Sannie’s Jack Herer F7 4 Bucket RDWC 1000 Watt HPS Grow

m420p said:

Oh no, by all means any questions are welcome. hmmm... that's interesting, so are you trying both? I have my doubts about that top feed. You said you did 3 like mine, are all six connected? did you use 1 inch tubing and put it at the right level on all buckets to control the solution height in the bucket compared to the bottom of the net pot. That 1 inch needs to be at the same level (mine is 5 or so inches off the bottom of the bucket for the 3 gal buckets) on every bucket including back to the res. Just don't want you to miss something. Depending on what pump you have you might end up having to get a smaller or bigger pump, I almost had to get a smaller one back when I only had a 2 bucket system and one return, 1 inch almost couldn't get rid of the solution fast enough. Now with 4 buckets and 2 returns it's just right.

Click to expand...

I am doing both. I wish I would have seen your journal a few weeks ago when I first started building, I like your connections better than mine. At least I have one of the 2 "sets of 3 buckets" connected like yours for the water pump part. One "set" has a top feed connected to the cycle timer was at the advice of a hydro shop owner. I regret setting it up like that but at least now I can run them side by side to see if it makes any difference.

I didn't do the return lines with 1" tubing because I couldn't find the connectors anywhere in that size (neither grommets nor 1" bulk heads). Neither hydro shop had any 1" tubing either. Where did you get yours and did you have any problems with leaks? I did at first, but after enough teflon tape and silicone caulk it was finally fixed. Nothing scarier to me at this point than seeing a giant puddle of water on the floor, don't ever want that to happen again.

Thanks for the pointers on pump size/return lines and preventing overflow. It's all good now and flows smoothly with the buckets at the same level now.

Everything I did I posted in my journal so if you're interested, I'd love any advice if you get a chance to look through it.

I have a ton more questions but not sure if it's polite to ask them in your journal thread or mine.

booort said:

I am doing both. I wish I would have seen your journal a few weeks ago when I first started building, I like your connections better than mine. At least I have one of the 2 "sets of 3 buckets" connected like yours. One "set" has a top feed connected to the cycle timer was at the advice of a hydro shop owner. I regret setting it up like that but at least now I can run them side by side to see if it makes any difference.

I didn't do the return lines with 1" tubing because I couldn't find the connectors anywhere in that size (neither grommets nor 1" bulk heads). Neither hydro shop had any 1" tubing either. Where did you get yours and did you have any problems with leaks? I did at first, but after enough teflon tape and silicone caulk it was finally fixed. Nothing scarier to me at this point than seeing a giant puddle of water on the floor, don't ever want that to happen again.

Thanks for the pointers on pump size/return lines and preventing overflow. It's all good now and flows smoothly with the buckets at the same level now.

Everything I did I posted in my journal so if you're interested, I'd love any advice if you get a chance to look through it.

I have a ton more questions but not sure if it's polite to ask them in your journal thread or mine.

Click to expand...

You know, I get your feeling on not finding the connections your looking for. Were they a grow shop or hydro shop? I've found there's a difference. The smallest shop around where I live is a hydro shop and idk how but he has way more stuff that I need than the bigger grow shops in the area. I always go to the closer, bigger shops and end up right back at his. Next time I'll look at the Magazine they ordered their stock from since they have it sitting on the counter and use it for pricing. As for the 1in. and those rubber grommets, not one drop of water leaks. In my 2 bucket system I used aquarium glue to ensure they didn't leak, this time I decided to try it without it and it didn't leak one bit. I'm sure it would if it was under pressure like at the bottom of the bucket but they don't leak where they are at on my buckets. I'm going to visit some friends in a bit but tonight I'll check out your journal and we can continue the discussion there.

Added a little upgrade to the room. Made a cardboard wall to put mylar on for the side with the res. One side of the room was a little darker than the other. Much better now.

How big is the area that the plants are in I'm on the fence about a 1000 or 600 watt for my 4x4 space good looking pants too

Why thank you, the room is 5.5 ft x 5 ft. My 1000 is on a track though so I can have my room a little bigger than it should be. I've never used a 600 but I'd say 4x4 would be about perfect for a stationary 1000 watt light. Wouldn't go any smaller but I'm sure you wouldn't be wasting any light or lacking any surface area for the bud tops. 600's are more efficient and less costly on the electric bill but you won't get the bud size or the amount you'll get with a 1000. If your a penny saver, 600 is the way to go. If you are willing to spend a little extra for more come harvest time as well as bigger buds, get the 1000. You can get 1000 watt systems on ebay, amazon, and other hydro websites for anywhere from $150(cheap) to over $500. I spent $250 on my 1000 watt that is both a MH and HPS, came with both bulbs too. Nice quality too, best deal in a while.

Forgot to mention the 5.5 feet is to the cardboard wall. not the room wall behind the res.

m420p said:

Couple questions for whoever... Do you think I should do a SCROG or not?

And for anyone who uses root riot cubes with clones, do you water them in a humi-dome and if so how often? First time using root riot cubes besides rockwool and just don't want to overwater or dry them out.

Click to expand...

That jack loves to be scrogged. It has long thivk lateral branches that fill with bud. Its a grest idea with the variety. Even says so in the seed description

doniawon said:

That jack loves to be scrogged. It has long thivk lateral branches that fill with bud. Its a grest idea with the variety. Even says so in the seed description

Click to expand...

Wow, how could I not notice that, how ironic, I've done SCROGs in the past but I had one unnamed clone strain that hated the SCROG so I wasn't sure if I should or not. I'm about a week and a half into bloom, think it's too late? I can always pull all the tops and most the leaves up through it I guess, but it sounds like this strain stretches quite a bit so I don't see why it would be too late.

I like what you have going on here, very clean and well thought out. If you get a chance, check out my grow below....

m420p said:

Another cool thing I haven't set up yet and I'll post pics. is the homemade "water filters" I put under the flow of the returns in the res. Build them with coat hangers, window screening and a air carbon filter to filter the water of dead roots or build-up caused by nutrients in the system. It keeps the res very clean and removes any debris from the system. Depending on nutes, the system will build up whatever it is, I call it "gunk". That's why I clean my system with hot water twice in cycle. When I see a lot of "gunk" in the filters, I know a change and cleaning is due.

Click to expand...

I'd love to see pics of this, very interested in trying to make this as well if it's not too difficult.

m420p said:

Wow, how could I not notice that, how ironic, I've done SCROGs in the past but I had one unnamed clone strain that hated the SCROG so I wasn't sure if I should or not. I'm about a week and a half into bloom, think it's too late? I can always pull all the tops and most the leaves up through it I guess, but it sounds like this strain stretches quite a bit so I don't see why it would be too late.

Click to expand...

Ive ran it for a year. Its all about scrog and lst

m420p said:

Why thank you, the room is 5.5 ft x 5 ft. My 1000 is on a track though so I can have my room a little bigger than it should be. I've never used a 600 but I'd say 4x4 would be about perfect for a stationary 1000 watt light. Wouldn't go any smaller but I'm sure you wouldn't be wasting any light or lacking any surface area for the bud tops. 600's are more efficient and less costly on the electric bill but you won't get the bud size or the amount you'll get with a 1000. If your a penny saver, 600 is the way to go. If you are willing to spend a little extra for more come harvest time as well as bigger buds, get the 1000. You can get 1000 watt systems on ebay, amazon, and other hydro websites for anywhere from $150(cheap) to over $500. I spent $250 on my 1000 watt that is both a MH and HPS, came with both bulbs too. Nice quality too, best deal in a while.

Click to expand...

Yeah cool that's what I was thinking and I'm not too worried about a little extra on the bill so might as well go with a 1000 and hope for a fatt harvest what did you pull like you first couple times with the 1000 like did you improve a little each time? Right now I'm running a 400 and 250 on super lumens and get around half pound each time with that thousand hopefully I could get 3/4ths of a pound I'd think a pound would be a lot idbe stoked ha

doubletake said:

Yeah cool that's what I was thinking and I'm not too worried about a little extra on the bill so might as well go with a 1000 and hope for a fatt harvest what did you pull like you first couple times with the 1000 like did you improve a little each time? Right now I'm running a 400 and 250 on super lumens and get around half pound each time with that thousand hopefully I could get 3/4ths of a pound I'd think a pound would be a lot idbe stoked ha

Click to expand...

Loo yea I forgot to say I found a dude on craigs with a 1000 light hood and ballast next gen for 240 I'm sure I could get it for 200' then the tent and 400 cram can fan together are only another 250 on eBay so I can get going for less than 500 probley a little over 500 after the clones and soil.

doubletake said:

Yeah cool that's what I was thinking and I'm not too worried about a little extra on the bill so might as well go with a 1000 and hope for a fatt harvest what did you pull like you first couple times with the 1000 like did you improve a little each time? Right now I'm running a 400 and 250 on super lumens and get around half pound each time with that thousand hopefully I could get 3/4ths of a pound I'd think a pound would be a lot idbe stoked ha

Click to expand...

Well, my first indoor attic RDWC 1000 watt Northern Lights grow of 2 monster plants was my highest yielding crop yet. I let them veg. for almost two months because I didn't know any better, ended up with about 30 tops and the bigger ones weighed a ounce once dried. Had 16 Mason Jars that weighed on avg. 32 grams and about 8 other jars that were a little smaller than the bigger jars. Didn't weight those. I figured all together it was about a pound and a half. Haven't came close since because I switched rooms twice. I now am getting my best room yet dialed in and am sure I will beat that no doubt.

doubletake said:

Loo yea I forgot to say I found a dude on craigs with a 1000 light hood and ballast next gen for 240 I'm sure I could get it for 200' then the tent and 400 cram can fan together are only another 250 on eBay so I can get going for less than 500 probley a little over 500 after the clones and soil.

Click to expand...

Just my opinion, unless that 1000 watt on craigslist is new in the box or worth 500 bucks, I wouldn't get it. No warranty and for all you know that ballast could have been used rough(in hot conditions) and could pop and you'd be out 200 bucks. I'd find a good deal on something new. Just my opinion. It's hard to trust people these days with used stuff.

Something else to add that I wrote out to help someone else in their journal to explain how I add my nutrients to my system:

I'll explain how I make adding nutrients easier for me:
- My distilled water comes in 2.5 gal., I know that two full droppers(which is about 8-10 ml) in that 2.5 gal. gives me about 250-300 ppm of cal/mag in that 2.5 gal. When my plants are a good size, my goal ppm for Cal/mag is about 300 ppm constantly throughout the grow. So, say it's time to add more water and nutes to my res. If I have to add 2 full 2.5 gal. waters to my res to get it to my goal water level in the res. which is marked with a line, I know that the amount of Cal/mag I have to add to my res. is at least 4-5 full droppers. After a few weeks your plants will take some of the Cal./mag out of what is already in your solution so later on in the grow if you haven't changed solution in a while, you'll have to add more than the 2 full droppers per 2.5 gal. waters to make up for what the rest of your solution is losing to the plants(up it to 3 or 4 per 2.5). So in other words when I add my water and cal/mag to my res. I don't even pick up a ppm meter. I watch the plants and if they show any deficiency I start adding more Cal/mag. than the usual per 2.5 gal.

-Now that I've added water and Cal/Mag. I grab the ppm meter, read it and compare to my goal ppm. Say it reads 700 ppm and I want 1100. Because I have a line in my res. that I fill it up to every time I add water and nutes, I know, for the most part how much ppm would be added to my res. and system when adding say 20 ml of Bloom, 8ml of Pro-Tekt, 4 ml. of Mag.-Pro, and any other nutes my schedule calls for. I have thought about writing out a math equation using variables for when adding nutes when the res. is at its goal water level, but I'm really good at math so I can do it in my head. I hope that makes sense. So, back to the 700 and 1100 ppm. I need 400 ppm, and because my res. is at goal water level, I know that adding 20 ml of bloom, 8 ml. of Pro-Tekt, etc. will add say 200 ppm, so to achieve the 400 I need, I'll add 40 ml of bloom, 16 ml. of protekt, etc.

I'm curious to know how you are able to keep your water temps under 70 degrees. I am struggling with my water temps, my guess is it's because you have a lot more volume running through your setup. What would you estimate is the total gallons running through the 4 buckets + reservoir (not the one you hook up when you leave for a week).

booort said:

I'm curious to know how you are able to keep your water temps under 70 degrees. I am struggling with my water temps, my guess is it's because you have a lot more volume running through your setup. What would you estimate is the total gallons running through the 4 buckets + reservoir (not the one you hook up when you leave for a week).

Click to expand...

It's approximately a 15-17 Gallon system. As for the temps, where I'm at, it is winter so when the light is off I actually have to use a heater blowing towards the air pumps at the right distance to keep the water temp. high enough. Somehow even with this heater in my room my humidity sits at 45 %. When the light is on, I have the fans for the hood on a timer and if I didn't and if they were on constantly, my room would be too cold with the light on. So in other words I have complete control over my temps at the moment which in turn can allow me to control the temps of my water. Something that some hydro growers don't think of is you can somewhat control your water temp just by how cold are warm the air is that the pumps are pumping into your water. If I weren't able to cool my res. enough, I would take my ventilation intake hose and blow it at my pumps, this in turn would pump colder air into the solution cooling it that way.

In the summer when I do encounter heat problems, I put a cheap white table cloth over my system like a blanket before I start my grow, with 4x4in. holes cut for the plants exactly where they would stick through the cloth. That's why my pumps are at where they are too. So when I put that cloth over the system and air pumps, I can blow cold air from outside(one reason you should have your light ON time at night) or from a separate room under that cloth to cool the buckets and pumps and in turn they blow cold air into the solution.

Hope that helps with your temp problems. Are you really having root problems at 70 degrees F or are you just worried because that's what the hydro store guys told you would happen if you went past 70? In the summer I'm happy with a system temp. of 70-75 and have had systems run that warm with amazingly white roots.

m420p said:

Are you really having root problems at 70 degrees F or are you just worried because that's what the hydro store guys told you would happen if you went past 70?

Click to expand...

Just worried from reading up here and one hydro shop guy saying a water chiller is mandatory and above 72 degrees will be problems. Good to hear that's not the case.

Brilliant idea about the tablecloth with holes. My room is sealed and semi air tight with an AC unit mounted close to the ceiling. I wouldn't benefit from that as much with no ventilation blowing cooler air beneath the cloth, but I wonder if at least keeping it dark below the plants would help with the water temps at all?

booort said:

Just worried from reading up here and one hydro shop guy saying a water chiller is mandatory and above 72 degrees will be problems. Good to hear that's not the case.

Brilliant idea about the tablecloth with holes. My room is sealed and semi air tight with an AC unit mounted close to the ceiling. I wouldn't benefit from that as much with no ventilation blowing cooler air beneath the cloth, but I wonder if at least keeping it dark below the plants would help with the water temps at all?

Click to expand...

I imagine it would as long as the table cloth is white. I see you covered most of your buckets but I think the cloth would be more effective. You know, if you do have root problems and need to get the temps down and decide to do the cloth deal, I'd buy some of that flexible 6 in. tubing and a $30 6 in. inline duct fan at home depot and mount or hang the fan around where the ac is and have the flexible tubing going down under the cloth, just a idea if your desperate with root problems.