Dr. Funkenstein

Ok, I had another flood. Long story, but I my drain can not keep up with my pump. I was useing hose to keep the drain sounds down to a minimum, but with my sketchy stainless steel screen on my drain pipe, it really slows things down. So I cut down the drain hose from 2' to 6"+ I know, I know.. this should solve everything. I ran a cycle and the drain had nice pull to it. But it did before too, yet I continued to have floods. I'll keep checking on it. If this doesn't work, I need to find some good screen to use, without having to buy an entire roll of something I won't really need.

On another note, when removing that peice of hose, I felt a fair amount of slime and noticed with the most recent flood, there was a lot of flakey looking stuff - like dried skin floating around in the table.

I'm not sure if this res will be able to go another week before it gets really bad.

I have no pump to pump water out, and I don't think I will be able to lift up an 18 gallon tote nearly full.

Does anyone think I could ride this out for a week if I use Flora Shield which has Hydrogen Peroxide? Will this reduce this slime?

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Dr. Funkenstein

>>>Fisher Price: My First Grow Lab
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Incogneato

hey doc,

I was thinking about your drainage problem... there are mesh filters that are made for paint pumps, to filter the paint as it is drawn in. They are designed to be non-restrictive... wider mesh than a screen. You could turn one over and place it on top of your drain tube... the 45% cut you already have on the hose should be enough to hold it in place... they are heavy enough to resist the water turbulence of the draining w/o moving. The one I have pictured is 1.25" pipe thread, although I am sure there are others. There are two kinds, if you google them (airless sprayer inlet filter/rock screen) you should be able to see both, one has no "neck" on it, so it would easily sit flat if overturned. (That prolly makes no sense to anyone but me) But this might be a way to get you through the harvest, then you can redesign the whole drain system...dude.

Underarock

guess I'll chime in

I'm gonna harvest my blueberry e&f this weekend
watch my thread and I'll show you the tiniest rootballs
maybe I'm a bad father
I got nothing but net
rather....the roots don't fill the table

we'll see...I actually havent pulled a pot out to check in a few weeks
6" netpots
homemade cover that holds the cups and keeps the light out

I use 'bulkhead' fittings I got at the hydro store
I run a 1/2" line up from the pump
and I run a 1" line from the drain

you remember you are supposed to use 3x passive air intake?
it's the same with the drain

to drain a 1/2" line UNDERPRESSURE
you need something bigger to compensate for

• the lower pressure
• turbulence
• amt of air sucked into line

the cross-section of a 1" is 4x that of a 1/2"
[yes, check my math][pie are square]

and the hydro store fittings have a big [looks like a smokestack] screens to stop floating hydroton

so....I've never had a drain issue....
oversize your drain hose
I nabbed this from my journal....see the drain "stack" on the left?

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Dr. Funkenstein

Yes, I purchased my bulkheads from the hydroshop. When I did, I told the guy what I was planning on useing and asked if they would suffice. He asked what kind of media I was useing and I told him hydroton in pots and he said it would be cool. I know the whole 3:1 ratio, but at the time I was trying to cut down on building costs (drill bits) and saw that Mr. Green guy on youtube use same size fittings for both his fill and drain.

I saw those "smoke stack" looking drains by botanicare. I have a top for my fill-line. I know my system drains fine without the screen, it's just sometimes the mesh is uneven, being that it's steel wire, and doesn't allow an even flow. Without the screen it drains like a sink or bathtub.

I may end up picking up one of those though. I think the reason why I opted out from useing one is because they were either really short and would not flood the amount I wanted, or were taller than the depth of my tray. But now that I have had to cut down the original sprinkler fitting, they may actually be close in size.

Thanks Incogneato, It sounds like a shot, but I'm really over hunting down specifics at this point. I'm most likely going to pick me up another botanicare e&f fitted screen cap next time at the grow shop. I probably should've went this route to begin with.


Thanks Underarock, Looking at your pic, I'm thinking my roots are growing out of the bottom of the pots because there is a puddle of water that sits in the gully of my tray. Your tray is store bought and looks to have better draining capabilities as the drain is actually sitting in the lowest point of your tray.

I hear when people use cocomats that the roots grow wild and eventually tangle up. So it must be the extra moisture.

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Dr. Funkenstein

>>>Fisher Price: My First Grow Lab
>>>A Noob's Guide to FIRST Grow Room Set-Up: And a Reference for Everyone Else
>>>Ask Indiegurl: Electrical Advice from an Electrician
>>>Revised: The Complete Guide To Sick Plants, Pest & pH Troubles
>>>Burndt's Guide: How to Search GC.com Effectively

Dr. Funkenstein

I decided to spend the money and get an actual botanicare drain fitting with the smoke-stack screen. After sawing off the 1/2 barb, making the drain 1", the solution now floods perfectly, with no drag what so ever.

I now feel much more relaxed that the peice of equipment I built works like any professional grade gear.


E&F really does work like they say. I've had my freshly rooted cuttings in the tray for a little over a week and they are about 6" tall. It took about a month for my original clones to get that tall by hand feeding them every other day in hempy style with hydroton, and they look extremely healthy, and bright green. No purpling like I had when I was hand feeding them.

I'm hoping I have as much success and ease of use when I switch to DWC in flower.

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Dr. Funkenstein

>>>Fisher Price: My First Grow Lab
>>>A Noob's Guide to FIRST Grow Room Set-Up: And a Reference for Everyone Else
>>>Ask Indiegurl: Electrical Advice from an Electrician
>>>Revised: The Complete Guide To Sick Plants, Pest & pH Troubles
>>>Burndt's Guide: How to Search GC.com Effectively

Underarock

The waffle

looks tasty doesn't it

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Dr. Funkenstein

Throw some cannabis infused syrup on it and it's ready to go for the cooking show on next week's episode of Cannabis Planet!

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Dr. Funkenstein

>>>Fisher Price: My First Grow Lab
>>>A Noob's Guide to FIRST Grow Room Set-Up: And a Reference for Everyone Else
>>>Ask Indiegurl: Electrical Advice from an Electrician
>>>Revised: The Complete Guide To Sick Plants, Pest & pH Troubles
>>>Burndt's Guide: How to Search GC.com Effectively

Bushrag_Ghillie

I just read the whole thread on this e&f project of yours and the pain you have been going through is exactly what I fear as Im sick and tired of dealing with dirt growing and been thinking about moving on to hydro growing, but just not knowing what type to get involved in.

As for your question regarding the use of hydrogen peroxide against the slime in you reservoir, The peroxide is very beneficial if used correctly, i over did it when i first heard about using hydrogen peroxide and managed to eat up the roots on 25 fully rooted clones. But this fellow growers thread should be able to help , it sure as hell helped me
http://www.gardenscure.com/420/hydro...xide-h2o2.html

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Bushrag_Ghillie

Dr. Funkenstein

It's a good system to use. The only problem I had was associated with the drain size and insufficient screen. I should've went with the store bought screen as opposed to trying to use other make-shift methods. Other than that, the e&f is a very good beginner hydro set up.

It is cheap to build and easy to maintain.

__________________
Dr. Funkenstein

>>>Fisher Price: My First Grow Lab
>>>A Noob's Guide to FIRST Grow Room Set-Up: And a Reference for Everyone Else
>>>Ask Indiegurl: Electrical Advice from an Electrician
>>>Revised: The Complete Guide To Sick Plants, Pest & pH Troubles
>>>Burndt's Guide: How to Search GC.com Effectively