Useless
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Mutt was asking about this type of set-up so I figured I'd drop it in a post for everyone.
For those who don't know KFB = Krusty Freedom Bucket. Its a hybrid aero/drip/swc system for growing trees of exceptionally large size!
Krusty was a member of OG until he was banned around '02 I think. Excellent grower with a wealth of information and even had somewhat of a following in the Krusty Freedom Riders. He was very opinionated somewhat psychotic, so it made it a ***** to get any good info without reading through pages and pages of crap. But, I read 99% of it and here's the jist of all, Krusty's diagrams included.
The first thing I say about this set-up is Krusty treated it not just as a room design or hydro set-up, but as a complete "syngergistic" (man I hate that word) completely STRESS FREE SYSTEM, and it results in a complete state of Zen for your plants.
Next I will say the smallest mini version one could do would run 3400 watts and 4 plants. You could also do 6 plants with 5600 watts. The set-up shown is for 10 plants and 10K watts. Yes, its a lot light, but not like you think, More on the lighting later.
The ultimate goal is produce the highest possible yield while maintaining a low plant count. This is ideal for us med users in Cali and other states where plant count matters.
The items you will need for this grow -
The hydro part:
20 Black 5 gallon buckets (paint em if you can't find em in black)
10 1 gallon pots
3/4" return lines or PVC
3/4" PVC manifold or soft lines to 1/4" feed lines, 2 per plant site.
A 25 gallon ressy (or more, larger ressy = more stabile solution)
A Thomas air compressor or vacuum pump - get one that puts out about 20-30 psi and the max cfm. Sorry I don't have model numbers at the moment.
So here is the bucket diagram
As you can see, the top bucket is drilled out with 3/8" holes effectively making an extremely large net pot. The lower bucket is drilled out for the 3/4" return lines. Drill the hole at a level that alows 1.5"-2" of solution to remain in the bucket. The two buckets are sperated by the 1 gallon pot which is inverted and the air lines are run in the gap between the two buckets and laced through the holes on the 1 gallon pot. This insures the air hose stays on the bottom. You will need it, as the you will be pumping large amounts of air, making the solution in the bottom bucket "froth" up like a jacuzzi. The feed lines are run to the top of each plant site, two 1/4" lines per. No drippers required, run those babies wide open 24/7, you need the moisture to offset the tremendous amount of air you're pumping into the bottom of the bucket.
Medium used was lava rock. Yes, lava rock, from Home Depot. Trick is to crush a rock beore you buy it and take a smell. If it smells bad, you will have uncontrollable Ph fluctuations. If there is no smell, it's good to go. Lava rock is used because it provides a better surface for the roots to cling on to than hydroton. You need this to prevent stress to the root zone, as it tries to hold up some 6-7 foot trees. It also has larger air pockets and is more porous, always a bonus.
Be back a bit later with room design and lighting set-up.
Fire your questions away, I know I have to have forgotten something! LOL
For those who don't know KFB = Krusty Freedom Bucket. Its a hybrid aero/drip/swc system for growing trees of exceptionally large size!
Krusty was a member of OG until he was banned around '02 I think. Excellent grower with a wealth of information and even had somewhat of a following in the Krusty Freedom Riders. He was very opinionated somewhat psychotic, so it made it a ***** to get any good info without reading through pages and pages of crap. But, I read 99% of it and here's the jist of all, Krusty's diagrams included.
The first thing I say about this set-up is Krusty treated it not just as a room design or hydro set-up, but as a complete "syngergistic" (man I hate that word) completely STRESS FREE SYSTEM, and it results in a complete state of Zen for your plants.
Next I will say the smallest mini version one could do would run 3400 watts and 4 plants. You could also do 6 plants with 5600 watts. The set-up shown is for 10 plants and 10K watts. Yes, its a lot light, but not like you think, More on the lighting later.
The ultimate goal is produce the highest possible yield while maintaining a low plant count. This is ideal for us med users in Cali and other states where plant count matters.
The items you will need for this grow -
The hydro part:
20 Black 5 gallon buckets (paint em if you can't find em in black)
10 1 gallon pots
3/4" return lines or PVC
3/4" PVC manifold or soft lines to 1/4" feed lines, 2 per plant site.
A 25 gallon ressy (or more, larger ressy = more stabile solution)
A Thomas air compressor or vacuum pump - get one that puts out about 20-30 psi and the max cfm. Sorry I don't have model numbers at the moment.
So here is the bucket diagram

As you can see, the top bucket is drilled out with 3/8" holes effectively making an extremely large net pot. The lower bucket is drilled out for the 3/4" return lines. Drill the hole at a level that alows 1.5"-2" of solution to remain in the bucket. The two buckets are sperated by the 1 gallon pot which is inverted and the air lines are run in the gap between the two buckets and laced through the holes on the 1 gallon pot. This insures the air hose stays on the bottom. You will need it, as the you will be pumping large amounts of air, making the solution in the bottom bucket "froth" up like a jacuzzi. The feed lines are run to the top of each plant site, two 1/4" lines per. No drippers required, run those babies wide open 24/7, you need the moisture to offset the tremendous amount of air you're pumping into the bottom of the bucket.
Medium used was lava rock. Yes, lava rock, from Home Depot. Trick is to crush a rock beore you buy it and take a smell. If it smells bad, you will have uncontrollable Ph fluctuations. If there is no smell, it's good to go. Lava rock is used because it provides a better surface for the roots to cling on to than hydroton. You need this to prevent stress to the root zone, as it tries to hold up some 6-7 foot trees. It also has larger air pockets and is more porous, always a bonus.
Be back a bit later with room design and lighting set-up.
Fire your questions away, I know I have to have forgotten something! LOL