SoG Grow Room Discussion

Picasso345 said:

Yeah, I know NFT. I was thinking about where the NFT took place and the NFT seemed to be happening inside on both of them to me. I see what you are saying though.

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DubB83 said:

NFT is the free flowing liquid under the plants, the little stream your sprayers create. NFT is not pressurized water.

External irrigation tubing will give your plants more room for root growth. I think it is a great idea, it appears you have the space. Maintenance would also be lighter in comparison to the SB system if you make the spray lines serviceable.

Have any pictures of the build yet?

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sparat1k said:

Any update?

Are you going to be using a dehumidifier SOG?

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offgridgrower said:

hey sog, grow some white widow so that we can compare! I will be growing that as soon as I can sex them and find out whats what.

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offgridgrower said:

ah because these are bagseeds that were given to me as the setup was going up by a silent partner who said" this was some good shit", and if he says that then I trust him for sure! and by the way they are growing im 99% sure the short bushy one is the female and the tall stretchy is the male, either way i have clones rooted and vegging for a week or 2 more b4 the sexing. but they are beautiful and cant wait to see them mature!

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YaK said:

This is going to be fun to follow, gotta love a man with a plan who's not afraid to do things right the first time.

I'm curious....

Why did you opt for the more complex aero/nft design by StinkBud over the flood/drain method of AlB (from the first page both were referenced). I have personally grown aero/nft, dwc, and flood/drain. I felt a great sigh of relief when I went to flood/drain because of the failsafes compared to the others. The big exception is that SB's system is medialess, except for neoprene collars, which are easily disposable.

In regards to the PVC sprayers vs. the black tubing and sprayers coming in from the top of the post... ditch the tubing idea, it's a bear to clean. I tried it because I liked the idea of popping out the grommet to get to the sprayer if it needed to be unclogged. Truthfully, if they become clogged, it really doesnt matter because the NFT will feed the plants just fine without the sprayer. The only thing that I can think to be concerned with is the last sprayer at the end of the line, because the last plant will hypothetically NEED that sprayer to feed it. But the roots will follow down the tube and get nutrients anyway.

I also tried drilling small holes and suspending the pvc via zipties from the top of the fence post, so that they spray down, but are still inside of the fence post. I also found that to be more trouble than it was worth.

Are you going to put your systems on carts... so that you can rotate them as they mature? I was thinking that if each system stays static... then there will be young plants put into flower next to more mature flowering plants and they'd have to share a light, which may make the younger ones stretch a bit, or lose light due to the more mature plant's height.

Okay, I could go on, but lest I be a windbag....

Great Job SOG, I wish you all the best.

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SOG said:

Thanks YaK,
i like the simplicity of Al B. system, and was originally going to do a flood & drain
then i run into SB's system which i liked also because of its no soil method
both are well proven growing methods, i think with SB system you get more control
and ability for fine tuning and most important no soil,
AL B. is not big on nuts and basically runs his batches for "commercial use"
top quality and control with Al B. system is not a big priority

as for fail safe, with both systems something can go wrong
both systems from my point of view are not fail safe
but one can be made a bit better then the other when it comes to fail safe
here is my take
with Al B. there is no fail safe other then the rockwell mediums
with SB system one should be using UPS units, ( i will be ruining two of)
these will maintain the power going to the pumps in the event of a power failure
here is a twist i'm considering to incorporate, i was thinking i will be getting
clones from my local shop, there for they will be arriving in a rockwell cube
which i will use to place in the net pot as a secondary backup
so i get best of both worlds this way, rockwell mediums to hold some nuts
in the event of a power failure, and a no soil system with added safety

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YaK said:

Al B doesnt use soil... ugh, soil is a 'dirty' word for me, I've never grown in it, and never intend to. lol

You are correct, I overstated when I said failsafe. but the margin for error is MUCH less with flood/drain.
The battery backups are a very good plan, I have one on my cloner and it's already worked once for me and saved a batch of clones. I'm in so cal, and we had power go out for 2 days 3 or so months ago, most battery backups wont run pumps for that many days.

The rockwool that your clones will come in, are usually 1" cubes your root mass that will require the water/nutes wont be in that rockwool cube once the plant gets bigger, you'll see, your roots will become ridiculously long and beautiful (one of the things I miss about growing aero). I flood 2 times a day for 10 minutes each time, my medium is half rockwool and half hydroton clay pebbles. The rockwool holds a lot of moisture, and I can go a day without the pumps going on with very little effect on the plants (I know, because it happened), and if power goes out longer, once or twice a day I just have to take and pour a cup of water from the res into each pot.

I dont want to gum up your thread to debate this, I was just curious as to your logic on it. They are both excellent ways to grow for sure. In my experience, aero/nft grows a bit faster than ebb flow, but not much. The fast growing thing used to entice me, but not anymore, I have a hard time keeping the plants down to the size I want them so that I can control the height in flower.

Oh, one more very important aspect I forgot to mention, is preventative maintenance on pests! I started with seeds way back when, and did not have any pest problems. Decided to go with dispensary clones for variety and ease, and have had pest problems ever since, everything from thrips, to whiteflies, to the dreaded spider mites. Neem oil on a preventative maintenance schedule has enabled me to get the whole pest situation under control... but man, what a pain those bugs are, they will start as eggs on your clones most likely, probably not visible to the naked eye.

if you'd like, I can summarize my experience with the seven or so strains that I've grown so far, or I can PM you with the info so as to not garble up your thread.(anymore)

I was also thinking about your 12 week system... it's ingenius, if a plant finishes faster, you can remove it, and if it takes longer, just let it run. Most likely, unless you really want a super couch lock stone, you wont need your plants in the system for that long, which will give you the option of cycling sooner if you so choose. way to think it through!

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YaK said:

Al B doesnt use soil...

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