Read the thread... Lots of good info, not sure about alot of stuff though. Below is a summary - thinking I'm about ready to give something similar a try.
Lights:
{Didn’t find much on lights that was clear enough got me to be use. I’m thinking of trying a less expensive LED grow light in the 400w range for volume, then for each plant adding a white 50 W light during veging, and then adding a soft white for flowering/fruiting (50-Watt White LED Retrofit Downlights, in white and soft-white variations in the Lowes store).}
Light Sequence:
{Not sure, 16/8 until start of flowering, tapering to 12/12 after eventually reaching 10/14.}
Nute Type:
“In my Cloning maching I have switched to Straight water with only Nut being Clone X
Switched from DM to a great dry product for both veg and BLOOM”
{Cannot find a reference to what the product is…}
Nute Sequence:
“A big part of the problem is ppms; most people use 2-3+ times more nutes than plants can use. High P plays a huge factor in CREATING rez toxicity
Bubbler / cloning: I drained led bubbler, replaced with ~ 270ppm.
VEG I start with ~ 200ppm, by 3rd week ~ 420. I initiate flower by increasing to 500+ ppm. When I see preflowers I begin to lower the light cycle times
FLOWER Where most drop light to 12/12*, I reduce by ~ 1 hour per week, simultaneously increasing ppm to ~ 600, increasing 100ppms weekly to ~800. The following week I jump to ~ 1000 (for one week) then begin backing down . I do check and adjust pH daily
* I only maintain 12/12 for 5-7 days then continue lowering to ~ 10/14”
Nut Solution Usage
“In early veg, I use ~ 2G per week for 4 plants. The amount depends on how big the root mass gets. I find with my system roots do not become humongous balls of twisted overcooked spaghetti.”
PH
{Keep very close to 6.0}
Supporting Medium
“the APs have lava rock on the bottom, with a top cap of river rock/ornamental stones, also, each AP has a grate on the bottom that drains quickly.
Lava rock is the key, as it stays damp + has lots of nooks and crannies that trap droplets of nutes between feedings. BINGO. Root hairs have a vg environment upon which to thrive”
Air Pots
“I experimented with one liter and 4 liter APs, I would say benefits of larger are negligible, but YMMV. Now that sai, 4 liter APs are more stable.”
Drip System
“Halo Drip Rings, which is an awesome product that hardly anyone knows about: the inside holes should be drilled on a 10-15* angle instead of straight down. The curve of the 6" ring does slightly spread the 3 rows of holes but not enough to properly cover the surface of my 6" net pots, especially the ~2" diameter nearest the main stalk/tap root. Using a larger than drip pressure pump, + raising the ring ~4" above the media, I am better able to wet the area closest to the tap root- the money spot, especially for young seedlings/clones. This helps facilitate lateral root development throughout the net pot. My next grow using HDRs should show the benefit of their oversight.”
Pump
“Prior to putting this system together I questioned how well my 320 gph pump would work with the drip rings- it works just fine, the adjustable o/o valves I placed in front of each ring are unnecessary, but good if taking a single plant out for any reason
New pump 160 gph is ~ half the GPH (320) of the pump I used the first time. Since the rings are not about delivering a large liquid volume the smaller pump should easily do the job.”
Feed Frequency Lights Off:
{cannot find a reference now}
Feed Frequency Lights On:
“Having a 10G rez (8 gal actual liquid) I can run the feed cycle longer. Upped it from ~ 20 sec > ~ 35 sec, meaning the roots are getting a nice long drink, plus the lava rock pockets are filling up.
Currently running the automated feed system 35 seconds/hour to a 320 gph pump ($20), not much wall juice used here either. Pretty sure I am saving significant $$$$ over the juice a proper sized UC pump slurps, operating what...24/7?
I have fed during late veg (well established roots and leafs) every ~ 1/2hr, but during flower I cut back to ~ 1x /4hrs
due to higher room heat, I decided to change feed cycle to 23 sec every 30 minutes. If I had a cycle timer that went lower, I would drop to ~ 10 seconds, but since I am using lava rock, it's not critical
responded extremely well to the new watering schedule- 10 sec/15 min during lights on
I changed the feed cycle this morning to 6 sec on (~one-half sec delay in my timer) and 10 minute pause
This morning I changed it again to 6 seconds on + 6 minutes off
I increased on time to 8 seconds.”
Reservoir
“mix ~ 4G, my rez holds 2G, the other 2G I keep next to the active rez, and replenish as needed. In early veg, I use ~ 2G per week for 4 plants. The amount depends on how big the root mass gets. I find with my system roots do not become humongous balls of twisted overcooked spaghetti.
expecting to get by with < 5 g rez.”
Reservoir Oxygenation
“Air stones in the rez only. It's a good idea to oxygenate the rez (you are doing it by constant flow/splash of returning nutes to your rez). Small 2 outlet aquarium pump (~$10), uses very little wall juice”
Reservoir Temperature
“Keep at 70F. unless rez temp is kept below 85*s you can hang out the welcome mat for root rot, worms... sick plants”
