A side grow with ebb/flow hydro ferts?

[freeheeler]

Hey everyone,
Assume you were running an ebb/flow table with perlite as the medium. This was a single strain grow - mostly indica. Nute levels were taken straight off the GH bottles. No nute burn, fairly tolerant strain, decent smoke but not killer. This is what my friend is doing.

What I want to talk to him about is adding a small setup along side his opp for his (OK "OUR"!) personal. This would be maybe four to six plants with varying degrees of indica/sativa mix - Oregon Skunk, KandaharxCongo, Cheese crosses, maybe even a KandaharxHerijuana, etc. You get the idea, no single nute, growth, or flowering profile. But also no single buzz profile either right?

I would like to present the option in a well thought out, simplified manner since the friend has not yet grasped the passion that most here have for quality/variety.

Would it be possible to setup a few soil based boxes or tubs capable of wicking his 'used' GH nutes up from a lower res? I'm thinking if it were soil there'd be more room for error in the nute, ph, ec levels no? Assuming the above listed varieties (and then some) would also have somewhat different nute profiles requiring a 'lowest common denominator' nute level - again using soil as a buffer.

Hypotetical scenario -
Hey, I was thinking about using one of those 400W HPS's you have sitting around with a couple of tubs, some of your recycled GH nutes and the genetics I have to increase our variety without adding too much more work. Once set up, all you would have to do is dilute your nutes you've pulled from the system 50/50, pour them into this res and the wicking ropes will do the rest. Flip em to 12/12 and we'll cut them down when each strain is ready.

So...
1. Can leftover GH nutes be used in such a manner or are salts and other nasties too much - requiring NEW GH nutes.
2. Can wicking systems really work? (I recall years ago reading or hearing about using rope (cotton or other I can't remember) that had a capillary property to it capable of 'pulling' water/nutes up the rope.
3. Could a single nute profile be built for such a wide variety of strains?

Thanks in advance for any help on this. I'm a little tired of my current smoke options, have plenty of genetics but have shut down my personal opp - kids.
freeheeler

[freeheeler]

Beuhler?.........
Beuhler?...............
Beuhler?......................

bump.
I know these aren't hard questions. Maybe it's my lack of postings/participation here? Rest assured, I post WHENEVER I feel I can add value. Humbly, in this crowd, that's rare! LOL.

Any suggestions on easily adding diversity?
thanks again
freeheeler

[c-ray]

yes
it'll work but it won't be optimal, there will be a lot of guesswork, pH will possibly need to be raised to 6.2ish, and in the end you may wonder why you engaged in such an endeavor if not for the learning experience
it'll work better if you establish some sort of biofield, bacteria, myccorhizae etc in your soil
are you recirculating your nutes or running drain to waste?
you can indeed run a single nute profile for a number of strains provided they have similar feeding requirements, basically feeding them close to the highest nutrient concentration that the lightest feeder can take, the strains you are listing are close enough to each other I would say that you will have no problems mixing them up
rock on

[freeheeler]

c-ray,
thanks.

At first pass:
It'd be better to run a 'new' side grow. Forget reusing old nutes, new medium, etc. Why go almost all the way right?

Easier for him to probably run a second ebb/flow system, or simply introduce the strains into the main system, than try and get into soil. In the end just more work.

Saw an old thread where several folks here discussed the flowering profiles being as important as nute levels when mixing strains with a single res. but that it could be done - using close to the highest levels of nutes for the LCD.

At second pass:
And after thinking a little more sanely and less selfishly, rereading my original post I figured something else out. My takeaway here wasn't the answer to the original question. But...

Here's a friend with the means, who I'd like to 'turn on' to genetics. But I'm not going to talk him into adding plants. Instead, I'll keep smoking him out on to some of the outdoor CA strains I picked up this late fall - and encouraging him to drop the beans I gifted a while back into existing spots on his table.

Problem solved. Thanks again.
take care
freeheeler

[Green Supreme]

I like the way you think. Peace GS

[freeheeler]

GS,
thanks. I try, but don't always succeed.

I'll be sure to update the great folks here with a smoke/second hand grow report at harvest time.
freeheeler