roots have grown down the pvc
 

hey ron,400 hps again, things are much better now with venting,18 hours on time, they are doing much better. I have come across another problem, i told you before i was using rockwool, the thing is the roots have grown down into the pvc, not the problem, the problem is that they are clogging the hole, and a couple aren't getting water up in the rockwool, they still get water on the bottom roots, so they are still alive, but not doing as well as others, I don't think i can do much now, but prepare for future plants. ever hear of this? thanks

Some members use a paint strainer to keep the roots out of the pipes. One of the main reasons I grow in 16 oz solo cups is so I can lift the plant out of the 2-liter bottle and clip any roots that may be clogging up the system.

I know this is an old post and I apologize for bringing it back up to the front. I do have a question though. How do you use the solo cups? What I mean is, how do you prepare the cup? Any pictures of that?

I have never built Rons 11 plant system but I have built a similar system. I have found that the bottom part of the bottle that you cut off fits snugly when inserted back into the bottle. Just drill/poke a bunch of holes into it. I have attached some pics of how I have did mine. I also used a 1/2 to 1/2 inch P.V.C. connector to connect the bottles to the base system. I had to grind off the threads of the bottles slightly to fit inside the connectors. Then I used a EPOXY glue to glue the two pieces together.

I then just connected the bottles to the system, but did not glue them at that point. This allows you to be able to pull it off for cleaning, trimming roots or whatever. It did drip from these unglued connections slightly for a short time, but sealed itself in about a day.

Also this is the system that I built with them.

P.S. Ron doesn't seem to post here anymore for whatever reason, so I thought I would pitch in my 2 1/2 cents. Also I am working on a much more durable bottle made using 4 inch P.V.C. and a end cap, connector etc. It wont be as cheep, but as best as I can tell at this time will run about 3-4 dollars each. But when you consider that you don't need to buy paint to light proof it, it's not bad and will last much longer.

Thank You very much for the explanation. If you dont mind, please let me know what you come up with when you try the new "bottles".

Thanks Again.

Well I have not built this one yet and probably wont until spring when I redo the pepper plants. So I will try to explain it (not to hard). The 4 inch P.V.C. is not actually P.V.C. I think it's actually A.S.B. or something like that, but you can find it usually in the same isle as the P.V.C. It comes with pre drilled holes or in a solid tube (use the solid tube). It's 4 inches round (same as the bottles) and runs about $8 for a 10 foot piece. The end caps for this is about $2.

Just cut the tubing to the height you are wanting (cuts easy with a hack saw). The 2 liter bottles are about 10 in with the bottoms cut off. Then glue one end cap to one end. Drill a hole through the end cap in the center of it. Then glue in the P.V.C. connectors to the end caps. Now you have about the same size bottle, but you don't need to paint because the tube is black inside. Also it is structurally much more sound and durable for cleaning and reusing.

Attached are some pictures of the parts I am talking about, but make note of the bottom piece of the connector that threads into the top piece. In the picture you see threads to thread into another piece but should simply slip onto the P.V.C. tubing (I took the wrong picture). Depending on how much space there is you may need a spacer to make a sure connection between both top and bottom connectors, and the end cap. P.V.C. glue should be enough to make a water tight connection between all parts.

Also attached is a picture of a $2 heater filter that I striped the filter from and then cut to line the bottom of another system with to keep the growing medium from getting down into the tubing. This can be used with these also.

Thank You very much, and now I do understand. I think I will put this one together. I too like to grow peppers. In fact I sold tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplants, cucumbers and radishes this year. With soil growing there is alot of weed pulling and such. I am sure there are maintenance issues that I dont know about yet with hydro. I also had two patches of watermelon but I made wine out of them.

Thank You again.

Wow, haven't been around in a while, nice to see things are back in order.
As for the Dixie cups...I take either a hot soldering iron, or a drill to the cups ad make a bunch of holes in the lower half of the cups.
I fill them with Hydroton clay rocks for the medium.
Once a week I pull up the cups and clip the roots a bit to keep them from growing down into the pipes. I use the 1 liter bottles, not the 2 liter and the dixie cups seem to fit nicely.
I don't grow large stuff in my system, mostly lettuce and herbs and they don't seem to mind the root trimming at all.