ASCIIGHOST
Well-Known Member
I'm the new guy so figured I'd start off writing up my method of madness.
1. Light is created in many stages. For the seedling/sprout stage there is a T5. After that the switchable ballast is set to 400W, and a MH bulb is used. Come bloom ballast is then switched to 1000W and dual arc 600hps/400mh full spectrum bulb is used for remainder
2. Air is seasonal. Start seedlings/sprout in smaller/stabler area that is A/C. Bigger bulb requires bigger area, so is then moved to area without A/C. Temps controlled solely by season or time of day/overnight. Air in this area is moved with a Vortex S-Line 730CDM inline fan pulling air from sealed Sun System reflector, pushing it through a Phresh Filter, and to outside world. No smell issues. Heat issue only constant on 1 out of 5 rounds so far. Still new and working out all kinks.
3. Medium has been finalized on rockwool over hydroton. 1inch rockwool cube buried in croutons. Basically the new/semi-final plan is to "pot up" more often. A picture is worth a thousand words so here:
4. Feeding is done daily via hand watering. I have a PH meter and a PPM Meter, so keeping things dialed in is very easy. Using 1-part floranova during veg. 1part Floranova during bloom, and will be experimenting more this go-round with cal/mag only feedings in bloom. Because of the hydroton base, the rock wool drains very well. Because the rockwool is croutons it drains very well. Because there are air pockets between the croutons, the roots grow very well. Because the humidity is so high in the container, even the roots around the hydroton continue to grow. This is basically the same effect you'd get doing aeroponics. The picture might not do it justice. The roots are all white, except a few have the slighter darkness at their tips. The goal is to produce a wide, strong, healthy root ball without slowing down growth from traditional air pruning techniques.
5. In later stages when more watering/feeding is required a timed dripper is applied about 1 hour after 1000w bulb comes on, and about 3 hours before it goes off. So far the best I've ever done on a consistent, daily basis on 1 lady is taking about 3/4 a gallon before 10% runoff begins.
1. Light is created in many stages. For the seedling/sprout stage there is a T5. After that the switchable ballast is set to 400W, and a MH bulb is used. Come bloom ballast is then switched to 1000W and dual arc 600hps/400mh full spectrum bulb is used for remainder
2. Air is seasonal. Start seedlings/sprout in smaller/stabler area that is A/C. Bigger bulb requires bigger area, so is then moved to area without A/C. Temps controlled solely by season or time of day/overnight. Air in this area is moved with a Vortex S-Line 730CDM inline fan pulling air from sealed Sun System reflector, pushing it through a Phresh Filter, and to outside world. No smell issues. Heat issue only constant on 1 out of 5 rounds so far. Still new and working out all kinks.
3. Medium has been finalized on rockwool over hydroton. 1inch rockwool cube buried in croutons. Basically the new/semi-final plan is to "pot up" more often. A picture is worth a thousand words so here:
4. Feeding is done daily via hand watering. I have a PH meter and a PPM Meter, so keeping things dialed in is very easy. Using 1-part floranova during veg. 1part Floranova during bloom, and will be experimenting more this go-round with cal/mag only feedings in bloom. Because of the hydroton base, the rock wool drains very well. Because the rockwool is croutons it drains very well. Because there are air pockets between the croutons, the roots grow very well. Because the humidity is so high in the container, even the roots around the hydroton continue to grow. This is basically the same effect you'd get doing aeroponics. The picture might not do it justice. The roots are all white, except a few have the slighter darkness at their tips. The goal is to produce a wide, strong, healthy root ball without slowing down growth from traditional air pruning techniques.
5. In later stages when more watering/feeding is required a timed dripper is applied about 1 hour after 1000w bulb comes on, and about 3 hours before it goes off. So far the best I've ever done on a consistent, daily basis on 1 lady is taking about 3/4 a gallon before 10% runoff begins.