hi guys

im moving over to the darkside after getting a new 1.2 x 2.4 x 2m tent and was looking at the 12 pot hydropot system from that COMPANY... ....Now my friend has one and loves it and i alos like it but hate the bloody price...

dont reall want to build a similar system as im useless at stuff like that...so is there easier cheaper ways of doing hydro with minumum agro and maintenance

all help appreciated

what about handwatering in coco, just at the veg stage never flowered yet this way but looking good so far.

Have been thinking about that way...how do you go about it though??

Do you mix up say a 20ltr batch of EC / PH adjusted water and simmply feed until run off???

This Hydro route i go down must be simple as a family member will feed / lookafter it 50% of the time, so simplicity is key..if there is such a thing

Check out Owderbs diary

been there, done that...although i didnt read about his premix routine if he has one so will go back for a sober second read

aye, mix your feed in bubbled water to required ec then adjust ph if needed, owderb in one of his diarys feeds from the bottom (recommend you read it!), ive not done this yet still watering the top but not until there's any run-off, just a little every day. the plants are still young tho so i will start watering from the bottom when the roots come down. its my first time with it im no expert mind, but imo there's is a huge difference in the growth and health of the plant compared to previous methods used.

Only thing about coco is the amount of labour involved...i need minumum labour apart from checking PH / EC daily

Ok...decided im getting the 12 hydropot system..

How long do people who use this system run the pump for??

15 min every hr or 2 min every hr...and do you change the times as the plants get bigger??

also can you adjust the amount of water being pumped into each bucket as i read it shouldnt touch the rockwool cubes, is that right??

also what do people use to cover the pipes as i have read they are prone to clogging...would net pots put in first be ok??

and lastly....can you put an airstone in each pot prior to filling with pebbles?? and if so when do you run that, is it when the water is pumping into them??

so many questions and learning to do

Hello Neo,

I flood my 8pod system every three hours for four minutes only when the lights are on, no matter what size the plants are.

But i think every system is a bit different mate so just time how long it takes to flood to the overflow pipes.

Think the not flooding the rockwool cubes is when they are really small so they might drown between floods.

Not a problem if you have got loads of roots already poking out of the big rookwool cubes when you whack them in.

The clogging does happen most grows but easy to notice if you watch at least one flood a day, as one of the pods willn't fill up properly.

I have seen some peeps put there misses tights over the inlet pipes to stop the roots getting into them.

I have the detachable system which is a bucket in a bucket basicly, i don't i just have an air stone in the reservoir.

Yea you could put an air stone in each of the buckets as it an inch of water in all the time and run the stone all the time.

It is a good system but expensive which we all know, Feel free to PM me mate.

Peace & Light

Mrm

cheers Mrm....what timer do you use to set that flood time??

also...did you order your system with delivery or go and buy in person with the aim to haggle...

im going to go to the place and buy direct but i may get a 10 pot if they do that, what lights and size room do you have for your 8 pot

cheer for ya help

No worries mate ,

A digital grasslin timer works at treat has never let me down .

Ordered straight from the site mate at full whack ,

But yea now i would go haggle like a mofo mate, nothing to lose and you ain't a newbie like i was when i brought mine.

A 1.2x1.2x2mt tent with a 600w HPS in a cooltube or supernova reflector depending on time of year and heat.

Peace & Happy growing

Mrm

How have you got a 8 pot in a 1.2 x 1.2 tent

Hello Neo,

It's a snug fit as it's about 1.17 x 0.80mt but it goes bud.

That is if we are talking about the same sytems haha, product code S2 for £270 on there site.

Mrm

Same system

Wish i was a DIY wiz, could save a fortune

why does it come with 2 timers and 2 pumps

also how do you fill the resevoir, do you have another tank to premix or do you top up with bucket then do a fresh tank every 7-14 days

cheers mrm

Yea wouldn't be to hard knock up a D.I.Y version,
if ya can he arsed ,

Mine is the old version and both pumps are wired into one plug, so i only have one timer.

Every week I just hook up garden hose and drain the res then refill then mix as it's filling up.

A res can last up to two weeks with out topping up but you start to get def on the leaves.

I don't have the room or can't be arsed to premix then top up mid week.

It's a lazy growers system which suits me fine .

Mrm

Soz one pump does four of the buckets, that's why you get two dude.

Two timers sound more safe also

Mrm

so there is 2 pumps in the tank, how many airstones do you use in it and with what pump

why is 2 timers safer bud, i thought you just used the 1 for 8-10 pots or is it 1 timer / per pump

so may questions

whats the deal with hydro nutes, keep seeing a & b do you have to mix together the 2 parts to make your nutes for just grow and then the same for bloom

lazy system sounds right up my street although i think i will get another res and make up the nutes in advance of a change of the system

cheers for ya help

Stick with the Compo Neo

i would mate but growing 8 tree's a time uses 200 litres of soil, sick of getting rid of it all

besides im ready for the transistion to hydro to speed up veg times etc

Fair do's feck having to get rid of that amount of Compo after each grow....Im planning on knocking up a couple of them Mop Bucket Bubblers myself in the next week or 2 got all the bits and bobs to make the thing just need to save some pennys for EC meter/Ph pen and new Nutes.Gonna give it ago as a little side project along side my Compo so that way Ive got something to fall back on when it goes tits up

Marky loves it now and wont be long before he ditches soil altogether

Definately think its the way to go

Hello,

Safer cause I not to sure about wiring up two pumps into one 13a plug.

Alot of hydro nutes do come in two parts yea but you can't mix them together straight they react badly.

You get A&B for both veg and flower and mix in equal parts.

I fill my tank half up then add A nutes then wait till it's full and add the B part.

I only use a small 100L air pump and 6" air stone right next to the pumps in the res.

Mrm

Cheers for all your help, think im ready for the transistion

just need to find out what my water is like out the tap

Goodluck dude

Mrm

Just spoke to my mate who has the system and he tells me that he floods for 15mins every 2 hrs becaude he only has a mech timer, his results are good so it obviously works

i said he is running a sort of bubbler but only for 15min every 2 hrs

Hello,

Hate them mech timers must of had four break down on me dude.

Spend the extra and get the digital grasslin ones mate.

To important in hydro to get a days failure with no pump.

Trust me i learnt the hard way!.

Mrm

I have 2 of the grasslins coming with the system

also have posted in the Q+A section on advice for nutes etc mrm, so feel free to help me there too bud

one last question if i may MRM

I have airstones in each pot, should i run the airstones permanently or just when it floods

The airstones are the round ones and i was told to put them in the top bucket rather than the bottom one of the detachapod, but if i put them in the bottom bucket then they would always be sat in 1 inch of water which is good / bad thing


cheers

Hello mate,

In the top bucket i would only run when flooding as thats the only time the stone will be submegerd,

Thats why i would think to putting the stone in the bottom bucket and running all the time as it always has an inch of water left in there.

There will be a shed load of roots in the bottom bucket with the nutes.

But hey i am only guessing Neo, Try both see if there's a difference for yourself but let us know yea.

Peace & Happy growing

Mrm

cheers MRM

do the roots manage to get through the 5 holes in the top bucket and make it down to the pipes in the second bucket

like you say i think its going to be trial and error, but would the pump running fresh air to the roots permanently be a bad thing if i put it in the top bucket

Hello,

Yea they grow straight through the holes mate and some times block up the inlet flood pipes, thats why you get a blockage sometimes.

Don't know if it would be a bad thing but would it do any good and it might dry them out even more? .

Peace & Light

Mrm

good thinking bat man

sod it, will run it when it floods only, also got 4 of these round 5 inch airstyones in my 130ltr res so there is plenty of oxygen around

cheers for ya help

just need to finish my room today then its 12 cuts of hottie going in there

Looking forward to this one buddy.....

me too bud, although im thinking the first run will be a trial and error affair with a view to perfection after 2-3 runs

Little update about this system 7 weeks on as it was my first try at hydro...

To begin with its bloody expensive from that place, and am fairly sure i could build it again for about half the price...

BUT, Im no DIY man and as it was my first attempt at hydro i didnt want to try and replicate something from pics and miss something...that aside, its been a bloody excellent system to use and once dialled in performs superbly...

Filling it up is easy peasy with a 6 inch fill hole, PH stays very stable and takes 6-7 days to go from 5.6 to 6.3 with stable EC all the way through it this is definately down to running the sysem for a few days prior to use with PH'D water and very low nutes at 0.2 as well as the normal washing of the pebbles first...The flood pipes also have little sort of shirt buttons with holes in so im assuming you dont get many blockages anymore neither, as i havent....

When i build one of these there is one change i will make though and that is to have my resevoir outside the tent, rather than underneath the pots for easier temp management, apart from that and the price it comes highly recommended to new hydro growers....so get building..

Hi OeN/MrM

Been following your posts now regarding the hydropod system. I had exactly the same concerns regarding price from 'you know who' and DIY, so i plumped for DIY.

Hopefully the attached jpg will show you how i got on (just followed the images from that said shop/site) except it is not a detachapod style. First go at this so i thought why bother!!

Each pot is 10litres. The reservoir is a 'really useful storage box' - 50litres, with an airstone, a MJ750 pump and a 50w heater inside (for those chilly nights). I bought all of the piping and fittings online (many outlets available ).

My room is quite an odd shape as it is sited above a bedroom with a sloping roof above that, so its like a 1.2x1.6x1.6 square with a massive chunk taken out of the corner, taking it down to 1.2x0.5x1.6, but i do have 'working and storage/drying space'. (see second and third image). 6" inlet fan bottom and 6" extract fan top (not in pic).

I'm planning on only growing 3 plants (1 per pod on MrM's advice), and would like advice on lighting. I've managed to source 2 x 150w streetlights from a streetlight friend and was wondering if this would be enough for the 3 plants. A lot of other growers use 400w/600w but i presume they are growing 8/12/16 plants?

This is my first time so any help would be gladly accepted and appreciated.

Regards

MrJRW

Hello bud,

Haha looks like ya done a good job on that D.I.Y system mate ,

I would go for a 400w dude and them streetlights are safe and everything?.

I grow eight under my 600w with a veg of three weeks and flower for nine weeks .

Peace & Light

Mrm

Hi MrM,

Thanks for the compliment, i'm quite proud of it myself for a first time DIYer!! Mark2 will have the reservoir alongside the pods rather than underneath (as per OeN's suggestion) to give me greater grow height.

I've had a minor lighting issue where my so called streetlight friend has decided to get rather greedy, so i've decided not to get the lights from him.

I have a 2700K 400w HPS available to me, and i plan to veg for 2 weeks, then flower for 8 weeks, with 2 weeks drying so Xmas should be rocking (hopefully)

Will this be ok to use for the whole cycle or should i get a 6400k for the first 2 week stage? Do you change/have different bulbs?

If this lamp is suitable, any recommendations as to where the best place to buy the reflector/ballast (i already have an envirolite 22A heavy duty timer)?

Thanks again for your input on this.

Regards

MrJRW

Hi mrJRW

Thats a great self build you have done there, how much did it cost to do...

Haha don't ask that I don't wanna know

Mrm

all in i reckon £75 max...

must do some pics of mine, Its a bloody jungle now....

hey i love your DIY, any chance you could pop up a little how to , or just a list of parts and where to find em?

Cheers

Hi All,

OeN, you are very close with your guesstimate!! Just totted up the price for just the 3 pod system (which includes an airstone and heater) and it comes to £84.54, so with the various delivery charges, probably £100 would be nearer.

My total outlay currently (and all i've got to get now is the ballast and reflector - 400w) is £176.09 so total outlay would be approx £250 (depending on which lamp i get).

When i spend £160 a month on c**p wet dealer rubbish, it doesn't look too bad on the wallet.

BoredOz, here is a breakdown of what, where and how.

50L Black Really Useful Storage Underbed Box - buy-stationery.co.uk - £16.00
10x10L Buckets (only 6 used) - eBay - £3.50
Piping (16mm flexipipe - 5metres) & Fittings (5x 16mm T's, 2x 16mm 90degrees, 9x 20mm to 16mm reducers, 9x PPI Outlet Screens, 2x 16mm barbed control taps) - progrow.co.uk - £40.00

Right, now we have all the bits, lets build.

Take black box and drill 2 x 20mm holes approx 1.5" from the bottom spaced about 8" apart. Fit a 20mm electrical grommet (with a bit of silicone) into each hole - these are our filling holes for the pods. Then take the lid of the black box and drill a 32mm hole in one corner (fill hole) and in the other 3 corners a 20mm hole (to run off any overflow in a worst case scenario, i have tested this and can confirm it works if your pumps get stuck on, so no water will pour over the top of the lid). Next put 2 buckets inside each other and drill 1 x 20mm hole approx 1.5" from the bottom on both sides (opposite) and 1 x 20mm hole approx 2" from the top (ON 1 SIDE ONLY). Repeat for the other 2 buckets. We now should have 3 buckets, each with 3 holes in (1 at the top and 2 at the bottom).

Now we need to assemble the fittings and pipe. Place the 3 buckets evenly on the lid (1 in each front corner and the third needs to sit on the back edge, in the middle). From my pictures attached, you should be able to see that the overflows just come down from the bucket into a hole in the lid (20mm - grommeted), so mark on the lid the 3 overflow holes you need to drill out. Drill and grommet these ready for the pipe. Next, cut the pipe to the correct length and fit onto the end a 20mm to 16mm reducer (hairdryer needed to make fitting easier). Now wet the pipe and slide into the top hole FROM THE INSIDE OUT and then into the corresponding hole in the lid. The reason for fitting from the inside is that you will not get the 20mm end through the 20mm grommeted hole, plus the 16mm end of the reducer acts as a bung because it pushes into the grommet and makes a good seal. Repeat for the other 2 buckets.

Now for the filling side of things. We need to connect the T-piece for the first and third pod to a 20mm to 16mm reducer, so butt them together and work out how much piping you will need (very small - 2-3"). Insert the same way as the outlet piping BEFORE putting the T-piece on. Repeat this for the right hand pod, but remember to connect these 2 T's on their side as we need to send water further round to the rear pod. At the rear pod, again we will use 2 T-pieces connected to the 20mm to 16mm reducers but in the correct orientation so as to send water to the other inlets on the front 2 buckets. Again, REMEMBER to insert the piping from the inside out BEFORE putting the T-pieces on.
Finally, take the 2 90degree fittings, fit a 20mm to 16mm reducer onto each one with a small piece of pipe REMEMBERING to fit the pipe through the hole BEFORE putting the 90 degree on. I cannot stress this enough as once the fittings are on, THEY ARE ON!!

Now we should have the 3 buckets with all fittings ready to have the correct lengths of piping fitted. Fit the curved corner piping first (x2), then the 2 smaller pieces to connect rear pod to front pots, finally a nice curve from the first and third pods down to the 2 holes which we previously drilled in the black box. Fit a flow control tap to each of the longest pieces, then continue the piping into each hole and onto a T-piece inside the black box. Put a small piece of piping onto the other end of the T, ready to attach your pump.

Nearly there, promise, need a !!
Now we just need to connect onto the 20mm reducer the Outlet screens. I used a waterproof silicone, but anything that will hold them together. They aren't designed to go together, so the fit isn't great, but with a little mastic, all is good.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL GROMMETS ARE SNUG AND WELL FITTED - YOU WILL NEED TO WORK AT THEM WITH FINGERNAILS TO ENSURE THE GROMMET IS CORRECTLY SEATED IN THE HOLE. I used fairly thin buckets, so if yours are more substantial, then only use 1 bucket per pod.

Hopefully you should now be looking at the 3 Pod Ebb & Flood System which you have built all by yourself!! (with a little help from me )

I'll continue this tomorrow with a few modifications that i did after testing the pump and ensuring all filled and drained correctly.

Laters Taters

MrJRW

WoW MrJRW thanks for thr reply,l not read it as just getting ready for work, but looks awesome, will have a read tonight! Thanks again dude

MRJRW,
Thats some write up mate! Its coming along nicely
Looking forward to your second install.
Laters bud

Cheers fella,

Just finished fitting the door today, sealed both fans (drilled a 6" hole for a 4" fan!!) and put the pod system in to see how much height i have.

The final grow dimensions are 1.2m wide, 0.6m deep and 1.2m high (from top of bucket to ceiling).

Now I MUST choose the lamp/ballast/reflector SOON, don't i marcmos69

Can anyone advise whether i go for a 250W HPS, 400W HPS or go down the CFL route. Albeit this is my first grow, a lot of love and effort has gone into this build, and a lot of love will go into the next 3 months so i want to get the lamp choice right. Don't want to end up with a small yield. (i'm hoping the flood and drain method will give good results as well).

All advice gratefully accepted

MrJRW

just read this from start, excellent posts from all, this was one of the 1st systems i saw and wanted but SO many peeps just pure hate that shop it really put me off, always fancied the 2 pod in a drobe but now thanks to this informative thread i may try and build a custom fit small 2/3 pot

keep up the good work and happy toking all

Ok had time to read it!

Awesome detailed steps MrJRW! thanks!

sounds like my kinda setup...

good look with everthing fella