high guys just wondering if any other 420 members used the hydro pod or the detacha pod from (Advert removed) i use the 8 pod detacha pod. i am very happy with results (about to start 3rd crop) just looking for other users info or feedback as i am looking to buy another kit. dont know wether to stick with what i know, or try a different sytem.. hydrovator maybe?
jah bless the weed of da ganja seed

I`m also looking into the hydropod system, its just the cost is putting me right off

From reading this excellent forum, most ppl generally like the system, but think its waaay overpriced.

I`m looking at the Yieldmaster set-up, looks quite versatile and much cheaper. But haven`t found any worthwhile feedback on this set-up.

what sort of yields have you achieved with your 8 pod ??

got my first light from that company

shop around mate.

benny.

bit on the dear side but liked the look of there product

im mega pleased with its performance 20oz 1st crop (16 plants doubled up in each pod) just harvested 2nd crop, drying as we speak looks to be about the same 20oz but this time was from 8 plants only (grown bigger) imo this kit was designed or should i say best utilised growing 1 plant per pod (large pods )roots love the room and the piston action makes growth and yield huge....well ive been astonished. highly recommended, take advantage of their price match policy i did and saved loads over £1000 worth of gear for £700 this meant i could get a bigger sytem than planned...came away well pleased.

I have used the 4 pod for about three years now for flowering and a 2 pod for my mothers and an aerocloner for my cuttings.I made the 2 pod myself with stuff bought from my local hydro store and it turned out to be a lot cheaper than buying direct from Mr Winterbourne whose prices are a bit on the crazy side.All the neccessary parts are easy to get except for the pods which took a bit finding but once I got them all together all that was left to do was to drill the holes in the pods and 4 holes in the res tank all in all it took me about 1 hour to construct a 2 pod detachable system.The most expensive item was the aluminium res tank board for the pods to sit on which cost me £20 so overall I saved myself a bit of money..........

from personal experiance, severley expensive, sometimes upto 50% on prices, and the seeds that the sister company do, well, you can proberly guess, not cheap, and yes, am slightly bitter, bought a lot of moneys worth from there, then to find it priced round the conrner, ha any corner for that matter, a lot cheaper, seems to be to many moneymakers and not enough genuine people sellin genuine products, sorr mate for butting in on your bit.. meant to come on seperate.

echo.....

i have the a detachapod from spam........ its basically just buckets with holes drilled in them... they didn`t even bother to de-burr the holes....so quality isn`t exactly spot on.

If you put your mind to it, and not throw money at the problem like I did.....then you could save about 80% of the total cost.

Huge mark up......

I am using the 8 pod and am into my third week of flowering of my first grow. I have one plant to each pod, well, I lost one of them so I am down to 7. It pleases me to read what you are yielding and intrigues me as to what I will yield off mine. I have thought about the hydrovator too. If you were to buy another 8 pod, there would be 2 nutrient tanks to deal with whereas with the hydrovator, it would only be one. But then again, you have paid alot of money for this system and do you really want to waste it. They are expensive. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad an idea if you did have to 8 pods, one in veg and one flowering. They say detacha pod. Have you tried detaching them? If you tried to detach a pod with a plant in it that was four feet tall you would probably destroy the rest of the harvest and the grow room in one go.

The thing i like about this setup is that it's automated so i wouldn't need to get into my flower room so often.

Still looking into this, no point in me buying until i've sorted out my garage anyway.

taffy

You are are not wrong. I can't get into my room now and probably would have been better having all the controls outside. It does run itself and so far, there have been no probs

problem comes in forms that you cant see, eg, roots growing onto the feeder pipes at bottom, never noticed how much till i come to clean out and up after harvest, and you cant get to main pipes without dismanteling everyfucking thing, (experiance speeking again)no wonder plants were a little poorly, hardly any water gettint to them, into my third now, and am having to try everything in power not to let it happen a 3rd. plain netting zipped tied onto main pipes is main idea. also had to repipe entire lot, no equal pressure, pots filling up as they please, all sorted now, but shouldve come sorted in first place, but they do yeild ok, but i am new to this,,

Yes, I noticed the bottom feeder tubes had roots in them when I cleaned out after my last grow. It wasn't a success last time because I put 2 plants in each pod and let them grow to big. I, as the assembly instructions suggested, put rubber grommets into both top and bottom tubes and my plants are now almost three weeks into flower. They are all perfectly healthy which I am sure they wouldn't be if the tubes were blocked with roots although I probably should check a few of them just to see.

Share the wealth mancunian, would like to build my own 2 pod, could you say what bits n bobins are needed and where to get them ?

these systems are way too expensive

theres nothing wrong with simple NFT OR F&D systems that are a lot cheaper

also those pot systems are not versatile, load of rubbish if u ask me

plus id never buy anything from esoteric anyway


[B-Dr]

hear hear i'd like to build my own, can you help us out on the items needed and where you sourced them!

have any of you guys seen the multiflow system available, its similar to the detachapod system, wonder would it give the same problems with the roots going itno the feeder pipes also,

im looking at getting into hydro very soon

never seen this one...had to do a search

so it pumps in the bottom, and uses the top as overflow yeah?

where the fittings go into the gromets at the bottom, put a 4" length of thin wall hose over the fitting. it will fit the gromet more securely, and take the inlet/outlet to the centre of the bucket. have the pipe so its sitting off the bottom, but not hitting the underneath of the plants bucket or you will put strain on the grommet. this way, roots will head down, then round n round the outside of the bottom pot, where the inlet/outlet used to be. this stops roots going into the pipes. At clean out time, use a waterproof hoover to suck the pipes out. any major problems while in use should then be eradicated. if however you get problems, then a net curtain wire follows round the pipes nicely.


using just stones in there and 4 pots per square meter, you should see around 25 ounces under a 600 if flooded every 4-6 hours. thats without any training and flowering at 12" to end up with them forming a canapy by 24" and reaching 36" at most with heavy indica's

that links been disabled but i searched it on google and they are well expensive for what they are
somebody who owns one or has built one should make a DIY thread id definetly build it if somebody did

yeah i detach em all the time just unplug drainage pipes at top ,and then simply lift bucket out, i do this to turn the buckets but also to switch plants around under light to allow for level canopy (stadium method)
i found it easier to only fill my clay pebbles to(just over) the overflow pipes so i just shift a small handful of pebbles to one side unplug pull out.
as for roots growing into pipes i use nylon tights stretched over pipe ends (held on with rubber bands) this not only stops root blockages but also helps to prevent the distribution of pests into root area and tank. ( i learnt this from the springtail saga) also stick to only 1 ganja plant each pod. just grow big.

the main thing i love about this system is the fact that i can go away all summer (checking once per fortnight max) come home and my plants are still thriving. the price did hurt slightly but then i didnt pay the catalogue prices (not by a long chalk) and after 3 grows i have harvested at least 60oz and by xmas it should have produced more than 2 kilos. it is effortless to run, and only had to see dealer 1 time since spending a few hundred pound for complete kit light, fans , filters, books, seeds to me its worth purely for the lack of visits( ) i need to pay to my garden

Sorry to resurrect an OLD thread from the dead, but could someone with one of these hydropod/detachapod systems check the gph/lph rating on their pump (preferably from a four pod kit)?

I'm looking to build my own for a FRACTION of the cost and I want to get the right pump.

Thanks in advance.

Hey Destroooo

I've got a 4 pod hydropod system, I'll check the pump rating tonight when I get home.

That's what's up, thanks.

Bollocks, complete stoner forgot to check, stuffed around with pH instead.

I'll get on it mate, leave it with me...

Right, I remembered. Its rated at 1000L/hour. Hope you can save yourself a small fortune...

Edge

If you are asking about hydro pumps then I'd say an MJ 1000. Supply all your plants needs upto about about a full bedroom of canna.

Perfect, thanks.

Yep, thats what mine is. Fills four pods in under two minutes, no worries...

Yo edge, overall how do you like your pods and what, if anything, would you change about them? Also, do you use each bucket for multiple plants, or is that just marketing speak on Esoteric's website?

I think I remember reading about someone wanting to modify how the pods were filled, like certain pods filled quicker than others because of the way the tubing is connected.

I already plan on adding valved fill and drain ports to the reservoir for easy nutrient changes, and I've been looking at connecting each pod to the pump with equal lengths of tubing so everything fills uniformly.

Hi Destrooo

Yeah, the pods are pretty good, I'm quite happy with them now that I know them. If I was going to change anything, it would be the way the reservoir is under the pods, and the way the pods are pretty much fixed in place. I'd change the reservoir so that it could be a big vertical system, then use a brain pod to do the filling and draining, effectively changing it to their multi pod system:
Click to view attachment

This would allow a much bigger reservoir, and much easier access to it. It would also allow the pods to be independent of the res, which means you could put them anywhere you wanted in your grow room, move them around as much as you like, limited only by the length of the pipes attaching each to the brain unit. It would be nicer to get more spacing between each plant, but the standard kit doesn't allow you to do that...

I've grown with multiple plants in a pod, and it was a pretty comprehensive disaster. Mind you, it was my first grow, but the pod with only one plant in it was much better than the others. Multiple plants seemed to compete with each other for light, which meant the stronger plant stretched like buggery, a complete pain in the ass, while the smaller plant just got left behind and was practically dwarfed. So, no, I wouldn't recommend putting multiple plants in a pod.

Having said that, I remember a conversation I was having around here with someone, can't remember who, who reckoned it worked for him, in a SOG style, so all plants trimmed to a main cola, all side branches taken off and then just let them go. I can't do that as I'm only allowed four plants (maybe six, but it would be Trouble) in the house under Mrs Worth's Rules Of Growing Illegal Plants In A Family Home, so I can't really comment.

As for the plumbing of the pods, yep, I think there is a difference in the times it takes to fill the pods, and that difference is almost certainly down to the length of the pipes to each of the pods. But I've never found this time difference to be an issue. A much bigger problem I've found is that if you don't clear the inlet pipes of root matter it will get blocked and the pod won't fill properly. I've had one pod fail completely for two or three days like that. Its very easy to fix, and now I know how to take them apart and clean them properly, I'll be doing it before every grow. Like I said, they're pretty good once you get to know them.

I would definitely build my own if I was going to set this up again though. Es*teric charge a premium for what they deliver. We spoke to them about that, and they happily admitted it, claiming that most of their customers were professionals who smoked regularly and had enough money to pay for their "quality of product, service and annonymity".

Hope this helps mate

Edge

Peace Edge, good looking on the crazy informative response. Loads of good insight.

I've been trying to wrap my head around the brain reservoir concept -- it's a two pump thing, right? One pump to fill and one pump to drain? It's all gee whiz for me though as my space is only going to allow for a single reservoir setup like what comes from esoteric. I am going to have the buckets/pods on a shelf though and not on the reservoir as this seems like it would make it easier to change nutrients, check temp, measure PH/EC, etc.

I'm also going to look into putting screens over the inlets/outlets. I don't have a problem breaking everything down for cleaning after a harvest, but I don't want to chance a pod failure mid-grow.


Haha, clever way of saying they have no qualms pulling down the pants of people who can't be bothered otherwise.

Hey Destrooo


Yep, two pumps, and a switch or two. TBH, I'm not too sure how it works either, but I know I want one! Tricky thing about it is that the more pumps and switches you've got running, the more change you've got of things going titsup with the added joy of flooding, always something I like to think about...


Thing about putting the pods on a shelf, or even keeping it on top of the reservoir, its not that the res is hard to get to, its fine, there's a big hole in the top of it and I don't really have that many problems filling or managing EC, pH, temp etc, although it would definitely be better if it was seperate. No, the two big probs with it is that the plants are fixed in place, and you are sacrificing precious height. The advantage over the brain idea is that if your pump fails, gravity kicks in, the system drains as much as is being pumped in(*), no major disaster. With the brain unit, if the intake pump switch fails, a whole lot of water (your entire reservoir) is going to be pumped into the pods, and most likely all over the floor. If the drain pump or switch fails, then your plants are going to be sitting in a bucket of water until you notice! So, ease and convenience over reliability and simplicity.

Ooooh, decisions, decisions! Good luck mate, I'd love to see some photos of your system once its done...

* - Sorry mate, important point if you're going to build one yourself, and I hope I ain't teaching you to suck eggs. Make sure there is drainage at the top of the pod as well as the bottom. That way, the combined passive drains (3 in each pod) will be able to deal with the amount of water being pumped in. That way, if you pump stays on, you won't get a natural disaster and a shed load of water everywhere!

Good post mate

Just set my 8 pod sytem up and perfectly happy with it i got this one due to the sytem is ready to go and it suits my space etc etc will be keeping an eye on the roots in the pipe work tho anyone with any tips for this would be appreshated

You can tie pieces of tights around the ends of drain pipes to help stop the roots from colonising them.

so if does pod are good but really expensive are there one that are better value for money

I have had the 8 pod system for a few years now and I have been faced with the same dilemma, do I get rid of it and buy a hydrovator or do I keep what I have got? I have spent a lot of money buying this and I do not want to throw it away. I would like to grow more but I do not think it is practical to run two systems. I have settled on the idea that I am happy with what I have got. Don't be too greedy. Greed will destroy us all.

I'm useing a 16 pod hydropod right now, Ive got a grow diary on here growing Cheese, here's the link people, check it out and let me know what you think, any advice would be nice, cheers:

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...amp;hl=hydropod


So far so good with my hydropod grow, I love the system to be fair, I'm growing Green house seeds - Cheese, Ive also added air stones to the bottom of each of my 16 pods, Im finding the system very easy to use to be fair, as for blocks in the pipe work, dont know how that could happen as Ive got these little type shirt button, they are like little buttons with 4 holes that plug into your feeder/over flow pipes and would stop this from happening, so far at least Ive not had a single problem, but I do check every few days that my pods are all filling & draining properly just to make sure, takes me only 30 seconds to do, better safe then sorry me thinks