Wanting to transition to hydroponics, could you share some experience?

SmokeyEye · Jun 12, 2021

Hey there MJ lovers!

I see many home growers are transitioning to hydroponics, and i'm thinking on taking that trip too.... However, i'm still not sure and i'm looking for some motivation... Could you share your experience? Perhaps tell me what motivated you to get into hydro, if you had a particular reason or just liked it best... I'm waiting for your help!

Thanks, Eye!

Aqua Man · Jun 12, 2021

SmokeyEye said:
Hey there MJ lovers!

I see many home growers are transitioning to hydroponics, and i'm thinking on taking that trip too.... However, i'm still not sure and i'm looking for some motivation... Could you share your experience? Perhaps tell me what motivated you to get into hydro, if you had a particular reason or just liked it best... I'm waiting for your help!

Thanks, Eye!

Personally it's where is felt comfortable starting because of a long background in aquatics.

Growth rates are ridiculous but it can be challenging like any grow. A bit more equipment is necessary and devotion to controlling the environment. Once you get it down it's very rewarding it like anything if you don't do the research, learning or put in the effort to succeed you can end up hating it.

Thinking a system through its design goes a looong way to make things easier. And of course the faster the growth the more on point everything need to be

Ponky · Jun 12, 2021

Well. Do it. And don't look back. Been growing since 19hundred and dickity3. And used soil and promix exclusively for over 2 decades. Now on DWC I'm not going back. Only my mother plants get promix. Everything else is now DWC. But you can't slack off for even 1 day.

Aqua Man · Jun 12, 2021

Ponky said:
Well. Do it. And don't look back. Been growing since 19hundred and dickity3. And used soil and promix exclusively for over 2 decades. Now on DWC I'm not going back. Only my mother plants get promix. Everything else is now DWC. But you can't slack off for even 1 day.

This ^^^ if you put the time and effort in its extremely rewarding.... if not it can be extremely frustrating. Takes daily attention.

Madmax · Jun 12, 2021

Needed no motivation,,its a no brainer..indoors undercover= stealth mode.
No more worrying bout coming home and your crops gone....

airedog · Jun 12, 2021

Hepatitis C; Pegatron therapy was making my spouse extremely nauseous with considerable emesis; doctors said that cannabis was as effective as the anti-emetic meds that were over $1 000/month CAD at that time.

This was 2003, the local store had an RDWC bucket system that they said was my best bet. Little did i know that 1/2" feed line that ran inside the 3/4" drain linn e was a bad idea. On the plus side, when the roots jammed the drain lines (on a weekend) it was a scramble to find a couple of new buckets and lines to rebuild on the fly. If you do RDWC (and it is possible to do as a newbie with help) always be aware of what's happening with your nutrient solution and water system. Always remember that a pump/hose once switched off will happily siphon if there is a difference in the height of the water level in your containers, regardless of your need to be doing something else. If you do leave a potential siphon unattended it will do its' thing, often at the most inopportune of times.

I've grown on and off since then and continue to learn from the community, trying to share knowledge when i can.

workngrow · Jun 12, 2021

If you build a large enough system and hit the variables. The day to day maintenance is really largely just environment control. Im a noob to growing, built my own systems, and just keep an eye on them a few times a day for a few minutes, but I dont always have to make any changes every day. Once its running its really not that bad. Setup yourself up with some web enabled hygrometers and stuff like that so you can keep an eye on the variables remotely.

Aqua Man · Jun 12, 2021

workngrow said:
If you build a large enough system and hit the variables. The day to day maintenance is really largely just environment control. Im a noob to growing, built my own systems, and just keep an eye on them a few times a day for a few minutes, but I dont always have to make any changes every day. Once its running its really not that bad. Setup yourself up with some web enabled hygrometers and stuff like that so you can keep an eye on the variables remotely.

That's a very great point... the larger the volume the more stable and less fluctuations you see.

That is why RDWC is so much easier than DWC lol I pitty ppl when they start in DWC and find out quickly once the plants get bigger its nonstop work... like nonstop. Usually 1 grow and they switch to RDWC.

workngrow · Jun 12, 2021

Yea you end up with some small isolated 5 gallon buckets and you are in for having to maintain that constantly especially when the plants get larger. You'll be adding water almost every day and dealing with wild ph and tds fluctuations. I'm glad I didn't settle for something that small even though the larger containers can be more difficult to deal with.

My setup is 75 gal total capacity but it's only running 40 to 50 gallons of water. Its shaking out that I have to top off 5 gallons twice a week with light nutrient mix to just maintain numbers. Which 1 big bucket twice a week much easier IMO than watering 4+ plants by hand many days of the week. Not to mention soil invites complications from bugs and shit that isn't as prevalent in hydro.

Aqua Man · Jun 12, 2021

workngrow said:
Yea you end up with some small isolated 5 gallon buckets and you are in for having to maintain that constantly especially when the plants get larger. You'll be adding water almost every day and dealing with wild ph and tds fluctuations. I'm glad I didn't settle for something that small even though the larger containers can be more difficult to deal with.

My setup is 75 gal total capacity but it's only running 40 to 50 gallons of water. Its shaking out that I have to top off 5 gallons twice a week with light nutrient mix to just maintain numbers. Which 1 big bucket twice a week much easier IMO than watering 4+ plants by hand many days of the week. Not to mention soil invites complications from bugs and shit that isn't as prevalent in hydro.

My cheat lol... for both top ups and change outs if you didn't plumb a drain which I did but this will get it to the bottom.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CXT3ZG...imm_NW5ZHC7DX5G1T9N6A471?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

workngrow · Jun 12, 2021

Aqua Man said:
My cheat lol... for both top ups and change outs if you didn't plumb a drain which I did but this will get it to the bottom.

That's pretty dope tbh. May grab that. Been struggling with that last bit that sits underneath the pvc return to the res. What I've been doing is diluting it down with fresh water and then pumping the system out again from the res.

Kind of like flushing a closed transmission. Dilute the dirty or concentrated fluid with new and keep changing it out til its clean. It's not efficient or ideal.

My setup sits on a 4 inch wood Plat that I may just drill holes in and put a bottom drain in each container long term. Assuming I don't change to aeroponic or another variation of hydro.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CXT3ZG...imm_NW5ZHC7DX5G1T9N6A471?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

airedog · Jun 12, 2021

After years of DIY systems i went UnderCurrent, their systems now have the built in drain out kit. I generally only use it at the end though, just using a Mondi pump in the epicenter to take it down to an inch or so; that way i keep my bennies. In a UC4XXL13 system that i run at about 50 gallons, my flower top-up is 5 - 7 gallons per day. I use a top-up res, but i top that up daily when i go down to check on the system in the morning.

Aqua Man · Jun 12, 2021

airedog said:
After years of DIY systems i went UnderCurrent, their systems now have the built in drain out kit. I generally only use it at the end though, just using a Mondi pump in the epicenter to take it down to an inch or so; that way i keep my bennies.

You touched on something I practice... I only do 50% change outs to keep my bennies happy. There's a bit more to it but I don't wanna sound crazy. I usually stick to the plug and play info but there is a lot of benefits to taking advantage of some old fishleeping habits.

airedog · Jun 12, 2021

I had an interesting experience this morning at changeout; i don't want to hijack this thread so here's the link;

https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/tail-end-of-flower-flush-meter-phollies.128648/

CBDfutute4 · Jun 15, 2021

Rdwc is easy on e u put in all the time effort energy n loot into building a good room

Once you have a good setup it removes a lot of the daily chore

But u still need to be in there 8-15hrs a week depending on the size

But it’s nice not to worry about watering them, if they dry out when ur outta town or whatever

I can leave for 5 days without a need for a buddy of mine to visit to check on things

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 15, 2021

CHECK VALVES! CHECK VALVES!
We had a siphon leak on our first indoor grow.
we went back to soil until we got the lights fuggered out. Now we are organic living soil and loving it.

Aqua Man · Jun 15, 2021

CBDfutute4 said:
Rdwc is easy on e u put in all the time effort energy n loot into building a good room

Once you have a good setup it removes a lot of the daily chore

But u still need to be in there 8-15hrs a week depending on the size

But it’s nice not to worry about watering them, if they dry out when ur outta town or whatever

I can leave for 5 days without a need for a buddy of mine to visit to check on things

Absolutely right... had my daughter look after my plants for 2 weeks once... prob couldn't grow a cactus. 10 min crash course and a few phone calls... I came home to having to throw my plants out.... care to guess why?

She rocked it never growing a dam thing in her life.

Aqua Man · Jun 15, 2021

ComfortablyNumb said:
CHECK VALVES! CHECK VALVES!
We had a siphon leak on our first indoor grow.
we went back to soil until we got the lights fuggered out. Now we are organic living soil and loving it.

Yes and sensor shutoff.

freezeland2 · Jun 15, 2021

Hydro can be very rewarding. DWC is a toe in the water IMO. Can give very good results, but I think most move up from that pretty quickly to RDWC. My experience in hydro is ebb&flow and NFT. Automation is the bomb but you need to be prepared for problems to occur. Having spare parts, a quality water source, good nutrients and good lighting, and most importantly maintaining a controlled and clean environment are key. If you are prepared for all that jump in. The yields out of a quality hydro system are hard to beat.

ComfortablyNumb · Jun 15, 2021

I am hoping we move to a bit larger place so I can do some aquaponics. That is the ultimate in organic.
Comparatively speaking, far less automation is needed for AP than almost any other mode of growing, yet it has many of the fast growth benefits of hydro and the stability of organic soil.
I'd love to be the one that starts the Aquaponic side of the forum.

Wanting to transition to hydroponics, could you share some experience?

Wanting to transition to hydroponics, could you share some experience?

SmokeyEye

Aqua Man

Ponky

Aqua Man

Madmax

airedog

workngrow

Aqua Man

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Aqua Man

workngrow

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Aqua Man

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CBDfutute4

ComfortablyNumb

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