Afternoon/Morning all! I've got some basic questions on doing Hydro grows. Basically ive been growing for a few years in soil, and fancy changing to Hydro. Soil is obviously quite easy, you stick the sprouts in the soil, but them under the light and use a set amount of nutes in each watering. This has been quite productive for me, but i've been told how good, quick and tidy hydro grows are in comparison. My questions: How difficult is it to maintain a hydro grow? As in how many time does the main reservoir need to be topped up. In a typical 6 pot setup, how much water in litres do you need to put in first, and how many litres does it need to be topped up ina week. My grown area is in an awkward place for water, so I have to carry a 15 litre water bucket up some stairs everytime. Also how easy is it to get the right PH levels and CF levels in the water, and how much time does it take to sit there and do this. The nutes side of it is fine, its mainly the watering part I want to know about. Also is it actually quicker than soil? Do the harvests differ? The tastes? Is it easier to keep plants that are hydro healthy than it is soil? I'm basically just looking for the pro's and cons. Sorry for the massive post! Glassy
ok here goes. its recommended to change the res every week on a certain day. i picked Tuesday for my water change. I test the ph coming in and coming out. i try to use distilled water every time so yea its a hassle getting water. i have a 20 gal bucket for a res and i fill it 1/2 the way (maybe a little more) all the time. Hydro is quicker than soil , but you give up some perks with hydro. Growing in soil gives your grow a better taste and smoke. it just takes longer to grow in soil. Hydroponics is meant to speed up the process as well as control ever part of the plants environment. its not as easy to keep plants healthy with hydro compared to soil as soil has benefits when it comes to mediums. but with the right nutes and testers , hydro can be easy once you know what your doing. its tuff at first but they it becomes second nature when you start noticing what does what. youll save a lot of time growing in hydro and less the mess if you use dirt.
Thanks mj. It does sound like a bit of a pain. I like the idea of it. Quicker, cleaner, a bit more fun and involved with the grow, but the fact that you can get it wrong so easily and ruining your crop kinda puts me off. The water thing seems a bit much as well. One other question. If you get the numbers wrong for the water in the reservoirs, do you have to take all the water out and start from scratch? Or does this not happen? Also, how do you know the readings you are getting in the reservoir are the same throughout the whole reservoir? Mixing it by hand surely isnt good enough. And once you are finished the veg period, how do you ensure that all the veg nutes are gone, and the plant is only getting flowering nutes? I guess this is the same as when you want to start flushing the plants out. How do you know that they arent still getting nutes, and water only. Sorry for all the questions.
it is a bit tedious but well worth it. I dont really like dealing with dirt and want to control my whole environment. If you judge the nutes wrong and you find out before it runs the weekly cycle your in luck. you dump the water and start over or you add stuff to even it out. you stir the water and check it 2 times. well i do. its not that big of a res for it to be different in some areas than your reading. once you change the water you change your nutes. the veg nutes will not harm your plant so its ok if a minimal comes over. but the new water and nutes will fade the old out. in order to flush the plant you just have to have water only. you can water the plants from a bucket to rinse out the medium and dump the res after your done. Make sure your res is clean and water only. a little bit of the nutes that rolls over to the rinse isnt a big deal.