Grow update, odds n ends

New Top Feed system in action

Hey greetings kids, just a small grow update. The 18:1 RSO op is in full swing, sprouts just got their first real sets of leaves. I mean to grow these seed to weed indoors to control every aspect of the grow process for best results. As such, I know once these reach their second sets of real leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into the medium they will use the rest of their lives, starting in my To Go Cup things. I have augmented that part of the process with a small aquarium pump supplying a constant stream of nurtients over the roots at the base of the plant, thus ensuring every part of the root ball gets an equal and generous amount of nutrients and water. I have seen myself where this simple addition can add tons of growth and vitality to almost any plant. 

The original version just used the same setup except the tubing was all free form and depending on the flexibility of said tubing the lines were pulling out of the plants and nothing just stayed put. So with this grow being important I rebuilt this so the lines are all tied to and fed thru a common wooden yardstick that I mean to trim down. This then sits on the tub itself with a "tail" that hangs down into each plant:

I will cut these in half to more accurately fit the tubs but this I think completes this part of the setup. From here they will grow to teens in veg and finally I move them into what is my (probably) final version of a grow rig featuring the trellis trick. I have engineered a way to simply rest two five-gallon buckets (with hydroton and plant in each) in one of my tubs, each tilted away from the center. The plants will be pinned down to a trellis on each end as before and a 400 GPH pond pump in the center of the tub will keep a constant stream of nutrients flowing over the roots the entire grow cycle of the plants. This tub will be kept auto-fed from the main bloom reservoir. Here is a crappy conceptual drawing of how this will work (sans plants):

This part I am building now. I figure to have about 3-5 weeks before it needs to be "live" and I expect fire problems from building this. I hope to go to an alpha test of this in a week, depending on health.

Jeff