seems each system type requires different water consumptions. mr green says 3 times a day, one says flood 5 times a day, what is the recomended water/mixes to apply? a continual drip? a mist from above? Bubbleponics? a continuous flow from a bubbleponics style set will be ok and not overwater???

The type and timing of irrigation in a hydro system should be determined by the medium used. The denser the medium, the longer it will retain water. But that means less room for air in there. That's why dense media like rockwool and coir fiber are used, because of their good water retention, as well as the ability to maintain sufficient amounts of air even when wet.

For dense media, a drip system is best because of the water column that goes downward in a cone shape. Dripping into looser media like growrocks doesn't work as well because the water column is more like a straight-sided tube.

For growrocks, it's best to flood and drain. That pushes all of the stale air out of the rocks, and sucks fresh air in.

For no media, as in aero or NFT, the roots are bathed constantly.

For each system, you should experiment with the irrigation timing to find the optimal for your medium, so your plants always have everything they want.

HTH

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So far so good...This is a bubbleponics setup with an air stone in it.

Hi y’all,

I’m a medpot grower living in one of the eleven states where medicinal marijuana has been declared legal! I’m hoping that now with the Democrats in the majority, more and more states will realize that they can’t keep patients suffering from debilitating illnesses from a healing herb that has been used that way for centuries.

I have a small hydro grow next to my home office in the basement. I grow six female marijuana plants every four months under one grow light, a 600W High Pressure Sodium fixture with ballast. During the veg stage I use a conversion bulb to imitate sunlight.

A number of questions have been thrown out in this forum (how often to flush your system, how often to water, etc.) I’d like to add my two cents worth.

The other day I spoke to a very astute technical guy at Advanced Nutrients Medical. He said that he was trying out a small aeroponics unit and following the manufacturer’s instructions, he experienced root rot. He is growing the usual melange of vegetables and herbs—cherry tomatoes, hot chilli peppers, choy, basil, etc.

Then he did an experiment. He let the system go dry and it took three and a half hours before the cherry tomato plant showed any signs of water depravation, i.e. wilting. So he set the timer to one minute of watering, and one hour of drying in between each watering. The plants took off like gangbusters!

Now this man knows a lot about growing pot. He is only playing around with the aeroponics unit and the veggies, in order to test out his theories.

Let’s call him Tech Mike. He said that the top third of the roots of the cannabis plant needs oxygen. The middle third needs both oxygen and water. Only the bottom third is satisfied with a liquid diet.

Mike claims that the number one problem that pot growers face is overwatering. Taking too few pH readings is second.

If you’re growing in rock wool, for instance, the medium is drenched as soon as you water it and it retains the moisture for a very long time, resulting in your roots getting too much water and too little oxygen.

He has three rules of thumb: #1—Don’t apply, until they’re dry. #2—When in doubt, flush them out. #3—Uptake should be determined by leaf surface.

If your plants have a lot of leaves, they will drink more. In hydroponics, your reservoir is a good bio-feedback loop. Make notches on the inside of your res to keep track of how much your pot plants drink.

The res should be changed out weekly. After you add your weekly mixture of macro and micro-nutrients, plus any growth or bloom additives, you start measuring how much solution is disappearing. Add water only to make up the shortfall each day. By the end of the week your res should be 50 to 70% of your original concentration.

Don’t pay too much attention to the ppm. Increasing by increments of 200ppm up to week four and then decreasing by increments back to week eight of the cycle, whether vegetative or flowering, is only a guideline. Mother Nature never maintains a level. It fluctuates.

I’ve had incredibly good experiences with Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom, as well as with Organic B and Colossal Bud Blast. But I’ve recently switched to Sensi Grow, A&B and Sensi Bloom, A&B, largely because Mike told me that these products are more cost effective and that they’re cannabis specific. Also, synthetics are better for a hydro grow, since they dissolve better and don't clog up the pump as frequently as do organics.

Advanced Nutrients Medical has put years of research effort into designing the best products to grow the biggest and most potent buds possible.

Don’t believe me? Visit their website and learn. Call their tech line for more info. Come to think of it, visit my blog for more details.

Peace,
Wes

hi you just wantin to know iam thinking of paying round £400 for a setup. do you think thats to much thanks for your time

fuck yea, this kicks ass

good morning world .how the hello are ya .just got a ? for ya .how hard is it to set up a hydro system ? this is what i have. 3 ) 5 gal. buckets (for you people that has problem with waits and measurements its more than a 16oz tall boys.) lol what else .going to try hydro.everybody is raving bout it what so damn good bout it any way......chuckles

waits and measurements?? what are you waitin to measure??lol

Way waaaay too much. No need to buy packages of crap from hydro shops. 95% of what you need to do hydro is available from a hardware store, including high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights.

A flood system is cheapest and easiest to set up. The only thing you really need from the hydro shop is the nutrient solutions- but more experienced growers can even make up their own.

Flood trays can be either tailor-made, moulded plastic sorts from the hydro shop or you can gin up your own out of 2x4's, plywood, plastic sheeting and some PVC tubing & fittings.

HPS security lights from the hardware store will do fine. You can also get horticultural HPS lamps (these have some added blue light) from the hardware store, but the security grade HPS will work fine for flowering.

Water and air pumps can come from an aquarium shop, usually much more cheaply than from the hydro shop- and they are the very same pumps. Many hardware stores have aquarium pumps sold for garden water features.

Lawn irrigation and garden hose parts from the hardware can be used to make the simplest or fanciest hydro system you like. My system has a valved drain system so I need only twist a couple of knobs and turn on the pumps to drain my tanks.

Don't be 'sold' by your hydro shop. While they may be convenient and have all your stuff in one place, they are not the one-and-only source for growing gear as many of their salesmen will have you think.

I dont think anybody should BUY a hydroponics system, there is one big thing about growing is to keep it one the LOW now why would you go an buy a system, maybe the cops keep an eye on that place...or maybe he keeps a list ? even if you pay with cash...do you think he has a pen handy to write down your plate number? hmm i love the hardware store, plus you look prof. buying there too the ladies like a man who is a proffesional just build your own stuff if u smoke weed you have an imagination