Inexpensive MPB DIY

[Lost]

Ok everyone, here is a DIY for people wanting to replicate DD's MPB's but on a cheaper scale.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the lips are not the same size on different buckets. I currently am using "Lowes" buckets for the tub lid, as I have found it to be quite a bit lower than the cheaper, better built Home Depot buckets.

Here is a pic of the fittings I wil be using on this build. The top drains ate 1 inch ebb and flow fittings available for under 3 bucks each. You also need a 1/2 inch "feed" fitting, same thing here 1/2 inch ebb and flow fitting. The last item is a 3/4 to 1/2 inch reducer. I am going to use 3/4 in feed tubing and 3/4 in 3-way elbows and right before the bucket as close as possible, the reducer to the feed fitting. The reason I am trying this is because in my last build some of the 1/2 in lines that came off of the 3/4 were 3 or 4 times longer than others. This amplifies the already reduced pump pressure at the end tubs, so i am hoping to run 3/4 everywhere and only reducing at the tub to equalize the pressure in all the tubs... I hope.

The first thing you need to do is to put your bucket on the center of your lid and mark the bottom with a marker. Then add about 1/8th of an inch all the way around. The top of the bucket is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch larger diameter and if you do not widen the hole, your bucket will not go all the way in to the collar. I use a scroll saw to make the cut. Cut on the outside of your circle you added 1/8 to 1/4 inch diameter all the way around. If you do too much the bucket will be too loose and when the plant gets bigger, it will fall thru the lid. I like a tight interference fit so

I only add 1/8th to 1/4 inch around the marked circle. I then make relief cuts so that the lid does not crack when I push the bucket thru the lids and it makes the fit nice and tight.

Now push your bucket thru.. Mark where you want it cut, about 2-3 inches under the lid..

 

[Lost]

Now your lid is done. Depending on wether you are using 3.5 gallon buckets, or 10 inch netpots, you will need to figure at what water level in the tub does it just cover the bottom 2-3 inches of your container. Its best to fill it with water before you poke holes in the tub and measure the proper level. Then mark where your drains are needed. You want them on the ends otherwise they will clog with roots.

You want to make sure you use a drill type hole saw, the one with the drill bit in the middle. The feed fitting is easy, put in on the bottom as far down as the collar and everything will fit then raise it 1/4 inch just in case. Drill your hole, medium speed, you do not want to go so fast you melt the plastic, turbo!! Then take a razor blade and clean up the edges. Apply the blade as seen. If you gouge the hole, you will not get a good seal. If you do not get a good seal, use the tub to prop up your MPB's, don't mess with a leaky tub..

Ok make sure you line up your drains so that they are at the desired drain point. Drill, clean up with a razor. You should not need any sealant if you did it right. If you need sealant, its a prop for your mpb's, lol.

Lastly, make your cage!! :passingjoint:

 

[Lost]

I do not seem to be able to put the pics with their paragraphs. If anyone knows how could you PM me?

 

[lollipopman]

good post lost..

got a ?, why use a bucket, cant you just cut the hole out to fit the net lid?

 

[Apache69]

Excellent man!

 

[Lost]

good post lost..

got a ?, why use a bucket, cant you just cut the hole out to fit the net lid?

There are a few reasons. First, if you just cut a hole and put the netpot in that you would have no way of pulling the netpot out without cutting the roots ff of the side of the netpot. Either you make the hole loose and the plant can move around (worst thing possible), get knocked over and just has no real support. With the lid it snaps in place and there is no movement. I can work on the plant and have fans blowing real hard on it and its completely stable. Now if you made the hole just big nuff to put the netpot in, you would never be able to pull it back out because the roots also grow out horizontally from the baskets and there is so much root mass, you would pull it up and cut the roots off of the sided.

Also, the netpot needs to sit a precise amount in the water. The bucket allows the netpot to sit higher so I can use more of my res. I use about 20ish gallons of the 27 and that is what I am going for. Why use a huge tub if your only going to be able to use 12 gallons of it?

I have been playing around with these tubs for a while now, and his just seems to be the best setup. I have yet to see one that I have seem that does the job this does with the ease this is to assemble.

 

[lollipopman]

right on.. makes total since..

 

[Apache69]

There are a few reasons. First, if you just cut a hole and put the netpot in that you would have no way of pulling the netpot out without cutting the roots ff of the side of the netpot. Either you make the hole loose and the plant can move around (worst thing possible), get knocked over and just has no real support. With the lid it snaps in place and there is no movement. I can work on the plant and have fans blowing real hard on it and its completely stable. Now if you made the hole just big nuff to put the netpot in, you would never be able to pull it back out because the roots also grow out horizontally from the baskets and there is so much root mass, you would pull it up and cut the roots off of the sided.

Also, the netpot needs to sit a precise amount in the water. The bucket allows the netpot to sit higher so I can use more of my res. I use about 20ish gallons of the 27 and that is what I am going for. Why use a huge tub if your only going to be able to use 12 gallons of it?

I have been playing around with these tubs for a while now, and his just seems to be the best setup. I have yet to see one that I have seem that does the job this does with the ease this is to assemble.

How much are you pulling from each plant now?

 

[Lost]

How much are you pulling from each plant now?

My current grow journal has my info there. You can probablly get a good guess from that. My last/current run was to see what size yielded best VS veg time. The largest I plan on around 1.75 ish. I think DD's said he just had a bubba weigh in a 2.5, and this was my first reall MPB run. I fully expect next run to get a solid 2lbs per bubba. I could be at 2 lbs with this current one, but it honestly looks like 1.5 ish of top quality top shelf nugs.

 

[mcattak]

When and why would you remove the netpot during bloom???

thanks

 

[edux10]

good stuff right there man

 

[Lost]

When and why would you remove the netpot during bloom???

thanks

You would not usually. You do need to be able and get in there and take a look at the roots, but most of the time I lift the entire lid. Because the netpot lid snaps on to the bucket, i can lift the entire lid up to one side to check the roots and the plant stays solid.

Also remember that I veg in 5 gallon buckets and this set up allows me to unsnap the lid from the 5 gallon bucket and onto the MPB. No bsing around and no shock for the plant.

Your plant has got to be solidly mounted to the MPB. These plants get so huge, its just gunna fall over if its not solidly part of the entire bucket. For 2 lbs of product, thats about a 20+ pound plant with limbs spreading 3+ feet wide.

 

[Lost]

Also to note, i run al of my air lines thru the netpot lid, so if i need to change an airstone out, I do need to be able to lift the netpot off of the bucket to remove the airline and drop a clean airstone in.

Just a quick edit here.. Keep in mind that this is one way to do it that has been shown to work. If you have an idea and you want to give it a try, go for it. I like my little setup and am always open to new ideas. There is more than one way to skin a cat, nothing here is set in stone... :)

 

[chrometrichs]

There are a few reasons. First, if you just cut a hole and put the netpot in that you would have no way of pulling the netpot out without cutting the roots ff of the side of the netpot. Either you make the hole loose and the plant can move around (worst thing possible), get knocked over and just has no real support. With the lid it snaps in place and there is no movement. I can work on the plant and have fans blowing real hard on it and its completely stable. Now if you made the hole just big nuff to put the netpot in, you would never be able to pull it back out because the roots also grow out horizontally from the baskets and there is so much root mass, you would pull it up and cut the roots off of the sided.

Also, the netpot needs to sit a precise amount in the water. The bucket allows the netpot to sit higher so I can use more of my res. I use about 20ish gallons of the 27 and that is what I am going for. Why use a huge tub if your only going to be able to use 12 gallons of it?

I have been playing around with these tubs for a while now, and his just seems to be the best setup. I have yet to see one that I have seem that does the job this does with the ease this is to assemble.

When I first cut my lids, it was prior to the realization that removing the netpots from the tubs could potentially damage the roots. But now what I realize is, I don't really have any reason to remove the netpot. Checking the drains for wayward roots is far easier when you just lift up a corner of the lid and removing the entire plant is surprisingly easy when you just take off the whole lid. Which spares your roots that tight squeeze through the lid. My drain holes are also cut pretty high and getting the right water level with my netpots was a little challenging initially. I quickly cut all my drains without thoroughly testing the effects the weight of the plant would have on the netpot and how far it would eventually sit in the water. Most of my netpots needed to be raised another inch or so, to prevent the rockwool from getting soaked. I ended up using some spare tubing to raise my netpot and solve the problem but lost's method definitely gives you more flexibility to adjust your netpot to the optimum water level.

 

[squarepusher]

how do you drill the holes for the Ebb & Flow fittings?

 

[yayarea]

I dont know what drill bits people are using but a conical drill bit works best for me, the holes cut clean and you dont have to go back with a razor to clean up little pieces of plastic left behind. Also works great on the 4inch pvc. this is what they use at hydro stores to cut holes in the ebb&flow trays. You can also get them at HomeDepot and Lowes.
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/133154

 

[Lost]

I dont know what drill bits people are using but a conical drill bit works best for me, the holes cut clean and you dont have to go back with a razor to clean up little pieces of plastic left behind. Also works great on the 4inch pvc. this is what they use at hydro stores to cut holes in the ebb&flow trays. You can also get them at HomeDepot and Lowes.
http://www.hydroponics.net/i/133154

Remember that the holes are 1 and 3/8 inch. I do not know if the conicle bits go that fat. Like I said I use a door know type drill bt (i have conicles but they make max out at like 3/4's inch to 1 inch.) If you really want a perfect cut, they make them with industrial diamonds and instead of the circle saw having teeth, its just diamonds.

My reccomendation to moving a MPB with a plant in it is two people on either end of the lid and remove the entire lid. This is another reason I like my buckets. It keeps the entire plant stable.Once the plant has been in the MPB for a few weeks, the rootmass will not fit thru the opening in the lid no matter how you did it :)

Like I said before, this is how I do it and you may have a way you like better. I just wanted to post this up so people understand how easy it is to build the multi pound plant tubs :)

 

[eyeswideopen]

I haven't built these yet, but I'm putting together my shopping list, and I was planning on running the net pots that only have the holes on the bottom and up the sides about an inch. These types of net pots should protect the roots as they are significantly narrower in diameter at the bottom than the top.

I do see an advantage to being able to run higher volume in the mini res, but are the cubes even necessary. Couldn't you root your cuttings in an aero cloner and go straight to the net pot with hydroton for veg and not even have to worry about soaking your cube?

Thoughts?

 

[mcattak]

thanks lost,

-I guess if I have root issues i am in trouble..My airlines go through the actual mpb bucket and I lift the corner to look at the roots...As they are getting bigger those corners do seem to be getting more difficult to lift..
-Do you notice that if the airstone is not moved around the roots they kinda engulf it??
-Must say I am nervous about weeks 4-7 and my roots staying healthy..Any advise??

 

[winta]

cool thread lost! i just read dd's tutorial yesterday and today heres an easier version :):dance