Quote Originally Posted by Mother
I AM using hydroton without having given it an acid bath. The guys at the hydro strore said hydroton was the best media, and didn't say anything about soaking it...

(Best = We got choke dis stuff. Gotta move it!)
I guess they expected you to read the instructions on the bag, ya?

I have less and less confidence in their advice every time I ask for it. They also said that no fungicide (like Botanicare Hydroguard) was necessary because of the constant aeration of DWC. Is that correct?

Dunno how correct dat is or isn't.
I use no fungicide.
My water temp can hit 90 F. in the outside tubs.
Never had root rot, so far.

The aeration is major!
I have my airpumps on a Battery back-up.

MJ will survive without light for weeks, if it has to.
But, depending on transpiration and tub size, a few hours of no air can be fatal!

Right now my mix is:
1/4 strength Pure Blend Pro Grow
1/4 strength Maxicrop
full strength Hygrozyme
full strength Liquid Karma
pH down as necessary to reach 5.5

Does this sound reasonable?

Probably. I'm no nute expert.

I'm a minimalist.

Since I discovered that the highly revered SuperThrive was total B.S., I've avoided all the "goodie-grow-fast" snake oil out there.
My buckets contain water, CalMag, and Dyna-grow or Dyna-bloom at between 700 and 1200 ppm and two airstones.
PH north and south of 5.6.
That seems to do O.K.
[attachment=o212690]

Was still a li'l "fluffy for my taste, so I added some CO2, lowered the ambient temps and gave 'em a little more blue.
I'll have some budporn in another 3 weeks or so.

So 1" of hydroton in the bottom then fill with coco coir? Do I need to condition the coir as well? Just a rinse, or a soak, or a treatment?

You don't actually need to use coco once the hydrotron is conditioned properly.
I use it because the 'tron is a royal PITA to play with.
Gets loose everywhere . Hurts bare feet and crushes to a gritty staining powder under shoes.

Coco is PH neutral but contains no nutes or beni-bacteria
Treat it like hydro.
(If you treat it like soil, things get ugly fast.)
I always add about an 1/8 strength nutes to the first wetting
unless it's for seedlings

Thanks for the advice, and sorry if I ask too many questions!

Not at all.
How do you think I learned?

First, I read all the FAQs here.
Then I pestered every good grower I could find.
Stinky Attic and Weedhound were very patient with me.


I bet a lot of people worked their asses off to get this site back running, and although they'll probably not hear it, I appreciate their hard work!

Amen! I used to do data recovery and network repairs.
I don't miss living with other people's panic attacks.

I was wondering where everyone was hanging out. I googled some of your names, but I couldn't find anything for you or sal or dogz, so I just hung out waiting for this site to resurrect itself.
Sal n Dogz never showed up at IC Mag, just Knna and most of the real growers.
LED-wise, you didn't miss much.

Aloha, Ma.
Weezard