Home Made DWC in Stealth Closet

[salgjkhaf]

yo rumple, do you use any nutrients at the very end of your grow cycle to increase yeild or anything like that? my copy of your set up is almost done and i was just curious if there is any last minute things i can do to increase yeild?

[Rumpleforeskin]

The only thing I use at the end of my grow is pure h2o. I stick to the Lucas formula the whole way.

dragit, my grow is the same size and is located in the garage. I use a 400W lamp.

[itty53]

I got asked why I used so much CO2 at my local welding shop.

Just replied 'Damn wife and her soda machine.'

Make a jab at women to any man interrogating you, they'll laugh it off and forget what they asked.

[kranko]

Thats a beautiful setup some real macgyver stuff goin on in this thread. That Herb looks like fire too. I was wondering how u have ur res steup? and how big is ur clone box I just read a few of ur threads and don't recall seeing the dimensions. +rep

[ThatNetworkGuy]

Great setup dude, it was your thread that convinced me to go for the lucas formula. I'm getting the clones tomorrow, the nutes are mixed and in the bubble buckets. My only concern is that my tap water is at 150ppm. I adjusted the ph down after adding nutes to approx 5.8. This morning I checked it again and it had risen to about 6.8. What could be causing this?

Thanks,

NetworkGuy

[Rumpleforeskin]

The first investment I bought when I started to grow indoors was a RO system. A nice osmosis system can be had on Ebay for around $100. You will save that in bottled water the first year easy. It makes it close to 0ppm clean. Better then any bottled water I tested. Watch the auctions and save big time on a killer system. The system below goes for $84.50 with $42.50 shipping. I bought the same one from the same vendor. Save $20 if you watch the auction (no one ever bids on them)


During veg my PH climbs. So I mix at 5.6 PH. It will stop climbing after a few days and land around 6.0 to 6.2

During flowering the PH tends to go down daily. So I compensate the other way.

ThatNetworkGuy, hydroponic feeding is tricky enough. Don't add to the problem by using hard water. I know folks use tap water with great success, but I advise against it big time.
Thanks for the kind words.
R.

[ThatNetworkGuy]

I got a response from Lucas on the ''ask lucas" thread. He said not to worry about my level of hard water. Im going to use using store bought RO water for the addback anyways to avoid complications.

p 22 of 'ask lucas' thread:

" dont worry about TDS below 300@.7 conversion.. thats 214ppm on a .5 meter.."

Mine is 150 on the .5 meter, I should be ok.

Thanks for the response,

NetworkGuy

[kranko]

Hey Rump, Does the type of TDS meter that u use matter, the reverse osmosis, and in line and dual line, <-- which kind is the best for someone starting out, I've only ever used a soil medium so I don't have any idea what to use for a TDS? And again quality grow and Room definetely inspiring... Peace __________________

[Rumpleforeskin]

You can't go hydro without a PH meter. Ph changes alot (sometimes daily).
I have a total of five different PH meters. I had more, but I tossed out the real cheap-o's. The ones that are $14 are worthless. You get what you pay for.

I have two Hanna meters and one monitor:
The Hanna HI-98129 combo (the black one below) is great for TDS/EC, but with most Hanna meters the PH readings seem to drift all over the damn place. I cailbrate all my meters before ever grow. The HI-98128 PHEP (red one) works ok, but it takes a while to get a reading and never agrees with any of my other gages. The three Hanna gages I have never agree on PH (ever).
The monitor (I can't find the exact picture, but it's in one of my grow pictures), was great for two grow cycles. It died half way through the third.



The Milwaukee SM101 is a great PH meter. It is very low tech though. You have to calibrate your temp knob every time you use it to get a correct temperature adjusted reading. Most other meters will do that for you. I have to say, this meter gives you a reading as soon as it hits the nutrient.



The EXTECH PH100 is the one I use most. It agrees with the Milwaukee and gives fast results. I did have to replace the probe one time in the two years I have owned it. It costs more then half the total price of the whole meter. It has never been wrong about PH (like the Hanna).



Most the meters above will cost you $70 or more. Every company makes a high end and a low end meter line. Buy one good one.


TDS/EC is important to most hydro growers, except me. I use the Lucas formula. I don't do "add back", I dump every two weeks and make a new batch.

The Hanna combo meter works real good for the TDS/EC. I use it to check my RO water. It lets me know when to change my filters. EXTECH makes a combo meter. I had one and dropped it bad. It broke and I never replaced it.

Hope that helped, R

[kranko]

Ya that helped alot thanx R. I have a ph meter, but just wan't sure about the tds. I saw some hanna meters on e-bay 4 a good price but not sure if I wanna go through them. Im probably gonna start making the system and do another soil grow so I have the time to do things right, what do u mean by add back - reusing same solution??? Is the lucas a just add water solution?? Thanx ur threads r some of the most informative on hydro I've found... Peace

[Rumpleforeskin]

The Lucas formula is just a method of mixing your General Hydroponic nutrients and maintaing it.
Lucas has two ways of maintaining your nutrients:

1. Top off with water for two weeks and dump.
2. Add back nutrients when topping off and only dump when you change cycles.

I top off with water. I can't seem to get the "add back" to work well for me. The Lucas Formula is simple and cheap.

[kranko]

ohh i c Thanx, I guess u would recommend the General hydro then, and how do u ph up and down ur buckets? do u have to flush and put in new ph adjusted formula??

[Rumpleforeskin]

I recirculate the nutrients in the three buckets by switching on a small pond pump. After its mixed well, I take a PH reading from the center bucket I call the reservoir (just because it has not plant in it, other then that it's the same). If it's in need of adjustment, I add a bit of PH up or down to the center bucket and stir it in to all three buckets by circulating with the pond pump again. I take another sample to check if I got it right.

After doing this for years, I am pretty good at guessing how much PH Up or down to add.

[kronos416]

very nice setup rumpleforeskin .... hey do you have the pvc tubeing hooked to exhaust part of ventilation or intake? if your not using the pvc on exhaust portion what are you using? im in process of completeing my box and am going with a vortex and scrubber setup i have about 117 cu ft of space gonna pipe the exhaust out roof

[Rumpleforeskin]

My intake is just a few 4" holes in the bottom of the grow box (no way to show it). I use PVC and flex ducting to pipe it out of the grow and into the attic.