I just wanted to say thank you for this thread. I'm starting week 3 of flower in my first ever grow and was starting to plan my next while dealing with current problems as they arise. I find alot of ideas i get sound good on paper theoretically but as i try them i realize how silly or inefficient the approach was, but am like you where i like to tinker. The good news is once you have certain parts there's lot's of possibilities to experiment. I spent the last 2 days reading this whole thread and you have covered every silly little pipe dream i could think of to try and have taught me alot of what's feasible within my budget. You've basically outlined a diy approach for many aspects of growing that involve parts and construction for noobs like me that can't afford things unless they will work. Growing weed i've found is just applying a little basic science here and there and learning how to read your plants. The art of actually GROWING weed involves mental gymnastics figuring out what configuration will work for you to make it less of a chore, and that's where this thread shines. Your "for noobs" addendums help me understand your reasoning also. You deserve good crops for the ammount of work you put in to them, and the results have reflected that. I hope you never get bugs, but if you do i bet i'd laugh at the things you dream up to keep them at bay (pvc somehow? lol). The 1 thing that surprised me that i don't think you added to your setup was a venturi from the top of your return line to the res (or stirring pump); i thought they were a cheap way to create micro bubbles with the waterfall effect.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate the compliments!
I went through a whole bunch of experiments, more than 10 years ago, and had fun. But I took several years off before getting back into it. My goal with this build was to design it to run, with as little maintenance as possible, and run reliably to where I didn't have to Jerry-rig everything, because I didn't account for things. I was through tinkering
. Most days I spend less than a couple minutes in my room, and I don't have to make many adjustments throughout the grow.
Anyways, I wanted to help some new growers avoid some of the pains and mistakes that we all make when we first start, as well as get feedback from other experienced growers. Everything I learned about growing, came from RIU, and I wanted to pay the knowledge forward
I'm just starting to trim, and the colas are massive! I'll post some pics in a while.
Good grows to you too, my friend