Advice Requested

Okay guys, I know I am not alone here when I say I am totally confused about going hydro. To be honest, I was warned not to go hydro, a while back by a friend of mine because of how hard it can be. I dont believe it is all that hard thou. I've heard terms like dwc, ebb & flo and so fourth, they mean nothing to me.

How about an easy step by step "how to" guide? What are the basics? Whats the easiest way to get setup if someone wants to go hydro? I would not want to buy one of those high priced kits, rather make my own, stealth is not a problem.

Lets hear it from you hydro pros!

Peace

Buy The book. 'Integral Hydroponics'. He explains the systems. I'm not the pro you are looking for. I bought a system that is a meter square and has spaces for 20 pots. They included everything needed except an air pump.
The medium was Coco coir, the pots are one gallon and I've had plants 6' tall.
The idea of the hydro systems is that you add nutreints to a resevoir and a pump sends water to your plants roots so you don't need huge pots. I use an EC meter to check the ppm of the resevoir.
I used the one I bought as a guide and built two more tables. The ones I built are 4' x 3' and I cut out holes for 1 plant / sqFt. the only tricky part for me was figuring out how to drain the water back into the resevior. I accomplished this by attaching plastic to the outside of the table under the plants and putting a hole in it to drain into the resevoir. I put wheels on it so I can move it around to tend the plants.
What I found helpful in building these tables was a set of directions on building a workshop table that is posted on Lowes web site. It shows how to do the legs and the cross members you need for stability. Then instead of building the top they describe I used 1/2" ply wood for the top and just cut holes in it.

video, I know you're not new, but there's a great video that's linked in the Newbie Central stickies that's to a youtube video called I Grow Chronic.

The guy shows how to set up a drip irrigation vegetative room and an ebb and flow flowering room, plus co2, plus harvesting, plus sexing the plants. It's a pretty good film. He leaves some stuff out, but for that I just came to rollitup and asked questions.

Well, I guess that I'm the guy to ask, because I hammered together my first hydro system back in '78. That was before I'd even seen my first pot-growing book! I showed some college AG students, and they said "you can't do that!"

I just laughed, because my plants were 2 feet high, growing in pea gravel.

Back then, I couldn't even SPELL pH!

The only hydro nutrient I could find was EcoGrow.

Here's a tutorial that I wrote about 10 years ago on setting up a hydro system:

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/714-hydroponic-grow-operation-bedroom-closet.html?highlight=contest


HTH

Cool....thank you. I want to emphasize, I am not ready to do a hydro yet, just looking at my options, and this is a subject (hydro) that I am not at alll comfortable with....yet.
I'd like to have some "inventory" before I venture into a new endevor like this.
Thanks again for the info though.

Videoman, I'm sure with all the info that these guys provided that you'll be able to put something together. I agree with you though about not wanting to buy one of those over priced hydro system. I spent about $175 and built a complete ebb and flow system with airstones, air pump, water pump, tray, resevoir etc... It would have been about $120 cheaper if I had used rubbermaid stuff for my tray and res, but I chose to get the long lasting food grade plastic stuff thats more pricey.
I've heard several people on here say not to start with hydro and to use soil first. I am still wondering why this is... anyone's input on this would be appreciated....
I have never grown in soil, but based on my experience with hydro and reading about all the problems people have with nutes and soil mixes etc, I would recomend that anyone with half a brain go hdyro from the get go. I have had only minor problems till now, and my grow is going great. On the surface it might seem more complicated but once you learn the basics, its fuckin eeeeeeeeeasy. just my 2 cents.

That may be easy for you to pick up and run with a new system, but a lot of folks have trouble growing pot. Do you know how many people have tried and failed, or got something but it wasn't enough for the trouble, and they have their slightly used grow equipment sitting in storage. That's why we say to start with the easiest way, because if you have some success at first, you're more likely to continue. There will always be room for improvement.

I've never bought any hydro system part except the flood bed, yeah a specialized heavy plastic bed is best. Everything else I buy at any store other than the hydro shop, which is usually the most expensive.

HTH

Hi, Videoman ...

If you want to try an experiment without spending a ton of money on a hydro system do the following:

Go to Home Depot and buy one, brand new, five-gallon paint bucket with the lid included.

Go to WalMart and buy two, six-inch airstones, a package of clear aquarium air lines and one dual outlet air pump. All the WalMart stuff can be found in the aquarium section of the pet department.

Now, go to your local hydro store and buy a three-inch net pot, a package of Lava Rocks, a timer, some nutrients and some lights.

Cut a hole in the lid of the paint bucket to fit the net pot into. Drill two small holes right next to each other high up on the sides of the bucket to fit the air lines throught. Put the airstones on the bottom of the bucket and hook them up to the airstones. Now, you have a DWC bucket system all ready to go. Leave the airstones on 24/7 and your lights on either 18/6 or 12/12, depending upon your growth cycle ... ether vegging or flowering. I've seen folks grow some giant plants in systems like this ... with the roots completly filling the five gallon bucket by harvest time. One person I know used this system to grow one plant in his walk-in-closet. As an experiment, he let it veg out for weeks and weeks before he started the flowering cycle just to see how big the plant would get. When he harvested, he got 2.5 pounds off of that girl.

Good luck ...

Vi

Yeah, when I said that I hammered together my first system, I really mean that, I made it out of wood! I made 2 troughs, 1 foot wide, and 1 foot deep, and 4 feet long. I lined them with vizqueen, silicone-sealed a drain tube, and filled them with gravel. The drain was attached to a bucket filled with nute soup, and twice a day I lifted the bucket and poured it into the trough, filling it up. When I set the bucket down, the trough drained back into the bucket.

ebb and flow, Babe!


That was before The Graduate.

Now that's old school my friend. That must have taken a good amount of commitment. much respect...