Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
I live in a 3rd World country in Asia. Strict import customs officials check everything and serious penalties here for growing weed. Money is not an issue.
New grow hydroponic options for hot climate...
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Justin Freidman
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Thanks for the feedback guys. I think I'm going to go flood and drain with rockwool cubes. I already have a huge tray (2304x1115x118mm) and a ton of 6" grodan cubes - so may as well use what I have already.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Just do NOT OVER WATER those cubes man. Don't even put them in the system til roots are bursting out everywhere from the cube/netpot.
Justin Freidman
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Maybe I'd be better off then using large netpots filled with pea gravel on the tray than rockwool?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Hydroton.
Pea gravel is heavy and holds little moisture. PLANT !T is a great off brand for cheap clay pellets.
Jefferson1977
Well-Known Member
I currently do flood and drain with a 32 square foot table (8×4). I have in the past used 4 in rockwool cubes, I have used the rockwool slabs, I have used the 4-inch cubes on top of the slabs, and I have used baskets filled with clay Pebbles. Regarding heat I've never had a problem needing to chill my reservoir however if it is too hot in the room your buds may be big and fat and look fine but they will likely not be very potent. I've never had root rot issues with my flood and drain setup even when growing in high heat though but I have had Bud's not be potent when the heat was too high and uncontrolled. This even when the roots are fine. You would have this problem with any growing technique if your temperatures are too high. Regarding the gentleman above with the large buds that do not have much crystals I suspect the situation will turn out similar. The rockwool will work fine as the other poster said do not get it too wet the first week or so you may only need to flood the table once. Once roots are out of the cubes you can flood it more frequently but keep an eye on it so it's not too wet. You want it to dry out mostly between feedings. The other thing is it's a good idea to just feed straight water for a flood or two in the middle of the flowering cycle to wash out excess salts. You can also do this by top feeding with water from a hose. I have a grow Journal in the journal section with a flood and drain using clay Pebbles.
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Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Nice input, homie.
P.s. your avatar pic is so funny wow. Hahaha.
Rock wool is honestly a great media to grow in, but the problem is the complications you ultimately run in to when plants are small and roots aren't developed.
It's such a problem and is so hard to balance it. It's why everyone turns away from using the stuff.
When you're using cubes, submerge them in PH'd RO water for 5 minutes, pull them out and swing your arm around in a circle as FAST & HARD as you possibly can to centripetally pull that water out of the cube. Then before using them, let them sit in a WELL VENTILATED area over night to further dry them out.
This is the battle you take on with rock wool.
At first, so hard to evenly wet, and so easy to over do it.
Just always ALWAYS keep in the back of your mind when you're thinking of watering, DO THEY REALLY NEED IT?
Your seedlings/clones root systems will have no drive to grow and stretch out, searching for water if you keep them too wet. They literally just become content and root growth completely ceases.
Its such a delicate balance, ugh.
P.s. your avatar pic is so funny wow. Hahaha.
Rock wool is honestly a great media to grow in, but the problem is the complications you ultimately run in to when plants are small and roots aren't developed.
It's such a problem and is so hard to balance it. It's why everyone turns away from using the stuff.
When you're using cubes, submerge them in PH'd RO water for 5 minutes, pull them out and swing your arm around in a circle as FAST & HARD as you possibly can to centripetally pull that water out of the cube. Then before using them, let them sit in a WELL VENTILATED area over night to further dry them out.
This is the battle you take on with rock wool.
At first, so hard to evenly wet, and so easy to over do it.
Just always ALWAYS keep in the back of your mind when you're thinking of watering, DO THEY REALLY NEED IT?
Your seedlings/clones root systems will have no drive to grow and stretch out, searching for water if you keep them too wet. They literally just become content and root growth completely ceases.
Its such a delicate balance, ugh.
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
You might have missed my original point due to where I live I'm unable to source a lot of grow materials, i.e. hydroton.
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
I have smartbee rockwool meter here and also a set of arduino boards with moisture probes. I bought them a long time ago especially for a rockwool grow, the idea was to set them up to monitor the rockwool, using the smartbee monitor as reference for moisture ranges. I guess I can set them up.
5BY5LEC
Well-Known Member
Could you use volcanic rocks? My growstones I used last grow were pretty much small volcanic rocks. I was concerned with the sharp edges cutting the roots but it did not seem to cause a problem. Could you get a larger, more porous stone and break it up?
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look around - things are so hard to find here.
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
If you can order a thing online, you'll be able to get some form of Expanded Clay Pellets.Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look around - things are so hard to find here.
JohnDee
Well-Known Member
Justin...sometimes you just have to go with it. Hope the rockwool works good for you...I love the stuff for seedlings and clones but have never used it for large plants. And be safe!
Cheers,
JD
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
Guys, I'm now consdering DWC.... looks very easy to build and I have two huge chillers sat in an office doing nothing - keeping the nutes at 65F wouldn't be a problem at all.
The only issue I can think of is how to deal with condensation? If my nute temps are 65F and say my room temp is max 82F (vegging with c02) I'm guessing I'd have to use foam/polystyrene and wrap all the tanks...
The only issue I can think of is how to deal with condensation? If my nute temps are 65F and say my room temp is max 82F (vegging with c02) I'm guessing I'd have to use foam/polystyrene and wrap all the tanks...
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Rdwc is what you're gonna want. Waterfalls to aerate it.
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
Cool! I'd still need to chill the water for optimum 02 uptake right? and to also avoid root rot?
Airwalker16
Well-Known Member
Ya 66-68*F is perfect
Jefferson1977
Well-Known Member
Having done both I can say for 100% that RDWC is a lot more work than ebb and flow. Also much bigger pain in the ass if one of your chillers goes down. Best of luck to you whatever you do.
Justin Freidman
Well-Known Member
I have two chillers here I will run in parallel.