New form of Hydro Grow, What do you think ?

D

Deadlytalon2014

Active Member
Ok, so my setup is this:
4x 5 Gallon Buckets
4x Home-Made Net Pots "More on this later"
1x 30 Gallon Air Pump with 4 Nozzles
4x Airstones
Rockwool / Perilite / Peat Moss Medium

Ok, so basically, Most people who know A LOT about plants, know this. But, The bottoms of the roots on plants, are designed for the plants water intake, and the plant specially builds them for this. The tops of the root system is meant for nutrient uptake. So, What I did was this, I made a Half Hydro / Half Soil grow. Basically I made a net pot, I made the bottom section with long cuts in the foam pots for the roots to come out, and filled this section with Rockwool. The top half, I filled with Perilite / Peat Moss for the soil grow. Instead of adding nutrients into the reservoir like most people, I actually feed my plants as if they where being grown in straight soil. This allows the top half of the plant to grow in the soil, and take in the nutrients, while the bottom half is absorbing the water from the reservoir. I have tested this system over the last month, I planted 1 plant in the half/half system, 1 plant in a pure hydro grow, and 1 plant in a pure soil grow.
My results are as follows:
The 1 Plant that is growing in the Half / Half Solution is Approx. 30% Higher then the Straight Hydro, and almost 50% higher then the soil grow. The leaves however are not much larger then the hydro grow, but are considerably larger then the pure soil grow. This leads me to believe, that I will have a faster / stronger / bigger grow using a half / half grow rather then straight soil or straight hydro.

Any opinions, Anyone else tried experimenting with this ??
 
torontoke

torontoke

Well-Known Member
I thought about doing this.
My concern was over time when the peat and shit bleeds out. I think you will have to clean the stones often so air can get out.
Good luck i will be watching to see if it works
 
D

Donald Johnston

Member
Deadlytalon2014 said:
Ok, so my setup is this:
4x 5 Gallon Buckets
4x Home-Made Net Pots "More on this later"
1x 30 Gallon Air Pump with 4 Nozzles
4x Airstones
Rockwool / Perilite / Peat Moss Medium

Ok, so basically, Most people who know A LOT about plants, know this. But, The bottoms of the roots on plants, are designed for the plants water intake, and the plant specially builds them for this. The tops of the root system is meant for nutrient uptake. So, What I did was this, I made a Half Hydro / Half Soil grow. Basically I made a net pot, I made the bottom section with long cuts in the foam pots for the roots to come out, and filled this section with Rockwool. The top half, I filled with Perilite / Peat Moss for the soil grow. Instead of adding nutrients into the reservoir like most people, I actually feed my plants as if they where being grown in straight soil. This allows the top half of the plant to grow in the soil, and take in the nutrients, while the bottom half is absorbing the water from the reservoir. I have tested this system over the last month, I planted 1 plant in the half/half system, 1 plant in a pure hydro grow, and 1 plant in a pure soil grow.
My results are as follows:
The 1 Plant that is growing in the Half / Half Solution is Approx. 30% Higher then the Straight Hydro, and almost 50% higher then the soil grow. The leaves however are not much larger then the hydro grow, but are considerably larger then the pure soil grow. This leads me to believe, that I will have a faster / stronger / bigger grow using a half / half grow rather then straight soil or straight hydro.

Any opinions, Anyone else tried experimenting with this ??
Click to expand...
I am anxious to see the pictures and how it works out. Thank you
 
D

Deadlytalon2014

Active Member
Ok here are some photos I had on my phone, The first one is a side by side, The left plant is grown from a purely hydro system, the one on the right is the hybrid system if you notice the height differences. Then there are the other photos that show the fan leaves, as you see there is a slight difference in the size and growth of the leaves as I said, and the soil plant is just far behind "First set of fan leaves, While hybrid and hydro are both growing second sets." The main difference I noticed between the Hybrid and the Hydro grows, are the height differences, my Hybrid is growing taller, and stronger, but the leaves themselves are growing at a pretty equal rate, Although the hybrid is just slightly ahead.

Also, The Hydro plant has now received soil added to the top of it as well, and I removed the other medium. I just wanted a quick experiment, mostly because I only have 1 area for light, and if 1 gets to far behind the other it will really put me behind, and I will be transplanting the soil only plant sometime today, just need a new reservoir for it.
 

Attachments

D

Deadlytalon2014

Active Member
Forgot to add, That I am now using an organic soil for nutrients, so I literally never have to add nutrients to my plants, I can basically let them grow without touching them, just adding more soil as the soil dissolves, Don't have to worry about water or air as well, as it's acquiring all that from the reservoir. So it's basically a very very easy solution to a lot of peoples problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top