GH Waterfarm Review

[sneakers]

I am just finishing my first hydro grow of 2 plants and 1 clone (3 units). I used the GH Waterfarm and for the most part it worked fine. The plants grew well and were all nice and healthy.

Some of the good features I like are that it is quiet and for the most part requires no maintenance.

While those 2 features are important and probably the most important is that it did grow the plants good. While it required little maintenance, some maintenance was required. It seems that the holes in the drip lines tend to get clogged up with salts and residue from the nutrients. I guess that would be common with a constant drip from a small hole. I changed to fresh nutrients every 2 weeks and for the last month or so have flushed the medium with GH Flora Kleen (I am using GH Flora Nutrients) with each nute change. Even with this I still seem to need to disconnect the drip line and blow through it to open some of the holes. Overall this wasn't a problem until here at the end. My one clone, I had to disconnect the drip line and allow the nutrients to drip directly from the PVC Tee into the medium. This has seemed to work fine for these last 2 weeks. The jiffy plug that this clone is in is so unstable that I didn't want to mess with it too much working on the dripring so I just disconnected it.

It isn't always easy to check and see if the ring is actually dripping the nutrients. It seems most times only 1 or 2 holes are actually dripping. This might be due to the drip ring needing to be perfectly level in order for the water to even reach all of the holes. The idea for the design is good (dripping the nutrients all around and evenly over the medium) but unneccessary. The Hydroton Clay pellets I am using seem to keep the nutes all spread evenly across the medium anyway, even where the drip line was disconnected. Even if it didn't, the roots would grow to where the water and nutes are at anyway.

I purchased just waterfarm kits and put them into 5 gallon buckets. It seems they might should be cut down a couple of inches so the drip ring can be at or below the surface of the groing medium. If it is above the medium it will splash up onto the plants and I also see it on the side of the bucket. If it is on the side then it must be on the floor also. It isn't much nutrient but nutes belong inside the bucket. I did cut mine down so it is below the top of the bucket and just didn't fill the basket up all the way with Hydroton. With this design and the way the drip line clogs up, I can't trust it to work without a visual confirmation of seeing the nutes actually dripping. This becomes more difficult in a confined space full of green.

The Waterfarm I used on the clone was cut down to fit in a bucket that is 8" in diameter and 10" tall. This required cutting the height and cutting off some of the drip ring. Although it was altered, I can't see this as being why this drip ring failed. Maybe if it had a couple of more holes available then one of them would have continued dripping but in design they should all drip. I only cut 1 hole off of it anyway.

I altered 3 more Waterfarm systems to use in the 8" X 10" buckets. These are being used to start 3 plants for my next grow. I hope to find a plant to use as a mom in these 3 plants. These small pots (8" X 10") are a perfect size to use for a SOG. They have been cut down so the drip ring can be buried under the Hydroton and right now my only way of telling they work is by the sound. Burying the drip ring under the Hydroton not only prevents splashing but also keeps light from reaching the nutrients to help prevent algae growth. I just worry about future problems when the drip holes start to clog.

Overall the waterfarm works okay for a small grow. I can see a huge problem if the grow was more than just a few plants. Maybe if I drilled the holes bigger in the drip line they wouldn't clog up.

Anyone else use the GH Waterfarm?

How did it work for you?