Hydroton and (3) 1000w Lights w/ 4x8 Table

[KushMaster707]

hey wats up farmers, im gonna run a 4x8 table with 3 1000w lights over it and am curious if anybody else had done this before and what the results were. I also would like to know about hydroton being used with a recirculating drip system, would it be a waste or are there better ways to use hydroton? i want to fill 2 gallon smart pots with it and put them on a table watering them whichever way gives me better results.:rauch08:

 

[easypleasie]

lol bro, that's some serious watts/sq. foot! I'd be tempted to do GTD's table setup if I went that route. I think it's rockwool cubes with coco mats, no hydroton.

 

[SMOK3R]

I have no idea what a recirc system would do with hydroton, but I use it for an ebb and flow table that I just put together.

I have done 5g bubbling bucket systems, top drip "bubbleponic" aka dwc with a drip systems, and aeroflow systems, but this is my first ebb and flow system. I have always used hydroton for the stability feature and not to hold water like the rw cubes, or soil.

My setup for e/f is a 3x3 tray with two 600w lights in 6" glass tubes (one digital one magnetic(magnetic is still brighter)) spaced 2' apart with mylar drapes on 2 sides and an 8" fan for cooling. I use a square fan on one side to push the canopy air through the funnel. I am taking pictures as it goes along, but don't want to post any until:

1) the clones take
2) until I am comfortable with this forum

My setup for the tray is 6" rw cubes for the clones, and hydroton filling the void between the cubes up to the level of the top of the overflow drain.

I fill the tray up to the top of the overflow valve on the tray to keep the water from being exposed to light, and also to trap moisture for my soon to be root mat. The hydroton is totally exposed but since it doesn't wick, and the rw cubes don't either; I haven't had to worry about mold on the surface unless I spill on the top of the cubes. When that happens I will deal with it, but it shouldn't be a problem.

My flood schedule is as follows (not sure if it is proper but it works for now):

3min when the light turn on
3min half way between on and off
3min.... 30min before the lights turn off

I do this because the tray is 6" deep and I want to keep the moisture in without adding light to the water which (i was told) will produce mold. I have heard that 1.5min is sufficient and I would love to dial it down, but I know what over watering looks like and would like to use that as a benchmark for my adjustments.

For nutrients I use GH flora series, liquid kool bloom and Advanced Nute Bud candy. I have used it in the past and have had great results so I will stick to it for now.

My use of hydroton is strictly to keep the light off of the water and provide a surface that is quick drying and with depth that will lock in the moisture which is left in the root mass. From my experience it is a poor conductor of heat so I am hoping it wont bring heat and/or mildew to the root mat. My main use for it is so that the roots can grow around it and encompass for stability. I could be wrong but my experience tells me that hydroton doesn't hold in much moisture.

Just my take on it... I would love to hear more info from the pro's, but I hope it helped!

 

[lime6161]

Try to keep the walls as close to the table edges as you can you should get great results. You may need to keep the lights a bit higher depending how the light falls on the canopy.

Your gona go through alot of H2o as well

 

[KushMaster707]

thanks for the feedback guys. as far as the lighting goes im pretty excited to see how its gonna work out(gonna just do it!) i just gotta remove a lot more leaves so all the bottom nuggys get rock hard too. im not sure hydroton is the best way to go yet, im guessing i can use it on a flood and drain table but does it have wicking capabilities?

 

[easypleasie]

Have ya considered just growing a few trees? I really like seeing a bed of colas but something about a big bush gets me excited lol

 

[Crysmatic]

a 1000w can easily light a 4'x4' area...many use 600w with success (1 g/w). imo use the extra light for 50% more plants.

good luck!

 

[The Kind Man]

KushMaster707:

That is a very good system you're planning on doing.
I would go recirculating top feed with drip rings along with Hydroton, as it produces amazing results!

Just make sure to run your system for a week with nutrients without the plants in there and have a screen catching the return before the reservoir so if there is any dust or junk coming through it wont clog anything up. Also doing this greatly reduces dramatic pH fluctuations that can be associated with the dust from the hydroton being introduced into solution. After that plant and you are ready to go!

As for your watering goes, it depends on the stage of growth. I would go anywhere from 1 minute on to 9 minutes off (could be in middle or late Veg or even the same stages respectively in Flower) to 1 minute on to 40 minutes off (to promote root growth), and anywhere in between there. It all depends on your plant and your environment. The plant will tell you exactly if it needs to be watered more or less.

As for your question, Hydroton does not have a wicking capability so it needs to be watered constantly in intervals. If you were to run the nutrients 24 hours a day oxygen will not be present to the roots and they will die from suffocation.

The only requirement to this system is a water chiller to keep the nutrient solution at the optimum temperature for optimum oxygen uptake. Other than that check you pH and ppm's regularly and you're more than good to go!

With that amount of light you should definitely be able to get at least 2 elbows a light with 18 - 24 plants on the 4x8 table; given the rest of the growing conditions are spot on :)

Good Luck in your venture!

The Kind Man
|Scientia Ipsum Est Vox|
|Knowledge Itself Is Power|

 

[easypleasie]

KushMaster707:

Just make sure to run your system for a week with nutrients without the plants in there and have a screen catching the return before the reservoir so if there is any dust or junk coming through it wont clog anything up. Also doing this greatly reduces dramatic pH fluctuations that can be associated with the dust from the hydroton being introduced into solution. After that plant and you are ready to go!

Great tip Kind man! I've been testing my setup without plants and all kinds of crap keeps coming out. I see all kinds of clay and broken pieces of hydroton at the bottom of the res. Even after cleaning it out and running it again, I still had junk but not as much.

 

[The Kind Man]

Easypleasie:

That is exactly what I am talking about. Doubled's had the brilliant idea of putting a window screen over his reservoir to collect all the debris without obstructions to pumps, water lines, feed lines, etc. Using your imagination and a little common sense anyone can make a simple debris catcher that will save you a lot of time and headaches cleaning bits of broken hydroton and junk out of the reservoirs and clogged water lines :) A little prevention goes a hell of a long way haha.

Take it easy. Happy it helps.

The Kind Man
|Scientia Ipsum Est Vox|
|Knowledge Itself Is Power|

 

[REGISTRD]

Just IMO.
1. Ditch the hydroton
2. FUk the Hydroton
3. Never look back
4. Listen to Kind man
5. Go drip to WASTE
6. Fuk Recycling nutes..
7. Rock 3 1ks
8. Get some Cali connect Og
9. Go BIG OR GO HoME..
Ive had a few peace out!!

 

[easypleasie]

The screen is simple yet ingenious! A little debris could be hell! Even all the clay particles that make it through the screen/filters seem like it can eventually build up in your lines and clog up. Another reason for running the system for a while before using it.

I'm just testing my veg setup and will do the same once I get my mpb setup running. This will most definitely save me some headaches down the line.

 

[MedicalINFO]

Hydroton Drip

Hi guys, I am about 11 days in to my new veg setup. I'm going to put 11 black dominas In to Doubleds Med Buckets. I have 20 on a 4 by 4 tray ring dripping from a 35 gallon res. in to 1 gallon pots. (hydroton). 1000 watt hortiluxe blue metal halide

using

ro water
cal mag
house & Garden a,b / algean extract / roots ecelerator/ drip clean
pro silicate
great white mychorhiaze


My ph will rise from 5.5 to 8.5 in a day. I have to adjust 3 times a day.

I rinsed the hydroton really well and soaked in 5.4 overnight.


What can I do to help the ph?

Should I be dripping 24 hours?

Should I be running some sort of hygrozyme or anti fungus stuff?


Thanks for your help

 

[The Kind Man]

MedicalInfo:

The Roots Excel., Algen, and Great White might be causing you excessive drift. Roots Excel. is notorious for screwing with your pH especially when you have high amounts of aeration and oxygenation. Also, with the Great White you might not have enough of the different bacteria's and/or excessive amounts of certain ones and not enough of the other, and that can definitely cause substantial pH drift. The Algen might be feeding certain bacteria and letting them proliferate while causing others to not grow as fast or not at all causing pH drift. Thats the problem with recirculating systems while using organic nutes, you'll 9.9 out of 10 times have to constantly be adjusting the pH.

Think about it. The organic nutrients are living things meant to be put into another living organism (the soil) to help the soil microbes flourish and satisfy a Cation Exchange before the plant can even access it. The soil has buffers in it that naturally equalize out the pH for proper uptake. With using hydroton, you have no buffers what so ever, so you have to constantly be on the nutrients pH if you want to use organics. Keep it simple and use a chemical base nutrient line that has very little or no organics and has buffers in it already and you'll have a much better time with pH management.

Also, if you're running Drip Clean, there is no need to use Hygrozyme because they are almost one in the same. They both break things down into useable plant forms, keep certain nutrients sequestered, and keeps everything clean.

The Kind Man
|Scientia Ipsum Est Vox|
|Knowledge Itself Is Power|

 

[MedicalINFO]

First off thank you for your time :)

I'm going to take out all my additives and see if the aquaflakes a & b is going to work. ( just got the giant jugs).

Going to use cal-mag to bring r.o. up to 100

Aqua flakes a & B

Do you think I should add some mad farmer for humic

Should I cut out the silica to?


If this doesn't work I'm going to try canna's aqua line

thanks again

 

[MedicalINFO]

I just cleaned my table, and flushed all my 1 gallon pots with 30 seconds of plain water and flushed the system. drained, filled up with plain water again and let the system run for 4 hours. drained then made my new solution with

cal mag
aqua flakes a&b


and thats it

So far so good

thanks :) Kind Man

 

[mrdizzle]

im my opinion you are not going to see the increase in yeild from the extra light light you would if you added another 4x4 table. you wont get another lb from that extra light. run another 4x4 table.

 

[KushMaster707]

have you tried the suggested method before mrdizzle?

 

[MedicalINFO]

Hydroton Drip

kindman,

Is there something comparable to roots accelerator that won't mess with my ph? I was considering CANNA'a rizotonic... but is that "alive"?

What do you know about GROTEK's PRO-silicate? Will this mess with my ph. I believe it is totally synthetic

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME :)

 

[mrdizzle]

have you tried the suggested method before mrdizzle?

no, the method isnt the question, I used to rock 5 4x8 tables. I used to get 2.7lbs from bubba per table, if I added another light I would have gotten maybe 3lbs per table. the extra light doesnt give you its full worth in yeild, just adds more light