hydroponics??

[high_hopes25]

Hello I've done some research on hydroponics but what I'm confused on is when using it for example I intend to use the bubbler system how do you keep the roots from drowning and make sure they can still get their water?

high_hopes25 Reviewed by high_hopes25 on 05-10-2012. hydroponics?? Hello I've done some research on hydroponics but what I'm confused on is when using it for example I intend to use the bubbler system how do you keep the roots from drowning and make sure they can still get their water? Rating: 5

[high_hopes25]

Reason I ask is I know that with a soil medium you have to watch for over watering the plants so why is it not the same with hydro?

[Skihigh]

The reason the roots aren't drowned in hydro is that you are keeping the water oxygenated either by bubbling it or by keeping it in constant motion. Or both.
When you over water soil plants, the water in the pot is mostly just standing there and not allowing air (oxygen) to the roots.
Go ahead and get your bubbler set up and give it a go...You'll be surprised how easy it is...About the only thing that you can really do wrong is over nute.
You gotta be pretty careful about the res. temp, But other than that it's a piece of cake!..........J

[high_hopes25]

ok thanks a bunch

[robincog]

Yep - the bubbles are there to stop the drowning.

I am n00b too but just completed a successful first grow on a bubbler system. I used an 8 gallon dark tote to do two plants. From my clones I am looking to do four next time and that should hold me for over a year and I can put all my grow stuff away. After much reading too I prefer hydro as it just seems simpler to me but big on start-up costs. My total cost for my set-up was $400 with some home built stuff. You can see part of my set-up here http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...ml#post2223144

So about $45 at Home Depot for the tote, light sockets, blue and red CFLs to switch for veg and flowering. $75 for grow tent from eBay. $30 for air pumps and stones (I run two pumps, one large round stone and two smaller stones on the sides), $10 for net cups, rock wool and hyrdroton, $45 for a thermometer with two probes, ppm meter, ec meter and ph meter, $30 for that cheap LED light which seems to do nothing but add some light spectrum, $20 for a bottle each of ph up and ph down, about $140 in nutes (I used FoxFarms system, which I have enough still for my second grow), and finally $40 for six white widow feminized seeds.

I started the grow with the water about an inch up the pots (6.5 gallons in my tote) until the roots were developed. I put a layer of hydroton and then the rock wool. I dropped the water to about an inch below the pots (5-5.5 gallons) when the roots developed. From the two plants I got a good ounce so it is about break-even for my neck of the woods and I didn't have to worry about a dealer/etc.

The only problem I had from the post above was I got nute burn from following Fox Farms' schedule. Half their recommended amounts was more like it. This time I am using a smaller "shoe box" plastic tote to incubate the clones until the roots develop to save on the amount of nutes used. I only have 1.5 gallons of water to treat vs. the 6.5 in the big tote ... it saves a ton on nutrient costs.

Was it it a pain - not really. I would check ph and nute levels nearly every other day during the first six weeks and then twice a week after that.

[Dublinair]

yeah hydroponics can be a pain to get the hang of but once you do it's totally the way to go

[mrumley]

we just cleaned out our flower room because we had a slew of hermies come into maturity. We will use these for wax extraction but in the mean time, while we set up the room all clean and sanitary, what should i really look for to make sure hermies don't happen again? I have read that pre-flowers make a difference, but sometimes, all look like females when we put into flower, and it isn't until harvest that we start to see the seeds. Should I focus more on when buds are growing, should I look inside the bud, on the bottom, top???? I don't want another batch of hermies because our last crop ended up all hermies (26 plants or more) I want to try to do everything I can to make sure this doesn't happen again. I wiped down room with water and lysol, vacuumed, cleaned all the tubs inside and out, wiped all power cords, ac and heater, all of it has been cleaned. Just want to know how often to check and where on the plant to check. Thank you :rasta:

[mrumley]

I have recently read about adding nutrients to re-circulated mixes....but I am not sure what this means. We grow hydro and have 20 gallon res. tanks. We clean them every 3-6 weeks but I add nutrients every other week and mag every week. When I add to nutrients to tubs that already have nutrients, could this be confusing the plant or harming it? Should I clean tubs every time I add nutrient? I never check the ph before i add nutrients but it never fails that we add ph down every day or every other day, is there a reason our ph is fluctuating so much and is there a way to stabilize it? Another question about salt ppm....we have a digital reader which I was using religiously but was having trouble controlling the salt. Is there an easy way to lower salt in our tubs? Nutrients really shoot the ppm up, sometimes way above 2000 ppm in the veg room. Does anyone have suggestions on lowering salt? And stabilizing ph?
Thanks So Much :smokin: