i recently bought a new light setup, and dude threw in a hydro setup thing....ive always been a soil grower, never been too sure about hydro..... can you really grow ten plants in this thing? seems like itd be a rather tight fit?
Looks ike a 10 plant drip system I got one time off of ebay...I didn't like it because if you over fert or mess up...your enitre crop is affected. And vey dependent on stuff that can break down, I also had problems with refilling the tank when the plants get big and the algae buildup from the clear tank..I tried soil next with good results..soil is very carefree and very forgiving, also it seems more natural to me. But good luck though.
i use something similar & tbh they're a piece of piss to operate. Don't believe all the 'ooh - hydro is hard' $hit. u will want to spray paint the tub matt black to stop algae. put a strip of tape on the side before u spraypaint it, so when u peel it off u can see the water level. Change any clear tubes for black for the same reason - it's easy enough to get black tubing. If it's not supplied, get urself a decent sized air pump & airstones off ebay or your local aquarium dealer & chuck the stones inside - again, black tubing u will need a ph meter - again nice & cheap off ebay - but make sure u get the calibration fluids as some are not supplied. ppm / tds / ec meter is not essential but will give you an accurate indication of nutrient concentration level. I suggest before u fill the tub, fit a tap to the bottom for draining off If u can't find a tap, just a hose fitting will do the job, with a length of hose attached & placed up above the level of the water in the tub. U have a fine set-up there m8 = use it. this is mine - these are now 10 days from first placing the seeds. The weedy shoots in soil pots are there to take advantage of the 24hr light until they're big enough to go in my bubblers & farm2, but they give a fair view of the difference between weed grown in soil & the same grown in hydro.
just noticed btw that after 10 days, roots are growing out of the bottom of the net pots on the 3 biggest plants They're fem passion#1 - looks like they'll be the ones to place in the bubblers then i can compare the growth between soil, drip & dwc
i appreciate it..but it wont be suitable to grow plants from start to finish?id need to transplant from this to some sort of bubble bucket or larger setup? how often do you end up changing the water per harvest? how much of a pain in the ass is it to regulate ph on these things?
personally i wouldn't try to grow 10 plants in little 2" pots - depends on whether u plan on a se of green grow tho & going for a short veg period then flower them low. That would be fine for growing clones, but not really economical for growing from seeds. Nothing stopping you changing the lid & just putting 2 - 3 larger pots in. But don't forget, you are not confining the roots to the pot like in a soil grow - the roots are encouraged to grow down into the solution, so as long as the pot can support the weight of the plant ur ok. Mine are only 5" nets & trust me - that's plenty big *changing solutions is a matter of personal preference. Ideally u should change fortnightly to prevent overconcentration of nutrients & salt build-up. Using a ppm / ec meter will give u a better indication of when it's time to change. ph is easy to adjust & not rocket science as some will have u believe. I check mine daily & it's usually risen by a few 10ths per 24hrs. check out my 3hr hydro thread & u'll see what i mean using a drip/drain box & set up a bubbler this morning
makes sense.....as for the switching the water? ill get on painting it....thats probably better for the roots isnt it?ph meter ive got covered....the guy sent me some ph up and down, air pump and bubble maker, grow rocks, and netpots... as far as all that, what else will i need to successfully grow in it?
u got it covered as far as i can see - apart from nutrient solutions.... I'd check locally what's available. recommend u get at least the 2Litre bottles & not 500ml / 1L otherwise u will end up switching brands midgrow which could be fatal!!! don't believe the hype - it's fkin easy m8
if all goes as planned, you should be able to see how this goes in the grow journals section....i already got the gallon size B.C. Grow, and B.C. Bloom.... all the ph up and down shite.... any clue about the whole changin the water thing?
yup - said earlier, before u go filling ur tank up with water - go to a hardware / plumbing type store & buy a drain tap for the bottom of the tub. Saves a lot of $hit l8r U can drain it off with ur water pump, but it will only drain as far down as the intake of the pump - which isn't nearly empty. alternative is syphon it off - but u don't want too much of that stuff in ur mouth! trust me - if u don't take the time out to fit a drain valve at this stage, u will kick urself in a few weeks when u drop the lid & kill half ur plants