Hey I am running a 6 bucket Hydro system. I just ordered the: CONTROL WIZARD 24-7 NUTRIENT METER PPM pH TEMP I am currently just removing the baskets from the five gallon pots, and dipping the basket into my reservoir ( nutrient container ). That is how I have been feeding my plants. I do this 2x a day and I leave the basket in the nutrients for approx 1-2 minutes. Am I watering enough this way? Also I was told to leave water in all the buckets up to the bottom of the baskets. Then I called a local hydro shop and they told me to leave the buckets empty of water. Which is true? I have attached some pictures of my setup, my reservoir, and my buckets. Please help me with my watering issue.
At this point with such young plants, I would say yes. If you notice any signs of drooping or wilting, add a 3rd watering per day. 1 minute per dip is long enough. All you are trying to accomplish is to re-saturate your hydroton pebbles (and rockwool if you used any) and give your roots a nice drink. Only leave water in the buckets if you are using air pumps and air stones in the buckets. This is known as Deep Water Culture(or DWC). In this type of hydroponics, the roots grow out of the netpots and down into the bucket filled with bubbling nutrient solution. Without oxygenation to the roots from the use of an air pump and air stones, the roots will quickly begin to die and of course so wiil the plant. If you simply leave the buckets empty, this is the equivalent of an ebb and flow (or flood and drain) system. I recommend ebb and flow growing for varying reasons. The temperature of the nutrient solution in DWC has to be controlled more accurately to prevent problems, namely root rot. You can easily do a medium-large scale grow with just 1-2 reservoirs with E&F, not so with DWC. Hope this helps.
I've been watering once a day on veg and having decent results. Two a day was ok but seemed a bit over watered at the young stage.
you guys are awesome, then I watched a sea of green video last night where the guy was using ebb and flow but put his baskets directly into this large tank that filled every 2 hours for 1/2 an hour. Which seemed like overwatering to the max. But this guy had killer plants. Well I have to go dump out all the water in my buckets before I get too many roots into my buckets. DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. Once again, you guys are awesome, and yes I do use rockwool. This is my first hydro go around, I am going to use the ebb and flow with the pvc pipe on my next run with the 3" baskets. big difference.