CAP ebb&Flow using the Lucas formula | Only 3 pots with 400 Watts

This will be my 3rd ebb&flo grow. The other 2 were very successful so I am going to use the same techniques except for a few tweaks. The big difference this time is an added CAP ebb&flo controller system instead of the flood&drain table I previously used.

I have some freebee seeds I am going to use from Humbolt Seeds, train wreck, green crack, lost coast diesel, Amherst sour diesel and Desert diesel.

My Setup

• 2x4 ft tent
• 400w MH&HPS
• 3 three gal CAP pots
• CAP controller
• 20 Gal. Res.
• WO water
• GH Micro, bloom & Cool Bloom (following Lucas percentages)

Pots hooked up in tent


Bucket insert with rocks added


Controller opened


Hooked to Res. and running


Wet rocks and no leaks!

I will give detailed updates throughout the complete grow. I still have to sprout the seeds so this journal will start out slow. Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Happy Growing everyone!

Stoked to see another of your grows.

Subbed & Ready

that set up the way youve set it up looks like a perfect match for that tent the 20 gal res. for only 3 plants should ensure a good growth rate i use gh- 3 part flora series but ive never tried the lucas formula good luck on your grow ill be checking it out

Looks like an awesome setup! If you are interested, I have some of the same strains going. My Desert Diesel and Green Crack are in flower and the ASD is getting pretty large in veg. All of them have been super easy to grow and have produced great plants. Every Green Crack seed I have popped has outpaced all the other seedlings with it every time.

Here is the Desert Diesel in flower....I didn't top or train her at all just to see what it looks like She's at day 34.

duudical said:

Looks like an awesome setup! If you are interested, I have some of the same strains going. My Desert Diesel and Green Crack are in flower and the ASD is getting pretty large in veg. All of them have been super easy to grow and have produced great plants. Every Green Crack seed I have popped has outpaced all the other seedlings with it every time.

Here is the Desert Diesel in flower....I didn't top or train her at all just to see what it looks like She's at day 34.

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I like your Desert Diesel. It is shaped like a tree! Nice job. The CAP controller I got was refurbished and I didn’t trust it so I installed an emergency cutoff on it so if something goes wrong it can’t dump the whole res on the floor. I decided to try some strains that were more indica this time and popped the following seeds, Bubba kush and Desert diesel from HUMBOLT SEED and Blue rhino and Caramel ice from POSITRONICS SEEDS. I can only plant 3 but I’m not sure what to throw away. I know I’m using the Desert Diesel. Did you try the Bubba Kush? That is my last choice because I don't like the name.

MuckyDucky said:

I like your Desert Diesel. It is shaped like a tree! Nice job. The CAP controller I got was refurbished and I didn’t trust it so I installed an emergency cutoff on it so if something goes wrong it can’t dump the whole res on the floor. I decided to try some strains that were more indica this time and popped the following seeds, Bubba kush and Desert diesel from HUMBOLT SEED and Blue rhino and Caramel ice from POSITRONICS SEEDS. I can only plant 3 but I’m not sure what to throw away. I know I’m using the Desert Diesel. Did you try the Bubba Kush? That is my last choice because I don't like the name.

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Yeah...I have three flowering right now and three more waiting in veg. Here are my clones in veg



And here are the three that are flowering. They are under a Mars II 900w LED. I pulled one out so you can see it under normal light. I have had nothing but positive experiences with Humboldt Seeds so far. I have only flowered the one Bubba Kush that I grew from seed and she had some issues at the end so not sure she it her true potential. But I can tell you the buds were very dense - a lot more weight than you would think by looking at the buds. One strange thing you may notice is that the pistils will go completely orange in like week 3 - never had a plant do that.

07/13/14

Today I finished setting up the system and planted 3 small sprouts. I am running a very weak 400PPM solution, and the 400W MH is set over 2 feet above the little plants.

Blue Rhino


Bubba Kush


Desert Diesel

The seedlings have been in the pots for 3 days. All looks good so far. I have raised the PPM to 800 and lowered the lights to around 18".

Before /After pictures

9 Days growth.

This system is a lot easier to manage than my dyi ebb&flow table was. I was always adding water and balancing my nutes every 2 or 3 days with the table because of evaporation. With this CAP system it has only used 1 gal of nutes in 9 days! The plants are are growing fast and look very healthy.

This is at 9 days. I have raise the PPM to 1280 @.7.... Check the previous shots for comparisons.

Today is exactly 2 weeks from planting the sprouts. The largest plant is 12" at its widest and 5" high.


Blue Rhino

Bubba Kush

Desert Diesel

That's great! Keep us posted! I'm also just starting a 400W MH grow, I'm gonna use it for flower time as well. Maybe even add an UV light.

I have used my 400W for several years in my 2ft x 4ft tent which is 50w per sq ft... plenty of light IMHO. I am using an electronic 400w ballast so when I switch to flower I only have to exchange my MH bulb for an HPS. The plants are really growing fast now. I'll do an update in a few more days.

Whatcha growin Hashsmoke? ....you growin in soil or hydro?

Soil, it's unmetered one from the back yard of a friend. My 400W MH has a magnetic ballast which I'm yet tweaking to my liking, it's some ancient stuff. I don't even yet have a grow tent, 'cause everything ran on me very rapidly and unexpectedly, I ended up not so prepared. Nonetheless today I'm going to build my tent!
Also, I'm doing this grow with only limited resources, but I'm most eager to also experiment a few. I'm gonna use my MH for the whole grow, I have 2 CFL's of warm white which I'm going to adapt into the grow tent to boost some when flowering is done and I'm going to perhaps get an additional UV light supplier. I want to push the limits on quality of the material. Also prove for myself and anyone else who is on the same endeavor as me, whether UV light really increases potency or not.

I'm growing a very interesting not feminized varieties, it's Blueberry x Lemon Haze x Skunk 1 - 2 plants, 5 plants Sour Diesel and 3 unknown strains, so far they grow good and look as just as any other weed, but I got these from a real hard dope, so hoping for something great! They all are mostly Sativa dominant.

Though the BBxLHxS1 has 40 - 45 days of flowering - which is just stunning, in addition to how strong this mix appears to be. Mate, I know it ain't best of me asking this here but, should I start a grow journal? I feel very tempted, but I'm also confused about it.

Those plants are McLovin' that new setup of yours ! Nice job bro !

SpaaaceCowboy said:

Those plants are McLovin' that new setup of yours ! Nice job bro !

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Hey yea Spaaacie! This is automation at its best. The only thing I have really had to do to them in their 18 growing days was to bump the PPM in the res up one time to maximum levels. Other than that I forget its there. So far it only used 4 gal out of my 18 gal res and the PPM and PH is staying in range. This is so much better than my dyi ebb&flo table. I was constantly adding water because of evaporation I guess, and re balancing the PPM. It has only been 4 days since my last picture post but they have really grown. I will update again soon.

HashSmoke420 said:

Soil, it's unmetered one from the back yard of a friend. My 400W MH has a magnetic ballast which I'm yet tweaking to my liking, it's some ancient stuff. I don't even yet have a grow tent, 'cause everything ran on me very rapidly and unexpectedly, I ended up not so prepared. Nonetheless today I'm going to build my tent!
Also, I'm doing this grow with only limited resources, but I'm most eager to also experiment a few. I'm gonna use my MH for the whole grow, I have 2 CFL's of warm white which I'm going to adapt into the grow tent to boost some when flowering is done and I'm going to perhaps get an additional UV light supplier. I want to push the limits on quality of the material. Also prove for myself and anyone else who is on the same endeavor as me, whether UV light really increases potency or not.

I'm growing a very interesting not feminized varieties, it's Blueberry x Lemon Haze x Skunk 1 - 2 plants, 5 plants Sour Diesel and 3 unknown strains, so far they grow good and look as just as any other weed, but I got these from a real hard dope, so hoping for something great! They all are mostly Sativa dominant.

Though the BBxLHxS1 has 40 - 45 days of flowering - which is just stunning, in addition to how strong this mix appears to be. Mate, I know it ain't best of me asking this here but, should I start a grow journal? I feel very tempted, but I'm also confused about it.

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Hi Hashsmoke. I have never tried using a MH in flower but I'm sure having some warm cfl's mixed in would be helpful. You may want to check out SpaaaceCowboys grow, https://www.rollitup.org/t/c99-power-flower-voyage-ii-of-the-space-cab.833265/page-3. He has been working with cfls and has been doing a lot of dyi building.
In the past I have always tried to grow sativa dom strains but this time I decided to use use up some of the indica freebe seed I had laying around.... seems like everyone prefers sativa... I wonder why so many indica dom strains are produced... Oh well, too much thinking hurts my head. I need another toke.

mucky which lucas formula are you using?
i like the setup........what size are the buckets 3 or 5 gallon.

SeedHo said:

mucky which lucas formula are you using?
i like the setup........what size are the buckets 3 or 5 gallon.

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Hey there SeedHo! Thanks for stopping by! I am using the 3 gal CAP buckets with a refurb CAP controller I picked up on the cheap. For my setup 5 gal buckets in a 2x4' tent with a 400w hps would have been overkill. I am going to top the plants later to even out the canopy and maximize my lighting.

For the nutes I will be using 8 part GH micro and 16 parts GH Bloom throughout the grow. When I switch to flower I plan to add 10 parts of GH Cool Bloom to the mix. I will keep my total PPM around 1325 @.7 but it can fluctuate up to 1420 or so. You noticed I used the term part instead of ML . I use a calculator to determine the exact amount but the ratio will always be 8 micro, 16 bloom and 10 Cool bloom.

I think I'll get off of my lazy butt and post some more pictures in a few minutes.