Suggested Hydro Kit for a newbie?

For your first hydro system I'd recommend DWC as it's the simplest system and so you're almost guaranteed good results. I have built a few different DWC systems in my time and this is what I have settled on...

A 70L or 145L Rub (depending on the available height and how long you need between top ups) as a communal reservoir. These containers are really strong and the black ones don't let any light though



You can get them from here Really Useful Products Ltd - Select country



Cut 6 holes in the lid and drop in some net pots of clay balls. Then another 2 smaller holes for the airlines



I recommend 1 litre per minute for every 2 litres of nutrient solution. In my 70L reservoir I like 3 of these 10LPM pumps



I have put 6 holes in the lid on mine, but usually only put 4 plants in and leave the two middle ones empty

This is one time I did 5



I must stress that this is only suitable for feminised seeds and clones. If you get a male, you will have to cut it out and you won't be able to remove the roots

 

HTG Supply - Bubble Brothers 6 Pot DWC System
Badass 6 bucket system for $99. I'm running this and completely happy. Just add GH Flora grow, micro, bloom series, epsom salt and hydroguard. You're ready to go. It come with everything. Air pump, air lines, splitter, airstones, net pots, black 3.5gallon buckets, orchid potting pellets.

My original plan was to do a 2 room system with 3 plants in veg and 3 in bud at all times with a perpetual rotation. I haven't quite worked my way to doing exactly that yet but the performance of this system for the money is hard to match.

With independent buckets you can give every plant the nutrient mix it wants based on strain tolerance and stage of plant growth. This allows you to run plants in every stage and harvest bud as often as every 3 weeks or so with 6 buckets.

As soon as you put more than one plant on the same nutrient supply you take away your control of feeding each plant like it wants to be fed. You also spread problems to every plant instead of having one problem plant.

I keep the water level about 1-2 inches below the bottom of the net pot. From my directions you want the bubbles from the airstones to pop and wet the net pot. If it isn't doing that the water is too low. I top off water daily adding cal/mag and florablend about every other water in 1ml and 1/4tsp increments. At each water change with young plants do 1/4tsp grow, 1/4tsp micro, 1/4tsp bloom, 1/4tsp epsom salt per gallon and 1/4tsp hydroguard. When they are about 3 weeks old vegging switch to 1/2tsp grow 1/2tsp micro. When you switch to bud go back to 1/4tsp grow and change to 1/2tsp micro, 1tsp bloom.


You keep it weak like that you'll never burn the plants. PH your first recipe till you can get it to 6.7 once you know what levels of mix you need to achieve that ph you don't have to test every bucket. That's a good ph range for dwc though. Lower than 6.2 is bad and over 7 is bad.

 

Did you try doing an internet search ?

 

There's lots of ways to do it but I believe in the bucket system. There's a tutorial in the hydroponic grow section. You can build it yourself but if you do I would recommend black buckets to block out light. 3.5gallon save you near 6 inches of light distance if that is an issue but 5 gallons allow more res water to allow for 2 days of ignore if you need. You always want plenty of air. 100gph per bucket is a good goal with a quality airstone. I don't anticipate temps being a problem in Canada but one of the main problems with DWC is water getting too hot so plan your ventilation well. You need a big exhaust fan ducted to the outside. This will ensure that your hot air is dumped out of the space as soon as possible. It also keeps the tent in a negative pressure keeping smells from spreading.

 

Yeah those particular pumps have 4 outlets and I use these budget 2" air stone balls. They seem to work pretty well.



Yeah, the lid lifts up and slides back pretty easily giving me a few inches at the front to top up and adjust the ppm.

Each time I top up a fill mine to the brim. I use small net pots so this doesn't drown the roots that are inside the net pot.





For feeding schedule please check out this simple system.... How To Determine Your Plants Preferred Nutrient Strength it explains how to keep the ppm exactly where the plants prefer it at any given time. If you stick to it you will never have nutrient problems and growth will be crazy fast

 

Use largest reservoirs you can get away with. Bigger bodies of water are more stable when it comes to ppm, pH, temperature, oxygen content, and you can go longer between top ups. I top my 70L res every 3 days. Once the plants have filled out my 2.5' x 4' tent they draw up 10 litres every day (I think that's about 3 gallons). So small buckets aren't ideal unless you don't mind topping up every day. You don't want the waterline dropping down more than 4" or so because the roots at the top will start to dry out and turn to stem.

The problem with multiple separate reservoirs is that you create a lot of work. If you had 2 plants then separate buckets would be fine as it's only twice as much work. Having 6 separate buckets means it's 6 times the amount of work. That sounds like a nightmare to me

 

It takes about 30 minutes to do a complete 6 bucket water change if you take your time. I don't leave town often and if I do I can always get someone to top off the buckets, less than 5 minutes to top off. It's not too much work for me I look forward to taking care of the plant and checking them out. It's a hobby. You can build auto top off systems but I like simplicity.

I agree bigger res is better but I'm really working with limited space. I don't want to mix roots together either. I got 3 strains now. They like different light intensity as well as nutrient levels. Buckets give you ultimate flexability to move a plant around the room/light, rotate, swap order in the room, ect. My buddy has kick ass crops with big walmart containers with 4 plants each dwc but he scrogs and can't rotate his plants at all. It's so full of plants in his room he can barely even reach the plants in the back once they get big.

Everyone does it their own way. I just enjoy some of the advantages of buckets.

 

How many Pokemon have you caught with your blue balls?

I was wonder what do they call that style of plant trimming you have done on your plants? Oh and thanks for that link for the containers I have honestly been looking for something like that.


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Sorry I don't understand the pokemon reference, I'm in my late 40s lol. I have heard the name, but know nothing about it.

Blue balls is sex reference for me lol, or lack of anyway.

Some people call it lollipopping, but others may say it has to have single stems for that term. It's just taking off the shoots and leaves so I don't have to sweep up dry dropped leaves and crappy scraggy bud on harvest day. It also let's the air flow underneath a but better. I don't always do it, it depends if I have the energy and motivation to do it

 

Okay thanks. I am 43 but have two kids so that is all I hear about lol.


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bluegrouse, with respect to the experienced growers who have provided excellent information so far, here is advice from someone who completed their first grow recently.

1.) Yes, you can build multiple style of hydroponic systems, however, it will take time and money. After creating my own two bucket system from Home Depot 5 gallon bucket's, I recommend the following:

1.) Pick up a simple kit (or two), something like this is great for first grow

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CHEIO6Y/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The one modification I did was use a larger air pump and large air stones (2 of these in each bucket - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DWGDV0E/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

* you will have to drill a hole for the second air stone tubing

This is where I would start and if stealth is needed, a fan and carbon filter for the flowering period.

Many of the recirculating methods and multi-bucket systems may become overwhelming for a new grower, depends on your comfort level.

Your focus should be proper lighting, environment temperature and humidity as well as oxygenation of your reservoir.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

ChaoticGood


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Solid set up. Once your plants have filled out the area this won't matter, but when they are small you will find the light will heat up your reservoir with it being black it really absorbs those rays. I put one of those car windshield reflectors/sun screens on top and cut holes for the pots. it works pretty well and as a bonus it reflected extra light at the plants