Hey guys. I am getting the Control Wizard 24/7 tomorrow. It has PH, PPM, and TEMP. It hangs on the wall and the probe goes into the reservoir. Can anyone tell me what the reservoir temp should be at? And what the PPM should be? I understand I should keep the PH at around 5.8. I am also getting a 1,000 watt Metal Halide bulb tomorrow for the VEG period. I also need to know the best feeding times for a drip system. I am currently feeding with the drip 6am for 1/2 an hour, 9am for 1/2 hour, 12pm for 1/2 hour, 3pm for 1/2 hour, 6pm for 1/2 hour, and 9pm for 1/2 hour. So my questions are: 1. What should the reservoir temp be at? 2. What should the PPM be? 3. Am I feeding too much 4. And do I need to oxygenate my reservoir somehow? And How if so Here are some pics of my setup. I was hand dipping the baskets into the reservoir up until I put together the drip system. I just didnt want to have to manually water everyday, it mights have been the best way. And Possibly would anyone have a idea how I could push the water from the reservoir Into the lower hoses and actually feed the plants the ebb and flow way, like just push the water from the bottom up to the baskets and feed them that way. Lots of questions just answer what you can. Thanks
1.) 68` +/- 2` 2.) That's a variable. you should see if the manufacturer of the nutrients you are using has a feeding table on their website and follow their guidelines for the growth phase your plants are in. 3.) By feeding too much, I assume you mean are you watering too often. I like to try to water 3-4 times a day with a drip or ebb and flow system. As long as your plants don't droop, watering less allows more oxygen to get to the roots, which is a good thing. 4.) Oxygenating your reservoir is a plus.......dissolved oxygen, along with proper res temps, thwarts algae and pathogen problems. You can oxygenate with an aquarium air pump and an airstone. This is the simplest way. Nice looking setup you have there....have fun and have a great grow.....chunk
Ive been hand dipping the entire basket into the reservoir for feeding up until 2 days ago when I put together the drip system. I am afraid the roots spread throughout the hydroton rocks, and now that I am using the drip its only getting the rockwool, what is going to happen to all the roots that spread away from the rockwool, I know the drip isnt getting too much wet. Just the rockwool and of course directly under it. So the roots that spread while hand dipping the baskets will that kill my plants. Or am I going to be ok?
Ok tommy, i agree with chuck, but i can only say what i would do if i was you. First of all you have a drip system (not my preference, but they work ok). When you fill your rez, your rez will have the same amount of nutrient solution as in the pods/buckets. So you need to put your 6 buckets on a table a little higher that your rez, so that your nutrient solution drains back into the rez from the pods. Having only one dripper dripping into them pods is not enough. I would connect a cross connection to where the drip comes out into the rockwool/pellets, and add 3 small pipes. In other words you will have 3 outlets pouring nutrients out evenly over the pellets. Unless your pump is very powerful, just the pipes will do, no drippers. Water for 5 minutes at a time, a digital timer would be handy, but if you havent, a 15 minute segment timer will do. Now your nutrient solution will mostly be in your rez, and you can now control the system easier.
Thanks for the reply John. Ok so I will put the buckets onto something to make them higher so all the nutes go back into the rez. I spent 60 bucks on the week ass pump I am currently using. If I were to remove all the drip tips the pump couldnt even push nutes to the final bucket. But what you are saying is I need a stronger pump, that will push 3 different areas of each basket. Yeah I would like to fill the basket completely with nutes. time being I think I am going to go back to hand dipping the baskets until I can figure out how to push the water up to the plants rather than dripping down. more like ebb and flow. It's getting pretty spendy to keep changing my mind. All my friends told me to never go drip, but the hydro guy at the local store told me drip work great if I am only doing 6 plants. Damn it The Drip just doesnt seem to cut it. I just wish I had a powerful enough pump to fill all 6 baskets. Or something to push the water up into the buckets to bottom feed Ebb and Flow.
See by right, top feeding in hydro causes all sorts of problems. See the top of you pellets should be dry and free from nutrient solution, it cause mold across the pellets. And algae and pathogen in your nutrient solution, trying to keep you pH right would be a nightmare. You can still convert your system into a flood and drain, or even a bubbler system. With a bubbler system, you wont need a table. How big and how far down does those net pots go? With a flood and drain, you will need the table and a good strong water pump, make a 6 branch manifold, and pump the nutrients up thru the pipes going into the bottom of your pods, then have a over fill pipe coming out the sides of each pods (have the level just below the bottom of the rockwool cube), then them pipes go back into the rez. When the pump switches off, the nutrient solution will drain down the pipes coming from the pump and back into your rez.
Also, with all hydro system, the bigger the rez the better. The more nutrient solution the easier it is to maintain pH level.
Here are pics of the baskets and they are 5 gallon buckets Yeah at Fred Meyer a local store, they had these huge reservoirs. I was thinking about picking one up.
I'd say you could make a bubbler system from that system. All you need is an air pump kit. You can purchase an air pump, six branch manifold, piping and air stones from the internet, the kit would not expensive. That water pump you have is no good for 6 plants in any hydro system, you will need at least a 500LPH pump. You can make (or buy) a 6 branch manifold, to run the solution to each pod. Drill two 4mm hole in the side of each pod about 3" down from the top lip (making sure the net baskets dont kink the pipes too much), one will be for your airline and the other to feed your (black) feed pipes through the holes. The system will work by gravity, when you are pumping nutes from the rez to the pods, the nutes from the pods will exit thru the bottom of the pods and back to the rez, so gravity will keep both nutrients in the pods and in the rez at the same level. Just a thought.
Hey John, Is there anyway you could send me links to the equipment I need. I am trying here. I am really going to take your advise, I just need a little more direction, like some links, or pictures
Tell me what you think of these systems. 12 Site Ebb and Flow Hydroponic System Kit N Flo Drip - eBay (item 200346783932 end time Jun-26-09 12:02:09 PDT) and look at the picture for the other system: