Malevolence
New Member
How did you make your system water tight, and did you use uniseals?
2k DIY UnderCurrent 6XL - 4x8 Gorilla - Plushberry Grow
- Thread starter LivingCanvas
- Start date
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
I used standard 2" uniseals, with aquarium safe silicone sealant between the bucket and the uniseal.
To install the uniseals I used KY, to push the PVC in. No leaks, first try.
Malevolence
New Member
Where did you get the buckets? I couldn't get mine to stop leaking and tried 3 different containers, 2" uniseals, and aquarium silicone. I had the fewest leaks with the gray buckets from Lowes but still not good enough and I had to revert to standard DWC.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Look up Ez Stor 8 gallon on google. Container & Supply and U.S. Plastics should sell them.
Those are the original buckets that Current Culture used to make their systems. You will have
to paint them black however as they only are sold in white that I've found.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Day 23 Flower
Everything is coming along nicely. Took a few shitty quick shots. I'll bust out the DSLR when the lights go out tomorrow, and get some proper photos.
Water Temp: 68 *F
PPM: 1250
pH: 5.7
Air Temp: 82 *F
Nutes:
GH 3-Part (Modified Lucas)
GH CalMag
GH Kool Bloom
Mad Farmer Silica (Used to raise pH)
29% H2O2 (To keep things sterile)
Everything is coming along nicely. Took a few shitty quick shots. I'll bust out the DSLR when the lights go out tomorrow, and get some proper photos.
Water Temp: 68 *F
PPM: 1250
pH: 5.7
Air Temp: 82 *F
Nutes:
GH 3-Part (Modified Lucas)
GH CalMag
GH Kool Bloom
Mad Farmer Silica (Used to raise pH)
29% H2O2 (To keep things sterile)
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Day 24 Flower - It's amazing how much better things look when you use a color card, and correct white balance.
thunderbunny
Member
Very Very nice grow Mr LivingCanvas....kudos to you! I am moving from outdoor to indoor over the winter...have almost 100% of my experience growing outdoors because I am surrounded by swamps and wetlands which provide awesome camouflage and stealth. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using BC Bud Depot Pinewarp seeds, out of which I ended up with 1 female which I cloned and planted at 25 outdoor sites, only to have the so-called Pinewarp turn into some kind of Sativa that was only half finished by Oct 24. The plants were 10 to 12 foot tall giants, growing in swamp tubes, bottom watered by the standing water in the swamps, but, as I said, they did not finish, and I have to move indoors now to keep from bumming! OK, after all of that explanation, my simple question is this: have you guys actually realized yields of 1 gram per watt, or is this a master grower type yield using a super hi-tech setup? That works out to over 4 pounds per crop with my 2 kw lighting/outdoor shed setup....will also be using a similar hydro system to what LivingCanvas is using....If I can realize these yields indoors, I am going big time...it is really scary and paranoia inducing when you are out in the swamps, harvesting a huge crop, and wondering if your grow has been spotted by LEO and you are being watched! What a rush tho, when you bring in a couple of pounds per plant! thanks in advance for the info...thunderbunny
whodatnation
Well-Known Member
Subbed 
Nice build.
Nice build.
Drascious420
Active Member
A job well done so far my friend. I was curious where did you get the cages from and how much did they cost ?
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
1gpw is very achievable in UC systems. A friend of mine showed me their best pull so far out of a UC system is 3.75#/light. 440g=1# 3.75x440=1.65gpw under a 1k.
A big part of it is genetics, and environment. You don't need to be super high tech, you just need to get your system dialed to the optimum grow parameters.
Also, using CO2 enrichment as well as other products such as Top Shooter/Shooting Powder can help increase yield/gpw.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
The cages are Create-A-Cages - Sunlight Supply used to make them; I got mine from a website.
Apparently BWGS is the new supplier. Also they sell them in packs called "Perfect Tomato Cage" as well.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
I have been doing "pre-veg" under LEDs in 5.5" square black pots. The Delta 10 4"x4"x4" rockwool cubes fit in there nicely, with a layer
of hydroton underneath. I have found a better method though, where I can veg in a 3x3 F/D table. The 8" heavy duty net pots fit perfectly
inside 2gal round plastic nursery pots. Then you toss em right in the 8" holes in the UC system! Roots are already at water level and growth
takes off nicely. The airpots would do nicely as well I'm sure.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
I had a lot less stretch this grow once I flipped them. I am using FULL SPECTRUM MH bulbs (133,000 lumen) which I haven't used before.
I used them for the first 2.5 weeks of flower. Unfortunately from a purely scientific perspective, I can't fully claim that they reduced stretch
because I am running these genetics for the first time; however, I believe I did help keep the stretch minimal.
I need to get some new pics up her soon. The top colas are putting on weight as they are now starting to "flop" a little at the start of week 5!
Other Issues:
I think I need to "screen" the PVC pipe so that roots don't clog and reduce flow.
To a point of interest: PPMs have been rising due to the girls drinking more than they eat - HOWEVER,
my nutradip pH monitor has only shifted ~.1 pH. Now, here's my curiosity: Is that because there isn't sufficient water flow?
Because the return manifold is "waterfalling" as normal, but I figure pH should have dropped a lot more...
ALSO, when pH would drop significantly, and I'd add 29% H2O2 @ 3ml/gal the pH drop STOPS. Like, it STOPS DEAD.
Not sure then if the pH is acting a bit irregular. No real issues with the plants (aside from some leaves yellowing due to a N def)
Just wish I could climb in the system and see whats going on better. With plants being staked/scroged it is very difficult to get
my hand into the buckets and double check to ensure there are no clogged pipes, that would cause a false reading at the control
bucket.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Also, going to toss the MH bulbs back in for the last 2 weeks, as MH supposedly has more UV than HPS, in the hopes that UV
increases trich production as the plants defensive mechanism against "sunburn." We shall see...
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Good to know, thanks for the info. The calyxes seem to be a pink/purple at the base, so I'm thinking I may have a similar pheno.
Gonna try to snag a few smaller clones off it.
Malevolence
New Member
It's possible you had some pythium or something in your water and the h2o2 killed it. I have found in DWC (at least for me and my garden) that any tiny little thing gets off and the PH just seems to do what it wants. I have also noticed (tap) water wants to naturally drift back up to around 7 ph (assuming nothing like root rot or fucked up nute balance) which could explain why your PH stays relatively stable while PPM increases slightly. Also just the fact there are PH buffers in nutes which will slow drift. I have pretty much stopped trying to figure out PH drift and just focus on adjusting it back to 5.8 and keeping the basics in balance like nutes, light proofing, temps, bennies, o2, etc. Any time I have problems I usually have at least one environmental parameter off.
LivingCanvas
Well-Known Member
Yeah, pythium was my first guess. I keep water temps at 68* so I figured I'd be ok. pH has dropped like a rock a few times, and H202 always seems to clear it.
I know tap water has nothing to do with it, as I only use R/O for my water. (Hydro and Soil) Like you're saying, I usually just get it back to ~5.8-6.0 and leave it.