Commercial setup advice needed

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Nervo5

Member
Hey guys.

So I found my passion, and that is growing hydro/aqua/aero ponics!

I need some advice on what system would be commercially the best to use when investing quite a bit of money into growing more efficiently and saving our planet in means of energy and water since these systems can actually run self sustainable.

As far as my research goes there are a couple of ways going about this.

It looks like Aquaponics (using fish ect. for creating the nitrogen needed for growing) That can be put to use by means of mist spray, dwc ect. Is the way to go commercially.

Is this the best way?

And Also what would be better using the vertical towers to grow? Or the Styrofoam floating system dwc?

Kind regards guys! And have an awesome day!
 
GeneralGrower

GeneralGrower

Member
I haven't seen many cannabis farmers using aquaponics for large commercial grows. I don't know much about it either but your system depends on your grow area/space and what's going to be easiest for you to manage and maintain. Are you growing in a green house? Seems like this setup is pretty basic:
 
b4ds33d

b4ds33d

Well-Known Member
GeneralGrower said:
I haven't seen many cannabis farmers using aquaponics for large commercial grows. I don't know much about it either but your system depends on your grow area/space and what's going to be easiest for you to manage and maintain. Are you growing in a green house? Seems like this setup is pretty basic:
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aqua for cannabis, not so much. there are large aero grow ops though. but if the OP was serious about it he'd hire someone who has a clue, not ask on a cannabis forum.
 
N

Nervo5

Member
Hey General!

Thanks for the info, actually my passion for growing is going beyond that of growing only canabis, im thinking of using hydro/aqua to grow exotic herbs/spices and to eventually making a living from something that is my passion, im thinking of growing saffron/bamboo/peppers/micro greens/lavender on such a scale that i can make my passion my income.

Thank you for the kind advice!
 
GeneralGrower

GeneralGrower

Member
Nervo5 said:
Hey General!

Thanks for the info, actually my passion for growing is going beyond that of growing only canabis, im thinking of using hydro/aqua to grow exotic herbs/spices and to eventually making a living from something that is my passion, im thinking of growing saffron/bamboo/peppers/micro greens/lavender on such a scale that i can make my passion my income.

Thank you for the kind advice!
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Sounds cool! Just go for it man! You can do it!
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
I hope that you are young enough and passionate enough to be able to go through this leanring process. aquaponics until nowadays is applied best to greens, that is herbs and non flowering plants. you could apply it to vegging cannabis plants, i never seen it done, but i bet it can work after you have successfully applied it to greens. forget applying it to flowering plants for a long time. your basic concern is to learn about fish species that feed plants, how to raise them and how much feed they give for the plant, and how to actually feed the plants and recycle the ferts, what additives you can put without hurting the fish, and what ph balance can you provide for all fish and plant species combined in one system. I am only scratching the surface, so good luck
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Nervo5 said:
Hey guys.

So I found my passion, and that is growing hydro/aqua/aero ponics!

I need some advice on what system would be commercially the best to use when investing quite a bit of money into growing more efficiently and saving our planet in means of energy and water since these systems can actually run self sustainable.

As far as my research goes there are a couple of ways going about this.

It looks like Aquaponics (using fish ect. for creating the nitrogen needed for growing) That can be put to use by means of mist spray, dwc ect. Is the way to go commercially.

Is this the best way?

And Also what would be better using the vertical towers to grow? Or the Styrofoam floating system dwc?

Kind regards guys! And have an awesome day!
Click to expand...
Do you have any grow experience at all? If not, start in a hard, soilless medium (coco and peat based stuff), maybe organic as well, if you're inclined. In any case, soilless is a happy-medium between soil and hydro, offering the stability of hard medium and the faster growth rate of hydro.

If you've never grown at all, I dunno how you can say hydro's your passion yet, and I'd advise you to start with a hard medium. Hydro's got a lot of figurative "moving parts." A lot can go wrong, such as res fluctuations, equipment failure, root rot, etc. You should get your basic introduction using a simpler method. With pure hydro, you have to be on top of it, and if you're caught slipping, you can lose everything very quickly.

If you have already grown before, disregard, and just know I'm not patronizing; I'm legitimately trying to send you in the right direction, for your benefit.
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
If you are open to reconsidering, I strongly suggest proper organics in soilless, as you can treat this as an organic drain-to-waste hydro. As said above, you get the stability of soil with the faster growth associated with hydro. Organics, in particular, will give you the freedom to pay little mind to pH, so you can focus on the stuff you want to optimize in a grow.

I personally prefer Roots Organics, both their medium and their nutes/ferts. I use their Dry Nutrients Player Pack, but since you seem to fancy hydro, you would probably prefer either their Soul Synthetics Player Pack, or what I would suggest, which is the 5ml Master Pack, which is used similarly to synthetics.

Regarding their medium, I use their Formula 707, but I would recommend you either go with their original formula or their Greenlite. The 707 holds water for a prolonged time period. Unless you can commit to watering only every 5-7 days, I would say go with Original (don't feed for 3-4 weeks, as it's amended to provide nutrients for a little while) or Greenlight (their fastest draining and, I believe, more lightly amended mix.)

Besides the happy-medium between hydro and soil with their substrate, organics in general are widely believed to contribute to better flavor and terpene profile, as instead if deriving nutrition from chelated base elements, your plant is being fed by microbes and fungi which break down varied, complex organic matter into a form the roots can take up without having to worry about pH controlling uptake.
 
Dumme

Dumme

Well-Known Member
Why is everyone anti-aquaponics? It's easier then you think, and flowering is no problem at all, seriously...

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Dumme

Dumme

Well-Known Member
Olive Drab Green said:
I'm not. I'm more like.. anti-new jack using aquaponics, just because it will create a distraction from learning the basics when he has to worry about his rez, pH, root rot, etc. instead of grasping the rudimentary concepts.
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I disagree. I think, anyone with the drive can learn aquaponics.
 
Olive Drab Green

Olive Drab Green

Well-Known Member
Dumme said:
I disagree. I think, anyone with the drive can learn aquaponics.
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A family member I've been growing with in a side project has grown hydro for probably a decade, normally DWC. He tried to run an Aquaponics setup while I ran my organics as usual. Before we even got to flower, he got root rot and he asked me to teach him organics. He soon after told me he preferred organics to aquaponics, and to an extent, his natural habitat (so to speak) hydro.

Not arguing with you, as what we are discussing is pretty near completely subjective, but I, personally, would suggest organics to a new guy and tell him to consider experimenting with aquaponics after he has a grow or two down. That's just how I would approach it. Not saying I'm right nor that you're wrong, but I feel that would be what I'd consider the best approach. Best, meaning from my perspective, not in totality and finality.
 
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zem

zem

Well-Known Member
Dumme said:
Why is everyone anti-aquaponics? It's easier then you think, and flowering is no problem at all, seriously...

View attachment 3831265
View attachment 3831266
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im a hydro guy myself, i would suggest someone start hydro with side by side ready made ferts vs diy mix ferts, this way they will grasp what a plant needs and then maybe apply it in aquaponics. but never seen any impressive results in flowering plants in aquaponics, and your bud is as good as it gets. do you have a journal where we can see the system with fish and all?
 
Dumme

Dumme

Well-Known Member
zem said:
im a hydro guy myself, i would suggest someone start hydro with side by side ready made ferts vs diy mix ferts, this way they will grasp what a plant needs and then maybe apply it in aquaponics. but never seen any impressive results in flowering plants in aquaponics, and your bud is as good as it gets. do you have a journal where we can see the system with fish and all?
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Yes sir, I do 8)
5 × Aeroponic-Aquaponics plants ~.7-.9g per watt
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
your room is beautiful, sorry for my scepticism, but i could not see any fish. I can say that if you are running all that using fish as a basic nutrient source for flowering, and recirculating the same feed water back to the fish, then you are very skilled and have achieved what many could never achieve.
 
The Elvis

The Elvis

Well-Known Member
there is nothing wrong with growing in water.. But I dont suggest this on a large farm scale.. Water is very heavy and hard to move. when i think large scale im thinking 200 to 500 plants on a plot of land.. Soil would be the way to run a pot farm..
 
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