Perpetual Question

i plan on running a perpetual hydro in about 2 months (with AOS 4/20 promo!!), 2 months to plan this out the best way possible so and i have a few questions for anyone with knowledge with hydro, scrog and perpetual grows.

what i have
-400w mh (veg)
-8-12 cfl fixture (seedlings/clones)
-600w hps (flower)
-diy aeroponic 24 site cloning 18 gal tote
-2 8site 22 gal dwc tote (i was all gunhoe when i built the cloner, got ahead of myself and made these as well. i now believe that 8 sites will be to crowded to flower but i was thinking i can possible use it to veg the clones.)
-5 5gallon dwc buckets (for mothers)
-basement space, will section off and construct as much space as needed.

what i want to do is run a 3week perpetual using ace of spades then jilly bean.
5 aos seeds first, top and use top as a clone, root and flower for sex, discard males.
then start 5 jilly bean seeds and do the same.
i want to harvest every 3 weeks either aos or jilly bean.
timing of this has to be damn near flawless which is why im posting this thread for advise from the riu fam!
ok. i want to harvest at least 1/4pound every harvest. i want to do 6 medium sized plants each harvest. that should put me near a 1/2p.
i want to use a scrog screen to tie hose with holes poked in to release co2 coming from the tank. i think the scrog is already in the perfect spot to throw some co2 on the plants, maybe even have something to lower and elevate the hose to ensure co2 is dispersed higher than the canopy.

hydroponic system
now the MEANS. what would be the best way to accomplish this? my guess is a flood and drain system (easiest to manage scrog). i will add one more light, 600 or 1000w. just by coverage, a 600w can cover 5x5 area so i think doing that math 2 600w thats a 10x10 area that should be plenty. now how big should the 3 tables be? i think 2x4 will be perfect for 6 plants, thats 1x1.5 space for 6 plants. i can arrange them 2 side by side and the other facing upward, sorta like the letter C but a boxed version. or, how about using those above noted 22gal 8site totes,(id only use 6sites) as a dwc with a drain to change res while scrog is set? my worries with this setup is maybe the top of the tote will be to flimsy to hold the weight of 6 plants and it will be pretty crowded, lid is 28"x22". hmm.. maybe do 4 plants in 4 totes for a 2week harvest for just about 1/4p each harvest?

scrog screen
i will need a scrog screen stand using wood or pvc that i can adjust the height if needed and go higher with the co2 hose. best way to construct this or another method?

co2
hose to a co2 regulator with holes in the hose to disperse co2 over bud sites. is this overkill? is there an easier way to accomplish this? should i put fans on a timer to turn off while co2 is being dispersed?



thats all i got for now. i no theres more details im missing but im tired...
any improvements or other methods are more than welcome.
+ rep to any and all who comment!

also i plan on vegging for 2-3 weeks after clones have been transplanted then move to flower. what should the dimensions of the scrog be over the 2x4table? at what point do i introduce the scrog and at what distance from the top of the clones?

been thinking.. is the scrog even necessary for what i want?

matatan said:

i want to harvest every 3 weeks either aos or jilly bean.
timing of this has to be damn near flawless which is why im posting this thread for advise from the riu fam!

ok. i want to harvest at least 1/4pound every harvest. i want to do 6 medium sized plants each harvest. that should put me near a 1/2p.

thats all i got for now. i no theres more details im missing but im tired...
any improvements or other methods are more than welcome.
+ rep to any and all who comment!

Click to expand...

Just some experience running perpetuals...

Major pain in the ass... and the timing rarely ever works out 'perfect', running like a finely tuned watch. It's not as if the plants use the same watch as us, right? And problems/circumstances always pop up... nothing ever runs exactly to plan or design. Plus circumstances change, as this method of growing will set a rather regimented schedule.

On that point, it is a major pain to transplant, train, stake, cut, trim, dry & package... and disposing of the goods & medium & waste... and processing the trim too... and, and, and, and... get the point? Doing it once every 2.5~3 months is bad enough, let alone every 3 weeks... the same work load, just doing the motions more frequently.

Anyway, just some heads up... the plan is great, the work load is demanding... and life has a way of not going to plan.

yea.... life doesnt care about our plans.
i will adjust, adapt and overcome. the time really wont be exact but more of a window of when to harvest. thats actually the least of my worries.

I have been running a one week perpetual SOG for over three years now and I LOVE IT. Just like the other poster said, the workload is constant, but then again so is the flow of bud you will be getting. Instead of spending 12 hours cutting every other month, I only spend an hour and a half every week. I only need to take 1/8 the clones at a time, to fill my flower room because of the cycle, so it really breaks up the work. It also lets me keep fewer mother plants, this way so I can maximize the space.

A perpetual grow is NOT for everyone. I bud on a 4x4 tray with a single res, so I can never flush or give different nutes at different stages, but the biggest draw back is not getting behind schedule or everything will go to shit. A perpetual grow is like a machine and when it is finely tuned it is a beautiful thing.

Goldowitz said:

I have been running a one week perpetual SOG for over three years now and I LOVE IT. Just like the other poster said, the workload is constant, but then again so is the flow of bud you will be getting. Instead of spending 12 hours cutting every other month, I only spend an hour and a half every week. I only need to take 1/8 the clones at a time, to fill my flower room because of the cycle, so it really breaks up the work. It also lets me keep fewer mother plants, this way so I can maximize the space.

A perpetual grow is NOT for everyone. I bud on a 4x4 tray with a single res, so I can never flush or give different nutes at different stages, but the biggest draw back is not getting behind schedule or everything will go to shit. A perpetual grow is like a machine and when it is finely tuned it is a beautiful thing.

Click to expand...

you harvest every week, so you have i assume 8 different plants at different days in flowering sharing the same res/nutes??????

Hey man whats up, firstly I want to thank you for being one of the few that post questions appropriately so +rep to you! Second I just started a perpetual grow most of the details if not all are in my journal, but here is the run down of what I do. First step if the mothers I am still in this process but as of now I have 4 clones growing to be mothers, once my mothers are a good size I take 4 clones from the bottom of one mother and put them in the cloner. Once those clones root and I take them out of the cloner and put them right into flower, and I put 4 more cuttings into the cloner from a different mother. So basically I put 4 clones into flower every 2 weeks, this results in a staggered harvest every 2 weeks. I estimate at least a 1/2 pound a month and 2 ounces every harvest.

Sub'd for sure. You are pretty much in the making of exactly what I want in about a month. (when I have the $) say you doing this in one room or two?

Dj1209 said:

Hey man whats up, firstly I want to thank you for being one of the few that post questions appropriately so +rep to you! Second I just started a perpetual grow most of the details if not all are in my journal, but here is the run down of what I do. First step if the mothers I am still in this process but as of now I have 4 clones growing to be mothers, once my mothers are a good size I take 4 clones from the bottom of one mother and put them in the cloner. Once those clones root and I take them out of the cloner and put them right into flower, and I put 4 more cuttings into the cloner from a different mother. So basically I put 4 clones into flower every 2 weeks, this results in a staggered harvest every 2 weeks. I estimate at least a 1/2 pound a month and 2 ounces every harvest.

Click to expand...

thanx dude! noone has answered my direct questions yet tho.. but im patient thanx for your input, i will be subbed in your journal def

seamore green said:

Sub'd for sure. You are pretty much in the making of exactly what I want in about a month. (when I have the $) say you doing this in one room or two?

Click to expand...

i will be moving in june and i want to do in the basement so it will depend on the layout down there. or maybe attic or a big bedroom, whichever is most tucked away and not out in the open. i will have a veg and flower room that i will section off. i would prefer to have open space and just some wooded frames and make it the size i want. so to answer your question one room sectioned off from each other.

matatan said:

you harvest every week, so you have i assume 8 different plants at different days in flowering sharing the same res/nutes??????

Click to expand...

I take my seven best rooted clones, every week and place them into flower. My room is only 4x8x8, so I am only able to fit a single 40g res in my flower room.

That seems like it would work out nicely. I was thinking 1 room would be enough too. I'm planning on 2 tents though since it will be easy to set up (take down in emergency) and keep everything stable in the environment. You going to use tanks or a propane burner for co2? Do those things smell like propane when they run?

for veg im thinking 3x3 minimum, and flower 6x6 min. so one bedroom sized 12x13 or 10x12 would be perfect(those are common bedroom sizes). and if not in the basement ill just bring out the hammer and make some frames =)
i have no idea what the co2 tanks and/or burner smell like i havent used either. but im leaning toward the tank with a regulator.

i have plans of almost the same thing also. 2 600s dwc screens in a cge. i think tht the 6x6 for the amount of plants u want is a lil small, i would do slightly fewer plants with 3x3 screens and with a 1000w in something tht size with good a/c hood or lengthen the room a lil to maybe 4x8 then runnin 2x600s shoud cover tht area sufficiently. when runnin ur co2 tho keep ur oscillating fans on but ur exhaust(if u plan on using one) off. co2 is also an odorless non flammable gas, i have no experience with propane burners and smell but no for sure tht u wont smell a tank and regulator.

i run coco run too waste. and i swear by it.
i have 3 rooms
clone, veg, flower.
3 mothers in veg room 2 * 400w HPS, i clone from them ( 2 weeks in clone room under 1 * 400w HPS) and veg the plants for 3 weeks in the veg room before flowering.
i clone in 2*2*2 rockwool cubes, once rooted veg them in 1.5L pots with coco and 50% nutes and transplant them into 45L pots for flower. i use 1 * 1000w HPS for each plant in flower. but wondering if 2 * 400 would be better per plant ?

i might just scratch the whole flood table scrog design for the first run... i want to grow out big plants with a min 6 week veg before flower. i want to compare the differences between running 6 dwc 5gal buckets and 2x4floodtable with 8-10 clones.

so, to make this happen i have an aerogarden 7 that i use to start germed seeds. it has 7 slots but 1 slot is used by the airpump tube to the airstone. so i have 6 slots available for seedlings. i have a bunch of seeds from 4/20, first up will be 5 ace of spades and a fem burmese kush. once the roots are established ill transplant all 6 babys into there own 5 gallon dwc bucket. top, veg for 6 weeks then into flower. right when i transplant into dwc ill start to germ 3 more feminized seeds to replace the males of teh ace. whensex shows on the ace ill cut some cuttings of the females and discard the males. out of 5 im hoping to get at least 2 females. so with 2 females ace and 1 burmese kush in flower ill add the other 3 fem seeds in veg to get back to 6 plants. keeping this going ill have a perpetual harvest every month or so. by the time i harvest the first 6 plants i should have enough money to add another 600 or 1000w hps. THEN i will setup the 2x4floodtable with whichever strain i like the best and that doesnt stretch to to much. then grow it out, harvest. THEN add the scrog. and compare the numbers. should be fun! now the waiting game till next month....