MaiNiaK's Hydro

First run in my new system.
I've run many versions of this system in the past, saving up to build this system.

First we have our tank room. Feed tank on right return tank on left. We can also recycle or drain to waist. I have a pressure release loop returning to the tank from the pump, so I can adjust hom much pressure gets to the drip stakes. Also each row upstairs has valves to adjust pressure to each row.


The veg room for this location isn't ready yet. So this rounds plants had to be started in soil and washed off in order to have plants to run.


We have 10 Black Russian (seed) 2 Super Shark (seed) 1 Dark Star (seed) 3 MOB (clones) 12 ECSD.


We are using a mismatch of ballasts for now. Had to scrounge up a couple in order to fire this round.



Feel free to ask any questions, critique or bash..!!

Niiiiiiiiiiice! I am plugged in. Clean well thought out, very professional.

Now we're talkin

Thanks

Hooked up a thermostat this morning for lights out today. Triggers 2 ceramic heaters.

Looks so cool. This will be fun to watch.

Nice. Gonna roll up some glue, sit back and enjoy

Ah there are the ducts, couldn't see them in the first photo's but knew you has it covered.
And there is space between the outside rows and the wall great.

The lights aren't adjustable, do you think this may be a problem?
How high is the ceiling?
How come you didn't put the ballast on the outside of the room?
Why drip and not deep water or under current?

roundplanet said:

The lights aren't adjustable, do you think this may be a problem?
How high is the ceiling?
How come you didn't put the ballast on the outside of the room?
Why drip and not deep water or under current?

Click to expand...

This room will normally only run 12/12. So the plants (started in bucket lids on tables and transferred to the next table where they are placed in buckets, so the roots drop) will be 2.5 - 3 ft plants by the time they enter the flower room.
This round had to be filled with a mix of seedlings and clones that were started in dirt and rinsed off to introduce to hydro. The veg room at this location isn't finished so the plants had to come from another location this round
The ceiling is 9 ft so we have 6 ft of plant space. I have thought about making the lights adjustable. But I like to do things right and it just wasn't in the budget for this run. If or when I do, I plan to use 3, 20 ft sections of 1 1/2 steel pipe, 9 pullies and 3 boat cranks. Lights attached to pipe, pullies fastened to ceiling and boat trailer cranks to raise and lower each row.

The ballasts were originally on the outside of the side walls. The problem is, that space isn't heated and during cooler months the ballasts and timers would condensate and drip on the insulation of the ceiling below. So we moved them inside the room even though this time of year it wouldn't have mattered as much.

Undercurrents produce pretty well. To be truthful though I'm just not a big fan of deep water culture. You need to have air at every bucket. Most of the home made versions are an interconnected maze of trip hazard. Then there is the issue of root rot.
My system leaves 3/4 of an inch of nutrient solution in the bottom of the bucket. So the rest of the roots are getting air and (probably) 90% humidity. The pump cycles for 20 seconds every 30 minutes right now. The tanks are oxygenated and get stirred by the pumps pressure relief valve
When staged (vegged) properly, the second table (where they go into buckets) would have the watering cycle changed (10 sec on 45 min off) to promote the roots to find the bottom of the bucket prior to going into flower.



I'm not knocking deep water culture or any other method. This is just what works for me.

Ya. ya, I don't really know which way I will go is all. So with drip there is always liquid in the buckets, but not air rated, but the drip is
air rated. In drips the roots get the air from the air?

Subbed in for this professional grow!


Are you also rocking the greenhouse this year.
?

papapayne said:

Subbed in for this professional grow!


Are you also rocking the greenhouse this year.
?

Click to expand...

Thanks papapayne..
Yes we are. My wife is now a caregiver and has her own patients aswell.

roundplanet said:

Ya. ya, I don't really know which way I will go is all. So with drip there is always liquid in the buckets, but not air rated, but the drip is
air rated. In drips the roots get the air from the air?

Click to expand...

Yes 3/4's of an inch of nutrient solution is left in the buckets. Which is replaced every 30 minutes. As the root mat gets larger it displaces the amount of solution in the bottom of the bucket. The nutrient solution that the plants get every 30 minutes is enriched with oxygen in the resivior. Yes in this system the plants also get air from the humid air inside the buckets.

MaiNiaK420 said:

Thanks papapayne..
Yes we are. My wife is now a caregiver and has her own patients aswell.

Click to expand...

Awesome man. You got a thread for the greenhouse somewhere? Can't wait to see what by a can do indoor. As the last greenhouse show was very nice work! Can definitely see the professionalism in your work.

Stay free stay high

Papa

Thanks again Papa.... I try.... hahaha

Link to 2016 outdoor thread.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/mainiak-mountain-2016-outdoor-expedition.907293/

Can you tell me about Moose and Lobsta? How'd it run? A real good buddy turned me on to Dynasty.

I like the way you do things. I'm happy to have stumbled upon you.

Looks great,good luck you amigo.

I'm always in awe whenever I see commercial grows, but when I see a HYDRO commercial grow, I just flip. It looks amazing, I love the huge feeding tank. My single 5gal DWC is like an ant compared to yours.

So how does undercurrent work? For a second I thought that you had an airstone in each bucket, but upon closer inspection it seems as this is some kind of top feed? So I assume the pipes in the middle transport the water/nutrient solution and that fills the bottom of the buckets? And after those 20 seconds the nutrients solution gets, what, replenished?

Good luck growing, I'll be happy to watch!

EDIT: sorry, I read your earlier post, no need to explain again. So you're saying root rot isn't an issue with the standing water?

GandalfdaGreen said:

Can you tell me about Moose and Lobsta? How'd it run? A real good buddy turned me on to Dynasty.

I like the way you do things. I'm happy to have stumbled upon you.

Click to expand...

I haven't actually run this strain. I have it but haven't flowered it yet.
A friend of mine gave me a cut a while back. I was hoping to get the platinum huckleberry but he had a firm grasp on that strain... lol

Gregor Eisenhorn said:

I'm always in awe whenever I see commercial grows, but when I see a HYDRO commercial grow, I just flip. It looks amazing, I love the huge feeding tank. My single 5gal DWC is like an ant compared to yours.

So how does undercurrent work? For a second I thought that you had an airstone in each bucket, but upon closer inspection it seems as this is some kind of top feed? So I assume the pipes in the middle transport the water/nutrient solution and that fills the bottom of the buckets? And after those 20 seconds the nutrients solution gets, what, replenished?

Good luck growing, I'll be happy to watch!

EDIT: sorry, I read your earlier post, no need to explain again. So you're saying root rot isn't an issue with the standing water?

Click to expand...

I cant say I've never had issues with root rot, while running a similar system as this. But I don't seem to get it as often as I did when I was running RDWC and it's a lot easier to keep the water cool. The standing water in the bottom of the buckets gets refreshed every 30 minutes with fresh (well oxygenated) nutrient solution. The pump is hooked to a cycle timer so I can adjust the timing to anything I want.

I'm just hoping this first run goes well, were I'm running a mismatch of seed and clones that were started in dirt and switched to hydro.