Grow hacks ... Post em if you got em

[spyralout]

Maybe I'm a loon like @Jewels and @Uncle Rom are, but here's my thoughts. Lol.

My thought is to do a built in liquid applied waterproof liner in the flower room and veg room.
To the floors and up the walls a bit.
A couple mil thick at least.
Kinda like the flex seal boat but in reverse. Rofl.
Then flood the floor with the amount of water needed for all the plants.
Typically 10 to 12 gallons overall when I hand water now for all of em. Up to 15 gals if I'm running a few more than usual.
Pots being 3 gal to 10 gal on average, hard side and fabric ones.
So a 10 gal floor dump would be the starting #.
Wicking up would happen, the larger ones taking more and the little ones less. Overall using up all of it, and the remainder helping RH to stay up.

I've thought of individual watering lines, but like not having shit in the way. Lol.
Nice to be able to spin em and move em around for inspection without a bunch of stuff to move about.
So hence my thoughts of a flood, no drain. Lol.

Again, it could just be an invitation for new problems to solve. Lol.

using your ROLS too? So this would be like NFT but with soil. I bet if you raised the pots just a little but with like a mesh or just a ring for the perimeter of the pot to hold them up, the roots would go through and you'd get NFT/hydro type performance benefits. The whole slick waterproof "floor tub" is badass. Imagine if you dropped a bit of butter in there lol.

I need to try that flex seal, I got a pack from costco.

 

[Cattapilla]

Is there a black liquid glue or pinstriping tape that would work to cover pin holes along the zipper of my tent? Or just duct tape the heck out of it.

 

[jpcyan2]

Not exactly a hack, but a few of the biggest improvements I've ever made to my room:
1- Hot and cold running water on tap. Flex hoses to reach anywhere in the room, and Carbon filter on the cold with quick connect disconnect pex fittings.
2- A drain system that will handle an epic flood and any debris. (sewage ejection sump pump in the floor)
3- A fifteen gallon, tall, square bucket with a tap, hose, and watering wand for gravity fed hand watering. Good for mixing nutes, brewing bennie tea as well.

4- the ultimate hack.. Give plants to a buddy, let him grow, sex,clone, take the risk, harvest, dry, trim. And then.. go get clones and as much as I want to smoke free

 

[jpcyan2]

My thought is to do a built in liquid applied waterproof liner in the flower room and veg room.
To the floors and up the walls a bit.
A couple mil thick at least.
Kinda like the flex seal boat but in reverse. Rofl.
Then flood the floor with the amount of water needed for all the plants.
Typically 10 to 12 gallons overall when I hand water now for all of em. Up to 15 gals if I'm running a few more than usual.
Pots being 3 gal to 10 gal on average, hard side and fabric ones.
So a 10 gal floor dump would be the starting #.
Wicking up would happen, the larger ones taking more and the little ones less. Overall using up all of it, and the remainder helping RH to stay up.

I've thought of individual watering lines, but like not having shit in the way. Lol.
Nice to be able to spin em and move em around for inspection without a bunch of stuff to move about.
So hence my thoughts of a flood, no drain. Lol.

Again, it could just be an invitation for new problems to solve. Lol.

Not sure if you are serious lol.
Are you top watering or flooding a tray with 10 gallons? If you have to cover the whole floor area its gonna take a lot more water.
Sounds good, but 2 issues I see in time creeping up. Algae growth and fungus gnats. lol
Just from running a couple daylight LED's I noticed how quickly it promotes green algae on surfaces that stay wet.

 

[Badmofo529]

Is there a black liquid glue or pinstriping tape that would work to cover pin holes along the zipper of my tent? Or just duct tape the heck out of it.

Rubberized CA glue should do the trick

 

[Cattapilla]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you.
IC-2000 Rubber Toughened Adhesive Glue.

 

[JL2G]

Not sure if you are serious lol.
Are you top watering or flooding a tray with 10 gallons? If you have to cover the whole floor area its gonna take a lot more water.
Sounds good, but 2 issues I see in time creeping up. Algae growth and fungus gnats. lol
Just from running a couple daylight LED's I noticed how quickly it promotes green algae on surfaces that stay wet.

I too have seen the algae. Lol.
And yes, I'm potentially serious.
The liquid applied membrane I planned on doing regardless, just to have an impermeable surface to inhibit bad growths and cleanability. Lol.
And the watering is only every other day, gets completely dry in between.
Even currently when I water everything for just a bit of runoff, rols so no flushing, any moisture on floor is gone within 30 min or less.
Even when I've hosed everything with the sprayer a good 2 gals plus on the floor it's dry within an hour. Such low RH here I struggle to keep up with keeping things even damp. Lol.

 

[jpcyan2]

Always a good idea to have that waterproof surface. I used "Drylock" Floor paint on my rough bare concrete for the same reason. Easy to clean, wash and just keep the area looking tidier. Unfortunately it didnt wear as well as i thought it might with foot traffic in the same areas consistently.
I had at one time considered Pond liner material for a home made. full floor tray.
Ended up going with F and D trays, just in case I wanted to do hydro and needed a bottom space for the res. And it works for pots and hand watering too.
I'm not sure which is worse, too low Rh or too high. Mine (basement) has almost a continuous flow of water seeping in the old foundation and running across the small trench i made in the concrete floor to the sump.

Good luck JL2G

 

[Jewels]

black liquid glue or

Liquid electrical tape. ? Stays flexible.

 

[Jewels]

Then flood the floor with the amount of water needed for all the plants

Seriously considering 'raised beds' .
Run the sprinkler every morning.

$100 kiddie pools are usually 30inch deep.
A guy could just fill the room with dirt,,,
Haven't consulted with a wife- but I'm not seeing the downside here

 

[jpcyan2]

First real indoor grow I ever saw was in the frame of an old super king waterbed with a liner. Filled with Rockwool slabs on top of lava rock, later switched to hydroton type aggregate.
So very late 1970's ish lol. Still produced the finest Nl#5/Haze I've ever had to this day.

 

[spyralout]

Have you seen that Microban stuff? It's supposedly antibacterial. They make polymers and paint additives. Wonder if this could be incorporated somehow.

 

[Uncle Rom]

Maybe I'm a loon like @Jewels and @Uncle Rom are, but here's my thoughts. Lol.

My thought is to do a built in liquid applied waterproof liner in the flower room and veg room.
To the floors and up the walls a bit.
A couple mil thick at least.
Kinda like the flex seal boat but in reverse. Rofl.
Then flood the floor with the amount of water needed for all the plants.
Typically 10 to 12 gallons overall when I hand water now for all of em. Up to 15 gals if I'm running a few more than usual.
Pots being 3 gal to 10 gal on average, hard side and fabric ones.
So a 10 gal floor dump would be the starting #.
Wicking up would happen, the larger ones taking more and the little ones less. Overall using up all of it, and the remainder helping RH to stay up.

I've thought of individual watering lines, but like not having shit in the way. Lol.
Nice to be able to spin em and move em around for inspection without a bunch of stuff to move about.
So hence my thoughts of a flood, no drain. Lol.

Again, it could just be an invitation for new problems to solve. Lol.

I’ve always been tempted to use radiators and a/c units out of old cars in my yard ?. Post apocalyptic growing style. Using only junk to pimp the grow.

 

[Uncle Rom]

Seriously considering 'raised beds' .
Run the sprinkler every morning.

$100 kiddie pools are usually 30inch deep.
A guy could just fill the room with dirt,,,
Haven't consulted with a wife- but I'm not seeing the downside here

I’ve seen this done. Kiddy pool full of hydronton with a spout comin up that ran on a timer.
As fun as it was... he hated it by the end. Just a massive pot with all the plants sharing.. hard to get at stuff.. lol. I feel like outdoors and with coco or soil.. I dunno man.. ? it would make an auto watering system ultra easy to make and maintain to not have a bunch of containers for it to pump to.. so much less fittings and spots to leak and whatnot.. that’s the only upside I see.

 

[spyralout]

I’ve always been tempted to use radiators and a/c units out of old cars in my yard ?. Post apocalyptic growing style. Using only junk to pimp the grow.

Dude that would be so mad max lol.

That reminds me of that MacGyver episode where he was trapped in a prison cell in some country far outta nowhere. There was an old busted fridge in his cell (of course) so he broke off the freon, sprayed it on the lock to freeze it and broke it somehow. As he was frantically making his getaway, he scoped out this old ass car, but it had no tires and a radiator full of holes. Well, luckily the chicken coop was nearby so he grabbed some eggs, poured some buckets of water in there, hotwired that MF, water boiled up, eggs cooked and the whites patched up the holes, filled it up, and BRRRUUMMM ? it started up ? but wait! there's more...howTF can he drive with no tires you say? Well there were some railroad tracks nearby. He pushed the car up on the rails and tookTF off ??

 

[Jewels]

There is an old skool hack I once read in aquarium / pond lore.
Apparently, true flax straw ( the dehydrated, hollow tubes, of a harvested and decapitated flax crop) has anti-algae properties. The straw can be used as a triple threat filter in a pond- Mechanical ( catches flotsam ), Biological (hosts bennie nitrosoma and bacters)
Chemical ( buffer, CEC, carbon exchange )
Works like a fixer, wears like iron.

Think big here. About 2x2x3. Now imagine that sucker was a big chunk of rockwool.
Buried flush to the ground outdoors, or sitting nude in a showerpan, indoors.
Wrap that lug in a sack, water as often and heavy as you wish.

. that’s the only upside I see.

I was the guy trying to drill thru the concrete floor in my garage. I was certain there was an upside, hiding under there.

Explore every possibility, challenge everything , and pay nothing !
,,makes Jewels' a happy boy. And here, I thought : those basket weaving skills would languish.

 

[OldG]

If you want your buds to look big use soup cans....and grow bigger buds that are about the size of the soup can.

soaking coco...i love coco and you need to buy bricks if you want to do it cheap.

Get a 7 gallon fabric pot and use it for a strainer for your coco after you soak your bricks.

Canna coco comes in a 2 pack that can split into 2 each (4 blocks) each block is about 3 gallons.

Botainicare comes in an 11 pound brick. That block is about 15 gallons of coco (you gain 3 gallons from canna but its not as fine..(both meanings).

I am saving it this time and reusing my coco. I am tired of throwing it out and i can clean it.

 

[Sammy Snakeskins]

My grow hack is to buy and plant an Aloe Vera plant at lowes and never need root hormone again. This, I may not have come up with but I tested it to where I couldn't tell the clones I had used root hormone on, from the ones I had used aloe gel on. IT WORKS. Just break off a leaf, dip the clippings in the gel, and set in water. Not approved for any other plant as of yet but cannabis, yes.

 

[Sammy Snakeskins]

I did that for years too. Works really good ?

So did my kittens when it was nearer to the ground.

 

[Dino Party]

My grow hack is to buy and plant an Aloe Vera plant at lowes and never need root hormone again. This, I may not have come up with but I tested it to where I couldn't tell the clones I had used root hormone on, from the ones I had used aloe gel on. IT WORKS. Just break off a leaf, dip the clippings in the gel, and set in water. Not approved for any other plant as of yet but cannabis, yes.

she's good to go. like you said, thats an old school trick. we use that for everything, from cannabis, to vegetables, to flowers and houseplants. It seems to work across the board.