First Attempt at Hydro, Have a few questions

[natureboy]

Just got my card and want to try growing with a top fed drip system with a recirculating resevoir. Been doing the research and ended up building one. The resevoir is a 20 gallon rubbermade with an airstone and a water pump. The growing chamber is a another rubermade but longer and shallower and sits on top and drains into the resevoir. The pump is hooked up to 1/4 inch tubing which top feeds six 4" netted pots. Still gotta get a timer. I plan on growing from seed and I know that the babies must have sufficiant root mass before putting into the pots. My question is what should I start them in and what is the best growing medium to use with this set up? Can I start the seeds in a root cube and then put the cube into the pots with say Hydroton? And what should I set the on off times at? Also since the nutrients drain back into the res will my root zone sustain enough moisture to prevent them from drying out inbetween waterings? Was thinking about adding a fogger unit that would float ontop of the nutrient res and funnel fog into the root zone to keep up the humidity if necesary. This is just a side experiment not sure if it will even work but any advice would be appreciated.

[tinytoon]

I would start in Rapid Rooter then transfer to netpot with Hydrotron. Drip times I cant help with outside of what I have read, only have done DWC and E&F here so sorry bout that. Root zone should stay moist since, if memory is working today, I believe some peeps do a constant drip and others run like a 15 on 45 off and such. Tron does a decent job of hanging onto moisture but then again it doesnt stay drenched either. Sorry can't help more but as I said have not done drip YET hehe :jointsmile:

[McLuvin]

It sounds like you are not far off from what a caregiver I know is doing. Google "the bucket system" and there is tons of info about it. they use coconut husk as a medium for the plants in buckets, and soil for the little guys. Then to x-fer simply soak the plant in water to get most of the soil off the roots. Then just put them in the buckets and off they go.

I hope this helps.

[SpaceNeedle]

Well, you can root in just about anything you want, such as rockwool or peat moss pellets or rapid rooters or......

The simplest is to put them into your 4" netpots and surround them with hydroton. I use peat moss pellets for rooting and then put them into 4" netpots. You should be aware that rockwool for example will hold a lot more moisture than hydroton, so you may want to remove some of the peat moss without damaging the roots before re-planting. As for watering schedules, I run 1/4" tubing directly to the pot without a dripper and just let it rip! Generally only stopping the flow during lights out.

SN

[Daddynobucks]

If your growing from seed and in the same grow root chamber.

What do you do when one turns into a male? How do you seperate the roots when you cut the male out.Will they just rot in the root mass? Then what happens?

I can tell you,the rest of the plants will have a bad taste.

you need to keep the roots seperate, at least till your growing female clones.

I root in rapid rooters, when roots show they go into 6" netpots full of hydroton with a top cover,early top feed plus flood and drain till they go to buckets,then just root spray.
top feeding uncovered, I get green alge growing on the pellets.

just some thoughts

Daddy

[natureboy]

[quote=SpaceNeedle]Well, you can root in just about anything you want, such as rockwool or peat moss pellets or rapid rooters or......

The simplest is to put them into your 4" netpots and surround them with hydroton. I use peat moss pellets for rooting and then put them into 4" netpots. You should be aware that rockwool for example will hold a lot more moisture than hydroton, so you may want to remove some of the peat moss without damaging the roots before re-planting. As for watering schedules, I run 1/4" tubing directly to the pot without a dripper and just let it rip! Generally only stopping the flow during lights out.

Thanks alot, I was going to start them in peat pellets, so you are saying I can just put them into the pots and surround them with hydroton when they are rooted?

[SpaceNeedle]

[quote=SpaceNeedle]Well, you can root in just about anything you want, such as rockwool or peat moss pellets or rapid rooters or......

The simplest is to put them into your 4" netpots and surround them with hydroton. I use peat moss pellets for rooting and then put them into 4" netpots. You should be aware that rockwool for example will hold a lot more moisture than hydroton, so you may want to remove some of the peat moss without damaging the roots before re-planting. As for watering schedules, I run 1/4" tubing directly to the pot without a dripper and just let it rip! Generally only stopping the flow during lights out.

Thanks alot, I was going to start them in peat pellets, so you are saying I can just put them into the pots and surround them with hydroton when they are rooted?

Yes, you can...but as I was saying peat moss pellets hold a lot more moisture than does hydroton, and I have seen new clones struggle because they never dried out or the roots were drowning. Obviously after they've been in there for a while and the roots grow way beyond the pellet there is no more problem. So when placing the new rooted plant with its peat moss pellet, make sure you don't have that pellet way down in the pot to give it plenty of space to dry it out easier between waterings. In some cases I will even remove SOME of the peat moss without damaging the roots before placing in hydroton to help the new plant thrive faster and to keep it from staying too wet.

SpaceNeedle

[natureboy]

[quote=natureboy]

Yes, you can...but as I was saying peat moss pellets hold a lot more moisture than does hydroton, and I have seen new clones struggle because they never dried out or the roots were drowning. Obviously after they've been in there for a while and the roots grow way beyond the pellet there is no more problem. So when placing the new rooted plant with its peat moss pellet, make sure you don't have that pellet way down in the pot to give it plenty of space to dry it out easier between waterings. In some cases I will even remove SOME of the peat moss without damaging the roots before placing in hydroton to help the new plant thrive faster and to keep it from staying too wet.

SpaceNeedle Thanks for the advice