What kind of hydro system do you have and why?

Capulator said:

As long as you top feed you can water the shit out of rock wool. 24/7 no problem. Keeps the plants flushed. No possibility of salt build up.

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I'm wondering if this holds true for my fence-post top-feeder as the net pots are enclosed and will have little to no evaporation.

As I said in an earlier post our open top-feed table gets hit 15 mins feed/45 min drain every hours but it's wide-open and we get heavy evaporation.

Are you saying I should hammer the fence-poster that hard? I was thinking 5-6 15min feedings a day would be plenty.

This is my first time runing a closed top-feeder so any details shared would be greatly appreciated!

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Sedate: I read you loud and clear re: the glut of n00bs. Right now prices are at an all-time low due to outdoor harvest and shit-tons rollinging from Cali.

I thought long and hard about becoming a caregiver as that would raise my plant-count significanty but the more I thought about it I'll pass. I'm gonna bust my ass to grow, trim, cure, etc for peanuts? No thanks. There's plenty of unflushed Miracle-grown, badly trimmed, and non-cured crap out there to take care of the unwashed masses.

Last week a friend and made the rounds to the dispensaries and had some laughs: Powery Milder NL#5 @$25/gm. Spider Mite webby crispy dried larf buds for $20/gm. Saw the same Cali commercial machine-trimmed bud in three different stores under three different names one of which was called "Granny's Panties" because, as the mouth-breather behind the counter said, it fmells "fresh". What it smelled like was freakin' DRYER SHEETS from a cross-crountry trip! I asked him if he sniffs HIS granny's panties for comparison purposes and if she might let me have a whiff too? Didn't stick around for his reply...

I DO, however, feel bad for those truly in need as that's what they are up against out there. Oh well- can't save the world...

I'm Keeping it small, keeping it chronic, and keeping the doors locked and the shades drawn up here in Michigan!

Peace,

genEric

nice setup generic; reminds me a lot of bato buckets... we ran em with the rockwool chum too... custom built table over 2 100gal reservoirs and 16x600s... ballasts so old they came with regular 3 prong plugs

currently i run 5 10gal smart pots full of coco per 4x4 tray on the floor; no holes in the tray; pour a couple gals of nutrients in em every couple days and lets the plants wick them up... easy for someone to take care of; no moving parts; no dependence on electricity... having good luck using the same kind of setup in a coco bed on a 4x4 tray but that gets the plant numbers higher, only about 12-16 per 4x4 that way though so its not crazy or anything; able to rock it with 0 veg that way though

thinking about going back to the bato buckets though

Dutch/Bato buckets...........near zero maintenance. Easy P.Z Low cost!

3) GM-5000-12 260 gal veg tanks feeding 24 GM 3000-36gal rcdwc tanks.I use them because they are the best tanks I have seen commercially. My making them has nothing to do with my choice because I only want the best and would buy it from someone else if it's better. You only get so many harvests so why waste a cycle on crap.JK
Chow mixes are more forgiving

Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum? Are you saying this translates to "Luck is the residue of good living."? Or do you have 2 seperate signatures?........becuse the Latin translates to "Whoever wants PEACE should prepare for WAR." (caps added by me.) And those priests thought they were wasting my time and theirs in high school back in '64!! LOL! Respect!!

What i have found to be the best for least amount labor so far is black 5gal buckets 1" fittings 1" black hose. basically my own version of the ebb and grow systems with my own controller bucket controlling all the buckets with its float switchs and10" net pot (hydroton) in each 5 gallon bucket. flood 15 mins every 1hr or 30 mins every 2 hours (both work).

11 buckets to a set of 3 x 600's averaging just under 2lbs per 600w w/co2 . basically 5.5lbs from 3 x 600w every run. just monitor ph and ppm and your res temps and your good to go!

if people are getting only 1lb from a 1000w no offence something is seriously wrong with what your doing or your set up/genetics.....you can get 2lbs from a 600w... i have done it and so can anyone else who puts the effort in to researching and some trial and error. i know some people who have done it on their first grow and thats how i was inspired about 10 years ago.

having said all that i'm building a UC room soon and trying out that cultured solutions line since they made some upgrades to their slightly fault system i think i'm gona give them a shot! pricey but its all worth it in the end when you harvest.

I kitty litter buckets bato style. Six buckets top feed, 1/2" off a PM 700gph. An AL40 feeding air to each bucket. If the lights are on, so is the pump.

I run this system because I don't need a chiller with it, yield is heavy and relatively quick. For media, I use Maidenwell Diatomite. Keeps critters out and roots love it. The buckets drain via siphon at the bottom, keeps a bout an inch and a half of water at the bottom. Handy in the event of pump failure.

Res is a 27 gal HD tote.


No emitters, half inch tube with open 1/4" T-fittings. One side flows down the side of the bucket (quick turnover on the bottom), and one side into the media.


One of my moms in Diatomite..

I'm running 8 12 litre buckets with drip emitters. They kept cloging and I went to the stakes...more water flow but they are more reliable.
I just bought the ebb monster conteroller which will power 8 plants in 20 litre buckets under 3 hps and 1 mh blue.
really looking forward to what they produce. the second room will hopefully be done before christmas...pics and grows to follow.

I love my drip system but i needed more yield per plant so i'm givin it a try. I need min 8 oz a plant for the monster grow. I'm hitting 6 oz for each plant under the drip/stake method.

Ever try more of a top "flow" rather than "drip"? Might need a different media, but for me at least, top feed has always blown the doors off e & f in yield, quality and reliability. My pumps run on the same schedule as the lights.

I run 4x4 tray with open drip lines top feed 5050 chow. Less water, and man the growth Ive seen since I stopped e&f is crazy. I may have to try some buckets, those roots are impressive

I run a Flooded tube setup with a large rez. I do this for a few reasons. I love the explosive growth hydro gives me. I don't like my roots in my rez. And I like leaving my plants alone without worrying about them.

I left my closet door closed for 14 days once while I was away on vacation, and all was well when I returned home. I just left them for 9 days, at 3 weeks 12/12. I got home a couple days ago, and still haven't done anything but look at them and take some pictures.

I mount my light vertically because I only have 7 sq. feet if I grew horizontal. I have a lot more canopy space doing things vertical.

Another thing I love about my setup is the lack of moving parts and connections that could possibly fail and cause a flood or other mess. Only thing to it is a 30 gal rez, some 4" pipe, a water pump, and a hose for the water to get pumped up to the top again.

Sorry to double post.
lol... I can't post up a pic from the other site I'm on. I can post my ThcFarmer pics on the other site though.

Unit541 said:

Ever try more of a top "flow" rather than "drip"? Might need a different media, but for me at least, top feed has always blown the doors off e & f in yield, quality and reliability. My pumps run on the same schedule as the lights.

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yeah I'm going to try the halo rings so I'll see if that improves anything.

that is a crazy setup you got there.

thing with hydro is, start simple and work your way to the more complicated/exspensive systems.

a simple DWC bucket or an Ebb & Flow tray is easy and cheaper for hydro, also you can grow with these setups, the DWC can easily be transformed into a multi site RDWC system, the flood and drain table is just easy... honestly, i run Ebb & Flow Trays with hydroton for production and the quality is just as good as some headstash trays i setup with cocco filled pots..

i run my tables becuase they were designed to be the cheapest, cleanest, most productive and leat labour intensive. mm

eb n flo works for me,,,,yes, u ned about 80 gal for a 4 x 8 traay,,i hava 4 x 4 w/ 40 gal res a 1 K HPS bulb,, and i get towards 2elbs off it,,,26-28 z,,,depends on strain,,usually run 20 plts,,under 32 inches tall,, too tallno good IMO,,,peace pot n hSH AND ERL TOO oops cappadallz

Unit541 said:

I kitty litter buckets bato style. Six buckets top feed, 1/2" off a PM 700gph. An AL40 feeding air to each bucket. If the lights are on, so is the pump.

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Love the set up unit very clean. Are you putting air in the bottom of each bucket? It sounds like your putting an air stone at the bottom of each bucket that is covered with media. Is this correct? Can you elaborate a little. I've been thinking about doing some perlite bato buckets and am trying to figure out if I wanna add air to the bottom

kushtrees, you are correct. I am running air to each bucket from an AL-40. I do not run air in the res, just a circulation pump.

Airstone goes at the bottom of the bucket, then a 5 gal paint strainer goes in the bucket, and the media goes in the strainer bag. This keeps media out of the siphon drain at the bottom. This round, I'm running 50% huge-ass perlite (mother earth #4), 25% Maidenwell diatomite, and 25% hydroton pellets.

Feed is from a 700 gph pond-master, and it's runs with the lights as long as there's a chiller in the mix. If no chiller, I run it 5 minutes ever hour that the lights are on.

Paint strainer bag huh I have never thought of that one that's innovative. Thanks for rundown I really like bato buckets and a modified bato like that sounds amazing. Ganna have to try this out

They can tell me how many plants to grow but they can't tell me how big they can be. I grow in the undercurrent RDWC system because I can grow 2 plants under a 1000w and get 2+ elbows with Yes 2 PLANTS, try that in dirt or any other way. Pix only

:):cool::D:cigar: