for the size plant. Until AP, the rule of thumb was 3 ft plant needs 5G pot. Based on what I saw with my male plant, my gut tells me you can easily grow a 3ft plant in a 1.5-2G AP, That is a huge advantage, plus the root structure is superior.

I have a bunch of clones rooting right now, so my next test will be all the same clones in the 3 different mediums. All will be under the same light as I am using now: a Quantum Bad Boy 8 bulb HO T 5 mixing Quantum Bulbs with coral bulbs. hth

"Outperforms" is in the eye of beholder. I am not arguing that aero/hydro will not produce a lot of herb but performance in my book is judged by quality and aero/hydro herb is always laking in flavor/smell. I prefer more flavor and smell in my meds so I do not agree that aero "outperforms" but with that said I would like to see your root pics. I clicked on your link but found only pages of discussion on how/when to cycle your res out.

FANTASTIC updates TechnoMage please keep them coming!!

 

[TechnoMage]

@PetFlora, HPA looked very interesting but honestly looked like to much work. I can't remember the guys name on the old hg420 site but he had some photos of the roots he got with HPA and how "fuzzy" they were with root hairs. I'm hoping to achieve something similar while using soil.

"Outperforms" is in the eye of beholder. I am not arguing that aero/hydro will not produce a lot of herb but performance in my book is judged by quality and aero/hydro herb is always laking in flavor/smell. I prefer more flavor and smell in my meds so I do not agree that aero "outperforms" but with that said I would like to see your root pics. I clicked on your link but found only pages of discussion on how/when to cycle your res out.

FANTASTIC updates TechnoMage please keep them coming!!

I admit I prefer the soil taste myself. You can definitely grow some killer weed using hydro but to me soil has more depth to it. Sorta like a bottle of red wine or a pint of vodka, both will get you drunk, how is up to you.

So I'm going to do the switch to flower this weekend.


Here's the plants in the small pots. This was supposed to be my seedling/clone area so they are a little cramped. I'm going to transplant the standard pot and one of the APs into 2 gal containers. One of the APs I'm going to move to a bigger AP and keep as a mother. I want to see how APs do for long term growing. I've kept a mother going for about a year or so in a standard pot but they definitely get root bound.

Haven't decided what I'm going to do with the last AP. I do have a 2.4gal AirPot, maybe I'll toss that into the mix. That would be five 2gal pots in a 2x4 tent with a 600w HPS. Might be to much.


Here's the two in the bigger pots. These will just go into the tent as they are. Which is very bushy.

 

[a mongo frog]

that regular pot plant is looking outstanding. all of them are. but that regular pot is doing great.
how would mother plants do in air pots?

 

[PetFlora]

cacamal: I had an issue with my expensive Sentinel MDT-1 timer. It has 3 settings for the pump side (day/night/24 hour). Unfortunately, there is no indicator on the panel, and mine was set on Day, meaning when night cycle was initiated, it stopped feeding my roots. During 18/6 I was finding wilted plants: during 12/12 they died. I just figured this out a week ago, and am starting over with new clones. This timer issue is why I bought APs and hooked up a F&D rig. I managed to salvage those near death plants. Although the one in the AP is a male, the growth was impressive.

Techno: I intuit that the real AP benefits will show up during Bloom cycle, when the efficiency of the roots to feed the bud sites should become obvious. Yes, HPA is very tweaky. It has taken me quite a bit of "Fail" to get a handle on it, most of this was bulb heat penetrating inside the root chamber (to much heat), the timer problem, and a microbe colony that was blocking my filter. All under control now, but will continue to use F & D and APs until I bring home some HPA harvests that overtake them.

Taste

As to soil tasting better, well, I have one customer who has grown many years in soil, but loves the taste of my product. I think the reason is that I do not not use high concentrations of nutes, nor Bloom boosters. As to smell, jury is still out for this in HPA as other factors play a role, like quality/quantity of lighting. And I only addressed this recently. hth

 

[cacamal]

Not knockin any grow style PetFlora and Im sure some folks love the hydro flavor, nice save on the near-death ladies too!! But as our man TechnoMage said I just prefer the taste of soil and it is all about keeping it simple!!

I really appreciate this sidexside TechnoMage keep the updates coming!!

 

[TechnoMage]

Taste

As to soil tasting better, well, I have one customer who has grown many years in soil, but loves the taste of my product. I think the reason is that I do not not use high concentrations of nutes, nor Bloom boosters. As to smell, jury is still out for this in HPA as other factors play a role, like quality/quantity of lighting. And I only addressed this recently. hth

Just want to clarify, I'm not saying that soil taste better, just that I prefer the taste more. I consider taste to be very subjective.

 

[TechnoMage]

So my temps have leveled out at around 76.5 degrees. I switched the intakes around a little bit so both passive intakes are on the same side. I realized that when I had one of the intakes on the same side as the exhaust that it was sucking a bunch of warm air right back into the the tent. Both my fans are running about 65% or so and are quieter that my single 4" Vortex that's running at full speed in my smaller cab.

 

[DinafemHashPlant]

So have u noticed alot of difference in the air pots? Was gonna order some tomorrow...Also not sure of my medium im gonna use any suggestions???Great setup and grow boss..

 

[PetFlora]

Not knockin any grow style PetFlora and Im sure some folks love the hydro flavor, nice save on the near-death ladies too!! But as our man TechnoMage said I just prefer the taste of soil and it is all about keeping it simple!!

I really appreciate this sidexside TechnoMage keep the updates coming!!

And all I am saying is "How do you know?" Chances are, any hydro weed you have tried was over nuted, and by double or triple. Let's say you like your steak Medium Rare, sprinkled with sea slat and pepper to taste, but someone serves you a steak marinated in double/triple the salt/pepper for 48 hours, totally altering the taste: you probably wouldn't like it either.

 

[cacamal]

And all I am saying is "How do you know?" Chances are, any hydro weed you have tried was over nuted, and by double or triple. Let's say you like your steak Medium Rare, sprinkled with sea slat and pepper to taste, but someone serves you a steak marinated in double/triple the salt/pepper for 48 hours, totally altering the taste: you probably wouldn't like it either.

"I know because of the hydro I have smoked" granted never had one of your buds though and you probably are a world class hydro grower but hydro just cant touch a good soil grow. I realize most soil growers are actually hydro growers using mediums like peat mixed with perlite bagged and labeled as premium "soil". They take this premium soil and nuke it with nutes at least once a week. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking "soil" that is rich in microbes and fungi that have a relationship with the plant. When you feed them and their waste and/or byproduct feeds the plant, this process cannot be beaten by anything that comes out of a bottle. No matter how little or how much you put in. This relationship feeds the plant at the best available levels and gives the plant elements to grow that joe scientist cannot recreate. I appreciate your argument and without knowing you or your herb I will assume you grow a quality product and I recommend keep on doing what you do but no matter how you prepare your steak a vegetarian is going to think it is shit. So as a proponent of organic-"soil" grown bud let us end this debate and let TechnoMage show us how those airpots rock

 

[Treespiker]

Nice looking shrubbery my friend!
It looks like the nodes on the AP compared to the nodes in the traditional pot are closer together and resulted in a shorter plant? Equally as nice of course. What height will the girls be when you flower? Also another question for you, what are you working with for ventilation? Could you give a diagram or description? I'm setting up the same size tent and cool tube lamp,