Zandor, Latewood, & anyone with Aero/Hydro experience

[Zandor]

1. Do different hydroponic systems run at different ph and ppm levels? Like if you took several clones and put one in aero one in dwc etc etc (I'm assuming this is all things similar besides the actually culture ie CO2, ventilation etc) would they basically run different ph and ppm or pretty much the same respectively in each onet throughout the grow?

No; in Hydroponics the Ph is all the same range. The plant grown, the strain grown and the cycle of life the plant is in dedicates the Ph. Ph can and will change every 6 hours or so in a common hydroponic setup. In some systems it may change more often then in others but again that is normal.

2. If they are different does the droplet size affect the ppm? Again clones in different setups one at 20 microns and another at 100 microns

No the droplet size will affect the amount of oxygen produced by the capillary action of the water falling into the reservoir in some systems.

3. I know ppm starts low but how low 0 - 150? I have only a basic understanding of osmosis but it would seem that 0 ppm water would tend to pull out nutrients if a plant root cell has 100ppm water...so would 100-150 be better to start or is just plain RO water the best?

PPM above 150 I consider hard water and you should use the hard water micro. But in RO water it's normal to start under 50 PPM and most of the time around 25 PPM is the average. The RO process does remove minerals that the plant does need yes. But it also removed many other minerals in the water that the plant does not need either. Look for one of the back shows of The Grow Report. I did a special show on RO water you may want to listen to.

4. PH...Where to start...I'm currently at 5.9 and have kept between 5.8-6.0 so far but Zandor posted in Crash420's hydro help thread that 5.2-5.5 is the range for hydroponics...is that the range to start at and keep through seedling, veg, flower, & flush?(Does that range account for nutrient needs of different stages compared to ph vs nute uptake charts) Like is it just that simple it's 5.2-5.5 period...or should you adjust ph as you progress (ie gradually drop down by like .1 per day till you get to 5.2-5.5 and eventually flush/harvest from there) or is there a basic ph range for each of the 4 stages *seedling, veg, flower, flush*?

Yes you can change the PH to suit the cycle of life your plant is in. There is a chart in the FAQ section that will show you the different amounts of minerals available to the plant at any given PH range. For most strains 5-2 - 5.5 is optimal range, but for other strains it's 5.6 - 6.0 so the largest problem is knowing what your strain is looking for. With all the crosses out there is no more set number to use. Each strain can require different ranges, minerals and nutrients and it's up to the grower to figure that out. Yes this plant does go through many different cycles in its life and the skilled gardener will watch for those signs of change and stay ahead of them. This type of grower spends a lot of time in his/her garden and knows the plants well. They grow more yield them the average grower and a higher quality in the end.

Since this is my first water grow I've been just using information I can read online I'm at Day 16 of flower and if 5.2-5.5 is definitively the best way to go in practical application I'll definately trust those with experience rather than random charts haha thanks for any help in advance

Personally I would try moving the PH range up to 5.8 to 6.0 but then again it does depend on your PPM as well and how often do you change out all the nutrients too. Every 7-10 days is best for most strains and will avoid most problems. There are times when every 5 days is best too so you need to watch your plants, keep notes and study their growth habits.
Hydroponics is way more work then dirt farming so I hope you are ready for the extra work load.

I hope that helps you some.

Happy growing