Will this work

Took some clones off of moms i took from the plants i just started flowering. Gonna use them to test this hydro setup im putting together. Never done hydro before so any advice or comments on this is good. Im gonna add an airpump, airstone, four 6" netpots, and hydroton when i go by the hydro store. Read that 1 watt per gallon of water for the airpump in the setup should be fine and an 18 watt air pump should do 10-15 gals fine so thats what im going for. I have an old old lab grade water chiller i got from a friend so ill post more info on that later. I already have two 171 gph water pumps for recirculating and aerating the water which might be enough alone but i wanted to make sure there was always fresh air in there. Still need to paint the outside of the res black but ill get that done soon. Ill be fine nutewise just need to make sure the waters well aerated. Its an 18 gallon tote

Pics

cannn said:

I already have two 171 gph water pumps for recirculating and aerating the water which might be enough alone but i wanted to make sure there was always fresh air in there.

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one of those would be plenty. and you could skip the air pump, stones etc. if you make a waterfall out of it.

rkymtnman said:

one of those would be plenty. and you could skip the air pump, stones etc. if you make a waterfall out of it.

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Isnt a waterfall basically what i have those setup like in the pic? And wouldnt the air in there run out of oxygen rather quickly without an air pump since itll be closed up for the most part, besides the air that works its way in the edge of the container and through net pots? Not saying your wrong by any means i just like to understand the basics of whats going on. Thanks for the reply!

cannn said:

Isnt a waterfall basically what i have those setup like in the pic? And wouldnt the air in there run out of oxygen rather quickly without an air pump since itll be closed up for the most part, besides the air that works its way in the edge of the container and through net pots? Not saying your wrong by any means i just like to understand the basics of whats going on. Thanks for the reply!

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i would buy 2 90degree elbows so that the waterfall is at the top of the tote and it splashes down with more force.

if it was completely sealed, you might run into it using up all the O2 but it will come in thru the netpots just fine.

and with an airpump, you'll be adding even more heat to the res. the waterfall will create more dissolved oxygen and will keep the nutes well mixed so win-win.

the chiller is the best part of what you have. keep the water at 65F and well oxygenated and your roots will fill up that res quickly.

rkymtnman said:

i would buy 2 90degree elbows so that the waterfall is at the top of the tote and it splashes down with more force.

if it was completely sealed, you might run into it using up all the O2 but it will come in thru the netpots just fine.

and with an airpump, you'll be adding even more heat to the res. the waterfall will create more dissolved oxygen and will keep the nutes well mixed so win-win.

the chiller is the best part of what you have. keep the water at 65F and well oxygenated and your roots will fill up that res quickly.

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Ill work on a way to get it to splash more. Might stick with both pumps anyway if it doesnt hurt. I like the even circulation it gives. Ill forget the air pump, save a few bucks.
These are the nutes i have that id probably use. Planning on getting cal mag just in case. Think i should invest in another nutrient line? I hear a lot of good things about advanced nutrients and others.

what kind of water do you use? tap, well, RO? i'd suggest RO for your first grow. eliminates water as a possible problem.

i'm back to using my favorite nutes this go round: GH floranova bloom. it's NPKCaMg ratios are perfect for cannabis. the money you save on no air pump and stones, pick up a pint or quart of it and try it.

when i first tried it, i loved the results but didn't like how "stuff" was left at the bottom of my res. now that i have been using a waterfall in my res, i went back to it. with just airstones, it didn't mix up enough. but now it's perfect.

also, get a bottle of Silica. dyna gro protekt is what i use.

a bottle of hydroguard to keep away root rot (which you still can get with chilled water and plenty of O2).

3 bottles and done. if all works out well, try your nutes next run and see how they compare.

rkymtnman said:

what kind of water do you use? tap, well, RO? i'd suggest RO for your first grow. eliminates water as a possible problem.

i'm back to using my favorite nutes this go round: GH floranova bloom. it's NPKCaMg ratios are perfect for cannabis. the money you save on no air pump and stones, pick up a pint or quart of it and try it.

when i first tried it, i loved the results but didn't like how "stuff" was left at the bottom of my res. now that i have been using a waterfall in my res, i went back to it. with just airstones, it didn't mix up enough. but now it's perfect.

also, get a bottle of Silica. dyna gro protekt is what i use.

a bottle of hydroguard to keep away root rot (which you still can get with chilled water and plenty of O2).

3 bottles and done. if all works out well, try your nutes next run and see how they compare.

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I was using softened well water but actually you were the one who pointed out that may have been causing my ph problems in another thread. Since ive skipped the softener my ph has stabilized. Still have the option to use that still though. Ill try floranova bloom. Sounds really convenient. And ive been meaning to add silica to my arsenal for a long time. Ill consider the hydroguard. Cant you use a little bit of chlorine in the water instead of hydroguard safely?

Also you use floranova bloom for veg as well or?

yep.

right now i'm using it at 1.5 mL/gallon. from tiny seedlings to week 3.5 of flower now. might bump it up a bit to 2mL/gal

rkymtnman said:

right now i'm using it at 1.5 mL/gallon. from tiny seedlings to week 3.5 of flower now. might bump it up a bit to 2mL/gal

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Thank you so much! I think ive got my list together for going to the hydro store. Cant wait to see this thing working! I love growing in soil but hydro is just neat plus from what i hear bigger yields and faster harvests so no complaints there

Ill post up more pics here whenever these clones are ready and everythings setup and give a few updates starting into veg

2 pieces of advice:

feed way less than you did in soil. roots always have access to nutes so they don't need as strong

keep your roots healthy and white. i was serious when i said that res will be almost completely fillled up. big roots=big fruits

good luck!!
shoot me a PM if you need any other advice. i've seen almost everythign good and bad in dwc

cannn said:

I was using softened well water but actually you were the one who pointed out that may have been causing my ph problems in another thread. Since ive skipped the softener my ph has stabilized. Still have the option to use that still though. Ill try floranova bloom. Sounds really convenient. And ive been meaning to add silica to my arsenal for a long time. Ill consider the hydroguard. Cant you use a little bit of chlorine in the water instead of hydroguard safely?

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Softened water exchanges ca/mg for Na. If you have 100 ppm hardness going in, you'll have 100 ppm Na going out. That free Na could bind to nutes or raise your ppm's higher than you'd like - and you would still need to add back supplements ca/mg.

I would recommend using the water BEFORE the softener if you can. That will probably eliminate needing to supplement ca/mg at all.

And yes, you can add chlorine - if you know the right ppm level for it and know how to mix for that - and re-add it every 3 days as it becomes depleted. You could use something like UC Roots, which is a chlorine, and mix to direction. But, Hydroguard's bacteria self replicate, so you only need to add it once at each rez change. It's easier, cheaper, and produces other beneficial relationships with your plants.

FennarioMike said:

Softened water exchanges ca/mg for Na. If you have 100 ppm hardness going in, you'll have 100 ppm Na going out. That free Na could bind to nutes or raise your ppm's higher than you'd like - and you would still need to add back supplements ca/mg.

I would recommend using the water BEFORE the softener if you can. That will probably eliminate needing to supplement ca/mg at all.

And yes, you can add chlorine - if you know the right ppm level for it and know how to mix for that - and re-add it every 3 days as it becomes depleted. You could use something like UC Roots, which is a chlorine, and mix to direction. But, Hydroguard's bacteria self replicate, so you only need to add it once at each rez change. It's easier, cheaper, and produces other beneficial relationships with your plants.

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Rman up there explained to me i shouldnt be using softened water and since then ive started using the water before it reaches the softener. I might go with distilled anyway and considering the main reason im doing this is cause im gonna have to leave town for a week in a few months, ill get the hydroguard. Thanks for the advice!

That bottle of grow big is the soil version. Their hydro version is 3-2-6. The soil is 6-4-4. It's the only part of the fox farm lineup that is different. I didn't notice when I first started my grow and when I read about fox farm it said it was good in soil and hydro. I had to buy some more big bloom and saw a bottle that said grow big hydro and that's where I noticed it. I'm still using the same bottle I just cut down how much I used.

Alright, i got botanicare silica blast and hydroguard, floranova bloom, and a bottle of cal mag just in case. Got some 6" net pots and expanded clay pellets, went with 2 net pots on the res instead of 4. The stills running right now , should have enough water ready sometime tomorrow. Have enough clones ready to put a couple in.

My unsoftened water seems to have too much calcium or something. You let that stuff evap for a few days and theres a hard shell on top. Bought an active aqua 1/10 hp chiller because the one i had wasnt quite appropriate for this use. Ill post pics when its all setup.

rkymtnman said:

2 pieces of advice:

feed way less than you did in soil. roots always have access to nutes so they don't need as strong

keep your roots healthy and white. i was serious when i said that res will be almost completely fillled up. big roots=big fruits

good luck!!
shoot me a PM if you need any other advice. i've seen almost everythign good and bad in dwc

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What ph do you adjust to?

While that amount of calcium does bad things to pipes and faucets and such, it's good for the plants. Are you still using the pre-softened water? If so, you probably won't have to add ca/mg. Keep your pH in range and it should be available to the plants. If in a couple of weeks it starts to show ca/mg deficiency, then add it at 1/4 strength and watch it for another 2 weeks.

I shoot for 5.8 pH in DWC and let the plants adjust it between 5.7 - 6.2. Outside of that I readjust - but I find that if everything else if healthy, the pH stays where it should.