My first grow journal! Not my first grow... Forest Fruits Autofem

I love it when a plan comes together… :heart_eyes:

Awesome. Then I guess that pretty much settles it I’m going to start making preparations for six 3x3 flood tables with one of the 320 watt boards above each one. Now I have a direction to go in and so forth. Thank you very much @dbrn32 for your help in this matter.

I finished painting the room last night. If I had it to do over, I’d get some mylar or something because painting totally sucks. For some reason I thought painting would be the easy way, but five coats and several days of painting later I’ve got paint all over my new floor, all the trim in that room and my best work pants. Live and learn. It is done.

So now I guess I need to get the girls back in there and hang the lights I have for now.

1 Like

flip the door threshold so the door opens out and you can maximize your space. 9’,5" only gives you 2.5" between each 3x3 table if they are pushed all the way up against the wall. You are not going to be able to access between the tables and your losing 1/3 of the available footprint. If it were my grow, I would re-configure possibly using different size tables to allow access and maximize your space or go with separate containers that fit your space better.

1 Like

I think he already said the door does open out. He just couldn’t figure out how to make it that way in his software. And the tables will be on casters to move them around within the room.

1 Like

OK my bad for not keeping up with the thread. I still think there is a better way to utilize the space so as to not lose 1/3 of the available space for table maneuvering.

OK that’s a good idea making the door open out. I think I could possibly manage that. Right now it opens into the room, but it opens from left to right and ends up against the right wall.

I had also thought that I might have to build my own tables so that I can get at least an inch or two between them for maneuvering.

I’m having trouble visualizing what you have in mind though @hangthebanksters for utilizing the space better. I have to be able to get in the door and move around in the room. Can you explain how you think it could be better? If there was some way to keep from having to move the tables around all the time I would be all for that. I would move the door to the middle of the room but the furnace is on the other side of that wall.

If I do it like this I was thinking that I will have to do a SOG with basically no veg time because I don’t have anywhere to veg at. I’ve got the smaller of my two cabinets in the living room right now and maybe I can use that for clones. The big cabinet was built in that room and wouldn’t fit through the door, not to mention weighed a ton so I had to completely disassemble it.

1 Like

OK I think we can design a more efficient concept than of 3x3 tables for now since your losing 27 sq ft of space with your current design. The tables also raise the elevation of the plants several feet. Your going to need a dedicated veg space if your going perpetual grow (which I think you want). So I would think a 4x8 tent just for the veg space and a few cloning trays (could be in a different area of the house). Many commercial designs of ebb and flow trays are on sideways rollers so it leaves a 1’ space between trays that are only accessible if you slide the trays right or left for access. Otherwise you only have a neglible space between trays. I’m on my way out rt now but i can throw together a bluebeam cad drawing later… Can you provide exact dimensions of the furnace or any other items that might impede space. Also you can just take the door off the hinges in the closet and to the main grow room and cover the opening with some opaque visqueen in lieu of the door. I get super cerebral about this sort of topic because I have designed dozens of electric rooms which require code clearances etc so Im always thinking in terms of efficient designs.

1 Like

Tables like this

Yes sir (or ma’am?) I have already removed the closet door. The furnace should not affect the room as it is basically in the hallway on the other side of that wall.

sorry my business is sidetracking my attention rt now

Its a marathon not a race. We know u got 69 (love that number) plants rolling.

No sweat man I know exactly how that goes. I hope it’s good business.

Hello everyone! I’m still around, although I haven’t been around in a while. Lots of things have developed in my grow and I’ve had some serious tribulations, but I have persevered!

I didn’t end up taking any money from the investor. It’s a long story but I didn’t want anyone owning a piece of my soul. I want to keep that intact in case I need to sell it later.

So I have ended up with one 3x6 flood table and two more of the Bestva lights. I will be upgrading to the QBs or whatever else is the newest bestest thing as soon as I can but as fate would have it I have got significantly less invested in all three of my LEDs than the cost of one 320w quantum board. Do I think that my lights are the best thing ever? No. Am I growing plants with them? Hell yes I am.

So here is the majority of my grow as it stands now.


Sorry for the blurple lighting. This is the entire table, the nine plants on the left are Light of Jah and the nine on the right are Gorilla Glue 4.

LOJ


GG4

So that’s where I’m at. I’m going to be flipping to flower soon i think, as I don’t have all that much vertical space to work with. I’ve actually started another thread asking for advice on what others would do at this point. As this is my first grow on a table like this I’m a little uncertain on how to proceed.

As an aside, I think I love the flood table. Flood and drain seems to alleviate most of the issues that I had with the RDWC, which were mainly just maintenance issues and the plants falling over all the time lol. Not being able to move anything around sucked too. I have been rotating these daily to try and make sure they all get even light.

Anyway I thought I would pop in and show that I’m still alive and growing! As always any suggestions, advice or comments are welcome and everyone have a great day…

2 Likes

Looks great - definitely glad I found this one, as I am trying to figure out ebb and flow right now (on my second grow using the flood table).

2 Likes

Well @Bogleg, I guess we will be figuring this out together :grinning:

It’s good to have a friend on board! I did one grow in ebb and flow about ten years ago and then switched to DWC and never looked back. For just a couple of plants DWC was great, but for multiple plants I think the flood and drain trumps so far.

2 Likes

I’m looking to start a flood and drain table so I will be watching :v::bear:

2 Likes

When I started growing I started with DWC, and I definitely like growing that way. Over time I started using bigger reservoirs, and finally decided that ebb and flow was the simplest way for me to get to a big reservoir that requires very little upkeep. It was that or build an RDWC system, and I don’t like the inflexibility of them. With the flood tray I feel like i have lots and lots of options on how I might grow.

1 Like

Nailed it. You could be telling my story, but I did go on to build the RDWC system on a small scale. It was better than single DWC but as you said the inflexibility of it all was quite the nuisance. Ebb and flow is where it’s at! For now anyway lol.

I ended up with a 55 gallon reservoir by connecting two “40 gallon” totes together. I really wanted a single res but this was the best I could do at my local home store. The larger totes seemed flobbery and weak and the last thing I wanted was something that would flood my whole house with fifty gallons or so of water. Then the totes that I did buy weren’t strong enough, so I had to build 2x4 frames around them to keep them from bulging out too much.

It was all worth it. The fifty five gallon res is super stable pH wise, keeping me from having to adjust more than once a week or so. Having two totes connected does make adjusting pH and checking EC somewhat more difficult and time consuming though. My “400 gph” chinese circulation pump can only do so much to mix these two tanks so it takes a great deal of time for any adjustment that I make to stabilize.

What I’d really love to have would be about a sixty gallon or so single reservoir. Someday…

2 Likes

Say @Bogleg did you cover your table? I have been told/read that a lot of people like to cover the table in between the plants to help keep excess moisture in and allow the roots to grow outside of the pots.

I weighed all of the research I could do on the topic and decided that despite everything it would be far lazier to not cover the table. I figured that as often as I flood the plants don’t really need roots outside of the pots anyway. So far I haven’t had any real ill effects but I thought I would ask what you did.

One of the great things that I have noticed is that the few small flying bugs I have around sometimes tend to land in the water and drown. That’s what you get stupid bug.

1 Like

I did make a cover, and I am using it on my current grow. My first attempt in the flood tray my intention was to populate it with plants in one gallon cloth pots. I lined the bottom of the tray with river rock, and thought I would keep light off said rock because it would be covered with pots. Unfortunately I lost control pretty quickly of the first 5 plants I put in the tray and the filled my entire 4x4 tent.

I also got algae on the rocks. I played with flood cycles and was able to diminish the algae quite a bit that way, but decided on the cover this time around to avoid it completely. I made a lid by covering a piece of plywood with liquid rubber, cutting 16 four inch holes in it, and hanging net pots off of it.

14 plants in there starting day 4 under 12/12. In this particular case they are all from seed (from the same plant), because I am trying to do some pheno hunting. Next round will be clones of one of these plants and should be a better representation of how the table can work.

I am using a 40 gallon reservoir. I got one of those Sterilite “tough” totes with the yellow lid - nice and durable. I usually run around 30 gallons in it.

2 Likes