40 - 60 site commercial setup started Just have a few Q's

popcornplayr1 said:

Setup looks amazing!

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Thank you. I have really tried to do everything i can to ensure a great harvest.

igrowhydro said:

Here is my diy aero cloner i built tonight. I'm testing it out and the spray is pretty consistent throughout, but i have leaks around the sides of the tub.

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Here is the bad news...I've tried that type of container and every other brand you can imagine.

I've sanded, glued, siliconed and used every type of seal money can buy. Auto, Boat, you name it and I've tried it. NONE OF IT WORKS...ow, sorry to yell like that but I had to make a very important point.

Now the good news... There is one container that works perfect with no seals required. The good old Rubbermaid Roughneck. It's really your only choice. It's costs more but think of it as flood insurance.

Or you can not believe me and flood the shit of of everything until you just want to sit down and cry and then you got to mop up all the tears along with the water.

haha LMAO!! I'll go get one of those and see how it works.

I picked up the new tub today and put everything together. I changed from my 525gph to an eco396. (just to keep temps right) I'm using tap water again with a little pH down added to drop it to about 6.5~7. I'll update with more pics when i put clones in.








should i drop the light a bit?

OK i put 13 cuttings in to test out the cloner. I have no leaks.. thanks stinkbud.




My mothers are getting so big i am going to have to flower them before i run out of vertical space. They are looking very healthy.











My little 70w sodium down there


As soon as I get the aero cloner dialed in and successfully root these clones i am going to load it up with as many cuttings as i have and then change the lights over my 4 mothers to 12/12. Shouldn't be more than a week if things go right.

Here are the other 7 plants that are about 3 weeks.



These 7 will be future mothers. They have been showing a little yellowing near the middle and top. I might need a word of advice from someone on what may be the culprit.


The water in the res. is distilled. 12 gallons with 1/2 strength pure blend pro grow and 8 tsp of H2O2. I'm keeping an eye on pH.

Well.. thats all for now i'll post an update on how the clones turn out when they pop roots.

fellow growers

igrowhydro said:

Thanks potroast. Yeah i thought the same thing to about spacing the tubes out a little bit more. I got the idea from commercial's big 60 or so apartment grow! pretty sweet setup..

My plan is to transfer the clones when they are ready then veg for 2 weeks and start flowering. I dont need them to get any taller than 2-3 feet bc im going to just flower the top 3/4 of the plants.

I do need help with one thing though:
Is it ok for me to let the nutrient pump run 24/7 to feed the 3in net pots???

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everything i hear is no way!! do not run 24-7 the water will get hot unless you cool it.
i am gonna run 1 on 5 off unless i can be 100% sure the system stays cooler then 68 f above 70 the water will give root rot and no oxy

or so i have heard.
i am thinking about using a large drum and a refrigerator to circulate cold water.
the only problem is what kind of tube can i use?
copper is a no no will aluminum work?

StinkBud said:

Here is the bad news...I've tried that type of container and every other brand you can imagine.

I've sanded, glued, siliconed and used every type of seal money can buy. Auto, Boat, you name it and I've tried it. NONE OF IT WORKS...ow, sorry to yell like that but I had to make a very important point.

Now the good news... There is one container that works perfect with no seals required. The good old Rubbermaid Roughneck. It's really your only choice. It's costs more but think of it as flood insurance.

Or you can not believe me and flood the shit of of everything until you just want to sit down and cry and then you got to mop up all the tears along with the water.

Click to expand...

yup i got a rubber maid as well for mine
it works because the lid sits below the lid in the inside so it always runs back in .

Everyone swore it would leak but it did not!

mrbuzzsaw said:

everything i hear is no way!! do not run 24-7 the water will get hot unless you cool it.
i am gonna run 1 on 5 off unless i can be 100% sure the system stays cooler then 68 f above 70 the water will give root rot and no oxy

or so i have heard.
i am thinking about using a large drum and a refrigerator to circulate cold water. the only problem is what kind of tube can i use?
copper is a no no will aluminum work?

Click to expand...

Keeping the water a little warm for cuttings is ok. There is a fine line between optimum temp and algae growth. You can run the pump on the cloner 24/7 if you can keep the water temps down. My little cloning closet get pretty warm so I have to be careful.

I also run straight water when cloning but after I have a nice set of roots I'll add nutes to about 500-600 PPM. I only do this if the cuttings are waiting for the veg unit and already have a nice set of roots. Since I'm on a 3 week harvest cycle sometimes the cuttings have to wait for as long as two weeks after they have already popped roots. The nutes keep them going.

I don't hassle with mother plants. I take cuttings from my veg plants right before they go into flower. That way I can run 10 different strains without having to keep 10 mothers.

You need to flower those mommies soon! You may have to tie down some of the bigger branches to keep the buds out of the lights. They are going to be HUGE!

StinkBud said:

Keeping the water a little warm for cuttings is ok. There is a fine line between optimum temp and algae growth. You can run the pump on the cloner 24/7 if you can keep the water temps down. My little cloning closet get pretty warm so I have to be careful.

I also run straight water when cloning but after I have a nice set of roots I'll add nutes to about 500-600 PPM. I only do this if the cuttings are waiting for the veg unit and already have a nice set of roots. Since I'm on a 3 week harvest cycle sometimes the cuttings have to wait for as long as two weeks after they have already popped roots. The nutes keep them going.

I don't hassle with mother plants. I take cuttings from my veg plants right before they go into flower. That way I can run 10 different strains without having to keep 10 mothers.

You need to flower those mommies soon! You may have to tie down some of the bigger branches to keep the buds out of the lights. They are going to be HUGE!

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Yeah I know! Just thinking about how big the plants will be makes me grin from ear to ear. It seems that all my clones i started in the aero are perking up quite nicely. Cant wait to post pics when they root.

amazing work ....plants look healthy

i like the plants and the ideas to your designs...... you can run the nutrient sollution 24/7 just make sure to have a good air pump.

Hey everyone.

I have been using the aero cloner for about 5 days and i am starting to get worried. The water temp was a little off it was cold about 68 degrees. So i put a heat pad underneath it and have it set on low. The temperature is now at 75-76.









I just wanted to make sure everything i am doing is right. The water is tap adjusted to ph 6-7. There are 2 24watt cfls above (one is 6500k one is a warmer type). The water temp is 75-76 and the pump (eco 396) runs 24/7. The clones are all green, perky, and healthy. Just no roots wtf?

igrowhydro said:

I have been using the aero cloner for about 5 days and i am starting to get worried. no roots wtf?

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Don't worry bro. The plants look really healthy. Some strains just take longer to root. My Blueberry always takes at least a week but usually more like 10 days to show roots. It's more of a woody strain and always takes longer than the soft type of stems.

Keep looking for the little white pimples that show up where the roots will pop. As soon as you see the white dots, roots are only a day or so away.

If after 14 days you still don't have roots then I would start to wonder. It takes a little while to get started but before long you will have clones coming out your ass.

Thanks stinkbud.. I'm still a grasshopper when it comes to aero.

I guess my only question is do you just let the system run for a week at a time without checking pH? Or how often do you adjust pH if at all. Also, is it preferable to add H2O2 to keep pathogens down? and if so how often?

Thanks sensei

I'm really getting a lot of valuable info from your grow. Thanks for everything. Keep up the the good work.

Also: How much did the large white pvc pipes in your hydro setup run you? And where did you get them?

NorCalGrower said:

I'm really getting a lot of valuable info from your grow. Thanks for everything. Keep up the the good work.

Also: How much did the large white pvc pipes in your hydro setup run you? And where did you get them?

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Thanks, I'm learning a lot myself. Hope everything goes as planned here in the next 8 weeks.

The PVC pipes were about 65 for all 4. I got them from an electrical wholesale supply co. They even gave me a student discount .

With those clones, if you cut the fan leaves about half way down each finger, they will draw up more water and root faster. In my experience, they root faster with the leaves trimmed. I usually get roots anywhere from 5-21 days depending on the strain, how warm my room is, humidity, etc. Most of the time they root in 10-14 days. As long as they are still green and perky, I wouldn't worry.

I forgot to add, I don't pH my water in my cloner at all and all I use is bubble stones and water, not H2o2, super thrive, nothing. I just top the cloner off with fresh water when ever its needed. My tap water is like 7.75 and I don't have any problems.

Just joined your thread but I read the whole thing and thoroughly enjoyed it. I did a 60 plant aero set-up with PVC once before. I really like those set-ups for small spaces like apartment grows. Later I found that flood tables although not as fun to build and maintain were able to produce more in a larger space in SOG grow because you could really pack the clones close together on the flood tables. I think the PVC set-up makes more sense for a perpetual harvest though. Your plants look great, well cared for! If you have not already bought that bluelab TDS meter get it! Bluelab makes really quality products and it is nice not to have to calibrate them all the time too. As far as PH goes I personally like the little dropper test kits but I do have to admit with a larger set up it is nice to have a nice in res monitor. H202 is great but I like to put ultrasonic foggers in my rez you can pick them up pretty cheap here Ultrasonic Water Fogger-The Mist Maker and they will keep your rez nice and sterile just make sure you have a tight lid on your rez or the fog will escape a waste water. With these puppies I have never had an algae problem or any nasty gunk build up in my rez.

NewGrowth said:

Just joined your thread but I read the whole thing and thoroughly enjoyed it. I did a 60 plant aero set-up with PVC once before. I really like those set-ups for small spaces like apartment grows. Later I found that flood tables although not as fun to build and maintain were able to produce more in a larger space in SOG grow because you could really pack the clones close together on the flood tables. I think the PVC set-up makes more sense for a perpetual harvest though. Your plants look great, well cared for! If you have not already bought that bluelab TDS meter get it! Bluelab makes really quality products and it is nice not to have to calibrate them all the time too. As far as PH goes I personally like the little dropper test kits but I do have to admit with a larger set up it is nice to have a nice in res monitor. H202 is great but I like to put ultrasonic foggers in my rez you can pick them up pretty cheap here Ultrasonic Water Fogger-The Mist Maker and they will keep your rez nice and sterile just make sure you have a tight lid on your rez or the fog will escape a waste water. With these puppies I have never had an algae problem or any nasty gunk build up in my rez.

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thanks for stopping by. I have learned so much since i started this grow from the 10 little seeds i got from nirvana back in june. I cant wait to harvest and buy more stuff for the next go around.