This is what happens when you fuck up your clone tote manifold

I took clones far too late at week 3 of flower because I was behind schedule. They're rooting very slowly as a result. I thought I would adjust the manifold last night (that wasn't leaking mind you) to get more spray on the stems. More spray on the stems really wasn't a solution to me taking clones in week 3 of flower, and was in no way going to make the clones root faster. I then woke up to water that soaked the floor of my nursery tent. And this is now what I'm doing with my morning:



Grabbing some pvc and rebuilding the manifold properly today. What lesson can be learned from this?

A) Take your clones at the proper time. Not when there are buds allover the plant like my dumbass did
B) Don't do stupid things to correct a stupid problem you created. This only makes things worse. Review the attached photo
C) Any time you make an adjustment to your clone manifold ALWAYS verify it is leak free before walking away. Come back 30 minutes later even. No drips? Good to go

All in all it's not a huge big deal, but it sure fucked me out of a couple hours of time this morning. Live and learn. Don't do what I did

jonnynobody said:

I took clones far too late at week 3 of flower because I was behind schedule. They're rooting very slowly as a result. I thought I would adjust the manifold last night (that wasn't leaking mind you) to get more spray on the stems. More spray on the stems really wasn't a solution to me taking clones in week 3 of flower, and was in no way going to make the clones root faster. I then woke up to water that soaked the floor of my nursery tent. And this is now what I'm doing with my morning:

View attachment 4860696

Grabbing some pvc and rebuilding the manifold properly today. What lesson can be learned from this?

A) Take your clones at the proper time. Not when there are buds allover the plant like my dumbass did
B) Don't do stupid things to correct a stupid problem you created. This only makes things worse. Review the attached photo
C) Any time you make an adjustment to your clone manifold ALWAYS verify it is leak free before walking away. Come back 30 minutes later even. No drips? Good to go

All in all it's not a huge big deal, but it sure fucked me out of a couple hours of time this morning. Live and learn. Don't do what I did

Click to expand...

I hate those kind of mornings.

Automation is great, until it isn't.

The pain continues....



Been to the plumbing store and got a new tap wrench, 20' of 1/2 inch pvc, and a variety of new corners. I really only need to replace a couple corners and craft 2 new long pieces to extend the manifold. For some reason I thought shortening it would address the leaks, but I was looking at the problem the wrong way. It was and is always the trajectory of the nozzles that causes DIY clone tote / bucket leaks in every case. With that in mind I'll swap the damaged corners that occurred through many rebuilds and I will replace the 2 parallel long pieces of the manifold to extend it the entire length of the tote for maximum root contact.

On a completely separate topic I am trying out some of that miracle grow moisture control soil. Years ago a large commercial grower recommended it and swore by it. He used it exclusively. If I remember right it's almost all organic. Has those little moisture crystals that retain water. Pricey. 4 1.5 CU. FT. bags were dam near $70 at $15/each. My outdoor garden beds need some love

And to add something nice to this terrible day here is a shot of critical mass. She's very very large. I didn't have room for her in the flower room so she's basically getting about 18 weeks of total veg. She's a monster drinking daily at this point. Fantastic strain. Heavy producer:

Finally fixed and done. I actually cemented the upper portion of the new manifold. Plenty of pieces still come apart for easy cleaning, but I had concerns about the manifold blowing apart. I notice sometimes certain batches of 1/2 inch pvc does not fit as snug as another batch. A blown out manifold would be disastrous. No chances this time. Primer. Cement. Fucking done




Look at that spray baby!


Notice no water accumulating on the edge? It's all about nozzle trajectory. No fancy tricks. No stupid glues. No dumbass foam gaskets. Trajectory.


Dry dry baby...sexiest sight I seen all day


Sorry for the poor shots of the new manifold. I should have taken a photo before I put it back in, but I was in a rush. This day has been non effing stop. And now I roll a doober to reflect Only the top corner pieces are cemented. The connections felt less than snug. No need to risk a blow out. A little thoughtful planning and prevention goes a long way.