Great deal! Looks like you got a bit of work ahead of you :o)

Got my maxigro, went out and got some sponges like you had in picture...and this is one of my weekend projects (also wintersowing)!

Super great light deal!

How's the basil recouping? I was growing a 3 or 4 dozen not too long ago. Lots and lots and lots of harvest and it multiplies every trim lol

How many of the lights are you hooking up and will you need to vent them?

Hi val, good luck on the weekend project. Hope all goes smooth.

Morb1lee, yes it recovered well and I took 2 more clones for a neighbor wanting to try a few kratky containers. I'm not sure how many lights I'm going to put up, it really depends on how ambitious I get and how many seeds I start to make me get ambitious LOL. temp wise I might have to cool with ducting as I'm getting close to 80 at plants now but I just added another box fan so I'll see how that goes. Its in an upstairs bedroom so I can duct to them attic pretty easily.

Update

Made my cuc trellis, could not find any netting I liked so I took the labor intensive route and did 1/2" PC and string. Lots of drilling and stringing. Horizontal is one long string through holes in PC, vertical is separates tied to PC.

Strung tight they flexed the PVC a bunch, next one I build I'll add a cross support.

Before stringing it fit perfect. After...not soon much. Oh well it'll still serve its purpose.

Cups holding the cucs up till they attach. Light hung and time for rearranging. I've got 2 Boston pickling on the outside buckets and 2 center are Paris pickling.

Hood was kind of a quick throw together cheapie but has a pretty good reflection and dissapation. Used a piece of 8" furnace duct ($5) and small dowl rod. Some of the metal pieces from inside the housing were recycled as support for the mogul.

Lucked out and a few of the bulbs are GE LUCALOX XO and are rated at 55800 lumens which is some of the highest lumen 400w bulbs available. Making 139.5 lumens per watt. Its still weak compared to my 1k but way less heat.

Oh yeah, forgot what HID lights wavelength does to phone cameras. I'm covering a 4'x4' area with it making 3500 Lumens a sq ft. I could do 6 more buckets down the middle of the Row but then id have no access and constantly have to move buckets. Ill prolly stick to floros for most of the room for That reason. Only using the HPS for places i can pack buckets in or the big plants.

Some brandy wine pink sudduth strain starting well.

Mischkas developed some bacterial funk (root rot). Being treated with armor si and a little hydrogen peroxide. Hope they recover quickly.

Pushed the cucs up on the trellis, in a day or two after they attach I'll pull the cups.

Put stupice under hps in the middle. Hope she likes it. Tied her back as well so I could get down the row....she was growing really wide

Habs are under the hps as well...looking like some Peppers are setting and they are growing at a nice clip.

Basil recovering very well. Kratky isn't super fast but extremely reliable...every time I test this bucket its spot on 650ppm/6.2PH

Choys getting ready for another bag full. This Monday will be the 4th harvest from them

Lettuce at day 26...harvest on tuesday

Lettuce at day 15...really hitting their stride now

Choy at day 15 as well...cns17 is exactly spot on with maxigro.

My basil cuttings do great, but I can't get a cilantro cutting to survive. Any tips?

Honestly I have never tried to clone cilantro, i dont use much of it soo i tend to have too much out of one vigorous planting. Ill try here when i get the cloner fired up and post my results

Update

Everything is growing great, my stupice has a couple little tomatoes on it and peppers are starting to set blossoms. All the greens are growing crazy fast. Tomorrow's going to be a rain day so I am going to run a dedicated circuit to the room because I am getting close to circuit capacity. I started 8 more buckets worth of starter plugs and seeds for the flood n drain. Going to build one more of the 400 HPS lights for the room, and that should put me at the total amount i can grow in the room.

Brandy wine seedling

Mr stripey seedlings

Boston cucs

Cucs hitting a stride up the trelllis

Stupice is loving the HPS.

Hab's are really filling out

Greens corner. Harvesting the choy and lettuce tomorrow

Corn, bolivian rainbow pepper, kale and chammomile are growing great in soil

Choy day 18

Looking great! I bet it is exciting to see those baby tomatoes!

Got the dedicated circuit installed, hung another 400 HPS over the ebb n flow, rearanged a little, harvested a lettuce bucket, harvested choy again, got seeds started for another 8 buckets....etc

Half room overview

Looking to the right

I'm still working on getting all the buckets and lights set up to the other side of the room...I have room for 12 more along side wall or if I can keep temps down I will hang another 400 and do a 4x4 kratky bucket lettuce run harvesting 4 buckets a week (16 heads) and that still gives Me room for 6 on the ends.

Lettuce harvest

Lol, that's funny. I'm running relatively low watts compared to some growers. I've saw a 16k setup that would blow my room out of the water. Of course it wasnt for growing veggies but it was impressive none the less.

Ill update tonight, ive got alot of work to do in the room but work comes first.

Chuck, excited to see you've got tomatoes starting as well as all your other harvests in progress! WOW!

Following your example, I planted various seeds in sponge squares last weekend. 3 sprouts as of today. I am using maxigro/Kratsky method, so when I mix that, am I mixing 1 t per gal? It says 1-2, but I read seedlings should have 1/2 strength; but if I'm not replacing the mix, do I just go full strength?

I was going to try a few flowers (1 sprout so far); when (how do I know) do I switch from Maxigro to maxibloom?

Appreciate any help and advice! THANK U

For almost all veggies in kratky i use 3tsp of maxigro per 5 gallon. This makes my tap water 600-650ppm which is great for any leafy green or starter plant.

I would switch your flowers to bloom at the first sign of blossoms or just start them in maxibloom. Alot of growers use maxibloom throughout their grows from start to finish with flowering plants. They call it lucas formula and the method is KISS (keep it simple stupid) to only use one fert throughout lifecycle to be trouble free. I use maxibloom on all my peppers and it has been very effective for a one part mix n forget for 2 weeks. Only downside to maxibloom is it drops the PH a bunch which requires me to use silicate to bring the PH up, or you could use any PH up product.

Sorry all for lack of updates but I've been really busy lately and not much but the proven leafy greens have been harvesting.

Update

Lettuce at 23

Choy decided to bolt...oh well i got near 5 lbs out of 60 day bucket

Last pic before its pulled. I'll yank it and take a root pic tomorrow

Basil ready for another picking. Will prolly clone and redo the bucket as its been 45 days

Greek pepperoncini 12 days in.

Pink brandy wine sudduth strain growing well

Mr stripey (my favorite, can't wait for ripe fruits)

Boston pickling cuc at day 10 (mitchnc)

Habs love the heat and the light....blossoming and loving life under HPS. Still no fruit setting but its only 70 days...i expect another week or 2 they will start setting.

Stupice is growing huge but being a PITA. Lots of training and still has yet to set a fruit that stays. Its crowded where she is so Im going to move where I can pollinate and monitor a little better.

Harvested the choy for the last time this round. It started growing slowly and one bolted so i took it out. Only got .25 lbs off of this round.

Starting my lettuce run seeds today. I am going to mix a few kinds to see harvest times. Wasn't sure if I only wanted to do 16 heads a week or pop all 64 in at once but since I plan on doing a red romaine, buttercrunch and simpson i am going to do all 64 and see if harvesting days differ which would get me into perpetual harvesting.

How does one test the ppm again? As a newbie hydro grower (experimenting) is this something you strongly suggest I buy? THANKS For all your advice! I like the Lucas/KISS method as well!

There is no need to buy a ppm meter unless you plan on growing many different crops of and different sizes. Using the kratky method the solution raises in strength as the plant drinks so its self adjusting. If you use 3tsp to 5 gal of water of grow or bloom you should be good for a month plant s cycle. If the solution is needed to be changed out for a longer than month cycle plant be sure to only return the amount of solution removed so you maintain the air roots and use a tsp to 1.5 tap per gallon. 1.5 tsp will be very hot and only need used on very heavy feeding plants. Also when using Maxibloom at that strength your PH will drop alot so be sure to use a PH adjuster to bring it back around 6. PH is your main concern and strength of solution comes 2nd, light feedings do not harm plants as long as there are no deficiencys but overfeeding can cause severe lockouts and plant burns.

My tap water is 170 ppm, so total ppm includes that at these rates per 5 gallons

Maxigro

3tsp-600

4tsp-725

5tsp-875

6tsp-1050

Maxibloom

3tsp-550

4tsp-650

5tsp-775

6tsp-900

Harvested some lettuce n choy today. Both were put in buckets 1/8. Lettuce still had 6 days left but a good friend wanted some for a dinner he was throwing.

Bottom of root mass

Side view

Choy I forgot to take a pic before I started to harvest

After

Decent harvest

Lettuce I got 3.75 and choy 1.75 lb

Way to go Chuck! So darn impressive! Here's a pic of the plants I saved from my poised NFT system. The roots have already shot out of the netpots!

Chuck - I have been following your posts since Dec. You inspired me to go for it! So surprised how much I am enjoying this. Love the try and see if it works methodology and the out of the box thinking you have shown. Thank you, thank you!! I have tomatoes in the bubble buckets, lettuce in the mason jar Kratkys, Sunnys shoots in soil. All from seed - so cool!! One of my dogs thanks you also as he loves to lay under the lights against one of the buckets. Like a hydrospa massage I guess.

Any tips on "thinning"? I hate to cull the herd, but think too many plants per bucket/ jar.

Chuck,

I was hoping to continually harvest my lettuce for as long as possible since I have 12 plants. How long do you think I'll be able to do that? And since I also have 3 pepper plants and a cuke in the same tub, when I do my water change this weekend what would you recommend for nutrients? I'm using Flora Gro/Micro/Bloom.

I understand now the benefits of doing buckets for individual control. :)

Thx dave and baldhound.

My dog loves to sunbathe as well as always has to be around for harvests as he enjoys playing with a lettuce leaf and actually eats basil.

To thin i just hold my hand down on the medium and pull up trying to get as many roots as possible (less to decompose) and as early as i see one biggest so its easier.

Mitch I would stick with the grow at 2nd week on the chart GH (8ml each) provides till you see blooms, by then your lettuce will be pulled and you can up your ppm as well. Lettuce you should be able to harvest for around 60 days till it gets bitter or bolts. Cool temps will help keep it from both but around 60 days it will start loosing production. Yes it is nice separate res as you can always tailor for each plant and pull and start over any time ya want as the water level can be refilled to top.

You inspired me as well, I am just getting started with few sprouts in sponges (herbs and maybe a few flowers to start)...I am sure your thread and updates will continue to inspire many! SO Helpful, so impressive, so many details and I appreciate your answering all my questions as well!

That's great val! I hope that my contribution to the garden community is vast and will help soo many more in the future. Your seed exchange is amazing and is a world of good for the community as well, my next round of lettuce i am going to let bolt so i can send seeds!!! Many many seeds!

SO to keep going Update!!!

Habs are filling out soo well. Maxibloom at 3tsp a bucket....these i let have a bunch of air roots so buckets only have about 3 gal in them so they have been thriving at 775-800 ppm

They dropped first round of blossoms, another bunch are coming on and expect a very high yeild. They are around 70 days old, so I expected first round to fall

Bosten cucumber at day 16, will be fun to see if they surpass my stunted Paris picklers

This cuc I innoculated with mycorrhizae at day 5...i cant tell by the top if its much different but the roots sure love it. I can see the chains of bennies forming on them so overall (expected to be cultured at 3 weeks) I will put money on this one outgrowing the non innoculated. Same age as the other

Paris is still growing funky, one thing about hydro is when you mess up....ya really mess up lol HPS makes it look worse than it is.

Basil still going strong 4 harvests and plenty of cuttings later.

Mr stripey at day 14

Pink Brandy wine sudduth strain at day 14

Giving peas a shot in kratky...who knows they just might take the intense grow room heat.

That HPS just made those hab pics look horrible. Had to retake.

And after about 5 hrs of back breaking labor to get it setup (J/K) and about an HR to go....here is the 4ftx4ft lettuce corner (64 heads). only thing that really took time was cleaning and sanitizing buckets and drilling lids. It will be lit by a 400hps at 56k lumens making 3500 lumens a sq ft. I might have to suppliment a little on the corners if i get stretching but i should be fine. On to the show!

And 64 getting ready to go

Are those awesome looking habaneros in dwc or kratky?

DWC. They had a tough life beggining out just experimenting with them. They went through a few systems and methods but have been happy in DWC for a month. As described they enjoy air roots so I only fill to 3 gallons and have been using maxibloom at 1 tsp a gallon. 5.7-6.7 ph has been their sweet spot. One got a small shot of armor SI a couple weeks ago but really hasnt changed it compared to the others.

Wow, everything is looking so great! I know you have made a huge difference to so many people, myself included, in education and encouragement. I sure appreciate both! I am really looking forward to watching how everything turns out. You are making me think I need to upgrade my little jalepeno, and see what it will do with a large reservoir, purely hydroponic....your habs are gorgeous!

Thanks Carrie, I'm glad I could be inspiring.

I have 2 jalepeno going right now I just started kratky method but I will be adding air stones after the roots form outside cups and drop the water lvl a bit. peppers love maxibloom (5-15-14) these i am also trying the myco on, innoculated the seed sponges before i planted seedling and used a tsp per bucket.

Cucs are putting off a ton of female flowers but no males yet and its not confirmed a parthenocarpic variety so im waiting patently

Had me a tomato/mozz/basil sandwitch today. Basil leaves are getting huge

Hey Chuck...I noticed something is conspicuously absent from your threads...spinach.

Is it that much of a PITA, or do you grow it in soil and don't bother with hydroponics?

After my own own failure to germinate spinach and searching in these forums, seems like spinach is a challenge. I stupidly assumed it was like lettuce.

Do you have a method?

Spinach is a cold weather plant. Germination in warm temps is iffy and it bolts quickly over 70 degrees. I do grow it outdoors in spring and fall but only expect a month at the most of harvest. I thought about setting up a smaller op in my basement and doing cold hardy plants but my grow room is upstairs and doing 3 story's of garden told me NO. i enjoy lettuce n choy as much as i do spinach so ill just stick to one floor and the other houseplants n herbs.

Ive got spinach to do well in hydro before but it requires a low res temp, low ambient temp and good air flow. Like res in the 50's air in the 50-70 range.

If you want a spinach flavor and cant get cold... certain varietys of chard have a spinach like flavor and do well in hydro/heat. Pick when small and can be very tender

Possibly the prettiest overhead I've had of vegitave peppers. Its starting its second set of blossoms to hopefully set.

I know it's a tangent, but my son who is a chef told me about serving ice spinach. It's very sweet tasting. There is a great video on YouTube ( ) about it. If someone could figure out how to cost effectively produce hydroponic ice spinach it would probably be extremely profitable.

Wow, you have been a busy bee since I tuned in last! As inspired by you, set up my first kratzky herbs yesterday. Hubby set up 4' shop lights over 2 shelves for me so I have that much more grow room for all my seedlings..kratzky or soil

Update

Mr stripey

Boston cuc

Paris cuc...almost a notch in the trellis a night now. They still are struggling but I've got em sorted out.

Brandy wine pink (sudduth strain) just tearing it up. I've honestly watched it grow since being in there to work on the room. Might have been 2 hrs I spent pissin around working on stuff and I watched the center leaf perk up and move around.

Soil corn is doing great. Little fert tip but growing rapid. Not too bad for about 10oz of soil. Corn in small container CAN work!

Pea so far hasnt much been bothered by the 70 degree res temps and 80 degree air

What kind of pea are you growing? I try to grow sugar snap varieties, and other kinds that you eat pod and all; and they seem to start declining when the temps reach the mid seventies...I always thought it was the weather, but maybe I need to try a new variety, or maybe they were infested or diseased.....I am looking forward to seeing how your pea does going forward, maybe it will help me when it is time to plant mine out(which will be very soon!)

the peas are Provencal petit pois From mike at ohioheirloomseeds.

Description on his site is listed as sweet Provencal: This French Heirloom variety is known for its sweetness and flavor. Best when harvested when peas are roughly half the size of traditional American peas. Incredibly sweet!

Tonight's updates

Peas

Kratky Bramdywine SS...after 40 days it will go DWC but for now....very happy

Corn I think might become a floor stand house plant. Man is it a beauty, I've been doing a soil/hydro once a day flood n drain by hand. Fighting some fungus Gnats now I interduced soil in the room. Dammit

Peppers are just going crazy. See much growth spurts daily...van wait for mouth scorching heat.

I need to shut the light off on pic time, it just annoys me that I need to wait 15 mins to let bulb cool down. Boston cuc is growing into the trellis. I hope it blooms male flowers soon as them Paris

Its been a few pics behind. I'll post pics and label the

next post if anyone has Q's Mr stripey is the one above.

Below is brandy wine (SS) growing like A weed....takes 2 days for foliage to unfold from.emerging but uncurls great.

This makes 100 posts and too many pics. I will be starting another thread so it don't take soo long to load.

Update.

shut the HPS of to get pics

Chuck, you can light all 16 buckets with a single 400 watt? Here, at $0.93/kW-hr, that's less than $18 for a mountain of lettuce. Last I checked it's $1.89/head here and has God knows what sprayed on it. That's why I got into this.

I started looking at lights. At first I was excited because they're so cheap, then I realized that's just the bulb, not the ballast. Do you have a recommendation?

I'm definitely switching to buckets after this initial grow.

Btw...you could seriouslyly write a book on this. My peppers are still seed leaves.

I wrote a huge response and it didn't post....bummer

HPS and their counter parts are easy to convert. I'll write a converting warehouse light to grow light post.

Yes 400w HPS does 50K+ lumens so over a 4x4 area i get 3k lumen pr sq ft.

It is super easy to convert any street, warehouse, dock, bay light over to grow lights

Chuck - I will be anxious to read your post about converting warehouse light to grow light. Thanks in advance! Phil wants to know if this light is good for a dog to bask under???:)

Great pic baldhound. Got myself a garden lover as well

New thread started and I'll be posting updates there. Its been a fun month

What a handsome hydrodog! Love it!! Is he the basil eater?

Yes he loves basil.