My First Hydro Setup

I'm for sure going to invest in one of those big pumps eventually but I know up to now each of these will have 160lph or 2.6lpm which I'm sure I read somewhere that a minimum of 5 was ideal, so am I right in thinking the bigger that air pump the faster the growth can be?
The good thing about those pumps on top of being silent is if you buy a large manifold it leaves you room to expand in the future if you ever wanted to. Many things help get and keep D/O in your mix. Nutrient temp/air pump/waterfall effect. These all help pack the mix with D/O. The H2O2 also releases o2 into the nutrient mix as well. All of these will all help the plant grow faster. Sorry about the short answer but there is much more to this but I have to start work in 10 mins:( Play safe
 
So I have transplanted the pellets into the rockwool cubes and put a minimum amount of water in the base to help draw the roots down.

I've got a white board I'm thinking of cutting down and to fit above the oxy pots with two whole through for plant stems in order to keep the reservoir cool as well as well reflect the light back, I could also put a ventilation system spread across the board, maybe 4" pipe with a 6" fan.

 
That's some great growth, I'm hoping if I put 1 or 2 air stones under these two cubes it will give better growth but if no idea as this is my first time around, what ppm level do you run at in the first few week's?
 
Just a little update on the new setup in just created, I washed some clay pebbles out from being new then put them in my base of my aero cloner then burried two air stones then put my rockwool cubes on top, the cube isn't submerged in the water but the air bubbles to make it wet so at least they aren't getting drenched.

The water I filled it with was ph'd at 5.5 so I imagine the water will rise in ph over the few days with the air stones running but I do plan on only filling it twice before putting them into there final oxy pots.

I'm quite enjoying growing this time around even though there seedlings in still managing to get things sorted a long the way.






 
That's interesting, I was thinking of doing something similar with a small bucket for my little cube too.
 
Well I'm sure I can give you a better view off its progress in a few days, I'm sure it will work with the air stones being in close contact with the new roots.

I could actually maybe but both net pots in this tank and grow the roots down a few inches then into the pots, not that it's going to cut time out but room in sure it will.
 
That's some great growth, I'm hoping if I put 1 or 2 air stones under these two cubes it will give better growth but if no idea as this is my first time around, what ppm level do you run at in the first few week's?
Hey man with those cubes don’t let them sit in water. When I use 4 inch cubes I flood my table about half way up the cube then in drains completely. When I run cubes I set my timers to come on every 6 hrs however this can very due to environmental heat and air flow in your situation. I would guess you could let them go longer between watering. I literally just let the roots sit on the bottom of the tray even when the tray is dry between flooding. No air Stones required.

Something like above. Cubes can b a little tricky until you get a feel for them. You r growing from seed so don’t over water and try to flood from the bottom only half way up the cube then empty the try out completely. it Is very easy to drown a seedling. As far as ppm goes maybe just bottled water with a ppm around 150 for the first few weeks. I would not go any higher on the ppm than 250 or 300 for a seed until it gets a few sets of leaves on them. Also maybe try to keep th RH between 60 and 70 for the first few days/weeks if possible. I hope this helps and my ramblings haven’t confused you because I confuse myself sometimes Lmao. What can I say I’m a stoner.
 
Well I'm sure I can give you a better view off its progress in a few days, I'm sure it will work with the air stones being in close contact with the new roots.

I could actually maybe but both net pots in this tank and grow the roots down a few inches then into the pots, not that it's going to cut time out but room in sure it will.
I have never used an oxy pot. What is the difference between oxy pot and a DWC bucket??
 
I think an oxy pot is just another fancy word for a few bucket, as it's only a bucket, net pot and bubbler.

Yeah I will take that ppm into consideration, the cubes are roughly level with the water height of maybe just a little lower but there not physically in there but I imagine the water will evaporate over the next few days, I've also turned my bubbler off as my air pump is loud but I think I will put it on a timer for 12h a day.

I'm thinking of ordering some House and Garden Roots Excelurator for roots later this week too.
 
I think an oxy pot is just another fancy word for a few bucket, as it's only a bucket, net pot and bubbler.

Yeah I will take that ppm into consideration, the cubes are roughly level with the water height of maybe just a little lower but there not physically in there but I imagine the water will evaporate over the next few days, I've also turned my bubbler off as my air pump is loud but I think I will put it on a timer for 12h a day.

I'm thinking of ordering some House and Garden Roots Excelurator for roots later this week too.
K ya I looked at a few of them. No reason the plants will not explode in there. I love hydro and coming from a long and strong soil back round I can say I ain’t going back. However I still have my 3 moms in soil but that’s it. Aero cloner for clones into flood and drain table for veg and into RDWC for flower. You will love it just find what works for you be patient because lessons cost money and good ones cost lots lol but when you get locked it’s down right simple and The yields r fantastic.
 
Yeah I have just came from soil, I did enjoy the less amount of watering but I lost a lot in yield I think, I was getting 20+oz to every 4x4 in coco down to 10-15 which is pretty poor so now if I can perfect 2-3 perfect dwc grows with roughly the same outcome every time I will just have one schedule just like you say find something that works for me.

As for yields, I'm hoping for at least 10oz from each time I grow whether it's 1 or 2 pots of I can manage perfect a 2x4 space then at least I know for the next future bigger grows.

I would like to keep one plant as a mother either in soil or try some more coco and which ever of these two seedlings turn out the better pheno and try my best to create a small bonsai style plant as it's only for 1-2 clones every 8 weeks it should work out pretty well and I will run this strain until next November, December then find another strain to try and compete with yields on.

So when I work anything out I do it in numbers as I can't see any other way lol this is my numbers for yield to try and attempt.

I will be using 2x 250w hps lights = 500w, but, depending on the way there looking I may either buy 2 315w lights or Mars Hydro SP250.

For 10oz it would be 35g per sqft at 62.5g of light which is a little over 0.5g per watt and for 15oz I'd need 53g per sqft.

If read loads of websites on review sites where they are getting 14+oz per plant under a 600w hps in a 1 pot setup but you don't know whether there actually telling the truth as it seems a lot of people over exaggerate these days with there apparent yields.

I'm ordering another oxy pot setup this Friday as I think and hope I can get them transplanted into them next week.

So this is the latest photo of them and even though there seedlings I can see good growth up to now, I'm adding my Co2 Dispenser later today and dealing the tent up so temps may hit around 28-30c so at least this way the Co2 will benefit them.

 
Yeah I have just came from soil, I did enjoy the less amount of watering but I lost a lot in yield I think, I was getting 20+oz to every 4x4 in coco down to 10-15 which is pretty poor so now if I can perfect 2-3 perfect dwc grows with roughly the same outcome every time I will just have one schedule just like you say find something that works for me.

As for yields, I'm hoping for at least 10oz from each time I grow whether it's 1 or 2 pots of I can manage perfect a 2x4 space then at least I know for the next future bigger grows.

I would like to keep one plant as a mother either in soil or try some more coco and which ever of these two seedlings turn out the better pheno and try my best to create a small bonsai style plant as it's only for 1-2 clones every 8 weeks it should work out pretty well and I will run this strain until next November, December then find another strain to try and compete with yields on.

So when I work anything out I do it in numbers as I can't see any other way lol this is my numbers for yield to try and attempt.

I will be using 2x 250w hps lights = 500w, but, depending on the way there looking I may either buy 2 315w lights or Mars Hydro SP250.

For 10oz it would be 35g per sqft at 62.5g of light which is a little over 0.5g per watt and for 15oz I'd need 53g per sqft.

If read loads of websites on review sites where they are getting 14+oz per plant under a 600w hps in a 1 pot setup but you don't know whether there actually telling the truth as it seems a lot of people over exaggerate these days with there apparent yields.

I'm ordering another oxy pot setup this Friday as I think and hope I can get them transplanted into them next week.

So this is the latest photo of them and even though there seedlings I can see good growth up to now, I'm adding my Co2 Dispenser later today and dealing the tent up so temps may hit around 28-30c so at least this way the Co2 will benefit them.

Looking good over there. I myself have never grown a 14 Oz plant(dry) and I run a 1000watt hps beside a HLG 550 v2. I can do 8 Oz per plant depending on the strain pretty easily on a 8 week stain. I only run 8 week strains and I suppose if you grew a 6 foot plant like a 12 week stain 14 Ozs may be possible. Your plants look good keep doing what your doing it will pay off with a great yield. FYI I checked my journal and it was day 7 I saw roots pop out the bottom of the cube. Something to look forward to lol. I grow from clone so you may get there a little quicker.
 
That's what I mean if seen lots of people boast about them high yields but every time I see there scales pictures but they always seem to have wet bud on there.

I think 8oz would seem a good yield under those lights I mean my highest yield from one plant in coco was just a fraction over 5oz.

How fast is the growth compared to growing in soil?
 
So I have a few options on how I'm going to train these two, the only reason I'm getting this sorted so soon is that if I plan ahead of what I'm going to do it helps me as I also have a semi busy and difficult private life so escaping into these journals really help me out.

So firstly I could just wait till the 5-6th node then LST the main stem over so I can guarantee for at least 10 nodes, this would mean having to install 2 training screens, one screen for the overall tying down of the stem then another screen to even and spread the cola stems/canopy.

Secondly I could top at the 2-3rd node and top each new growth stem once more time this will create between 8-12 main stems and only requiring 1 screen to even out the canopy.

Thirdly I could top and train the canopy into a scrog, so instead of using 100x100mm scrog netting I would use 50x50mm for a more dense foliage canopy, I could train the plants to be around 4-8" above the top of pot meaning a much lower canopy that could help with heat in the long run for bigger light setups.

Lastly I could just grow the plant up to 10 -14" then bend the top 4-6" over so the canopy is even, wait until the whole canopy is at least 3" of stem growth as well as even.

So I have a few options that all equal the same of needing 140g from each plant, each plant gets its own light coverage of exactly 2x2ft which I'm hoping will make a great difference but I can't see me achieving anymore than 35g per sqft, I achieved 35g in a 4x4 but the canopy was very dense but not so many leaves and some of the colas were long and drooped over others, I will be buying to new full spectrum bulbs for the beginning of flower to try help too.
 
That's what I mean if seen lots of people boast about them high yields but every time I see there scales pictures but they always seem to have wet bud on there.

I think 8oz would seem a good yield under those lights I mean my highest yield from one plant in coco was just a fraction over 5oz.

How fast is the growth compared to growing in soil?
Honestly no comparison to soil. Hands down much faster growth in hydro. The biggest thing is the consistency as well as the speed of the growth with hydro. I have no problem at all filling my 10 by 5 scrog every time with my 2 lights effortlessly.
With a little training of the ladies early on then scrog and boom completely full canopy every time. You have 2 lights as well So your par readings should be very consistent over your space. You got this man once you run it a few times and tweak your grow to your style you will b banging out great numbers as well. Maybe not the 14 Ozs you have seen but you will b fine. Just keep doing what your doing and hopefully soon some roots will show out the bottom then off to the races.
 
So I have a few options on how I'm going to train these two, the only reason I'm getting this sorted so soon is that if I plan ahead of what I'm going to do it helps me as I also have a semi busy and difficult private life so escaping into these journals really help me out.

So firstly I could just wait till the 5-6th node then LST the main stem over so I can guarantee for at least 10 nodes, this would mean having to install 2 training screens, one screen for the overall tying down of the stem then another screen to even and spread the cola stems/canopy.

Secondly I could top at the 2-3rd node and top each new growth stem once more time this will create between 8-12 main stems and only requiring 1 screen to even out the canopy.

Thirdly I could top and train the canopy into a scrog, so instead of using 100x100mm scrog netting I would use 50x50mm for a more dense foliage canopy, I could train the plants to be around 4-8" above the top of pot meaning a much lower canopy that could help with heat in the long run for bigger light setups.

Lastly I could just grow the plant up to 10 -14" then bend the top 4-6" over so the canopy is even, wait until the whole canopy is at least 3" of stem growth as well as even.

So I have a few options that all equal the same of needing 140g from each plant, each plant gets its own light coverage of exactly 2x2ft which I'm hoping will make a great difference but I can't see me achieving anymore than 35g per sqft, I achieved 35g in a 4x4 but the canopy was very dense but not so many leaves and some of the colas were long and drooped over others, I will be buying to new full spectrum bulbs for the beginning of flower to try help too.
I can only tell you how I go about training but really it’s all about being able to work your space comfortably. In veg shorty after transplanted I top between nodes 5 and 8. Around a week later t start LST. I keep bending and training my plants never letting them grow above 12 inches. Once I flip into flower I Lst again as now I am in bigger netpots. I keep bending them for the first 2 weeks here and there. Now they have been spread wide with LST. I let them grow and about the third week I deploy the scrog and as they fill in and as the stretch finishes I keep tucking. About week 5 I just let them finish to a plant around 3 to 4 feet with roughly 8 Ozs(dry). With different strains this may vary but in my case not much. The bulbs, don’t go cheap here or you will notice a difference. I run these.
If you r planning on scroging keep in mind between week 2 and 6 of flower you may b adding up to 4 liters of water every 24 hrs. A scrog may make topping off the bucket hard when they r plowing through water. Do you have to lift the plant out to check ph and ppm and water level?? I have to ask because I have never seen a oxy pot in action.
 
I have a little inspection hole on the top of the pot it's not the biggest but I am planning on buying one of those Blue Lab ph/ppm/ec reader so then at least on not constantly in and out of it with a ph/ppm pen.

I do plan on raising my pot 4-6" from the start so once the canopy is filled in up too I can slide the 4-6" stand out from the base of pot to expose the roots and inside of pot, plus there's a clear water level indication pipe on the front that I can turn and drain the tank so this will be perfect when I change the res during the week as I'm thinking I can run ph'd water through and let it run out then ph and adjust my ppm in a separate tank and pump it in, sounds like it will take a fair amount of time to sort out but I have the time and I think by doing this 2-3 times a week could probably benefit the plant being a fresh reservoir.

I suppose I will have to see how fast the growth is on these two to decide on what I do but I do have 35-40 days of veg time from today to be able to get a harvest in just before christmas.

As for bulbs I do go for super hps bulbs too but only ever tried the basic brands but like you said the par readings will be good, depending on the heat situation I could possibly run two 315w lights or turn one of the ballasts up to 400w but I don't see why i would need to as I don't think 35g+ per sqft is possible with my growing at the moment but maybe in time I could achieve 1.5g per watt.
 
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