which hydro setup to use?

so i've had my fun with scrog for now and have moved my 250 watt switchable from a cabinet to a closet.
i wanna do a sog in hydro but i dont want to buy anythin besides substrate
i have a pump that wasnt strong enough for aeroponic misters but it'll move enough water to flood or drip. i also have an air pump but its not too strong. for nutes i have liquid budswel, bio grow, bio bloom, nitrozime, soluble seaweed, and hydroguard. i familiar with soil and clone propagation but have never messed with hydroton or rockwool.
so my question to all you experienced hydrofans is which setup would you build?
ebb and flow or drip emitters? suggestions on substrates?
also,id rather spend my available funds to get a hortilux superblue hps instead of buying new nutes.

I'd go E&F w/ those nutes- gonna tend to clog emitters.

Like hydroton more than rw w/ organics- same reason, organics will gunk up rw sometimes.

DWC might be a good way to get your feet wet, so to speak.
it's easy to build and from easily available materials, it's easy to maintain, and there is little that can go wrong.

check out my imaginary garden and you will see nothing but DIY, DWC's, including a DIY cloner that is giving me near 100% success.

ya bozo i just read your entire log and its pretty sweet. im gonna b making a cloner the same way only i only need room for 4 clones. so it should be nice and easy. im gonna put my clones and a small rockwool and have the bubbles splash that and then transport to bigger rockwool in my drip system. how long do you wait before you start giving your sprouted plants nutes??

to WMAN i would stick to DWC as well. sounds like you really wouldnt even have to buy much. take a look at bozo's. very nice way of doing it. mines basically the same but im starting my plants on a drip system then moving them to DWC for flowering

here's a very easy, how-to to build your own DWC setups, cheaply ... :thumbsup:
AquaFarm ... :smokin:

thanks for the props italian, and if you're using DWC to flower, you don't need rockwool at all (i only use it to start seeds, works great for that, near 100% germ rate) other than that, i just use reusable hydroton throughout.

and an excellant link reaper, i wish i had found it when i was at the bottom of the learning curve, lol

so u just lay the roots down on top of a small layer of hydroton and then cover with hydroton?? and since im vegging in rockwool what is the best way to remove the plant from that?

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Originally Posted by italian04

so u just lay the roots down on top of a small layer of hydroton and then cover with hydroton?? and since im vegging in rockwool what is the best way to remove the plant from that?

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if you go back to my log to post #83 - #88, there is a full explaination with pics. if your potting up rooted cuttings into hydro, it's simple. if they are already in rockwool cubes, take a net pot, put a single layer of hydroton in the bottom and then set your rockwool cube on top of that layer of hydroton, then just bury the rockwool in hydroton, when you're done, you don't want to see the rockwool.
do not try to remove the plant from the rockwool cube, you will seriously, probably fataly, damage the roots.

like i said before though, if you're using DWC to flower, all you need is a cloner like mine (the same principles, it doesn't have to be exactly the same) and you will have all the rooted cuttings you want, and without rockwool.

save your rockwool cubes to start seeds with and just pot your rooted clones into net pots filled with hydroton and grow baby grow.

your goals seem very similar to mine, i plan a SOG myself, with very little veg time before flower, i want to harvest 4 clones per week and i hope to average 10 grams per clone, more than i can smoke (if i do half that i will consider it well worth the effort, especially after i buy myself some quality genetics)

anyway, i'm still a newbie myself, this is my first attempt at hydro and only my second grow over all but i've learned a lot in the last year and i think my set-up is gonna produce very well for me.

i'll be posting an update on my log soon as i have found one confirmed female so far, i have 3 more donor plants to check and i can begin production with my bagbean strains.

thanks for all the replies but my i've already ruled out dwc as my air pump is def. not suffecient for the kinda bubbles i would want
i think it would work to oxygenate a rezzie though.
so i'll go with an ebb and flow.
would a piece coir and perlite substrate work well in an ebb and flow?
the reason i ask is because my buddy that moved mendocino co about a year ago and he said alot of people use it because of its easy to deal with ph.

hey man i found a badasss pump on craigslist...u would b surprised at what u can find on there. as for bozo thats exactly what i plan on doing. im gonna make a clone bin just like urs....great idea. after u take the clone out of the foam. do u put it straight in hydroton in a net pot?

italian04 im not trying to be a dick but please stop using my thread to have a personal conversation with someone with information that is irrelevant to what im trying to figure out.
peace and happy growing:hippy:

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Originally Posted by wman44

would a piece coir and perlite substrate work well in an ebb and flow?
the reason i ask is because my buddy that moved mendocino co about a year ago and he said alot of people use it because of its easy to deal with ph.

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I'd first look into Hydroton pebbles.
There are a couple reasons for this:
-Perlite does have a lot of particles that can clog pumps
-It's not easy to clean and re-use, and is VERy obvious as a waste product
-The coir baskets IMO are better suited to a constantly moving system. I like to minimize materials in a system that cannot be completely sterilized.
-The pH of hydroton starts high but your first step in 'setting' it is to build your system and before putting in any plants, run the pumps for a few days to both check for function, timing, and leaks, and to keep adjusting the pH of your res down to 5.8-6.0. It will climb for the first couple days, but once it is stable, IT'S STABLE. And the clay balls are 100% washable and re-useable. So you're, like, saving the planet too, maaaan.
Now go hug a tree:hippy:

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Originally Posted by stinkyattic

I'd first look into Hydroton pebbles.
-The pH of hydroton starts high but your first step in 'setting' it is to build your system and before putting in any plants, run the pumps for a few days to both check for function, timing, and leaks, and to keep adjusting the pH of your res down to 5.8-6.0. It will climb for the first couple days, but once it is stable, IT'S STABLE. And the clay balls are 100% washable and re-useable. So you're, like, saving the planet too, maaaan.
Now go hug a tree:hippy:

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So when setting up the hydroton for the 1st time how often do you adjust the ph? daily, or more? and I assume this is just with water adjusted to the correct ph. I am just getting set up for my 1st grow. What about all the brown that washes off the hydroton. I have run 3) 15 gallon tubs of just well water thru 40lbs for about an hour each and I am still getting a lot of color out of the hydro. I guess I have not flushed it enough. I will adjust the ph on the water next also.
Thanks for this site, it will save a lot of headaches, I have been trolling it for about a week now, learning all I can.

Don't rule out the DWC yet...especially not because of the airpump.

I have a DWC going right now and it's exploding!!!

The airpump i'm using is this: Top Fin® XP Air Pumps - Air Pumps & Accessories - PetSmart

it's the dual outlet xp-125. I have 4 plants in my 14 gallon tub...it's a little tight for space and i'll soon be moving to individual 5 gallon buckets...but the pump is doing great. i'm running 4 5inch air stones off of it. Each plant/netpot has an airstone hanging 2 inches below it so it is just blasting the roots with lil bubbles. the roots are massive and the plants are THRIVING. and this is only my third grow.

super easy. super low maintanance. no pump timer...i love it. DWC all the way!!!

thanks for listening.
Skeet

im doin DWC and got mine in 2gal buckets and 6 in net pots. alot less nutes to use and for flowering i will just move them to the flowing section. the plants seem to love it!! my first DWC grow!