Mars Hydro 5-Gallon DWC Hydroponic System - Continuous Feed?

[Zeefarmer]

ZeeFarmer is running aeroponics,

No I am not.

 

[Sativa1970]

No I am not.

My bad, looked like an aeroponics system in the pic with the roots exposed to air and being sprayed. what is it then?

 

[Zeefarmer]

My bad, looked like an aeroponics system in the pic with the roots exposed to air and being sprayed. what is it then?

Some of those photos of mine are when the system is getting a reservoir change or just checking ppm's and PH when the tanks need more water.
I was wanting
The blue PEX line or hose coming off the Danner 175 GPH pond pumps will not generate enough PSI to operate sprayer nozzles, I can drill smaller holes , BUT IF YOU GET ANY ROOT ROT THE SPRAYERS AND THE SMALL HOLES WILL PLUG UP.
I was in the hospital,for 2 weeks had someone watching my plants .
The AC system failed ,The plants my tanks got hot and 1/3 of my plants died on the spot the other got root rot.
I got them to uptake water again, only after large amounts of hydro guard and changing the pump filters twice a day
I was wanting Ke0ncp to see what healthy roots look like and their mass.

My hydroponic systems are changing/evolving . expanding the water capacity from 20 gallons per plant one tank to
60 gallons for two plants , ( three 20 gallon totes, connected with 2 pond pumps in the middle tank pumping water to the two outer tanks) which have the plants in them )
Two plants per 4x8 tent. I have converted a large refrigerator into a chiller and will be pumping cool glycol through the middle tank ,
I would love make the system into a aeroponic system but to have the system properly drain into a 40 or 60 gallon reservoir and trying to keep the plants grow container low in the grow tent so the plants can only grow 2.5 ffeet to 3 foot max is a little tricky.
I tried the GH AF 20 aeroponic system ,, total disaster, the root mass plugged up the fence post,
only the first plant lived and it ran the water out into the tent.
You can see the system in the back ground.

Normal water levels

 

[Sativa1970]

My first try at hydro was a similar gutter system back in the 80's. Went so poorly that I didn't want to try any hydro again for a decade. After killing the plants in it, the damn thing fell over and killed the plants next to it.

 

[Ke0ncp]

My first and only hydro was in the mid ‘90’s. We had no idea what we were doing but somehow made it to harvest. Nothing spectacular by any means but we made it!

 

[Sativa1970]

I was set up in my uncles, home green house with my first hydro. He was head of nutrient spectral analysis research for Monsanto AGs greenhouse lab. Brilliant scientist with absolute monster plants, but a terrible teacher for a novice. Also didn't help that my scrawny dying plants looked like they were handing over there lunch money every day to the monsters he had growing in that same room.

 

[Ke0ncp]

Those of you using Hydro-Guard how often are you adding?

 

[Delps8]

Those of you using Hydro-Guard how often are you adding?

I add it when I do a new res.

 

[LKABudMan]

Those of you using Hydro-Guard how often are you adding?

When I was doing DWC I added every time I changed the res. In RDWC I add Hydroguard every 5-7 days and alternate with Flying Skull z7 (an enzymatic cleanser - makes small particles stick together and fall out of solution).

 

[Ke0ncp]

Ok so PGC ladies came down yesterday, that was a TASK!!

Anyhoo, time to get my thoughts and plan together for my first DWC grow. I’m feeling as though I am way underprepared but I am committed to getting it going in the next 2 weeks.

I think I only have to make a hole on the lids of each container so that I can drop in a submergible pump for draining. And possible install site tubes to watch water levels, unless there is a better way as site tubes will add light which will add funky growth I am thinking?

So for the hole on the lid, cutting of that is easy, but for those of you that subscribe to this method, how are you covering that hole so that light isn’t getting into the reservoir?

Same thing for water levels in the reservoir, how do you monitor that?

Also is there an air gap between water surface and the baskets and if so how much of a gap?


I guess I should also ask how everyone keeps their reservoirs water temp in control or is it a non issue?


Thanks a ton!

 

[Delps8]

Ok so PGC ladies came down yesterday, that was a TASK!!

Anyhoo, time to get my thoughts and plan together for my first DWC grow. I’m feeling as though I am way underprepared but I am committed to getting it going in the next 2 weeks.

I think I only have to make a hole on the lids of each container so that I can drop in a submergible pump for draining. And possible install site tubes to watch water levels, unless there is a better way as site tubes will add light which will add funky growth I am thinking?

So for the hole on the lid, cutting of that is easy, but for those of you that subscribe to this method, how are you covering that hole so that light isn’t getting into the reservoir?

Same thing for water levels in the reservoir, how do you monitor that?

Also is there an air gap between water surface and the baskets and if so how much of a gap?


I guess I should also ask how everyone keeps their reservoirs water temp in control or is it a non issue?


Thanks a ton!

This is for the totes with the yellow tops?

You could just put a pump in the tote, run the electrical cord and a hose out of one hole in the top. I made a top for and cut 1 ½" holes in it. I'm using desk grommets but a cloth works just as well.

That's how I set up the pump to send water to the water chiller but that might work for your tote. Since you'll have a lot of roots in the res, you'll want a mesh bag around the pump. To stop the roots from wrapping around the bag and the pump, I put the pump in this plastic crate, and then put the crate in the mesh bag.

My weapon of choice for the res itself is a sump pump that empties the 28 gallons of nutes pretty in < 5 minutes. I need to fill a 32 gallon trash can with RO to mix the nutes, pump out the res, and then pump the nutes into the res so the $$ for the pump (and the hoses) was pretty much a necessity,

Water level - check out PA Hydro. They sell a gadget that might work for you. If not, you might want to cut a net pot sized hole (I use 4" net pots) in the res that you can use for dropping in the hoses for an external pump, for checking the res (should check to see that the air stones are working and that the roots are good), and you could also use it to check water. I have a steel ruler stuck into a 2" cork and, when I check water, I just drop the ruler+cork into the res and read the measurement off the ruler. In my res, each 3mm drop is 1 gallon, IIRC. I use an Excel spreadsheet and the formula uses a value of 0.12 gallons per mm.

If you make it the side of a net pot, you cn cover the hole with a net pot + a neoprene disk that they sell for net pots.

Water level - I bought my tent kit from SuperPonics and it included a "how to" DVD. Their advice is to keep the water level ½" below the net pot but they also sell reservoirs that have "top feed". Top feed has its own pump in the res and has tubing across the res top so all you have to do is switch on the pump and it sprays nute water into the net pot.

I removed the tubing on top of the res. I only grow one (now two) plants and having the extra pump + tubing for 12 net pots was a PITA. In its stead, I just hand water. It's only one (now two) plants so it only takes a minute to dip into the res (another reason to cut an "access port" hole in the res top) to dip a beaker into the res and pour the ute solution over the hydroton in the net pot.

PA Hydro kits are very well designed and, if I do another grow after my current grow, I'll be using their 13 gallon kit, 2 plants + an external res. The reason I bring them up is that, in their videos on YT, they recommend that you raise the water level up high enough to submerge the hydroton.

For the life of me, I can't figure out a reason to not do that. Not that hand watering is a big chore, granted, but if you raise the water level up, there's simply no need to even do hand watering.

Water temp - open.your.wallet. Yeh, water chiller's are not cheap but, unless you've got a chilly room, there's no other way to keep water temp at 68°. I use an Active Aqua which is spendy because it uses a titanium core in the cooler. It's not cheap but I bought it in 2017 for one grow and have had it running since 2021, now, and it's been flawless. I use a "Bennie" ("beneficial microbes") having started with Hydroguard but switch to Southern Ag something something. The Southern Ag bennies are incredibly concentrated so I diluted them and put them in…a Hydroguard bottle. Either one will do. In theory, if you keep water <70±, you don't need bennies but I prefer to spend the extra few $$ per grow and ensure that I'll never have root rot.

Many of the items that I've mentioned are in the first posting in my grow journals. The equipment list has changed somewhat over the years but the core equipment is pretty much the same.

 

[Ke0ncp]

This is for the totes with the yellow tops?

Yes

You could just put a pump in the tote, run the electrical cord and a hose out of one hole in the top. I made a top for and cut 1 ½" holes in it. I'm using desk grommets but a cloth works just as well.

I want an access hole so I will need to figure that out.

My weapon of choice for the res itself is a sump pump that empties the 28 gallons of nutes pretty in < 5 minutes. I need to fill a 32 gallon trash can with RO to mix the nutes, pump out the res, and then pump the nutes into the res so the $$ for the pump (and the hoses) was pretty much a necessity,

I’m going to just use a cheap submergible pond/aquarium pump and plop it in when it’s time for a res change.

Water level - check out PA Hydro. They sell a gadget

That’s pretty much what came with the mars hydro buckets I bought. I’m not going to worry about a water level indicator as I will have the access port to check that.

Water temp - open.your.wallet.

Ouch!! Frozen bottles of water are going to be my friend I see..

In the winter it’s easy to keep that room cool and the intake will blow right at the reservoirs. So I’m guessing it won’t be an issue this grow.

The “test” water sitting in that room right now is 61.3° and the window that is open in that room has a big box fan sucking air outside. So it’s not getting any cool air from there.

I will have to keep a close eye on that!

 

[Delps8]

Yes

I want an access hole so I will need to figure that out.

I’m going to just use a cheap submergible pond/aquarium pump and plop it in when it’s time for a res change.

That’s pretty much what came with the mars hydro buckets I bought. I’m not going to worry about a water level indicator as I will have the access port to check that.

Ouch!! Frozen bottles of water are going to be my friend I see..

In the winter it’s easy to keep that room cool and the intake will blow right at the reservoirs. So I’m guessing it won’t be an issue this grow.

The “test” water sitting in that room right now is 61.3° and the window that is open in that room has a big box fan sucking air outside. So it’s not getting any cool air from there.

I will have to keep a close eye on that!

A hole the size of a 4" net pot is a usable size. I cut a larger hole in my original res top and ended up not using it.

When it comes time to swap the res, you could just lift the top and drop the pump in. That way you don't have to futz with getting a hole big enough for the pump. Just dropping it in will be pretty quick.

Re. water chiller $$ - yeh, that's a chunk of change but frozen water bottles will get old very quickly.

61.3° is too cold for a res—not sure if that's what you were thinking. Colder water holds more oxygen but at 64°, potassium uptake rolls off so you want to stay north of that. I use 68° and it works out well.

For bennies, I just found the directions for mixing the Southern Ag Garden Friendly Biological Fungicide, compliments of @Wastei who recommended it"

"I would mix ~1.5ml GFF(98%) to 1 gallon water to make Hydroguard (0.038%) and then follow their recommendations 2 ml per gallon. It's pretty neat since they contain the same bacteria strain. If stored properly it will last you years instead of grows."

Hydrogaurd has a relatively short expiration date. The Southern Ag product is far more concentrated and, per above, lasts quite some time.

 

[Sativa1970]

I just cut a 5 inch access hole in the lid. big enough to fit my fore arm in. Set a black coffee can lid over it to keep debris and light out. I can see the water level, grab a sample cup for testing and drop the pump in only when needed. Since the pump doesn't live in there roots are less of an issue. Lifting the lid gets heavy and a chance at breaking a branch.

The hydrotone stays dry after the roots hit the water. Roots in the net are taking up air while you are promoting root growth down in the nutrient rich water. Light and moisture promote algae and mold so you want light hitting dry hydrotone. The humid mist in the res air is enough to promote roots growing to the edge of the net pot then down.

My small starter 1-3 gallon buckets on a shelf in the heat of the summer are the only ones that ever get warm. Large surface area on a concrete basement floor makes a good 67F heat sink. I move the air pump out of the room to bubble cooler air through the water in summer. We get 2 weeks of -15F and 2 weeks of 105F here. Rarely need to cool the res but I place them on insulation board with an aquarium heater most winters. Bellow 63F growth stops over 70F you start risking fungus because the water becomes anaerobic. Increased aeration will create aerobic environment, lower temp by evaporation and increase fungal resistance. At 75F it is near impossible to keep the water aerobic so fungus can start to grow in the environment. Mid 60s to low 70s is the target.

 

[Ke0ncp]

We have similar weather patterns and my res will be on a carpeted basement floor. So I will have to keep an eye on temps and pop a heater in there if needed.