I have used this system for several grows now and will continue to use this as it does produce and is pretty easy to do. Now I surely don't think I am an expert but for all you newbie guys thinking of this system here are my trial, errors and additions.
1. Make sure you have good reliable accurate meters. I tried the liquid ph testers at first, even though many people said to just get the meters blah... Let me tell you this is the most important part of the system that needs to be exact. Liquid testers are never accurate, hard to read, messy and time consuming. I have a separate ph and ppm meter now, spend the most on ph meter if on a budget. I am buying continues read tri-meter next as I want to just look at my reservoir and see what it is at instead of dipping.
2. Change your reservoir every 2-3 weeks. Shit gets used up and stuff gets mixed up with the addition of water, more chemicals etc. It is good practice to go back to square one with your original nute mix ppm every 2-3 weeks. I got a "bucket head" wet vac at home depot ($19) and use it just for vacuuming out the reservoir and it works like a champ, can drain and fill in under 5 mins (I wipe some crap down while its empty or it would be faster). I also run plain water with clearex for 24 hours with each reservoir change, the nutes get a lot of salt buildup and this helps keep them clean and healthy. They have enough stored nutes for 24 hours and seem to take it with stride no ill effects cept cleaner roots.
3. Ditch the rubber maid stuff, its walls are pretty flimsy. They work and well, but the tough boxes are better, they are black and they are strong with no flex with 20 gals in reservoir. I use standard window/door rubber seal on boxes that are exposed to spray, they stick to one side and the lid sits down on it, never leaks and cheap to replace.
4. I run an adjusted nute recipe the original was a bit hot for almost all strains. You don't need that much and the plants respond better. I think my last strains of Super Skunk, Buddah Cheese and Kandy Kush never went over 1100 and that was pushing it, usually 900-1000. I still use Botanicare nutes here is the modified recipe.
Vegative
175ml PureBlend Grow
70ml Liquid Karma
100ml CalMag+ (I use RO water 60ml if you dont)
50ml Silicon Blast
100ml Aqua Shield
2tsp of Great White
Flower
250ml PureBlend Pro Bloom
100ml Liquid Karma
100ml CalMag+ (70ml if you're NOT using RO water)
100ml Sweet
100ml Silicon Blast
100ml Aqua Shield
(last couple weeks add 50ml hydroplex)
5. If humidity is concern get a dehumidifier. I was in 60%ish range for relative humidity for most my grows until I got a dehumidifier and took it to high 40s to 50 and my plants grew a lot better without fear of molding. Not sure if it was really this but won't run without one anymore.
6. I use peat pellets for seedlings, I germinate in shot glass of water and few drops of H202. When the tap root is about 3/8" long I put them into peat pellets till they are inch or so tall, then straight to my clone/seedling stinkbud bucket with just water. That's really the only medium is used is peat pellets and its just for sprouting. Other then that its all water touching my roots.
7. I use the 5" white fence posts (love the extra room) that I wrap with panda rap (white outside) so that the roots don't get light bleed. These white tubes allow light in with these powerful HPS lights pounding down. I wrap them so they are dark inside for my roots.
8. Keep eye on reservoir temps. I did this last grow and seem to help out a lot, I don't chill my water but add a frozen bottle of water every couple hours to keep cool. Works good and cheap. I cover my reservoir with panda film too to keep out light.
9. I like to keep at least 18" between plant sites on tubes. I like room because I top my plants and they bush the !!*(&_! out, so better to have the room then be crammed in covering bud sites.
10. Plants are forgiving, they will take a lot and come back. Don't be afraid to bend branches or leaves out of the way or route to get better light. If the branch snaps then splint it up, they will heal as long as its not broken clean off. I was scared of touching them at first, but they take a lot more abuse then most think they can take.
11. Get a hygrometer (measures moisture when curing). It is the only accurate way to make sure your bud is curing or getting close. They are 20 bucks on ebay for the good Calibur ones.
12. If you do use dehumidifier, I used the water collected back in the reservoir. It saved me buying RO water so often. I measured about 40ppm in water collected so it was pretty clean, and plants had no ill effects. Use that water if you can.
13. Use pumps with inline capability. Meaning you can fit a pickup tube on the pump so you can pump your nutes down to about 1/8" inch from bottom. Most aqua-pump cheap grow shop pumps don't have inline option make sure you get one that does, you don't have to use it but it helps get all your money outta your nute solution. You just make the pickup out of couple bucks of pvc and screw it on.
14. I used a 1 min on and 8 min off spray and all my plants love it. Saves electricity and the roots breath a lot more never dry out. I do use easy sprayer nozzles and just 1/2" pvc.
15. Keep a fan oscillating on your plants all the time in veg and flower. Mine never minded and had strong branches that never needed support cept maybe some big colas.
That's all I can think of now with this wake and bake. I am sure other people that want to give back that has benefited from this system to give their lessons learned would be great. I will try to answer any questions for any new guys trying this system. Yes I did soil, dwc and some others and I stuck with this one for ease and results.
Please take your negative energies and name calling to the kiddie section Thanks