Not just another Flooded Tube clone

hi

well this is my 1st post but i have been lurking a reading for a while now

I have grown 2 cutting to 6ft monsters in nothing but soil and water but that is as far as my growing experience stretch,iv never attempted any kind of hydro grow but am very much interested in trying,so im going to construct my very own heath style vert tubes.

now my room is 13x8ft and i would be interested in using as much space as possible whilst still leaving room for entry as if i recall heath kinda boxed his in lol so i thought maby run it in a u shape,i have include a very crude drawing of my room which includes the small 2x2 is cupboard which hopefully will be used for clones.

the only equipment i have up until now is a PH-EC-Tri Meter a hailea air pump witch wil be used for the res oh and my 2 6ft mother plants

one cheese and one blues

so i have a few questions

1-How many plants do you think i could fit into the room with the least amount of lights whilst still maintaining a good yeald?

2-what yeald per cycle could i be looking at?

3-would it be worth veging or putting clones straight into flower as per heaths example?

4-would defoliation be a viable and worthwhile option for my grow?

in fact i have that many questions its probably easier to ask for opinion and or advice

i realize this is quite a undertaking for a fist time grow but im more than happy to try and fail (im sure il fail a bit lol) but i have the room so may as well use it,plus i love building stuff

i will be doing a full report on my grow from day 1 to final harvest with weekly updates,pics ect and will be putting pics of my mothers up very soon!

god that a big post lol

Thanks in advance guys
Bashy.com

well my camera playing silly beggars so will get better pics up tomorrow but here just a quick snap with my phone

my blues and cheese mothers,not bad for a lil soil and water lol

Bashy.com

anyone got anything that may be helpful?

a fair few views but no comments

68 views since the 17th and not 1 comment?

well regardless ime gna crack on and due to lack of any form of input iv decided to just do a clone of heaths design and just got my pipes in today,if all go well i will be expanding on this system to add 4 more rows and another 600w light.

as i am new to hydro growing would appreciate some input on nutes ?

been looking at Ionic Grow, Bloom & Boost as its a simple one part nutrient
also wondering how much i will need as don't want to over buy.

will be building a cloner as well to hold the 100 plus clones i will need to keep this system running,will document how i get on and post up as and when

Thanx

You can use Heaths design, just turn the tube direction back the otjer direction when you hit the last 3 foot section. It will zig-zag back on itself instead of a continual spiral. Use 2 90 degree elbows. It will give you the last 3 feet of space as a walkthrough

1-How many plants do you think i could fit into the room with the least amount of lights whilst still maintaining a good yeald?

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Just put them in 8" on center. Use a 2 3/4 hole saw. I cut the holes after I assembled the circle but before assembling the levels.
Position the holes straight up.

2-what yeald per cycle could i be looking at?

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How good of a gardener are you?
How much experience do you have with DWC?

3-would it be worth veging or putting clones straight into flower as per heaths example?

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There is one picture of Heath's clones in his thread. Heath states that he veg's for a month from cutting a month into flower.
I can tell you this. The clones need to be well rooted!!!

4-would defoliation be a viable and worthwhile option for my grow?

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No. You're going to have a hard enough time getting them to have enough foliage.

Also, Dyna grow has worked the best for me. I tried Ionic, Canna, and DM gold.
Don't put anything in the rez that has the slightest chance of growing anything other than plants. This thing is a pathogen magnet!!!
Another key is to use a top off rez to keep the water level constant. This will make your ph and ec readings much easier to manage. (read more stable)

All I can say is that Heath is an expert grower. The flooded tube system is not for beginners. It has taken me 4 runs to get a descant harvest.

Thanks for the input guys its appreciated

tenthirty i take it you built the same setup?
https://www.rollitup.org/members/tenthirty-250270.htmlim looking into dyna grow as i type thanks for the tip

also by

veg's for a month from cutting a month into flower.

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do you mean veg for 1 month straight from cutting then into flower or once rooted veg for 1 month then flower?

i realize i am no were near Heaths level but i do like a challenge and as i already got the parts might as well go for it now eh lol

Heath takes cutting from the plants a month into flower. On an 8 week strain, that gives a month to root and veg. On my latest grow, it took 10-15 days to root. Then the went to an ebb and flow table for 2 weeks.
( another tirick is to keep the bottm of the netpots in the ebb and flow table raised off of the table floor to allow the roots to hang down as shown in the pic in the heath robinson thread.)

This current grow is my best grow in this thing to date, with the exception of a few plants are now 2 1/2 feet tall. This screwed up my even canopy. Also the minute you throw them into flower, the roots slow way down and they really don't like being submerged.

There is a real battle to get enough roots and keeping the girls from showing signs of water logged and keeping the pathogens away. The thing is a real balancing act. I can do much better with ebb and flow tables, but I'm stubborn and haven't given up just yet.

ye im following you now m8 just didnt get it at first ,its l8 and im dim lol

good to hear your persevering with it even if it not to easy

in all honesty do you think id be better trying a different method to start?

the only issue being i have the pipe and dont really fancy buying extra stuff and having the pipe sit around,but i have around 6 weeks to get room sorted and clones set so i duno????

ha i think i may have rushed into things a bit lol

At my lazy stoner pace, it took me about a month to assemble the octagon. There was about a month of planning before that.
If you can build this thing properly, I believe you can make it work properly over time. You're a smart and handy lad indeed.

Though, in hind sight:

1) This thing does not lend it self to production methodology.
2) It requires a lot of work in short durations.
3) I keep enough moms to cut 80 + clones every 2 months. ( This means that I throw away a lot of good clone material every 2 weeks and that kills me)
4) I have done sog in ebb and flow tables with great results and this is very repeatable. I also believe that I can match the yield in sog with the same wattage with an adjust a wing and 2 3x3 tables and use more clones more often.
5) Al.b.Fuct has become my hero. (Check the stickies at the top of this forum. Get a harvest every 2 weeks.)

Don't get me wrong, the octagon is a very cool device and it does work, but at the expense of simplicity with a high management overhead.
After spending a year on this project, I'm seriously considering going back to the ebb and flow tables. Much less aggravation and work.

I would say, build it, try it, what do you have to loose? Nothing ventured nothing gained. It could lead you down a path that may really turn into something. If you've read all of the heath robinson grows, you can see the path that his experiments led him down.

right doing a compleat rethink on my system and after a lil reading im thinking

vert ebb&flow stadium using the pipe,inspiration from this pic

8 rows
4 rows per side
2.5m per row
10 plants per row
all rows connected at far end with 2x 90° bends
2 plants per joining bend
total of 96 plants
3inch net pots with 5inch spacing
10-12inch step


and so far that's all i got,going to continue reading

im still looking into how to ebb and flow all 8 well 4 rows
how to pull 1oz min per plant
lighting requirements
min rez size
and other misc info

any advice welcome and il keep you updated with how i get on with my plans

Read https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/6592-get-harvest-every-2-weeks.html
Do it twice. Also search for it's a fuct world.
Her ya go https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/399206-its-fuct-world.html

Here is a really good grow journal on ebb and flow. https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/429438-dyna-gro-vs-advanced-nutrients.html

This guy is a monster at what he does!!

your a gent m8,gna sit and read for a bit

thanks

well Al B Fuct is noting short of a master in his field and full of useful and helpful info and i did look into the get a harvest every 2 weeks thread but didnt realy pay much attention to it (wish i did tho)

now im stuck with over £200 worth of pipe and not a clue on how to use it to best suit my needs!

panik time!!

just came across a pdf document

Aeroponic/NFT Plans
by StinkBud

looks like i can adapt this easly to go with my stadium grow

ive finally decided to scrap the flooded tubes idea and go fot the aeroponics stadium setup

first thought specs
looking for square pipes 3m in uk only found 65mm Square Downpipe but unsure if this will be adequate size but anyway will be 4 of them
25 sites per pipe (spacing to be worked on)
2inch net pots
600w x3 (bare bulb vertical assembly)

and my head is really starting to hurt from all the reading lol

my main am is 1oz per plant but need to work on the system a bit,maby boost the 600s to 1ks

as always any imput appreciated and needed lol

pic of how system will look but using round pipe instead of the square witch is what il be using