FlowaMasta's Methodology @ How to Grow Monster pound plants!!! ( Jack H X Skunk )

damiana · Mar 22, 2013

Flowa, I am totally new to this and very confused but very interested please help.

I need help understanding your water rez system, tubing and drip system.

From what I've read you have a submersible water pump in the rez pumping water to the drip line, this drips through a 50 liter bucket filled with perlite right?

The water drips from this uppermost bucket into the bottom 50 liter bucket through four large holes and a potsock?

Then the water in the bottom bucket drains back to the rez via gravity? Is that why the buckets are up on the wooden table-setup you got pictured?

And this system runs for 15 minutes every two hours? And you add your nutrients and let it run for 7 days?

You then drain away the rez, fill it with fresh water and flush with water for 24 hours?

Then drain that water and add new water with new nutrients that will now run another 7 days (and so no and so forth?)?

But where is the air stone? How does the air stone provide oxygen to the roots if its not in the top most bucket?

What water pump and air pump are you using?

I really appreciate all the time you put into this thread and would very much appreciate some clarification on this.

Warm Regards,

Damiana

flowamasta · Mar 22, 2013

ebaneward said:
I got good quality medical kush,clones and seeds
I can supply many different medical strains.
we have both sativa and Indica dominant .
DELIVERY IS DISCRETE AND SAFE.
24HRS DELIVERY PROMPT.

how about you go and get a life??? I bet there's gonna be a few who agree. Now, let the embarrassment happen and hope noone actually knows you. Thanx for your waste of time in my valuable thread....... Now move along as noone cares for your clones you may have better luck mowing lawns. Way to jack a thread..... Stranger.

Reason for my reply. This 'stranger' obviously didn't care for the thread, only using its views for MAYBE his own benefit. Aren't i glad i learnt NOT to actually talk to strangers lol

flowamasta · Mar 22, 2013

eastcoastmo said:
Dude, you know I love watching your grows, they are truly inspiring and the info you give out is so spot on! Mrs Flowa sounds like a true gem bro, so glad you have someone like that! i'm equally blessed with Mrs Easty, she keeps me grounded

Dude, get on the high times submission hey, I'd so love to see your photos and story on there! the email addy is edit.[email protected] just send them a quick story of what you do etc and some sample pics, i reckon they'd drool over your photos as we all do

Man thanx for that compliment! Mrs flowa really is a gem, even when she tries not to be

Sounds like yours is a bit of a hippie too

I truly thankyou for the email, i will seriously look into sending them some photos

Firstly i'll be looking into getting their magazine over here!!

Thanx again! Flo.

Mohican said:
Look at that liquid sunshine! I see some major hash in your future

I most definitely agree with you! looking like my most potent yet! I'm going for rip with her, but here's the thing. She has to be DONE by 55 days. Thats right. 55 DAYS Because the next day is my inspection unless i pull some kind of magic show..... but i've had good luck soo far so why not some more eh??

cheers for being here Mo, and back on seeds, i found a couple on the outdoor soo far! only the odd rare big one, but i squeezed it out and it was still greenish, so i'm guessing they will brown up a little over the drying process if there's not already some mature seeds in there. Jack may not be lost after all. Long live Jack x Skunk. Thankyou SUN

damiana said:
Flowa, I am totally new to this and very confused but very interested please help.

I need help understanding your water rez system, tubing and drip system.

From what I've read you have a submersible water pump in the rez pumping water to the drip line, this drips through a 50 liter bucket filled with perlite right?

The water drips from this uppermost bucket into the bottom 50 liter bucket through four large holes and a potsock?

Then the water in the bottom bucket drains back to the rez via gravity? Is that why the buckets are up on the wooden table-setup you got pictured?

And this system runs for 15 minutes every two hours? And you add your nutrients and let it run for 7 days?

You then drain away the rez, fill it with fresh water and flush with water for 24 hours?

Then drain that water and add new water with new nutrients that will now run another 7 days (and so no and so forth?)?

But where is the air stone? How does the air stone provide oxygen to the roots if its not in the top most bucket?

What water pump and air pump are you using?

I really appreciate all the time you put into this thread and would very much appreciate some clarification on this.

Warm Regards,

Damiana

You are mostly correct

and a nice start i might add!

The air stone is placed inside the separate res outside the tent, this keeps the entire nutrients oxygenated at all times, constantly pulling in fresh air from a different room. My water pump is a 900-1100 litre an hour. Regarding flushing i fill the pot by closing the system off at the bottom of the pots and filling to the brim of the bottom pot, this soaks the system all the way upto the bottom of the rockwool cube. The rest is soaked up like a wick as to not drown the rockwool cube. I then dump the water straight away not letting it back through the root system and straight down the drain, its only the last of the nutrient by then, topping up is only needed once or twice depending on grow period.
The air pump is a fish tank rated for atleast a 5 foot aquarium, you want to oxygenate and agitate the system so it keeps everything mixed. The perlite is Sufficient alone at providing the maximum amount of oxygen needed for FAST growth. It does need watering frequently to maintain ph and ratio of water/air, so an auto feed system is recommended so it stays consistent, and doesn't start to build up salt. I

eastcoastmo · Mar 22, 2013

Yeah bro, my Mrs and her whole family are chilled out hippie like people, very smart people but just chilled

Ah do you dump your flush water as soon as it fills up bro? Ive been letting mine sit full for 1-2hrs..you reckon i should start dumping it as soon as its full?

Also when you flush at the very end how long do you flush for? Are you a week flush person?

Cheers man

oh yeah, pretty sure HT is only an order mag too from overseas, havent found anywhere but hydro shops that sell it here

Oo S0uP oO · Mar 22, 2013

^^^I dont like the idea of cutting my roots off from ALL oxygen for 2 hours I think that they start to suffocate after 25 Min or so (read that somewhere) Just my personal opinion. -S0uP

eastcoastmo · Mar 22, 2013

Hmm interesting Soup...i would've thought that there'd be enough dissolved oxygen in the fresh water to sustain it for 2hrs during a flush...

Oo S0uP oO · Mar 22, 2013

That may be true MO, Im not at all sure what DO shelf life is in any given water source and Im sure its independent to your particular environment (I need to do some research), but I have just set up a flood and drain system similar to both flowa's and yours for the first time except mine keeps a reservoir in the bottom of my container with airstones both in my external res and my container holding the perlite So its kinda a Flood drain/Hempy/DWC and while investigating feed schedules I read somewhere that although feeding schedules vary it isnt ever recommended that you submerge roots for more than 30 min or so with out the use of an airstone, just what I read this isnt from any personal experience so you know how that goes. I guess Im as interested as you to see what others that run flowas system have to say.-S0uP

flowamasta · Mar 22, 2013

eastcoastmo said:
Yeah bro, my Mrs and her whole family are chilled out hippie like people, very smart people but just chilled

Ah do you dump your flush water as soon as it fills up bro? Ive been letting mine sit full for 1-2hrs..you reckon i should start dumping it as soon as its full?

Also when you flush at the very end how long do you flush for? Are you a week flush person?

Cheers man

oh yeah, pretty sure HT is only an order mag too from overseas, havent found anywhere but hydro shops that sell it here

Awesome

sounds like you have a comfy life! thats what life's about.

i might let the water run through the system for 5-10 mins, but i try not to now, as it had only a minor benefit with the extra soaking time, its probably not going to be a real issue for 1-2 hours, but that will limit the oxygen only because water itself will be less oxygen than the moist perlite alone, but minimal difference. If you have an air stone in your actual pot systems aswell i don't see why it wouldn't keep the system extra oxygenated but if you let the airstone dry out at all at any point it may clog up with salts. As long as you don't have too much salt build up, when you flush by filling the whole system, this washes out the medium really well, and after 1-2 fillings depending on clarity of the flushed water, most of it looks drinkable its that clean. By watering from the top down with rings or horse shoe feeders allows for a fairly even distribution of water and if you have a fast enough pump, the entire medium will be soaked not a problem.

My end flush has always been around 5 days minimum upto 7-10 but i think that is overkill with my experience now, I say no more than 6-7 days or you risk the buds final swelling stage. Going straight to tap water will result in a dramatic ph spike so always on the lookout for burnt tips, if i see them i buffer the water with a mild solution of base bloom A+B and some soluble form of potassium ( suga rush ) or a high phosphorous nutrient like Swell or even some mollases based product A bit of extra sugar never hurt cannabis

. Ph'd water in my opinion is not needed nor wanted during the final stage, buffered water seems to work better and makes the plant look 'full' and not starving looking like not much happening. All stages in this system move VERY fast including the ripening stages.

I'll be querying a few shops soon! i completely forgot about that mag for a few too many years! Thanx again, hugely appreciated

Oo S0uP oO said:
^^^I dont like the idea of cutting my roots off from ALL oxygen for 2 hours I think that they start to suffocate after 25 Min or so (read that somewhere) Just my personal opinion. -S0uP

eastcoastmo said:
Hmm interesting Soup...i would've thought that there'd be enough dissolved oxygen in the fresh water to sustain it for 2hrs during a flush...

You are both semi right

But keeping in mind this system is very similar in fashion to that of an aeroponics. The Water is oxygenated therefore the roots are not needing the same environment as roots that are in soil based pots. Being a mix of water/air roots they become very adaptive of both worlds, But its also a balanced science to it all in that you don't want too much of either water or air roots, so the trick is to continually boost root development the entire way through the medium, this is easily done because perlite is very coarse, and there are many gaps where roots can travel. The roots don't bung up easily as they can travel in every which direction.
Roots have 2 characteristics, like the beginnings of a seedling grown plant where the single tap root comes out of the seed. This is a 'water' root, its job is to source more water for life, not air at this stage the root can survive in JUST water. Once it finds its source of water, it hopes to come in contact with something to attach itself as an anchor, this is so it can have something to hold itself up so the seedling can expose itself to more light. This stage is where root hairs will begin, they grow like mould or a fungus, it is very much 'alive' Too much of anything will only stunt things and cause the roots to continue on their 'water' stage path and grow slowly. The trick is to get as many root hairs as you can. which then branch into more water roots, and between each feeding where the medium dries out a little the root hairs will flourish in the perfectly moist environment. The root hairs will take on MUCH more water than the Water roots, this sounds strange but once you understand the 2 different kinds of roots it does make sense. Root hairs grow fast, VERY fast. The perlite is an awesome hydro medium because it stays so perfectly moist but not too moist, it does take a little practice to find the right balance and it changes all year round with temperature variations and other elements.
So!!! all in all, hopefully my babble is making sense!!

This is why 'aeroponics' is also an extremely fast way of hydro, as the trick is to create both air and water roots, and oxygenating being the Important factor. More roots = Bigger plant. Bigger Plant = Bigger :lol:

and that means......

More..... ehem.... happy high people

eastcoastmo · Mar 22, 2013

Dude! Awesome info as always hey and very much appreciated! I think i'll go down the route of flushing for a short time and then drain and refill with nutes, sounds logical to me mate

rock on champion!!

Oo S0uP oO · Mar 22, 2013

I would have to agree its fast! These two pics are taken of my rooted clones on the frist day in there new environment and then again on the 8th day AND I topped them! Although I did dig them up to check on there root systems and was a bit disappointing that it wasn't more substantial (They are all very white and healthy looking though) should be time to start bending them over for training soon! -S0uP

flowamasta · Mar 22, 2013

eastcoastmo said:
Dude! Awesome info as always hey and very much appreciated! I think i'll go down the route of flushing for a short time and then drain and refill with nutes, sounds logical to me mate rock on champion!!

Yeah thats what i used to do, sometimes even now, only i try not to, only because i have a bad memory and i might go off and get my camera or be looking at the buds, then next thing you know....... dripping down the sides of the inside pot!, but usually i'm there now, with a small led torch to watch the level come right up to the top then i open the tap Before i turn the pump off.

Oo S0uP oO said:
I would have to agree its fast! These two pics are taken on the frist day in there new environment and then again on the 8th day AND I topped them! Although I did dig them up to check on there root systems and was a bit disappointing that it wasn't more substantial (They are all very white and healthy looking though) should be time to start bending them over for training soon! -S0uPView attachment 2582017 View attachment 2582018

Excellent growth man, they are indeed spicy looking babies

If you are worried the root growth is a little behind, just wait a bit till that cube is full of roots

you can play with the watering schedule also, the system responds almost immediately to even small changes. Sometimes babies want less frequent watering, but still maintaining the right ratio in the perlite so maybe every 4-5 hours or even 6 hours which would be about as far as i'd go before i got worried about salt build up. Less water might encourage the root hairs to come out so in a few days you will notice a nice growth spurt as the roots will explode with life each and every watering. I think also because this system is such a gentle way on the roots that they don't get damaged during watering, very fine root hairs can be squashed, flattened or all together start over again simply through over watering in a coco/soil or tough medium. The perlite simply soaks it all up, you can imagine below the surface what's happening.... imagine is time lapse sped up, each watering/feeding the water roots come out this is the 'branching' of roots. The more often we feed, the more water roots we make. Letting them dry out between each feeding is what cause the fast growth, when those little root hairs are growing they are also sucking up huge amounts of moisture at the same time. The water roots come out to party, and then the root hairs come out and clean up all the mess

Like a Mop

Constant feedings encourage mostly water roots, resting will increase the need for more water so when its the root hairs job they have more surface area and Vital locations where all the water runs, so they know where to go, keep them healthy with a good system, watch for leaf vigor, early on its harder to tell ofcourse with clones being very temperamental while adjusting to a new home. Being an easy reliable system though, the transition is over so fast you won't even see it happening without daily photos. Its that fast.

Once those roots know what ratio to make and they have their routine, Its GO TIME. weed seems to adapt really well to routine feedings you can almost train their growth speed, depending on what lighting you use!

i'll try to remember my Amsterdam baby girl i cut just before flowering, i have her growing in a small tub a simple flow thru design which i water on a daily basis by hand. While they are in this system i can keep the water roots growing a long time. Creating root hairs in a small tub with a clone is tricky to maintain the right roots. Easy to get root rot with root hairs, as the bacteria grows quickly when it warms up so keeping it fresh with new water daily helps greatly

I don't oxygenate the clones water as i have it in a 80% hydroton and some small fine perlite. and i do not let the roots fall thru to the bottom by removing the cube every few days and lifting it all back up and carefully placing it back in and surround it with the same hydroton. Such an easy medium to work with. couldn't do that with soil 5 times over without drastically damaging the clones...

Daaaaaaaaamn, i'm only 3 colas trimmed

and that took a couple of hours!!! The rest of the plant is growing some nice purple flowers, almost at that extreme ripeness stage. really piney skunky aroma now!! still another 8 large colas on the plant, and ALL THE small stuff is still growing on it, and looking awesome!!! Can't wait for the inddor either!! maaaaaan going to be some absolute Chronic, looking like taking first place in my books, not in terms of yield, but then again its looking like alot more than 5 oscars! more like 10.... Geeeeeeeeez i better get trimming this outtie bush!

eastcoastmo · Mar 22, 2013

Man you are a fountain of great knowledge man

love reading your posts!!

I've got my system feeding every 4 hours for 20mins and then once during lights off for 15 mins. Do you reckon i should be feeding more regularly? I used to go every 3 hours for 15 mins and grew some good buds, i was just terrified of over watering so thought every 4 hours would be sufficient...

Shaggn · Mar 23, 2013

Oo S0uP oO said:
^^^I dont like the idea of cutting my roots off from ALL oxygen for 2 hours I think that they start to suffocate after 25 Min or so (read that somewhere) Just my personal opinion. -S0uP

I had an outdoor spot that got flooded and my young plants (about 1ft tall) were completely under water for about 4 days and still survived and thrived. Cannabis is a very agile plant and doesn't give into death as easily as one would think. Not calling ya out Oo S0uP oO, as that is good advice and on an indoor controlled enviro I also wouldn't recommend long periods of submerged roots. Peace!!

eastcoastmo said:
Man you are a fountain of great knowledge man love reading your posts!!

I agree 110% on your post ECMo. Flowa must have a massive brain to hold all that knowledge

flowamasta · Mar 23, 2013

eastcoastmo said:
Man you are a fountain of great knowledge man love reading your posts!!

I've got my system feeding every 4 hours for 20mins and then once during lights off for 15 mins. Do you reckon i should be feeding more regularly? I used to go every 3 hours for 15 mins and grew some good buds, i was just terrified of over watering so thought every 4 hours would be sufficient...

lol

maybe but mostly all my knowledge is based on plants

I'm a dead giveaway to the non smoker so my working resume is somewhat limited, until this all becomes legal anyway hehe

But thanx man!!

you're a funny bloke thats for sure, regarding feed regularity it really depends on your weather ( or tent temps should i say ) If its on the hot side of things i would say feed more often so the top layer of perlite doesn't dry out, a neat way to test ( set your alarm ) have a look by digging up the top layer of the perlite JUST before it's about to feed again during the hottest time of the day ofcourse. If its dry you need to feed more often. But if its wet wet, like you can literally see water on the top, the you need to back it off. The top layer should be JUST moist dig down around 2-3 cm it should start to feel a little gritty and wet there. This is where the nutrient will be filtering through and the salts slowly break down there, so thats the good spot to go on.

every 3 hours is not a problem either, just during night times, they don't drink as much so its not as necessary and the heat from the lamp isnt evaporating the top layer of perlite. But its a good thing to keep consistency if you are having trouble maintaining ph levels. keep in mind the more you water the more the res will heat up, You can always have your res in another room if you trust all your connections, but keeping things in 1 room is safe i literally have my res blocking my bedroom doorway.

Most soft wood plants are pretty much the same.... i've JUST realized i'm giving my indoor Swell 1 week early!!, now not that is a huge problem, but what's happening now is my plant is ripening a little quicker than i would normally go, But this may work in my favour as this is a 6 week flowering hybrid this Amster Gold so flowering is going to be over earlier than i thought so swelling at this stage is probably a good idea. I'm about to go and check too

has it been a few day since the indoor update? i'm too high to remember, i don't even know what day it is... But i shouldn't either i'm not a bloody iphone

Shaggn said:
I had an outdoor spot that got flooded and my young plants (about 1ft tall) were completely under water for about 4 days and still survived and thrived. Cannabis is a very agile plant and doesn't give into death as easily as one would think. Not calling ya out Oo S0uP oO, as that is good advice and on an indoor controlled enviro I also wouldn't recommend long periods of submerged roots. Peace!!

I agree 110% on your post ECMo. Flowa must have a massive brain to hold all that knowledge

Thats sounds like you have some hardy strains

I lost a few to floods when i was young but i did plant them on a hill

BTW i'm getting high on Fresh Jack x Skunk! ( wait read on!!) i just mulled up the tiniest bud all wet and sticky and vaporized it in the volcano at 200 degrees

WOW what a sweet tasting hit

and such a cerebral floaty high! oohh hang on..... and a nice heavy whack of relaxation has just tapped me on the head i feel like someones palm is resting on the back of my head. WOW I AM STONED . haven't vaped fresh bud in a long time. makes me want to piut a branch in the freezer lol

That is awesome. 185 degrees wasn't enough. 200 and Whack. Thick white vapor. Bliss.
back soon i'm on a merry highhhhhhhhhhh and i'm going to check the greasiest plant i've EVER grown.

I better go check the indoor! i got so much weed smells happening right now. Poor neighbours.

eastcoastmo · Mar 23, 2013

Thanks heaps again bro

Just checked the pot and the top layer down to about 1-2cm is dry and then it gets gritty and wet. That was 10 mins before it's next feed. Wasnt the hottest part of the day so to speak but a good indication its feeding ok

she's looking great this morning, buds everywhere

Hanging to see your Amster Gold too bro, I bet she's looming fantastic now!!

EasyPound · Mar 23, 2013

Amazing grows and unequaled help on here. Sub'd to this and it's Amazing. Keep up the good work Flowamaster! The pictures are tasty. Just a newbie here so I'll sit back and watch and inquire when I MUST. bongsmilie

Thanks for taking the time to post and helping us out on improving our grows.

eastcoastmo · Mar 25, 2013

Hey Flowa, must be time for an update

im keen to see some serious bud porn

haha

flowamasta · Mar 26, 2013

eastcoastmo said:
Thanks heaps again bro

Just checked the pot and the top layer down to about 1-2cm is dry and then it gets gritty and wet. That was 10 mins before it's next feed. Wasnt the hottest part of the day so to speak but a good indication its feeding ok she's looking great this morning, buds everywhere

Hanging to see your Amster Gold too bro, I bet she's looming fantastic now!!

lol!! No problem mate! glad i can actually help in some way! i understand just how hard it can be to find out the true secrets and techniques used by different growers, and my methods may not work for some, but i don't see why they shouldn't if they can get hold of some decent nutrients and get half decent tap water

Your perlite sounds like its spot on with air/water ratio!!

I'll update hopefully tomorrow night, the net is down for some reason and taking a good half hour to load 1 page!!! But i'm in there snapping every night, i'll upload some i took last night i didnt have time, (sorry i passed out) to post here on RIU. give me 20 minutes

EasyPound said:
Amazing grows and unequaled help on here. Sub'd to this and it's Amazing. Keep up the good work Flowamaster! The pictures are tasty. Just a newbie here so I'll sit back and watch and inquire when I MUST. Thanks for taking the time to post and helping us out on improving our grows.

WOW man! Thanx alot! I love helping out, i was once a newbie with no clue aswell, but then i had a puff and Bam!!! i knew what my lifelong squeeze was
I' m almost positive i was meant to grow ganja

eastcoastmo said:
Hey Flowa, must be time for an update im keen to see some serious bud porn haha

getting there

flowamasta · Mar 26, 2013

Jack outdoors is still growing, giving me a splendid different array of ripeness buds

I've already dried 300 grams of the big colas and its currently curing, and i have all that again, which i took off about 3 days ago, and this is what i have left growing on the plant outside

Here is Amsterdam Gold, making us very happy!!! and very worried about the smells we have drifting out our driveway!!! truly the Amster Gold is something out of the world, i haven't seen ANYTHING like it in all my years of being in the hobby! its just amazing. Her colas just keep getting fatter and larger and more greasy every day, and her stem is soo damn tiny its remarkable. I really wasnt expecting football sizer colas like this...

This is day 33 snapped last night.

a lower nug on the VERY bottom branch!!! still looks like pure DANK. Its all a dream..... Its all just a dream.

eastcoastmo · Mar 26, 2013

Wow brother you never disappoint hey, thank you for the bud porn man, im in serious awe right now!!

Damn mate, you've got 300g already off your jack, wow and there's still at least another 200 left on her, maybe more lol. Absolutely stellar effort once again mate

And that amster gold is exactly that...pure gold! She is a stunning plant too man! Love your work as always bro

I don't see why anyone else cant use this system as well hey, its piss easy and with the right nutes, it works for you if you look after them

ive been pH'ing the res every day to keep it in the right zone and she's looking great! I'll update mine tomorrow!!

FlowaMasta's Methodology @ How to Grow Monster pound plants!!! ( Jack H X Skunk )

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