What will I need for a hydroponic grow?

[THContent]

Ok, so I am going to give my first hydro thumb a try, I was thinking along the lines of building my own system, rather than paying outrageous money for one.

I was thinking 5in x 5in x 4ft square PVC fence post to start off. And having my plants 16 inches apart. Now that will be the main component to hold the pots, and run the water through, so will I also need a pond pump of sorts, and also hydroton clay pellets? For a resevoir I was thinking a dark blue rubbermaid tote. I need a little help on what I will need for hoses, ph tester pen, what will my optimal PPM be, what nutes to use in the water, what pH should the water be, what temp should the water be, etc.

I appreciate any input.

[BudLuv420]

Hoses: depends what size of inlet & outlet you buy. Length will determine how far you have your resevoir away. I prefer to have it under my inlet/outlet & let gravity do itself.

Tester: are really important when dealing with hydro, I got no complaints on Hanna tester, a bit pricey but does its job. Remember you get what you pay for. Get 2 tester one for you Ph & the other Nuits. On the Ph tester you want it around 5.8 but everybody does it diffrently but 5.8 works for me. Make sure you PH the water berfore you add nuits. The second tester is for how much nuits your feeding your girls. Remember dont feed the girls the full amout it says at first. You shock or kill your girls, so what ever product you decide to use, give them a 1/4 of what it say & gradually increase your doseage to what it says then do the the reverse to the week you have to flush them. Also check the water before you add the nuits & after you PH water, check the ppm & it should not be no more than 300ppm. But if you get water from your local windmill or whatever its called in your area, I dont worry about it.

Nuits: Everybody has there own mixtures of type of what they use. For me I like to keep it simple & use one brand & add minimum of other nuits like carbo & bud candy.

Water Temp: I dont worry about it, just as long as it not freezing cold & to hot you'll be fine. Make sure you have an airstone in the resevoir, so your water wont be sitting.

[THContent]

Alright, thanks for the advice.

My plan was to have a small box on the top for the fogger, and have a hole drilled in the top to offer constant water to the fogger, and from the fogger box, I will have an elbow shaped PVC to go directly in to the square PVC where the plants will be. Should I have water spraying, combined with the fogger, or should I just stick with one or the other?

[CovertCarpenter]

...whilst browsing 'round de R0n4 last time, was to use 6" PVC or ABS piping, precut lengths, with those 'y' adapters that kinda curve to one side to use to hold the mesh pots (full'o'hydroton), or to just anchor the stem in a reducer, stuffed with foam or a bit of hose or somesuch.

If one slanted the tubing a bit, the roots would grow downwards back to the resevoir, and have a nice long nutrient-film-y place to grow in. Misters would be between every plant pot, and at the ends.

One could theoretically set up such a system for pretty cheap, and tear it down again later, if one was handy... Hmm.... One wouldn't have to spend much bux at it, either... Hmmm...

;) {Idea might be based on something I might'a saw in CallGirly}