My Perpetual Zero-Veg Op

medicine21

Active Member
Ok, thanks. I have experience with rockwool cube SOG from clones and another nute line and I was thinking of going perpetual and switching to Dyna Gro to reduce bottle count:

Mothers in 6" rockwool cubes flood and drain: Foliage Pro + Pro Tekt + H2O2
Large Clones in aero cloner: Root Gel (one time) + H2O2

When rooted, transfer to small RW plugs with slit and into 4" RW cube straight to flower.

Flower W1-2: Foliage Pro + Pro Tekt + H2O2 + K-L-N
Flower W3-4: Bloom + Pro Tekt + H202
Flower W5-8: Bloom + Pro Tekt + Mag Pro + H202

I would change the reservoirs every 10-14 days, while adding back ONLY water and H2O2 every 3 days. I have a 70Gal rez (tub) for a 4x8' flood and drain, which also has airstones.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this program, given your experience with Dyna-gro products.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
Well, I'm a big fan of dyna-gro. FP was the first product I used, and even though I saw it wasn't right for a complete grow, the results were way better than I had before. So I went straight for the 4 bottle program and haven't looked back. It's very forgiving, simple and grows great buds.

Your program is good. I've never grown in rockwool, although I like to germinate in those same cylindrical plugs. There's a grower here named Homebrewer who does flood and drain with dyna-gro and rockwool blocks. His threads are really great and he REALLY has it dialed in..

I like the size of your res. Are you sure 70 gallons is enough for the 4x8? I have 50 gals for a 3x6 table and it has to be fully topped up at all times or the pump runs dry, although I do have an extra riser on my overflow. so I flood pretty deep.
is that a botanicare res? You can save money by buying a rubbermaid farm stock tank from a farm supply store. They are indestructible and cheaper than hydro store gear.

I guess you want to use the k-l-n in week one of flower to promote roots in your zero-veg clones? You might as well use that in your aerocloner as well. Gel would just wash off the cuts anyway.

You got this up yet or still planning?
 

medicine21

Active Member
This is what I have running now:

Two 4x8' flood and drain tables, with 80gallon tubs underneath each. (not 70, just checked...)
4x1000W HPS covering the two tables
4x4x2" rockwool cubes, watered 1-2 a day
60 plants SOG in each table, Jack Herer, prune bottom third of plant W2 and W4.
5-day veg from 1.5-3" clone. Plants end 25-36".
Best yield 0.9g/W

The idea is to add a mother/clone room and use one 4x8' table for W1-4 and the other for W5-8 of flower. Thus harvesting every 4 weeks.

Yes, I was looking for K-L-N to help the aerocloner-->RW plug-->RW cube transition and root growth. But I have no experience with seeds-->mothers-->clones, so looking for advice. And, I do follow homebrewers thread as well...

You think Mag-Pro is necessary for mothers and/or flowering W1-W4? How many mothers will I need to sustain for 70-80 clones once a month? Thanks for the tips, man.
 

hornedfrog2000

Well-Known Member
Damn man. You're getting those dialed in real nice. Super chunky lookin!

I'm finally getting some roots in my home made aero... That's what's been taking me so long. I think I'm going to run one soil sog just to get some yield, and then I'm going to go to flood and drain. I'll link you to my thread whenever I get it going.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
Thanks man. I just used my nasty 380 ppm tap water in my cloner this time. Roots took a while to develop but it's been damn cold around here and they were sitting on the basement floor mostly, about 8 feet from a 600 watter, probably not really enough light and warmth. But I'm right on schedule so it's cool. I gotta chop the WRs today, clean their tub, the rocks, the pots, and put 15 of those Chronic clones straight into flower. A couple of the rest are going to become new moms, so I have to kill my 5 foot tall monster moms, wash the rocks, the pots, yadda, yadda, There goes the whole weekend.

I'm replacing the MH bulb in the 1000watter with an HPS. The WR is pretty hard but everybody likes denser nuggets.

The next tub is up for harvest in 3 weeks. A number of plants in that tub got hit with some cold weather colors because of the recent cold snap. I hope it doesn't hurt their yield too much, they are all chronic and nlxsk. Hopefully we have turned the corner on winter and won't have any more of those really deep cold spells.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
Sorry I missed this. You probably just need 6 good-sized mothers for that many clones. Mag-pro is necessary throughout if you use RO water, but it's really vital during the first three weeks of flower.

I have never used KLN, my latest batch of clones was in tap water. I think I'll pick some up though and try it out.

This is what I have running now:

Two 4x8' flood and drain tables, with 80gallon tubs underneath each. (not 70, just checked...)
4x1000W HPS covering the two tables
4x4x2" rockwool cubes, watered 1-2 a day
60 plants SOG in each table, Jack Herer, prune bottom third of plant W2 and W4.
5-day veg from 1.5-3" clone. Plants end 25-36".
Best yield 0.9g/W

The idea is to add a mother/clone room and use one 4x8' table for W1-4 and the other for W5-8 of flower. Thus harvesting every 4 weeks.

Yes, I was looking for K-L-N to help the aerocloner-->RW plug-->RW cube transition and root growth. But I have no experience with seeds-->mothers-->clones, so looking for advice. And, I do follow homebrewers thread as well...

You think Mag-Pro is necessary for mothers and/or flowering W1-W4? How many mothers will I need to sustain for 70-80 clones once a month? Thanks for the tips, man.
 

hornedfrog2000

Well-Known Member
If my water ppm is around 250 what would you recommend my total ppm to start off with be? I'm using dyna gro like you :D

I can't really afford a RO system right now, and I really don't like how much water it wastes to be honest.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
I'm going to make more of an effort to lollipop these plants. The skunks came from a tub with 17 plants in it and the stuff at the bottom is going straight to the butter bin. I'd rather not fuss with that.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
Veg around 800ppm and that shouldn't get you in any trouble. DG is very forgiving stuff as long as you have a meter.

If my water ppm is around 250 what would you recommend my total ppm to start off with be? I'm using dyna gro like you :D

I can't really afford a RO system right now, and I really don't like how much water it wastes to be honest.
 

hornedfrog2000

Well-Known Member
Man waiting is the hardest part. How long did it take you to grow your mothers that big? What size table are they on? My mothers (in soil) are taking FOREVER. I'm still pretty new to the indoor thing so that probably has some to do with it...


Why did you like the Skunk better? I'm thinking about growing some ssh because the smoke is so incredible, but I would have to find that one special pheno.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
I like the skunk for flavor. It has a winey sweetness and makes a thick smoke. The WR is just a tad harsh to me. I understand white strains can be like that.

I germed those mothers in mid=August right before I began this thread. They went into rockwool and straight into netpots filled with hydroton in a turbogarden. I had the lights on 18/6 and flooded just to the very bottom of the rockwool 3 times a day. They grew plenty fast. They have been huge for a couple months anyway. I can't wait to chop some down. I have new chronic mothers so I can get rid of the old giants. I also started flowering another batch of 16 chronic plants and one unknown. (I got my mothers mixed; I have to flower that to see what the mother was so I can label the new mothers lol. I hate record keeping.)

My veg tray is 3x6. If I could do it again, I would get two 3x3 trays. The reason being they are easier to handle/clean and they could flood on staggered times out of the same res and I wouldn't have to keep my 50 gallon topped up every day. I throw almost 4 gallons of water a day in there.
 

shnkrmn

Well-Known Member
they are about 20" tall. 3/4 oz each would be nice. I was afraid they would be a little stunted since I've been growing in very cold conditions this winter with air temps bottoming out around 50 and water temps not much warmer. I got quite a lot of purpling of foliage which I haven't seen in warmer months. Fortunately the weather can't stay winter forever!

I'm still learning but this has been a big year for me. I started growing this style last winter and right away it just seemed like the right method for me.
 
Top