so i have just begun my dwc hydroponic system that i have put together myself. i purchased (2) 3 gallon totes holding 2 plants each. my grow medium is lava rock. i bought a fish pump for 20-60 gallons with 2 hose attachments for each unit. both units have a bubble stone inside. for the net cup i have regular plastic pots with (9) good size holes. for now i just have the seeds growing in that peat stuff that you grow in a mini greenhouse with the lava rock surrounding it. now my first question is should i break or grind this lava rock up into smaller pellets? secondly, how high should i fill up the water level to the depth of the plant being submerged. are my seedlings fine to start in this peat water obsorbtion material or should i try something new? and lastly i have ph testers and both units have a ph of around 6.3-6.5 from what i have read between 5.8-6.8 is good. i have also purchased some miracle grow water soluble nutrients for the time being for the next two or weeks. i have purchased General Hydroponics Bloom and Grow. How often should i add these nutrients and how much. ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Gangsta, I can answer a few of those questions. The others I will leave to more experienced growers. General Hydroponics are great, you should pick up their third nutrient too though. They have feeding charts on the back for how strong you mix nutrients for different stages. Follow these charts for your solution. After around 10-14 days you want get rid of all your solution an mix fresh solution. I'm not sure if using miracle grow in addition would be helpful - it might even be hurting since the hydro nute mixes should have all the nutes you need. PH between 5.5-6.5 for hydro. Lower is better, but not below 5.5 5.8 is optimal. I don't know if you can grow very well in just lava rocks. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this. I would recommend picking up some grodan rockwool (read up on ph treating grodan before use - soak in ph 5.5 water for 30 minutes then dispose of water before using). I am assuming you are using an ebb/flow system. You should fill up your growing containers with water until it reached the base of the plant and then kill the pumps to allow it to backflow. Generally they recommend 3 hour cycles from what I've heard (that's what I use). This allows time for the roots to receive plenty of oxygen so as not to rot. Lava rocks look like they drain really well though so you might need short cycles (I'd read up more on this). With rockwool you can probably get away with only watering once a day but if you have the pump you might as well do it more often. Are you doing ebb/flow? Or do you mean you have air pumps. You can't leave the roots totally submerged in water but at the same time you can't let them dry out. If they are submerged completely they will most likely begin to rot (although with sufficient O2 in the water this won't happen but I'm not sure you can reach that level just with bubble stones). Best of luck. o/ Tieme
2 plants per 3 gallons sounds a bit much. The most basic DWC, the bubble bucket system, uses one 5 gallon bucket to one plant, and from experience, i can say that the roots will fill the entire thing by the time you harvest. I would suggest these buckets, or at least just do one plant per tote. Also, I hope you have lightproofed the tubs, as algae will probably be an issue because totes have more surface area than buckets the fish pump, is it an air or water pump? and nutrient schedules you can search, theres a ton of different ways to do it, depends on growers preference/experience, and the way the plants react most people say start off after 3 wks with 1/4 strength nutes, then gradually move it up to full strength, watching how the plants react. good luck! p.s. @ tieme, i used a 60 gallon air pump with two air 1" air stones in a 5 gallon bucket DWC (assuming deep water culture and not ebb/flow for his grow) i had the water line about an inch below the net pot, so at the early stage, the bubbles caused water to splash into the net pot, and at the later stage the roots grew into the water and showed no sigh whatsoever of root rot. but again, 2 plants in one pot can get tricky, as they may even fight each other for root space/nutrients
Whoa. Before someone calls me out on being a noob I better do it myself. Didn't see you post it was DWC. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention. Ignore the stuff I said about ebb/flow, lava rock, etc. Thanks for correcting me mike. +rep for the quick save on my mistake! o/ Tieme
lol not a problem, wasn't trying to be a dick, were all here to do the same thing, learn, smoke, and chill! lol
yes.... i am using the DWC method. and im sorry i didnt understand what you meant is the lava rock suitable for this growth or should i try and get something different. and what should the water level be on the plant with this method. sorry if i missed something and this is redundant. and by third you mean the General Hyponics Boost right? ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
and im sorry it was 2 plants per every (5) gallons... so i have 2 five gallon units for (4) plants ... thanks again.... ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
oh and i just re-read your post i dont have (2) plants in one pot, i have (2) plants in (1) reservoir with 5 gallons of water. so i have (2) pots
I know you weren't Mike. I really was thanking you. Gangsta - GH Micro is what I meant. Apparently a lot of people go with the Lucas Formula which you can read a bit about here: http://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/4387-lucas-formula.html This formula doesn't use any Grow just Micro and Bloom which is supposedly a better mix for cannabis. As far as lava rocks being unsuitable...I wrote that when I had it in my head you were doing ebb/flow and not DWC. I would guess lava rock should be fine for DWC but someone who knows more about it would have to verify. As for water level. Just to clarify: I think he means the water level should be low enough that your net pot hangs just above the actual water. Your bubble stones will cause a little misting effect at the water's surface that will actually coat net pot in solution and as the roots get longer and healthier they will reach down into the water. If you do leave your net pot above the water line, check to make sure your bubbles popping are keeping it sufficiently wet. o/ Tieme
yup, tieme you got it perfect. personally i found that most people on these forums have a similar setup for the water level, typically about 1-2" below the level of the net pot. Also, i would ABSOLUTELY 100% suggest you get a 2" rockwool cube and put the seed in that. i have never heard of someone germinating a seed just in lava rocks. The reason rockwool is good is it has a little indent for the seed, and it is extremely porous and will absorb water and hold it. Without the rockwool, im not sure if the plant would survive without the net pot being at least partially preserved. take a look at my old and dead fictitous grow (not the pcone) and i believe there are some pics on there of the bubble buckets i used. EDIT: my grow thread used supload for images and they have been removed, so sorry about that. but i was was re-reading my old thread and noticed this post: -- trikky now im 90% certain i had my water level below the net pot, but if anyone else can post the way they did it, it would be appreciated.
lava rock is fine but you see clay pellets used a hell of a lot more so I imagine they're probably better in some ways but you can use lava rock...
Can any one help me out with how I start seeds in a aeroponic system? how do you get the seeds to germinate? do I put them in the pete containers or what? Or do I start them in a towel and then put them in the containers- is there any info out there that I can read to get started. I have the system but need to know how to start. Any help woul;d be great- Thanks