I want to start growing my own crop soon and I've always thought hydroponics were out of my league, but after watching a tutorial on youtube the whole process ''clicked'' and now I can pretty much make one in my mind if I close my eyes. The tutorial I watched basically had two rooms, one for maturing the plants and another for flowing them. The flowing room got less light (12 hours, is this correct?), but it was stronger, while the maturing room got more light (18, I'm hearing the proper length is 24 hours), but less strong. The Maturing room has a simple drip irrigation system that turns on automatically 3 times a day while the grow room fills up for an hour or so 2-3 times a day. What surprised me is when i realized that hydroponics are a much easier system to expand, control and maintain than a normal grow op. If increased size is needed, simply increase the size of the tub holding the grow medium, add more plants, ram up lighting if need be (and pumping), and grow more weed. However, I have a few more specific questions on different aspects of growing hydroponicly: Which would be the best type of light for this system? I hear that blue spectrum lights should be used on the maturing side while red spectrum lights are used for growing. And what type of light gives good luminosity, low heat, and lasts a long time? How many plants per light? What mixture of liquid nutrient should be circulated in the system? And how strong should it be (Nutrients to water ratio)? How often does the system's fluid need to be changed? What is a good, cheap acid and base to adjust the pH of the solution? Should I use bigger rocks (half to full size of an egg) or smaller rocks in the system? Ive seen both with incredible results. What maintenance do Mother plants need to stay alive? How long do they live for? 18 hour or 24 hour light? I'm sure they'll be more when I think of them... Any help is appreciated
Most of this is easy to find here man... but ill throw ya some info... Mother plants live forever if taken care of... you can clone them and keep them indefinatly... more blue light for veg and red light for flower....you had it backwards... 100 watts per plant is the general rule of thumb. they have ph up and ph down at the hydro store for controlling the ph. 12/12 is flower light schedulle, 18/6 or 24 works in veg... 18/6 youlll see a bit more stretch then 24 always on... use that to your advantage to meet timing between gardens... youre PPM's ( nute to water ratio) will vary thru the growing process... you start low and slowly take them up.... hydro can be quite easy when you have the proper equipment... good luck on your venture and feel free to look me up if ya need a hand..
As Budslinger said, it's easy. If you're looking for super easy hydro let me suggest DWC buckets. All you need is a bucket, water, nutes, lights, lid, and netpot (or lid/netpot combo as I use).
Ravid, it looks like you've already done a fair amount of reading up on this, you're well on your way. Check out Rumpleforeskin's bucket thread for starters, but also check out the indoor and advanced grow journals. There are a lot of setups that can help get your gears turning and you'll see that everyone is doing things just a wee bit differently. Don't be afraid to ask questions in the journals about how and why people are doing what they do. Almost everyone will be more than happy to help you out, even if their answer is a simple "I do it that way because **** does it that way." G'luck man...
What hydro system would you guys recommend? The system I saw simply fills up the container for an hour or so every 2-3 times a day and then drains out, and it looks real simple. I guess when it's being drained the root system is getting air, thats why it's not submerged 24/7 What other type of systems are out there? And are they better or worse?
Hello. For simplicity, go the pot/bucket system. If you want to use automation, i suggest you stay away from ebb and flow. I have used this system in the past and have found it to be a pain in the butt. I actually use the NFT system (nutrient film technique) with great sucsess. Sounds complicated dosent it but in reality, i think its one of the easiest systems to use. Your plants get placed in channels/conduit/piping and a thin stream of nutrient get pumped (only while lights are on) to the high end of the system, trickles past the plant roots and drains back to the reservoir. The beauty about this over the ebb and flow is that you dont need a large reservoir thats always kept full. With the E&F, you flood the medium so depending on how big the setup is, it could take 50 liters to do that. Then, to keep the system running good, you need to dump the nutes (most recomend) every two weeks. Good nutes are expensive these days so to dump 50 liters brings tears to your eyes. With the NFT, you may only have a litre at any one time circulating through. It is fully sealed so pests living in your medium is nil (i had big time fungas knats living in my E&F). Ph and conductivity are easy to maintain. The "NFT" has proved itself amoungst commercial growers for decades (i am talking vegtables here) with alot of the green produce you are eating today having been grown in one of these. The setup needent be elaborate with alot of the things needed, can be picked up at the local junk yard. The only draw back, like the E&F, once the plants have been placed, thats it. No moving them around. Heres a link to my setup if you want to have a quick lookhttp://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/575804-nfts-hydro-grow-its-all-looking-divine.html What ever method you choose, good luck with it and remember, hydro's the go. Cheers
I think you should go with a DWC system. It its the least complicated and with the best returns. All you need is a air pump and some air stones. A net pot a rooting medium of your choice and some hydroton. No timers no tubes and valves to clean out.