I recently went to Home Depot and spent 25$ on flex reflective tape and two 10 gallon Rubbermaid containers. In the morning I am headed to the hydro store to get the hydro balls, net pots, nutrients as well as the water pump, air pump and air stones. I have a Milliard 40x40x79 reflective tent that the grow is going to take place in. My plan is to place 6 3" net pots into each one of the lids of the two rubbermaids. I'll then cover the remaining lid surface area with the tape I picked up as well as all the sides. I read that this will help not only reflect light into different hidden areas of the plants but also help maintain the reservoirs temperature by reflecting light and heat away from the water inside. This is where I have a few questions. 1. Do you really need to use rock wool when using seedlings in the hydro balls?(Or can I paper towel germinate and transfer into layer of hydro balls in the net?) 2. My first time I messed around with bubbleponics, at bad timing so the grow went no where but when I was doing it I did not have a drip line splitting from a water pump to each pot as I've seen people do now. I had the net pots about halfway in the water. The plants seemed to take off and grow fine. Is that an okay method for delivering food to your plants or is there a higher risk of nutrient burn and stuff from direct contact. 3. If that is an okay way to provide food to your plants and you don't use the rock wool would you have stability problems or any other weird issues? Carrying on from the pots and food delivery methods. I am going to have two air stones in each container to spread oxygen more evenly through the water, I know you can never have enough but I feel two large stones for one 2 ft container should do the trick. What do you think? As far as lighting goes I have a 600w hps and a 600w mh with a dimmer and cooling tube baluster. I was thinking of running my mh with two T12 cfl at diagonal corners of the tent while the mh is up above For the veg state, and then during the flowering moving the T12's to the opposite corners they were in and obviously then switching To the hps light. I'll will take pictures and post them for you to see to help clear any confusion on how I explained things. Thank you to all that give input and sorry if the first post was over the top.!
Hey there... Rockwool and drip lines are both unnecessary in hydroponic dwc setups. Yes you can germinate your seeds and go directly to the hydroton. I made a tiny seed starter out of an old plastic coffee can. Also you won't need to fees them anything for several weeks. Cannabis comes packaged with nutrient stores to help get them past the seedling stage. What is the rating on your air pump? Regardless of the number of stones you use will it provide adequate oxygen for ~20 gallons of water. I can't recommend running multiple plants in a single reservoir. It causes headaches down the road. 1000 watt Scrog Journal
How are you hanging your lights? I would love some pics. Air pump size is important. I hate rockwool! I put the water just below the netpot. Direct contact with the pot/roots is only bad if you don't have enough oxygen. Make sure you have a ph meter and a ec meter (or ppm). That will make sure you won't have nute burn or any lockouts.
drip lines can cause the clay balls to grow algae and wash shit into you res, It stays cleaner with just air going in.
Sorry for the long delay on all responses. So I think I'm going to skip the drip lines and go straight bubbleponics using the air bubbles to keep the hydroton moist does anyone know of known issues you can come into contact with that way? I'm also looking for a solid answer should I say forget the rock wool and just germinate the old plate style and put directly into the hydroton once they've started? I have a ppm meter and ph meter so I'm set there. My air pump is rated for 253.6 gph. I also decided against 6 3" net pots per system and went with 3 5" pots per system. I know the 5" isn't need but they were out of the 3". I figured quality over quanity so I will see what two plants in each system are best looking and remove the third so I'll have two plants per system. I'm finishing setting up everything tonight except my tent which I'll be getting tomorrow or Friday. Please fire anymore information and or questions At me I'd love to do this right the first time.
I'm thinking you will want a better air pump. The first few days you may want to keep your water line much higher than normal as the tap root grows. I don't use rockwool. F that crap. Its awful. There are so many things that can go wrong. Here's how I germ seeds for dwc http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1300553-Germinating-A-Seed-For-Dwc 1000 watt Scrog Journal
How much bigger of an air pump this is bigger than I've read that some people use. These are the photos of what I have to work with. I had water pumps and water pump nets and tubing but I am going against the drip feed.
That pump would be adequate for one of those tubs. Either need a bigger pump or another one. 1000 watt Scrog Journal
Okay I will invest in another pump for sure then. Does everything else look okay? And thank you so much for your replies! Letter 3
I want to see how you like that box of nutes. I was asking the hydroshop guy about what else if anything I could add to my particular regimen. He pointed me towards the floralicious plus. He says its the new super thrive. I've really come to appreciate his advice. He won't sell me stuff I dont need. S 1000 watt Scrog Journal
I just checked on my germinated seeds not ready just yet. We should be good to go by tonight. The box of nutes I've read nothing but amazing things about it so we will see how it goes. I'll check back in later. Thanks again
what strains are you going to be running? Gotta be careful with doing that many. Are you planning on going 12/12 from seed?
I'll be doing all white widow that I got from a friend that grows medically I'll be going 24 hr light cycle to start until about 8-10" tall the switch 12/12 for flower. I'm starting with 6 but will most likely drop to four of the most healthy ones. I know the first couple days have been kinda slow but this will be taking off very soon.
4 would be fine. When I first growing I started with 24/0 and 12/12 but after doing a bit of research I now use the 12/1 method (called many other names). It saves me a loads in electricity and I can't tell the difference in growth at all. Soon everything will be exploding. Just remember to start off slow with nutes and the more air you have to those roots the faster and healthier those roots will be. 12/1 lighting cycle http://www.theweedblog.com/how-to-use-the-121-lighting-method-for-efficient-marijuana-cultivation/
no lol that would flower them. You have to interupt the cycle. do 12 on 5.5 off 1 on 5.5 off ---repeat. in flowering you do 11on 13 off for two weeks and then decrease it every week. Read the link I added
That's super interesting I'm gonna research that more. Is that the lighting method you use? Anyone else heard of this method? Thanks again for the link.
Yup, that's what I use. There are a lot of studies for alternate lighting. I've seen some talk about on off every 30 minutes for 12 hours and then 12 hours off. I haven't tried it but I'm thinking about setting up a separate light to do so. I'm all for saving money on electricity. More because the more I save, the more lights I can potentially add. I try to keep my room running me around 100 a month on my light bill.
You say 8-10' tall is that before or after training I'm not sure what kind of setup your going for (trees?) Are you vert or horizontal?