GrumpAzz
- 139
- 63
Now that is impressive 18 bottles of nutrients to grow. Someone on this forum once quoted a nutrient line company owner as saying. The quickest way to make money is not growing weed but selling the grower nutrients.So I feel like I'm coming to end of the planning stage for my two plant RDWC grow. I'll give a quick rundown of what I'm thinking and then get to my question.
Spider Farmer
-4x4 tent
-6" fan and fileter kit x2 (intake and exhaust)
-SE5000 full spectrum light
Other
-18 gallon resevoirs
-50 gallon top-off resevoir
-1" water lines feeding 2 waterfalls per plants
-venturi aerator fitting for each plant
-8" nano-bubble bar for plants and control reservoir.
-2" return lines
-30 watt adjustable flow DC water pump
-Jungle Cake X Wedding tree seeds
I want to go the live culture route and originally planned on Southern Ag's fungicide. I went there first. AquaMan got me going on the live path. Then, I started looking into nutrients and was drawn toward Advanced Nutrients line-up. I'm a sucker for flashy marketing, I guess.
This brings me to my first question. Would AN's root expander line (tarantula, voodoo juice, piranha) replace or rather supplement Southern Ag? Neither seem to contain the 747 that makes SA so vital.
VOODOO JUICE
View attachment 1322069
TARANTULA
View attachment 1322070
PIRANHA
View attachment 1322071
Now, on to my next question. Looking at the feeding charts on Advanced Nutrients' website, and doing some rudimentary math, It shows me using 152 ml of the base solutions PER GALLON. My three 18 gallon resevoirs and plumbing will hold 50 gallons, give or take a few depending on my final resting water level. So 152 ml x 50 gallons = 7600 ml throughout the grow process. TWO GALLONS!? Now, I fully understand that you shouldn't start off with the recommended dosages, but that seems like a metric shit-ton.
CHART FOR REFERENCE
View attachment 1322073
I realize that there's no need to go with the extra additives and I would likely be fine sticking with their three base nutrients (and with cheaper alternatives for that matter), but I like the idea of giving the plants a little extra, sort of like a treat. Whether I've bitten off more than I can chew is up for debate, but wouldn't surprise me. I tend to go all out on new projects and growing has been a dream of mine since I first started toking. I'll have the Apera AI316 5-in-1 pen tester to stay on top of water quality.
Another question I can't seem to find an answer for; With my larger volume resevoirs, is a weekly water change still necessary? Or could I get by going 2 weeks or more on the same water? I'm not sure of our water quality. We live in a small town of 150 people and the water is sourced from the ground. I planned on testing it with my pen and running a plantless cycle for week or more to monitor water quality before ever adding my seedlings.
What started off as a simple question turned into quite the post. Sorry if this ran on or if all this is covered elsewhere and, as always, any information or criticism is welcome. Thank you all and may your buds stay frosty
Short and to the point. I appreciate that. I wasn't planning on running all 18 bottles but there's a 12 bottle kit on Amazon that I was looking at.Now that is impressive 18 bottles of nutrients to grow. Someone on this forum once quoted a nutrient line company owner as saying. The quickest way to make money is not growing weed but selling the grower nutrients.
Honestly, that is about the worse line you can run cost wise. I think you asked a question about rez changes. Every week is what most do. Why, well the NPK ratios get out of balance once you go much further than a week.
To be honest Advanced is a bad company IMO. They purposely leave out part of the basic building blocks of the nutrients and stick them into the add ons to make it seem the add ons are really doing their job when they are just adding parts of the mixture to the add ons to make is seem like the add ons are magic.Short and to the point. I appreciate that. I wasn't planning on running all 18 bottles but there's a 12 bottle kit on Amazon that I was looking at.
I'll put a little more thought into this and probably end up running just their base and root lines with one or two boosters. Or no boosters. I'm flexible and expect to hear and learn more.
Can't speak for advanced nutrients but i can speak for gh 3part. I've be using nothing but their 3 bottles for the last 10 years with pretty good success.To be honest Advanced is a bad company IMO. They purposely leave out part of the basic building blocks of the nutrients and stick them into the add ons to make it seem the add ons are really doing their job when they are just adding parts of the mixture to the add ons to make is seem like the add ons are magic.
Just start off with something simple like General Hydroponics 3 part for now.
Solid advice and it's not hard to believe that a company would cherrypick nutrients and piece the others out, marketed as "additives." I'll have to think twice about AS and do a little more research on the ingredients of the additives compared to other brand's base nutes.To be honest Advanced is a bad company IMO. They purposely leave out part of the basic building blocks of the nutrients and stick them into the add ons to make it seem the add ons are really doing their job when they are just adding parts of the mixture to the add ons to make is seem like the add ons are magic.
Just start off with something simple like General Hydroponics 3 part for now.
To be 100 percent honest you are not going to get much off of looking at labels. I only say that because the companies are only required to list the NPK values of the nutrient solution and they only have to list the minimums to get by. Take Athena Pro Line, if. you look at their listed Magnesium value it is about half of what is actually in the product. There are other bio stimulants in the nutrients companies do not list. I have tried more snake oil products than I care to admit and while some work they usually have some sort of draw backs.Solid advice and it's not hard to believe that a company would cherrypick nutrients and piece the others out, marketed as "additives." I'll have to think twice about AS and do a little more research on the ingredients of the additives compared to other brand's base nutes.
So how exactly is GH any different in the regard that they sell a bunch of extra bottles too? They sell a 3 part series, 6 part series, and 10 part series. Very similar to Advanced Nutrients...To be honest Advanced is a bad company IMO. They purposely leave out part of the basic building blocks of the nutrients and stick them into the add ons to make it seem the add ons are really doing their job when they are just adding parts of the mixture to the add ons to make is seem like the add ons are magic.
Just start off with something simple like General Hydroponics 3 part for now.
Buddy, simple math says just about all of AN's products are 8 mL/gal. The base nutes go up to 16 mL/gal. They are concentrated products. Not sure where you're getting 152 mL/gal...
Do you have a plumbing plan / sketch? 18 gallon - is that the plant sites? How many, 2 for plants and 1 external = 54 total system gallons? 18 gal, if plant sites seems like total overkill. (2) 8 gal in a 4x4 seems much more reasonable. I dunno can't envision what you are doing here.-18 gallon resevoirs
-50 gallon top-off resevoir
-1" water lines feeding 2 waterfalls per plants
-venturi aerator fitting for each plant
-8" nano-bubble bar for plants and control reservoir.
-2" return lines
-30 watt adjustable flow DC water pump
I'll have the Apera AI316 5-in-1 pen tester to stay on top of water quality.
Another question I can't seem to find an answer for; With my larger volume resevoirs, is a weekly water change still necessary? Or could I get by going 2 weeks or more on the same water? I'm not sure of our water quality. We live in a small town of 150 people and the water is sourced from the ground. I planned on testing it with my pen and running a plantless cycle for week or more to monitor water quality before ever adding my seedlings.
This right here.You got plenty of good advice on nutes above, and I'll just echo that AN nutes are something I would personally steer clear of.
I was once where you are right now, went with AN. Wish I would not have.And thank you for providing a rebuttal for AN. I was looking for people that had used AN's products to hear about their experience.
A couple things.The 152 ml/gal was throughout the entire grow. I just added all the weekly suggested amounts on the base nutrients. Really I was just surprised that I would need roughly 2 gallons to finish the grow at their recommended dosages.
And thank you for providing a rebuttal for AN. I was looking for people that had used AN's products to hear about their experienc
Do you have a plumbing plan / sketch? 18 gallon - is that the plant sites? How many, 2 for plants and 1 external = 54 total system gallons? 18 gal, if plant sites seems like total overkill. (2) 8 gal in a 4x4 seems much more reasonable. I dunno can't envision what you are doing here.
Can you link the nano bubble bar?
2" return - Either I'm not understanding something or you plan to grow massive trees. if you are going big go with 3" Current Culture bulkheads.
With your pen, you can test for salinity. Don't mistake that reading as being sodium. That is the biggest worry with non-ro water. In soil, well water is actually preferred and if your community doesn't do anything but add a chlorine or similar disinfectant you should be OK. But get a TDS reading with that pen now and tell us the number. If you don't already have the pen on order, don't do it I'll save you some $
I went with bigger totes for the resevoir assuming more water meant a little more stability with the added advantage of massive roots. So yeah, to answer your question, I guess I plan to grow massive trees.
I'm open to suggestions and am always a fan of going bigger, so 3" won't deter me. I was initially planning with 3" but was hesitant simply over the price jump on fittings.
I've planned on adding some square filter media over the bulkheads inside the resevoir. Would that help prevent the 2" pipes from clogging? Or would that potentially make clogging easier? Somebody on here mentioned a bag of bioballs being a good idea and I figured filter media would do about the same while also filtering out larger solids.Looking good. I think you made a good choice with GH 3 part. I am getting close to my first harvest where I used GH start to finish, just my 2nd hydro grow. I do like this nutrient line (things I don't like about it too) but always open to trying another or running with additives once I get comfy with the baseline nute and just learn growing in hydro better now that I am getting the basics down....walk before I run is what I try to do.
You definitely want to go with the 3" return lines for bigger plants. You don't want your roots clogging up the system and flooding your space.
I've planned on adding some square filter media over the bulkheads inside the resevoir. Would that help prevent the 2" pipes from clogging? Or would that potentially make clogging easier? Somebody on here mentioned a bag of bioballs being a good idea and I figured filter media would do about the same while also filtering out larger solids.
So you are going to run 1 plant in each tub? Centered?Bubble Bar:
Amazon.com : Carefree Fish DIY Aquarium Nano Air Stone Strip Ⅱ Fish Tank Bubbler Hand to Hand Make Fantasy Bubble Walls Make Super Tiny Bubbles (Improper Use Will Lead to Uneven Air Output Not Included Air Pump) : Pet Supplies
Amazon.com : Carefree Fish DIY Aquarium Nano Air Stone Strip Ⅱ Fish Tank Bubbler Hand to Hand Make Fantasy Bubble Walls Make Super Tiny Bubbles (Improper Use Will Lead to Uneven Air Output Not Included Air Pump) : Pet Supplieswww.amazon.com
Pump:
Resevoirs:
Rubbermaid 18 Gal. Roughneck Tote - Waters Hardware
Durable polyethylene, rugged storage boxes can withstand harsh temperatures from hot to cold. Sturdy, built-in handles allow for easy carrying. Snap-on, stay-tight lids help keep contents dry and dust-free. All units are stackable for saving valuable storage space. Black with gray lid.www.watershardware.com
Meter and Pens:
Amazon.com: Bluelab PENGTB Grower's Toolbox with pH Pen, Conductivity Tester and Probe Care Kit, Easy Calibration, Digital Meters for Hydroponic System and Indoor Plant Grow : Patio, Lawn & Garden
Amazon.com: Bluelab PENGTB Grower's Toolbox with pH Pen, Conductivity Tester and Probe Care Kit, Easy Calibration, Digital Meters for Hydroponic System and Indoor Plant Grow : Patio, Lawn & Gardenwww.amazon.com
I've gone a different route with Bluelab as opposed to Apera after saving some money with GH instead of AN. I've really been eyeing the meter with the green numbers for easier visibility. With GH, aside from the price, I'll end up using about a third of what AN's feed chart suggested. Less chemicals in my little room.
I went with bigger totes for the resevoir assuming more water meant a little more stability with the added advantage of massive roots. So yeah, to answer your question, I guess I plan to grow massive trees.
Here's a rough sketch from a couple nights ago. I've made a couple changes since then. I meant the drainage pipes to the resevoir when I said 2" return. I plan on using the same pump to empty the totes during water changes. The variable flow will come in handy there. The tent will be in a room where I can send the runoff out to my garden.
View attachment 1322232
I have yet to order anything, just added to and updated several carts. I'm open to suggestions and am always a fan of going bigger, so 3" won't deter me. I was initially planning with 3" but was hesitant simply over the price jump on fittings.
I've got a neat little scrog rack I've also been working on. It's for sure in it's baby stages, so judge lightly.View attachment 1322236
Plywood base. Stailess eye-hooks. 1/2" or 3/4" EMT (Electrician by trade) rack frame with 2'x4' outer dimensions. All-thread support system at the top. All that painted with white flexseal aside from the hooks. Then notch and sleeve white PVC over the EMT to support the trellis system. All this was the product of a hypothetical root rot dilemma and how to remove a potentially tied up plant to wash its roots. Highly convoluted plan. It was a late night stoned daydream turned visionquest.
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