Homemade hydro questions

Hello all. I have made myself a small homemade hydro system, its also my first ever hydro system. I want to possibly help anyone interested in making one at home and also ask any of the more experienced growers if there are any flaws in my design.

My ballast and light were from a fishtank, I bought a cheap aquarium light which is designed to promote plant growth (I guess energy saver lights and some self wiring would be cheaper). Reflectors made from cut up tin cans are mounted on the ballast.

I grabbed an old plastic cookie jar and cleaned it out and filled it with water mixed with plant growth formula. The jar is small, it holds 4 litres (1 Gallon). I cut some polystyrene and made it into a circle. I then punched 4 holes in it with a pencil. I connected a fishtank pump and a airstone which I put into the jar. I then took 4 plants which I have been growing for a few days (Stems about 10cm/4 inches) and removed them from the soil. I slipped the roots of all for plants into the 4 holes in the polystrene respectivly (they don't fall through because of the first set of leaves) and floated the polystyrene in the jar.

So thats the setup. As you can see there is no soil or soiless mixture. Is that bad for the plants or is the soiless mixture just for support?

Let me know what you think....

first, you need a LOT more light than that aquarium bulb can ever give ... at bare minimum, run at least two 48" fluorescent tubes, or several CFLs (keep fluorescents an inch above the tops of plants, fluoros don't 'penetrate') ... a plant simply will not be healthy and productive, with less than 20+ watts per square foot, (at least 40psf recommended) ... good growing ! :smokin:

Hydro setup update

I purchased 2 20watt CFL's (those lil power saving bulbs). The box said the second wattage is 100w and each bulb has 1200 lumens. I also made reflectors out of colddrink tins to keep the light concentrated.

Will this be enough? (the plants are in a kinda small space. Alot less than a square foot)

Will try post some pictures a little l8tr

i use a 400w HPS i think that is around 75000 lumens and i still have canoopy penetration issues with scrog i would rethink your lighting, i have no idea about hydro so i can't comment there

The thing is i stay in an area where it's a little hard to get high end plant lights. And i'm also on a serious budget. I mean, i suppose i could go get the lamps (the sodium ones or something) but i also have to keep the power bill from jumping. How much does a 400watt hps increase yr bill by? And also, the globe itself, what does it cost?

You can buy HID bulbs for $8 to $130. I'm guessing from looking at my power bill, no calculations, that it's adding $30 to $50 per month. The important thing to consider with HID lighting is the ventilation. It gets damn hot.

Ordered a 150watt HPS bulb and ballast today. Getting it monday. But i've decided i'm going to wait until next year to start the grow. But for now, will the 150watt HPS be enough for 4 or 5 plants?

Well it is certainly will do better than the aquarium light, but I would probably want 400W for 5 plants. It will get you weed of course, but I would supplement it with some 5500 or 5700K cool or daylight CFLs. The more the better. They are pretty cheap to buy and operate.

Hey guys. Thanks for the input.

Update. I went to fetch my 150watt ballast and bulb (HPS) today, an when i got there the guy actually had MH. So he found a sodium one and gave it to me with a discount. Ended up payin about $12 for 100 more watts of HPS. 250watt... So i got home an now i dunno how to wire it... If i open the back there's space for wires, 2 have a n above, one has the earth sign and the other is blank. Any idea's what to do? Please help guys