Good afternoon fellow green-thumbs, I come to you today with hopes of getting help. a friend and I were considering growing some plants in an indoor hydroponics set up (a simple system of PVC pipes that branch out to 2 liter bottles cut in half and filled with rockwool for the plants to grow in) and I was wondering if you guys could give some advice. Is there an ideal fertilizer solution for hydroponics, to yield the highest quality result? How about lighting? This sounds dumb, but is a fluorescent light sufficient? Are there any techniques specifically for hydro that anyone knows of, and what can give a bushy yield without growing terribly tall? Thanks! The Blugrass Bubbler
for hydro i hear General Hydroponics has a very good line of nutrients, never tried it but i hear a lot of good things bout it from professionals, dont kno mucvh about the system ure using but if its ure first time growing i would recommend deep water culture its very easy to understand and very easy/cheap to build, lighting if u got the money and space u can go with MH(metal halide) specifically for vegging or HPS(high pressure sodium) specifically for flowering, of course u can use either or for the whole grow but ud be better off using the right spectrum at the right time. If your not trying to invest too much in lighting yes you can use fluorescent lights are sufficient im not gunna recommend any type because im not too sure which is best , you can even use compact fluorescent lights which is even cheaper but u need a good amount of them to yield anything decent. HPS and MH are the best lights you can use, they give u a wayy better yield then any fluorescent would, but again u need alot of space ventilation cuz they get hot, plus expensive. Best way to maximize yield i think is to LST, and/or Top, keeps the plants short and bushes them out . I havent tried supercropping but i heard the results are amazing. Sounds like u got some research to do bro lol hope i was of some help
Howdy Blugrass. Those are all valid questions, unfortunately not all of them easy to answer. You're on the right track though. I really believe you'd be doing yourself (and your plants) a service to spend a little more time researching the subject. You can find a wealth of information in this forum's Stickies that would help answer some of your questions. My personal recommendation is to search the forums for a grow system that appeals to you and that you'd have the means to replicate. Then find a grower who has used this system with success and mimic their grow. Not only have they proven the system to work but you'll have someone to answer very specific questions with regard to setting up, growing, and troubleshooting. Then stick with it until you're comfortable making your own adjustments or decide to try a new method. My 2cents Here's another fairly comprehensive LINK to help answer some of your more specific questions.