First 2x 16 site 5gal rdwc grow

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plush

Active Member
ok so i've been experimenting with systems for about a year now and think i found a winner. got decent success on my first ebbnflow grow but by the second one it started to fail. im assuming its from the dirty medium(hydroton) or whatever nastiness i didn't manage to clean out of the system from the first grow. all in all it just seemed like too much work for not enough gain.

so i've decided to get technical and just build my own system. it consists of one 13gal res in the middle with 16 1'' holes cut around the lower sides of it. i stuffed 1'' tubing(which is slightly bigger than 1'') in the holes and it formed a watertight seal. the tubing then leads to 16 nicely spaced 5gal buckets with a same sized hole in the lower side. so now its all connected. then i filled 8'' netpots with rock wool cubes(about 40$ a bag) and snapped um on.

now for the feeder tubes. i tried multiple pump combinations and the only success i found to get a good flow was with 400 gallon per hour pumps(25$ each) per four buckets. it was simply just to difficult to get even flow with one sump pump. i also tried 2 800 gph and still couldn't get it to flow evenly. four pumps seems to be the way to go. so i have a lid that snaps on my res with a whole drilled for the feeder tubes. i ran the tubes and connected then to the plant buckets by drilling two holes in the rim of the netpot and zip-tied um on. the lid on the res is crucial because if light gets in your water it will make the ph weird.

so i put my clones in there about a week ago and they're doing great so far besides the fact that i don't have enough money for another T5 so im just making due until i can figure something out. all plushberry clones of course with one deathstar mixed in there and 6 hawaiians for good measure.

as for the water i just kept it simple. RO water with 3/4 of the recommended amount of IONIC GROW and then ph flex between 5.2-5.6 so far.

as for water temperature i'm probably going to need to invest in a chiller once summer sets in. as for right now the weather is giving me perfect temps.

so all in all got two 16 site systems set up. i'll be posting pics as i go!
 
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plush

Active Member
all in all the thing was pretty expensive(around 800 total) but its not like your gonna find one for anywhere near that anywhere else. *fingers crossed*
 
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plush

Active Member
[video=youtube;vGrNwjsLeak]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGrNwjsLeak[/video]

the video shows them about a week ago and when they were about a week in. started it filled with r/o water and added ionic hydro-grow at 3/4's recommended dose bringing the ppms up to around 160. then brought ph to 5.2 - 5.3 with little needed adjustment. and still need another T5..

its been a week now and the plants under the constant close up light are booming while the others are growing slowly but still look good. i added more water to raise the water level up because i failed to cover the sides of my net pot and the roots are growing out into the air instead of down into the water. i added more nutes too and brought the ppms up to 200. i also started brewing beneficial microbe tea with a variety of inoculants and a little molasses and brewing with an air stone for 48 hours. i put one cup per 10 gallons of water in both systems. ph has been overall fluctuating between 5.8 and 5.3. temp has been between 64 - 70 F

ill upload a new video in a few days

any comments on if i should keep the water level raised is welcome. also ppms too low? ph? temp? benes a waste of time?
 
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plush

Active Member
ok so it had been a few weeks and the plush5 and plush22 plants are booming. amazing rates of growth and a beautiful green tint. the roots are pearly white! but. on the other hand. the 6 hawaiian plants i included in one of the systems are freaking out. the leaves are splotch browning, looks like potassium deficiency, and the new growth is horribly curled and mutated looking, almost growing in a ball of contorted tissue. the only thing i can figure is its a ph issue because the plushberry plants in the same water are doing amazing. it was then that i realized how stupid it was to include two strains in the same water....different strains just need different ph and nutes and everything and im kicking myself in the butt for being so stupid. live and learn i suppose. so. i cut six fresh plush clones and decided my best bet would be to just take the six hawaiians out and put them in soil to hopefully help them recover and then probably just flower them when they're healthy.

on a different note, my sea of green(soil) is out performing any grow i've done to date on quality/weight/easy of access and just about every other aspect you could think of. i would suggest it to anyone and everyone. theyre beautiful frosty plush and hawaiian plants so far and its only been 3 weeks of flower so far. its looking like ill get about 2 ozs per plant and theyre only about a foot and a half tall at most. 50 plants, 6x 1000 watts overhead with cheap adjust a wing hoods, all trellised, 3 gallon pots left over from the ebb n grow system, all in super soil. the only downfall of sea of green is plant count but i wont tell if you wont ;)
 
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