New system. Will it work????

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Sep 29, 2012

• #1

I thought I had posted this earlier but didnt work. The system is a 100 lt bottom tote and 30 litre upper. Pump turns on every 30 minutes and floods for 30 minutes. Bottom res has air stone running 24 hrs. The pots hang about 3" above bottom and there is no substrate in the bottom, water drains completely out of top 5 min after pump shuts off. My question is what kind of times should I run my pump and is it ok to just let the roots hang in the res.? So far so good as the plants (White Russian) seem to be doing well at 3 weeks from seed. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'M REALLY STRESSED after getting rid of all my earth pots, just waiting to find my girls dead!

 

M

michmed

Active Member

• Sep 30, 2012

• #2

I've been considering the same type of "dry root" setup. I'm thinking it should work, if the pump comes on for 30 min every 30 it will be on all the time?

Did you mean it comes on every hour for 30 minutes?

 

superstoner1

Well-Known Member

• Sep 30, 2012

• #3

what you have is aeroponics. 30/30 on/off is a long time for that type of growing, i would at least use 15/15 and then get a true recycle timer when u can i run 80secs on, 8mins off. trying to do a flood table without a media to hold some water will backfire.

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 1, 2012

• #4

Actually the pump is on for 30min then off for 30 min, sorry about the confusion. And yes I know pump failure would be a bitch......lol...... not to mention the PH issues I am having. One day up next down, then up again! I guess I just need to chill a bit and let it do its thing. So yes I will lengthen the off cycle and shorten the on cycle, and I guess the dark thing makes sense. The girls do seem very happy though as they have doubled in size since the pic and that was after topping them. The system cost about $115 to build with pump included as I bought 2 on sale for half price. I actually have 3 setup and will be able to just move upper unit when moving to bud room. Also I will be switching to a 400MH soon as temps fall.

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 1, 2012

• #5

So I guess the media is there to give some extra time incase of pump failure, right? I was going to use something in the bottom but was basically going for kind of a DWC/flood and drain thing. So should I put coco or somthing in top re?

 

supchaka

Well-Known Member

• Oct 1, 2012

• #6

You could do like 5 min per hour with hydroton. You could also fill that entire upper thing with hydroton and then your roots can spread around and hold on to shit. Unless you plan on moving them into something else to flower.

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 2, 2012

• #7

I bought a 50lt bag of what I thought was hyrdotron but they were larger balls and more of a brown color and they float! I had some real concerns about root damage and plugging of drains. Also there is some pooling of water but only like 2 or 3 millimeters (1/8") in some spots, is this a concern? I am going out later and looking in on the girls and I will post an update. What I was trying to do was make it easy to transfer plants to the bud room and make things kinda modular, kinda like the care free pots I use to have!!! But I must say the growth rate is phenominal, as they double in size weekly. I am trying to get them large enough to take cuttings but as my reserves are running low I may not get there. Thanks again for all the responses!

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 3, 2012

• #8

Just an update and maybe some more tips. I did get some drainage mats and will lay them out tomorrow just to keep roots out of any standing water, there is a bit in one spot. I think I have finally got a handle on the PH issue as it seems pretty stable at 6.5. My nutes are a bit of an issue as I have 2 meters and one reads 1200 TDS and the other reads around 950. I have to return the one meter so I guess that problem is solved as well...lol. My base water is 250ish, but my leaves are curling a bit. could that be a nute issue? BTW the girls are around the 3.5 week mark from seed.

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 4, 2012

• #9

Thanks Avid. I am going to leave it for now, I looked at the mats today and the one's he had were for growing out seeds and held a lot of water, didnt think that was wise. I still am having issues (well maybe not!) as I have to add a capful of PH down every day. Is that normal? Also is it normal for the TDS to rise over time? It was 950 this morning and now its at 1100. Thanks all for any help, I feel like a newbie and I have been growing this shit for 35 years!!! lol.

 

superstoner1

Well-Known Member

• Oct 4, 2012

• #10

if your ppm is going up that fast it means your nute mix is too strong and the plants are taking more water than nutes. drop your ppm to 800-850 and see how it reacts. your ph issue may be something else because normally when ppm rises ph lowers.

 

waterdawg

Well-Known Member

• Oct 5, 2012

• #11

Hmmm ok! My res is down a bit so i will add water tonight. My inderstanding was that if I had say 100 base water TDS i would have to add enough nutes to bring it up to 1100 to have a nute level of 1000. Should I ignore base and just keep nutes at like 850? I guess lower is safer than higher which was the same with soil. And also if I have to add 10 ml ph down daily is there an real issue or is PH always going up and down. Sorry for all of the questions BTW, I have inquired about a mentor. And thanks for all the help.