Hello all, I just received my eBay "6 site" hydro grow box. It is 48" tall and only 16"x13" (L & W) so I am not real sure how it will grow 6 plants to maturity so I only planted one Master Kush and one Cheese seed. The have not sprouted rom the rockwool yet but any day now I can tell. So from here I assume I have to take the resivior out so I can fill it with 2 gallons of nutrient laden water (half strength due to it being so early in the plants life). My question is.......once the plants are larger and I need to refill the reservoir with fresh water and nutes......where do I put the plants AND their root systems while I am cleaning the tub? Also, my system seems to rely on the net pots hanging down juuuuust enough into the reservoir to water the plants.....how am I to make sure this level never drops? the tub is covered so I cannot see the level from that angle.....again I am new to this so any help is greatly appreciated! thanks
It depends on how your hydro grow box is set up. You will have to refill the reservoir occasionally. The set should include instructions, every design is different...
Yes it did come with instructions but it says nothing about topping off or anything further than initial set up. I'm just worried about lifting the lid off the tub to change the solution when there is no where to put the lid with the pots and all the roots (once they have grown more). Also, I ditched the super cheap all plastic 4" cooling fan for a plug in ball bearing 4" fan that is keeping the box at 80 degrees but I hazard to guess what would have taken place if I didn't make this upgrade.....like I said......eBay grow box. I am waiting for my tent so I can go back to using soil, at least I can run the box 24/7 with no issues.
You were right to be sceptical about the number of plants that is suited. You have about a 1 square foot of area. I think just 1 plant would easily fill this area. 6 is simply ridiculous so whoever made your set up has no idea what they are doing, or they are preying on beginners. Having 2 plants might be ok but you will have them competing for the light causing them to stretch. Not the end of the world though. A 2 gallon reservoir is pretty small by any standard and its going to have your pH, ppm, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels pretty unstable. I would fit a larger res if possible. You certainly don't want to be giving half strength nutes to a seed. That would be a sure way to kill them straight away. Just water for the first week and then try them on an EC of about 0.3-0.4 (200ppm). When topping up just lift the lid and pour water in until it's full. Then adjust the EC/ppm to what it should be, then adjust the pH to what it should be. you will only need to clean the reservoir out between grows, so on harvest day most probably What nutes will you be using? How many litres of air per minute will you be using in that 2 gallon reservoir?
Have a look here for an explanation on maintaining your nutrient strength to suit the plant's requirements http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/1198022-how-determine-what-your-plants-preferred-nutrient-strength.html .
Thank you so much for the help, I have grown successfully outside but have never tried growing indoor's. I have tried before with soil with varied success (there's a learning curve lol) and this grow box is my introduction to hydroponics. Just based off of common sense I was certain 6 plants was rediculous and I contacted the seller and he stated it would and it's design is proven. Still 6 full grown plants in a 48"x16"x13" space?? let alone the 2 gallon reservoir. I am going to start a grow tent soon and will likely just use the wanna be hydro grow box to keep seedlings and for veg. purposes. None the less, right now there are two feminized seeds working their way up from the rockwool and I am trying to keep everything within range to make sure they grow up fat and healthy....all be it a bit cramped for space but I plan to do some LST to get more from what will ultimately be small plants. The info on the EC is very helpful! thank you......I had a feeling 1/2 strength may be a lil too much (or allot apparently) so just water it is (adjusted to 5.5-6 PH) until I see a true set of leaves or a week or so, before switching to the nutes, the nutes they gave me say " General hydroponics grow, flower and micro" each in it's perspective bottle. Are they good or bad? Not sure what the liter's of air is, I assume the capacity of the air pump? it appears to be 120cc per minute. It is an aqua culture air pump. Going to check out your link.....thanks for all you help!
I have never used general hydroponics, but it's very popular with the US members. Not so popular here in the UK though. 120cc is cubic centimetres I guess, that's 0.12 of a litre. Either my calculations are wrong or that is the smallest air pump in the world. Normally I recommend 1 litre of air per minute for every 2 litres of nutrient solution, but because your reservoir is so small I would probably aim to increase that figure by an extra 100%. So in your 2 US gallon (7.5 litres) res, I would look to have about 7.5 litres of air per minute. 10 LPM air pumps are common, hailea do a great one with 4 outlets for about £15 and I reckon one of them would do you proud. It would certainly pay for itself in harvest weight many times over