Questions for those who grow with hydroponic methods

[Mellow Man]

I have a old grow finishing in 4 weeks plus fresh cuttings sitting in the root container,all my grows have been soil grows with a fare amount of success,but there's alot of work with soil!,sampling each every planting pot for ph daily alot of work when your trying to adjust 40 plus plants lol ..soil perlit bags everywhere storage gets all used up lol..plus the smell of wet earth all day,messy,I think you all know where I am coming from......no doubt soil grows are great! and I seen people with some great plants from soil grows,but hydroponic seems to be more of a heavy weight!.hope i'm not offending any soil growers out there lol..but I need a better system of growing that meets my needs I guess.............


Just wondering? what hydro systems are you people using? and is there a debate of which method is the best hydroponic .

which hydroponics are the best? or if all hydro systems run correctly are all of equal value of producing a same robust plant?...........I seen plants in soil with huge fan leaves and I seen fan leaves on hydro grows bigger then the whole entire soil grow lol.......of course I know that the key just doesn't lay with hydro but proper lighting as well and great nutes! in all stages.

Just don't want to build a drip system to find out I would have had a better system with a bubbler!..............are all hydro systems on a equal level or is there a hydro system above all systems..............thanks........

[LOC NAR1958]

I use a drip system. My fisrt system ,I did alot of looking before I got it. I like it and it is easy to take care of. Still do daily checks but only takes a few minute and some PH balanced water to top it off. Check out (how are my girls doing ). just down this page. You need a few things to make it easier. PH pen and TDS pen and a good light. I have a 400 HPS for flowering and a MH conversion bulb for veg that way I didn't need 2 different light systems. This is my first hydro, 300 times faster than soil. I tried soil first but it sucked compared to hydro. Drips you can leave running 24/7 easy. I don't have a green thumb so if I can do it you can too. Check out my pics they are northern lights, next grow is orange bud skunk. beans are on the way. Hope this helps

[newgroweroldsmoker]

I use an NFT system, two of them to be honest...total surface covered by both =12sqft, i have 2 x400 hps as well but you can grow a SOG only using one....these can support medium sized plants, i think up to 3ft tall give or take....it's my first grow in hydro, my previous was in soil and even i had great results (strain twilight) i chose hydro for being faster and more productive yield wise;)

take a look at this pic of how my plants look like after 16 days in the NFT.....i faced some minor overfeeding problems but the other good thing is that with hydro it is faster than in soil to diagnose the problem and correct it using mainly two instruments...the pH & the EC/TDS testers....

take care:)

NGOS:)

[trippruss]

flood & drain i feel is the easiest, but i've only done dwc & f&d. r

[puff4twentynow]

It sounds to me like you want to grow alot of plants with some type of hydroponic system. Have you looked in Aeroponic systems? Check out some of those. Aeroponic systems come with way more grow sites than any drip or ebb n flow system, well most anyway. HAPPY GROWIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 :D :D :D

check out the link. maybe your looking for something like this.
http://www.altgarden.com/site/systems/APOLLO/apollo.html

[Zandor]

Hahah you asked.

Ebb & flow are easy but do not produce as much as fast as Drip systems will. Aeroponics systems are the easiest to use and grow with. DWC buckets work well but if you donâ??t have enough air stones or bubbles you have problems. Then you get into the hyper systems that are a combo of others systems. Like adding air stones to drip tanks or drip bubblers or several other systems.

Drip systems grow the fastest and are some of the most stable unites around but like the others you need to dial it in for maximum results.

The factors you should consider are the space you are growing L x W x H is where to start.
Next you need to ask yourself how many plants do I want to grow?
Next is how much work do I want to do; Hydro requires more work then any other type of growing.

Last is your budget, growing Hydro requires the correct equipment. Not having the proper nutrients and or equipment is a shame and you should not even start until you have everything you need.

[Mellow Man]

Thanks people keep the info coming :D ,I did not know that hydro has more work to it then soil grows? hmm learn something everyday!.........Ya I viewed several sites and information boards that talk about hydro,The bubbler system looks cool and a easy setup!,but with big buckets happening in my grow spot,the available space would be taken up by the buckets..as is my grow box is 4 1/2 feet wide and 5 feet long I get 60 plants in the box with no problems when I need too,take it that the pot sizes are 2 litre pepsi bottles that I am using seems to work good after all I only veg the clones 2 weeks max! then go into flowering they finish up a little over 2 feet .....The flow system looks cool and seems to be basic concept,even could make one of those myself,even the drip system or the dutch pot I believe it is known as? seems to be a basic concept,water sits in main tub or bucket,feed to the plants by dripping the nutes and water into the plant buckets that feed back to the res! the cycle continue's...........and this is the system that Zandor believes is the best hydro!...............so when you say drip is that little drips of water every few minutes or is it a stream of steady water and nutes flowing into the grow medium?.................seen the pictures that show the drip system but they fail to show if it's a drip or a little steady flow.Zandor care to give me a better understanding of the system you are using or perhaps lead me to the right information.............as well for anyone out there that wants to jump in on this thread and talk about your hydro by all means please do!

[LOC NAR1958]

HI, my drip system is an 8 gallon container that's 22 inches and some by 15 or 16 inches wide. A pump sits at the bottom and feeds a half inch line that goes through the top and across the middle 3, 3 inch net pots on each side with 1/4 inch line to the net pots. Hydrotron rocks in the pots and a steady flow of water 24/7. A 400 watt light is good for a 3x3 or 4x4. I just put in an air stone just to help get more air in the water and it helps cool res. Plant do not sit in the water. Just the long water roots hang in the water. At first I thought I would need 2 of these. But I veg for 30 days or until just about 2 feet. they are almost 3 feet now. that takes up my 4x4 quick. If you look at my pics. Yes you have to check it on a daily basis some times more, yes at first it seems like a lot of work but once you get the hang of it, it seem to almost run it's self. Problems show up quick and can be compensated just as quick. And yes get all your stuff together well ahead of time. I got mine off the net cheap but could have built it my self easy. I will keep my post updated to the end. Looks like maybe 6 to 8 oz's maybe more in three months. In the 6th week of flower and trichomes are mostly cloudy but some are clear maybe 20 per cent. Just waiting for buds to swell alittle more. This is my first hydro, I had no good luck with soil, used the wrong kind didn't help. Hope this helps. Over all investment will be recovered on first grow. Next grow are orange bud skunk. I will have it ready just before xmas yee ha. That's what makes the raindeer fly. If you want to know where I got my things Just ask and I will list, mind you I didn't have lots to spend so I looks for deals and do my home work to find out what is adiquit. Oh yea if you really want to listen to some one it's Zandor, He's help me alot sometimes without knowing just by reading his help to others, I don't ask for help unless I can't find someone else with the same probs. I took a small sample and must be stoned as hell I'm running on. Hope this helps.

[yeskamaster]

http://www.hydroempire.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/4_31/products_id/260

THIS IS THE BEST KIT I'VE EVER USED. YOU CAN GROW MONSTER PLANTS WITH THIS SYSEM. YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL SYSTEMS RUNNING TO ONE PUMP 30 GPH AIR PUMP. IT IS VERY COMPACT, LOW COST AND COMES WITH ALL THE PARTS. I RECOMMEND YOU BUY A BETTER AIR PUMP THAT THE KIT COMES WITH. YOU ONLY NEED TO CHANGE THE NUTES ONCE EVERY WEEK IF THAT. YOU CAN USE GENERAL HYDROPONICS MAXI GROW DURING GROWTH PHASE THEN GENERAL HYDROPONICS KOOL BLOOM.

ENJOY!

CHECK OUT MY PLANT..

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/7366/sunday11weeks0343da.jpg

[Zandor]

http://www.hydroempire.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/4_31/products_id/260

THIS IS THE BEST KIT I'VE EVER USED. YOU CAN GROW MONSTER PLANTS WITH THIS SYSEM. YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL SYSTEMS RUNNING TO ONE PUMP 30 GPH AIR PUMP. IT IS VERY COMPACT, LOW COST AND COMES WITH ALL THE PARTS. I RECOMMEND YOU BUY A BETTER AIR PUMP THAT THE KIT COMES WITH. YOU ONLY NEED TO CHANGE THE NUTES ONCE EVERY WEEK IF THAT. YOU CAN USE GENERAL HYDROPONICS MAXI GROW DURING GROWTH PHASE THEN GENERAL HYDROPONICS KOOL BLOOM.

ENJOY!

CHECK OUT MY PLANT..

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/7366/sunday11weeks0343da.jpg
That's just a store built bubbler system that uses fish pumps.