FlowaMasta's Methodology @ How to Grow Monster pound plants!!! ( Jack H X Skunk )

WattSaver said:

Just stumbled upon this thread, and I am duly impressed. It was the term Hempy that caught my attention. I’ve been grown’ with the standard passive hempy buckets for the past doz or so grows. But I’ve never heard of an active hempy.

I’m sure you’ve fully explained this in another thread,,,, From the photos and text I assume you have a bucket in a bucket.
Is the lower bucket the rez also? Or is the rez separate?
Do you have the bottom 2” of the perlite bucket down into the rez? Or is that not necessary with the top feed ring?

Just trying to wrap my head around this. To me it seems to be a DWC cross bubbleponic with a friggin’ huge perlite net basket. Rep+

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Haha lol You are spot on with all very clever. The res is separate, but i try not to completely fill my res and that stays at just below the bottom of the bottom bucket. A very simple free-flowing automatic feed system. The perlite just acts as a perfect medium for the 'aero' roots. I say aero as they are indeed more like bubbleponics rather than DWC.

When i started this way i was amazed myself. It seems i was onto a winner of a system, and i had an awesome teacher. I just thrown my obsession on top

arandomhero05 said:

hey man im just trying to wrap my head around your system fully...thinkin about putting something like this together.....so what you have is pretty much an automated hempy bucket right?...the only difference is you use two buckets instead of one?....so does your outside and inside bucket always have a couple inches of water in them?...and that water uses gravity to drain every time the water cycle starts?

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There shouldn't be water in the bottom, well any more than a small drizzle, i cycle feeds so often that nothing sits stagnant and is thoroughly oxygenated by a good air stone in the res. As the feedrings flow down everything just returns back to the res via a large 19mm return line with a tap at the base of my bottom pot. It all makes perfect sense when you have a good look when its all setup. It took me a little while to get my head around it thats for sure, so don't feel dumb!

Scrogreen said:

Hey flow! Outdoor is looking great! Indoor is lookin much better. Glad to hear and see. One thing I havnt seen in your grow is how you like your climate? Do you stick with the norm of 70ish temp (sorry I forgot you go by c, I think that you have said 22 in the past?), 50% humidity, or do you like different guidelines? Also thoughts on CO2? You know I like to ask a ton of questions! Thanks man!

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Great questions! I am obsessed with my climate conditions. I might move my tent 2-3 times around the room each grow to find the 'right spot' I Like my temps at around 26-28 degrees c light on with 55 - 60% humidity. Its surprisingly consistent in my grow setup. My product has always turned out very similar in structure, smoke quality so i try to stick with what works according to the seasons. I use the air-cooled hood for summer and evap cooler for the ambient temps. Lights off i don't see a drop of any more than 6-8 degrees, the house stays warm.

eastcoastmo said:

Cheers bro, not to sure now what i'll do as its too late to put down any more in my system, its getting waaaay to hot where the tent is so keeping these are my only option. Ive got an outdoor option as well but that wont be good till next year and i need some before then. Im not expecting a miracle mate, just hoping if i do get the spray it may inhibit the pollen release and give me a little extra bud. I do remember the bud that i got the seeds from originally was pretty damn nice so its at least smokable! Still so gutted though hey but its my own fault!

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eastcoastmo said:

Well mate i went out to the hydro shop and the guy gave me some la femme as he felt bad for my predicament, we'll see how it goes hey! He was pretty confident it should work, so heres hoping.

I also showed him your last grow too mate and he was just as amazed as i was at how perfect it looked. He's been growing for 28 years and said it was the best looking plant he'd ever seen, he was also very impressed that you are using old school genetics and said keep up the good work, he wants me to keep showing him your updates when i go in

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much appreciated man! and good luck with everything, my heart goes out to you! i just wish i could throw a nug your way man.

Haha cheers dude, the thought is really nice hey

I'm serious about the dude at the hydro shop too man, we both stood there for about 10 mins shaking our heads in amazement. This guy has helped me out immensley over the last 14 years and he has also seen most of my grows so i trust what he says. I'll always spend money in his shop for that reason

Hey Flowa, did you say that you flush your system each week? Do you use anything like florakleen to flush it with?

eastcoastmo said:

Haha cheers dude, the thought is really nice hey

I'm serious about the dude at the hydro shop too man, we both stood there for about 10 mins shaking our heads in amazement. This guy has helped me out immensley over the last 14 years and he has also seen most of my grows so i trust what he says. I'll always spend money in his shop for that reason

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lol thats awesome! trust me, i find my woman looking at her by herself all the time, and i always look forward to the light coming on so i can check up on her... I amaze myself..... believe me.

eastcoastmo said:

Hey Flowa, did you say that you flush your system each week? Do you use anything like florakleen to flush it with?

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I was using florakleen for a couple of grows to see a difference in end smoke quality, and to be honest i had no issues with my very first grow which i did according exactly to what my teacher wanted, even if i didnt want to, it was a learning experience, and i'm glad i listened, even if it it felt like i was being brutal.
I flushed with plain water for only 3 days the first grow i ever did. Should of gone 4 maybe 5 but this perlite system....... i gotta tell ya, it stays clean as a cloud especially if you stay on top of things.

FLOWAMASTA'S FLUSHING METHOD!!!

Yes i flush once a week, i have done more so recently and wasted a fair chunk of nutrient... but all for learning experiences. Things will turn around now.

I flush by turning my bottom bucket tap in the 'closed' position i empty my res and drain the hoses all keeping all fittings on and never taking them off. I fill my res to the absolute brim with fresh ambient temp water, this helps any minute salts break down and dilute. i run my pump with the pot in the closed tap position while the 2 pots slowly fill. Now when you do this for the first time it will all want to float, be careful don't push down on anything as this will only further push everything up and out you just want it to soak up the water as far up to the top as you can so that it reaches 'just' the bottom of the rockwool cube. You don't want to completely soak the cube. That will delay things an even further 3-4 days, you only want the cube to soak up the surrounding moist perlite, That is sufficient moisture.
once everything is soaked be careful when you get to the top ofcourse, open your tap and drain your res, scrub clean rinse and have ready a new fresh and clean res full of fresh water. You want to leave the plant for a minimum of 2 hours so it can take up the fresh water and slightly buffer the ph ready for the next fresh nutrient feed. Every week if i miss a week i can expect salt build up, but usually each week is fine, i will see salt build up in my measuring cup before my res. Only because it sits still and dries. even if you clean it there will still be some salt.

just crossed over day 12...... Now she's lookin better! A good flush and cleaned the slime out. I will give 1 more dose of fungarid at next flush time just top make sure, and keep things happening!!

flowamasta said:

lol thats awesome! trust me, i find my woman looking at her by herself all the time, and i always look forward to the light coming on so i can check up on her... I amaze myself..... believe me.


I was using florakleen for a couple of grows to see a difference in end smoke quality, and to be honest i had no issues with my very first grow which i did according exactly to what my teacher wanted, even if i didnt want to, it was a learning experience, and i'm glad i listened, even if it it felt like i was being brutal.
I flushed with plain water for only 3 days the first grow i ever did. Should of gone 4 maybe 5 but this perlite system....... i gotta tell ya, it stays clean as a cloud especially if you stay on top of things.

Yes i flush once a week, i have done more so recently and wasted a fair chunk of nutrient... but all for learning experiences. Things will turn around now.

I flush by turning my bottom bucket tap in the 'closed' position i empty my res and drain the hoses all keeping all fittings on and never taking them off. I fill my res to the absolute brim with fresh ambient temp water, this helps any minute salts break down and dilute. i run my pump with the pot in the closed tap position while the 2 pots slowly fill. Now when you do this for the first time it will all want to float, be careful don't push down on anything as this will only further push everything up and out you just want it to soak up the water as far up to the top as you can so that it reaches 'just' the bottom of the rockwool cube. You don't want to completely soak the cube. That will delay things an even further 3-4 days, you only want the cube to soak up the surrounding moist perlite, That is sufficient moisture.
once everything is soaked be careful when you get to the top ofcourse, open your tap and drain your res, scrub clean rinse and have ready a new fresh and clean res full of fresh water. You want to leave the plant for a minimum of 2 hours so it can take up the fresh water and slightly buffer the ph ready for the next fresh nutrient feed. Every week if i miss a week i can expect salt build up, but usually each week is fine, i will see salt build up in my measuring cup before my res. Only because it sits still and dries. even if you clean it there will still be some salt.

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Thanks mate all this info is going straight in my little book

Dude your girl is looking HEAPS happier now, didnt take long at all

eastcoastmo said:

Thanks mate all this info is going straight in my little book

Dude your girl is looking HEAPS happier now, didnt take long at all

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yeah man, cheers it was the res slime that was making things go outta whack, lucky i picked it up early, slime is actually more difficult to see in a black container rather than grey so it was easy to see it building up, and as i cleaned it it had a faint fish tank smell. Gone now! good riddance! I believe it was Grow A that was the culprite.... upon examining all my nutrients i found i was accidentally using an older grow A which the micro nutrients had gone off and there was floaties... Grrrrrr even if you don't see them in the measuring cup.... The colour was slightly off.... i was slightly stoned, won't happen again!

Her Vigor has improved ten fold and her new growth is exploding! I really need to think about adding my cyco XL soon we all know what happens then! doubles in size in 1 week. She's already a lb plant hehe

Good stuff mate, you are certainly in tune with how she grows best

Ohhhh yeah, hit her with the XL mate, watch her explode

She is looking much better flow! Thanks for the great info on flushing! I will hold true to that for sure! So there is 1 thing I am confused about with your set up. You have a sock that keeps the perlite in the top bucket right? Does to roots grow through that sock? I have seen one of your pics that shows crazy roots going through the bottom of the top bucket with the holes in it. Im just a little lost here because if the roots do go through the sock doesnt some of the water get stuck in the think roots and maybe cause problems? I mean dont get me wrong your shit come out great so it cant be causing big problems.

Damn, she is bouncing back nicely Btw Flo, No words can express my emotion to the fact you are sharing your method/s with us all. I'm sure we will see a bunch of followers in the near future. Dank meds galore!!!! Lookin good man. Peace!!

eastcoastmo said:

Good stuff mate, you are certainly in tune with how she grows best

Ohhhh yeah, hit her with the XL mate, watch her explode

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Thanx mate i try my best to read my grows, you can tell alot by the stance and vigor of your plant, and after examining further seeing some spotting on some dying leaves that gave me the go ahead for treatment for root rot or res slime....

LOL gotta love the XL, just have to get her a little bigger and some more leaves yet to create a solid buffer, the plant needs to be robust, bushy and very healthy before i attempt XL but only a few mere days away. Flat out from here on i guarantee.

Thanx again for the compliments!

Scrogreen said:

She is looking much better flow! Thanks for the great info on flushing! I will hold true to that for sure! So there is 1 thing I am confused about with your set up. You have a sock that keeps the perlite in the top bucket right? Does to roots grow through that sock? I have seen one of your pics that shows crazy roots going through the bottom of the top bucket with the holes in it. Im just a little lost here because if the roots do go through the sock doesnt some of the water get stuck in the think roots and maybe cause problems? I mean dont get me wrong your shit come out great so it cant be causing big problems.

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Great solid question and compliment some people say don't flush..... you know what? i don't smoke that erb, tried it, it's comparing butter and cream.

The sock is a mild fabric, it breathes very well, and yes roots do grow though the bottom of the sock, but only during the last few weeks would it reach that far, being almost sealed that far down and completely dark the roots stay moist and healthy but don't grow root hairs ( no need for stability ) They are just in continuous search of more water. Being 100% Perlite and very coarse with sizes ranging from the size of a pea to a thumb nail. and they allow ALOT of room for growing roots, they spread far and wide, filling the entire 50 litre pot. The Pot sock sits flush on the bottom of the inner pot and has drainage holes around 6mm insize covering the entire bottom of the sock. Then drain down 4 corner holes around 8cm diameter into the outer pot and down the return line gravity fed back to the res. The entire pot system Must be above the top of your nutrient level to maintain no stagnant water.

Shaggn said:

Damn, she is bouncing back nicely Btw Flo, No words can express my emotion to the fact you are sharing your method/s with us all. I'm sure we will see a bunch of followers in the near future. Dank meds galore!!!! Lookin good man. Peace!!

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She is isn't she Hey i appreciate that! reason why i'm doing this is other styles of growing can be fairly hit and miss. This is easy to maintain, reliable and very VERY consistent. If i can get more people out there growing better quality meds so they don't need to smoke as much then thats a massive bonus for me! Quite frankly the commersh erb around lately that i bump into is almost rubbish. Where's the shiny resin? the smell? and why is some wet still!? Some of these 'growers' need to take a hard look at what they're doing before they try get their product out there, i mean wouldn't they prefer GOOD FEEDBACK?? I know if i got a quart off someone in the past and it was shite then i move along... I've seen shit dried in bunches dried in grow rooms with 6 x 600 watt HPS glowing away till it turns crispified..... i've seen it all. It disgusts me it really does. I'm so glad that there are many connoisseurs out there like me that get it for the quality and grow for the quality! I know Gorge Cervantes wouldn't waste his lungs on an 'average erb' There is a difference between top shelf and bottom and geeez i wish that was obvious to all

Everyone keep up the great work! It's the guys checkin up on these sights growin the Dank after all I mean research research..... The ones who don't care about quality erb aren't on these sites, cause they are too busy scratching their heads wondering why their shits gone to..... well shit!? commersh do it 1 way, WE GOTTA DO IT ANOTHER. IT'S ONLY RIGHT FOR THE MARIJUANA GODS

Very well said mate, could not agree more hey!!

And totally true bout the XL, been reading up on it and it looks like very potent shit! Pretty sure you've said before that it burns the roots and then the roots thicken and take off again...can't wait to see this shit in action haha.

Cheets again for all your help and valuable insight bro, i know i certainly appreciate it, i'd love to buy you a beer and chew the fat sometime if we ever get the chance

eastcoastmo said:

Very well said mate, could not agree more hey!!

And totally true bout the XL, been reading up on it and it looks like very potent shit! Pretty sure you've said before that it burns the roots and then the roots thicken and take off again...can't wait to see this shit in action haha.

Cheets again for all your help and valuable insight bro, i know i certainly appreciate it, i'd love to buy you a beer and chew the fat sometime if we ever get the chance

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GOOD MAN!! likewise....

Here we are Day 13 Veg Part 2:

The outdoor has been out side since the indoor went in the tent, so she's about 1 week into flower if i counted from when the actual pre-flowers appeared.... she may re-veg.... anyone think so? just coming into daylight savings now.



Look at the indoor take off!!! can anyone believe she got this big in 13 days!!!??? That's with a harsh stunting as you've all seen.... That's just showing off Jack.. I also changed to my Dual spec bulb get her bushing out now. Wow soooooo many tips to play with..., just where do i stretch her

Woooaah dude she's looking fantastic now WICKED!

I reckon your outdoory will reveg, my mate's is just starting to show new shoots now...is yours in full sun mate? My mates is in the middle of his yard so only gets shaded just before sun down

Looking real good though mate, such a beautiful strain too!

Your outdoor girl will reveg. All vary on how fast they bounce back, but once they do, look out Can't wait to c what the auzzie sun can do for her

yes is should reveg,, and with 4 months of veg time it should recover fine.

eastcoastmo said:

Woooaah dude she's looking fantastic now WICKED!

I reckon your outdoory will reveg, my mate's is just starting to show new shoots now...is yours in full sun mate? My mates is in the middle of his yard so only gets shaded just before sun down

Looking real good though mate, such a beautiful strain too!

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Thanx mate! yeah i hope the outdoory re-veg's, although it doesn't really phase me i've grown plants that flowered that big and pulled average of 2 or more oz varying with weather ofcourse. I don't have to feed the outdoor it's simply organic mix with compost, perlite and hydroton with a small blend of coco blend in the top soil for a fast start i spend a bit of dough on the spoil alone, as i couldn't be bothered with all the hard ass mixing and fermenting my own... or whatever. I'm not after a massive plant, just want to see what Jack can do in the right conditions in good weather outside. I had awesome luck with my super skunk that stank out the block with 3 small plants lol each yielding around 1.5 oz each with only 6 weeks growing outside straight from clones to summer 12 hr light. I just love a good outdoor plant, I hate the bugs but eeh...

Shaggn said:

Your outdoor girl will reveg. All vary on how fast they bounce back, but once they do, look out Can't wait to c what the auzzie sun can do for her

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Thanx for the positivity I'll try to follow the sun around it gets full sun untill around 1pm then i have to move her to get maybe another 2-3.... I'll do my best

here's a shot of my outdoor history............. starting with skunk this was out of control!! 3 tiny plants i topped 2 and grew 1 clone straight up, all equally yielding surprisingly!! and pure heaven, i couldn't fully go 7 weeks with these as the smell was upsetting the neighbors. But they flowered straight away and were amazingly resinous.







Hope you enjoyed my outdoor porn! I'm not just an indoor man!! I love my Ganja!!

You are just a perfectionist bro lol. Even your outdoor plant looks hell wicked!

Im the same with my outdoory's, i use compost and a layer of cow manure with some perlite in the mix too. I also use hydro nutrients and get some pretty nice results! Will make sure i take pics this year so i can show you

WattSaver said:

yes is should reveg,, and with 4 months of veg time it should recover fine.

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4 months!? i don't think that long surely...... shit you're right aren't you..... november, december, january = bud + Feb = Bud........ GULP!...... She will be a bit large for my liking.... see how i go. Might have to Bonzai her and train her along a rail or something... i'll have some fun, see if i can hide it too.

eastcoastmo said:

You are just a perfectionist bro lol. Even your outdoor plant looks hell wicked!

Im the same with my outdoory's, i use compost and a layer of cow manure with some perlite in the mix too. I also use hydro nutrients and get some pretty nice results! Will make sure i take pics this year so i can show you

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lol thanx mate! they were some small plants but kept my mrs and i happy for weeks actually my mrs preferred that smoke over my indoor at the time as that was too strong and made her think too much!? heh chicks. Talk too much more like it. kiiiiiiiding all the ganja babes out there!

Yeah i've used hydro nutrients many times outside, i think the last run i did had 5 plants of that skunk..... the 3 were organic and i had another 2 larger ones that were a few weeks ahead for some earlier smoke and they were force fed hydro nutrients, and i agree that those turned out a little more potent and to my liking. A better more sweet aroma also. However, the organic were a little more harsh and 'pine tasting' the hydro being an almost custom musky yet citrus skunk smell to them. All in all it was amazing to see the same strain that i grew indoors outside and get amazingly different results because of climate conditions, medium i used and weather variables. I notice a hotter climate produces more potent more resinous product.

When it comes time for FLOWERING !!!

One thing i will say is when i learnt how to grow indoors is when it came time to set flowering height and positioning, i was thinking the canopy was far too close to be safe to the light.... I WAS WRONG. ALWAYS TEST WITH YOUR HANDS TO SEE IF IT'S COMFORTABLE FOR ATLEAST 1 MINUTE UNDER THE LAMP AT CANOPY HEIGHT. The plants can handle heat. Believe me!! but they can't handle TOO MUCH LIGHT. But in order to get MONSTER colas, you HAVE TO HAVE YOUR LAMP AS CLOSE AS SAFELY POSSIBLE. I MEAN AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN HAVE IT WITHOUT STRESSING THE PLANT. With good ventilation you can get by with extra heat and more lumens per square inch. But always test, and maximize your output!! I see too many WATT WASTERS!!! Use the spread of the lamps output, think of why some lights have reflectors. To MAXIMIZE spread so coverage is more even over a given area. The fact is the only position where the lamps output is at maximum efficiency is quite a small and limited area, as to why i scrog the way and shape i do. The lamp is most efficient given the output at around 10-16 inches. NO MORE. If you trail away from that, do not expect colas the size of your fist, the light output simply is not enough. A NEW lamp will also run 2-3 degrees cooler than another lamp that is 30 days old. I've seen the tests.

Where did all that come from?! dribblin away, but hopefully some useful info for some The hydro shops are either gonna hate me or love me....

We hit week 2!!! and off to a Blitzing start. Gong to fill the tent from side to side. That shouldn't be an issue with the amount of side branching!