Okay does anyone here successfuly grow with tap water? (letting the water sit for a while to evaporate chlorine obviously) And what kind of hydro nutes would you recomend? I hate having to order things constantly so when i find a good product i will buy in bulk. I was experimenting with tap water and dissolving soil nutes but the ph was going all over the place... I know the soil nutes arent a good idea but could it also be soemthign with the water? I let it sit but im jsut not sure. When i start growing in my hydro setup I will have my ec meter, hydro nutes (should i use Superthrive "drop a gallon" also or is this not needed since hydro nutes contain the micro nutes as well?) and possibly R/O water or distilled water.
i've used "pure blend pro" many times in hydro, good stuff. some people really like superthrive, i feel it's over hyped. i mean, how much good could one drop per gallon do for your grow? one drop of a nutrient concentrate in a gallon of water, will have little to no reading on a ppm meter. so, i guess it's 6 to 1, half dozen to the other. i'd go with r/o water. when you start with less funk in your water, the more actual beneficial nutes you can add.
i absolutely swear by superthrive. Plants love it. I tend to use 1/8 cap per gallon every once in a while, but i notice the biggest difference when i do. It makes the plant grow more than double as fast. I had a plant that was all wilted once that needed to be watered, and when i watered it i used superthrive. If i had used regular water it would have slowly recovered and perked up, but since i used superthrive... I could see it pick itself up within 40 seconds. I could see it move like "ahhhh that feels goooood". Superthrive works sooo good. Try it out, but use a little bit more than a drop a gallon. Do not use it all the time either. Only every once in a while.
do you smell that, anyone??? i smell "bullshit!" a wilted plant in need of water that has fallen over, can not revive in 40 seconds. can not begin to revive in 40 seconds. i have let that happen to me outside with tomato plants. it takes a good long while to re-group and loose the droop. i would guess an hour or so, depending on how many tips wilted.....
I disagree, I have also watched a plant that was thristy and wilted pick its self back up. It was more along the lines of a few minutes, but I watched it go from halfway limp, to standing completely back up.
If it every happens and you have a diing plant a couple minutes or 40 seconds, superthrive works bomb
You definately need to use nutes that are designed for hydro. Soil nutes do not need to have the microelements in them. Tap water can cause problems with magnesium lockout due to the calcium magnesium ratio being out of balance. If you have tap water that is near pH 8 then you will use a lot of pH down to maitain the pH in the proper range of 5.5 -5.8 Also if you use tap water, the nute mfg reccommend that you use 50% or less nute solutions. You will have better results, and grow faster, if you use nutes at 1/2 strenght. If you use RO water then you can use more nutes. I still only use 75% with RO. These are 65 days from planting the seeds and they are 28". only 75% Dutch Master Gold nutes.
Thanks all for the input, Im realy considering using a R/O machine. Also no one realy answered if soil nutes + SuperThrive= Hydro nute equivalent ( meaning it gives sufficient micro nutes and macro nutes)
Superthrive is plant vtiamins. mostly B vitamins. Like AN B-52. Hydro nutes have microelements in them. Soil nutes do NOT have micro nutes in them. Plants get micronutrients from soil. There is no soil in hydro, therefore you must use hydro nutes in a hydro grow.
Thank you sir, plus rep to you. So after much wait (3 weeks, yah long time) my ph meter has finally shipped here!! Haha, before it got here, I was using a pool ph test kit with the likke droppers and test tubes to mix crap in. The ph levels there only went from like 7-10 or soemthing like that so I couldnt even see what my real ph was. Not my bubble bucket water is finally at 5.5 and I plopped all my sprouts into their new homes... and wow are they loving it. It has only been one day and already it looks like they have been in soil for about 2 day : ) The first true leaves are already growing fast and I cant wait to compare this speed to my slow soil grows hehe. Anyhoo, thanks again Mr. Earl, as I was reading my superthrive bottle I noticed it said nothing about micronutes and so I was realy wondering what was in it, thanks for clearing things up : ) Well tomorrow I will take my first trip to the hydro store, I will be picking up some hydro nutes (not sure which ones yet) and some hydroton (im using rubber mulch instead right now as a medium haha) Ps, love your setup, never seen one like that before.
If you are growing with tap water, talk to the hydro store guys about that. GH make very easy three part nute system with a "hard water micro" for guys using tap water. You can accomplish the same thing with every nute mfg, by just reducing the nute strengths to 50%. AN makes good nutes, with lot's of additives to enhance every step of the grow. They have a hotline number for advice, and they know what kind of plants you are growing, without you having tell them. The AN online nute calculator makes mixing nutes straight forward. With AN, you gan go with a three part, or two part nute system. They both can use all the additives, or not. I have given up on the Humic and Fulcic acids. The Humic just truns my soultion too dark. I have basically switched to Dutch Master Nutes. I still have some AN nutes that I amtrying to use up in a DWC. Hopefully I will get a male in the DWC, cause my aero system is 7 for 7 making ladies. Read this. http://forums.cannabisculture.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1354421#Post1354421
Woah, at first I was wondering why someone with as much knowlege as you, only had 70 posts but now I see you have been hanging around another site for quite some time. I have much respect for you after seeing all of the information you put out on CC. Okay, I would realy like to know your opinion on bubble buckets, I have recently built 4 and they seem to work well but this is my first attempt at hydro and I havent been able to compare it to anything else yet. Thats pretty cool how you got 100 percent females in your setup so far, think it has anything to do witht he great grow conditions?? Im realy nervouse about going to the hydro store hehe, im onyl 18 and I bet the guy will think its weird if I drop some cash on some equipment there. Right now I have 4 bubble buckets, air pumps and stones, a PH stick, and some CFLs, do you recomend I pick anything up from the store? Right now I have a bunch of money and Im thinking about expanding my grow room from my cabinet to my closet. Also Im considering getting a HID or some big flouros. Let me know what you think!! : )
This hobby is all comsuming. You will buy more and more. The big factor with lights is the heat they create. If you can handle the heat, then the more light you can get on the plant, the faster they will grow, and they will yield more. Growing in a closet it will be especially challenging to control the heat form the lights. CFL(Compact Florouescents) are pretty cool for the light they put out, but they are not as efficient as HPS and MH lights. If you check the "Grow Room" forum at CC, you will find all kinds of great info on growing in confined spaces. Google "micro growing", "Micro grows" These guys can grow in a toaster ovens, refrigerators, closets, etc... They use mostly CFLs. I have seen some awsome grows using CFL. It just takes longer, but the end result is nearly the same. I use CFL for starting seeds and cloning.
Good lord you have many set-ups, you have been doing this for a while eh?? : ) So if I'm doing a one light operation for four plants, would you recommend a 400 watt HPS cool tube? To me this seems to be the most ideal light. I was having some doubts on hydro but ever since I got my PH stick and saw the Ph around 7 and lowered it, I see my plants growing fast Man I love this stuff. And it is consuming but at the same time very entertaining to watch every bit of progress. Im sure you have tried Fox Farm nutes before right? What do you think about them? I hear some people talking about using their three part hydro nute system, I was thinking about trying that but before I get anythign I also want to read up on the nutes that you suggested. What exactly do you mean by the r/o water working differently with the nutes and having hard water nutes?? Is the tap water filled with stuff that allows less nutes to get to the plant and r/o has a lower ppm reading so more nutes can be sent to the plant or am I way off?