Hey guys.. New to hydro been around for some time though lingering in the forum reading and not being registered. I have some questions about all this hydro stuff. I have some soil grows and has success but it has been on an outside kinda plan. What I am looking to do is build one of Rumpleforeskins bubble buckets with possibly a two bucket res. I plan on using General Hydroponics Nutrients following the Lucas Method. I have two 150 watt HPS lights and am covering the room walls with mylar film. I was wondering if someone could elaborate on what "Top off the reservoir daily using a pH corrected water solution as required to maintain full reservoir level." means. I understand that when the reservoir goes down you need to add water and watch the PH level of the contents. I also understand that when the amount of water added equals the amount equal to the reservoir you need to dump and make a fresh batch of PH corrected nutrient solution. So when you add water to the system do you just make sure the PH for the water is what?? Please help.
hey there welcome to GC. Just to let you know i'm not speaking out my ass, I got 3 plants. (lemon skunk, white widow, supersilverhaze) they are in bubblebucket/lucasformula/scrog on day 5 12/12. All he means by PH corrected water is.... The plain water that you top your res should be in the correct ph range. Distilled water or reverse osmosis water (i use both) already have the correct neutral ph of 7 so you don't have to "ph correct" it . Just dump it straight into the res. Tap water has different ph(depending on where you live) so if your using tap water, you will have to evap all the chorine first, then you have to "ph corrrect" it to 7 remember the lucas will drop your water ph to 5.5-6 (cause thats what its supposed to) but you have to use ph 7 water to ensure that the lucas will drop your ph to the correct range. By only using distilled and RO water, i never check my ph...i haven't in over a month.
Thanks for the info on the water. I have some other questions. Does the Hydroton need to be cleaned and or soaked before use? If so how and what type of cleaner? Is there an optimal PH level for Vegetative Growth? Is there an optimal PH level for Flowering? Do you flush the system with anything specific before harvesting? If so when do you flush and what do you use to do it? Thanks again.
hydroton should be rinsed before use so you won't get clay dust. simple water rinse should suffice. optimal ph...your just being lazy now..thats info you should search for. (besides your using lucas formula you shouldn't worry about ph) If you really wanna get specific on optimal ph's then lucas formula isn't for you. flush 2 weeks before harvest. To flush just replace all your solution with ph correct water.
I dont know why this guy is telling you ph doesn't matter but it definetly does. My opinion is go back to Rumples thread and read up. When you get to the last page it will all make sense.
Ok well before you start thinking to far ahead, your ph is VERY important!!! Cannabis needs all sorts of elements to make it grow, if you dont have the correct ph it blocks out those elements, inturn you have your self a nute defficency. Start your ph at about 5.5 then let it rise to roughly 6.2ish then bring it back to 5.5, that way all the essential elements will get to your plant Happy growing
There's some good info above...and some bad. First of all, welcome to GC. Congrats on deciding to grow your own meds. Once you learn what the hell you're doing, you'll be so glad you did. Deep Water Culture is a great method to get your feet wet in hydroponics, and that sure is one easy tutorial to follow. I expect your construction will go smoothly. About your topping off question, just use good water - reverse osmosis or distilled. That is unless you live in a place with great city water, San Fran for example. Watch your ph on a daily basis. Allow it to fluctuate within a working range in both flowering and vegetatve growth. I like 5.2 - 5.8 for DWC where the roots are always submerged, and 5.7-6.3 in ebb/flow where the medium dries out and pH rises in the root zone between irrigations. If it gets out of this range, use pH adjuster to get to the low side of the working range because your pure water addbacks will bring the pH back up. Are you going to be using the 3-part Flora Series or the 1-part FloraNova series? Having used both, I recommend the 1-part FloraNova for simplicity. And the growth is awesome. As to your flushing question, the simplest answer is to flush starting 2 weeks before harvest for soil and 3-7 days for hydro with pure water or clearing products (like Clearex). I consider these products to be a waste of money.
Cool thanks for the help. I don't have a reverse osmosis system so I guess I will be using tap water. I will let it sit out 24 hours before use for the chlorine to evaporate. At this point I should check the ph level and adjust it to 7.0. Then add back to the system check the ph again and it should be in the range 5.2 to 5.8 if not adjust it to be. If anything is incorrect above please correct me. I will be using the three part general hydroponics flora series following the Lucas Method. Veg: 0-5-10 Flower: 0-8-16 I have built the buckets they leak a little I am going to use a Dremel on them tomorrow. Still waiting on seeds from The Attitude hope to have them this week coming. Any help would be greatly appreciated.