I am having my first adventures in hydroponics and making plenty of mistakes - I bought Botanica's little micro garden ebb and flow kit thing - unfortunately, it's a bit on the cheesy side. When the tank below is full of water, the sides spread so the top with the plant pots falls in. I used bungie cords across the top and that works, but it also doesn't drain that well - even with shimming, the water isn't flowing out as well as I would like to see. The pots are really flimsy and the grow medium is light and fluffy so they float away and fall over, spilling peat moss etc into the bottom when the water comes in. I think I will use it for my future clones, but at the moment I have several monsters and several little guys and gals that didn't really catch up. So much to learn.
So got a General Hydro bucket (the square one)which has not arrived yet, and hydroton rocks and will try that on my big girl - an Orange Bud doing obvious girl pre-flowering. My one skunk is huge but still not clearly pre-flowering. I think it's a male but not quite far enough for my amateur eyes. And my pH meter is busted. Just got a tester for TDS, etc - it's a two-way with temperature compensation and was not expensive. Not sure it's good - it's a COM100 - WATERPROOF EC / TDS / TEMP COMBO METER. Just got it and have not used it.
I must say that it's just a tad daunting, and not cheap, to get set up - I got a 4" exhaust fan system with intake low and out high put in but can't afford the big charcoal filter - am using layers of cuttable furnace charcoal filter material which considering I don't have a lot of plants and do have a medical card should do okay. I put in white shower stall plastic tile in my 5x5 walk-in closet space along with a 400 watt dual hood which works well, reflects the white tile board nicely. Humidity is about 50%, temp 78-80 when lights are on.
I will put my 250 with veg light in the greenhouse and after my big Orange Bud girl is done blooming, try to save her as a clone mommy. I think the micro garden thing will work nicely for clones, but will put the Orange Bud in the bucket for the size she is wanting to be. I started 7 more seeds (if they sprout) in my aerogarden which seems pretty decent for starting seeds and getting them to 3-4 leaf sets. Will try moving them to greenhouse until they preflower, then into the inside grow room.
I do like how things grow with hydro, though. Even though it's a bit of a bitch, I like it a lot. What mistakes am I making in the above? I already made plenty of mistakes and would like not to make more as I am in danger of running low while I have medical needs that are high. I figure the cloning is the fastest way for me to keep the supply coming while I wait for it to be time to grow outside.
How'm I doing?