Why Grow with Hydro?
- Thread starter Thedillestpickle
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Thedillestpickle
Well-Known Member
ahhh back to my most favourite thread... hehehe
I Guess I was asking for trouble bringing up the soil/hydro rivalry in everyone... its been a fun read though haha
I likes this post^^^ Im starting to see the advantage of hydro,
you have total control over the nutes. Im aiming for total control of everything else in my grow(this is going to be my first grow and I want it to go very well), so it seems logical to also have total control on my nutes(I dont have time to start a compost heap, and thats not very scientific). I can stick a digital PPM meter in some solution and KNOW exactly whats going in. My seedlings are at 10 days from seed now and sitting under a 23 watt CFL at 6 inches. They are growing in Jiffy pucks. I went against all the literature I read about fertilizing seedlings and gave them a super dilute watering of nutes(250 ppm) at PH5.8 . air temp is 22c and jiffy temp is 24c. Humidity is 65%
Im pretty sure ill go with hydro.. not that this thread was what convinced me...(you guys are scaring me)
I have to say, I am a hydro grower and I spend a lot of time in this section. I think the hydro mod is doing a disservice to everybody that posts in this thread as well as this section. You should be ashamed of yourself.
To the original topic, you can really pack the plants in, in hydro. If you go sog with rooted clones you can fit 4 per square foot. Somebody mentioned 4 soil plants in 3 x 2.5 space. Sog would be 28 plants. In my system, I have a perpetual grow with a 5 week veg time. I still put 1 plant per square foot. I would put 9 plants in the above space.
The true benefit for hydro IMO is CLEANLINESS. I have no pathogens, no pythium, no mold, no BUGS. I don't have trash bags filled with used soil either. What I do have is an optimally balanced nutrient reservoir. Want green fan leaves all the way to harvest? Put veg nutes in for 3 days, or 2 days, or 2 minutes during flower. And it's just as easy to take out.
To the original topic, you can really pack the plants in, in hydro. If you go sog with rooted clones you can fit 4 per square foot. Somebody mentioned 4 soil plants in 3 x 2.5 space. Sog would be 28 plants. In my system, I have a perpetual grow with a 5 week veg time. I still put 1 plant per square foot. I would put 9 plants in the above space.
The true benefit for hydro IMO is CLEANLINESS. I have no pathogens, no pythium, no mold, no BUGS. I don't have trash bags filled with used soil either. What I do have is an optimally balanced nutrient reservoir. Want green fan leaves all the way to harvest? Put veg nutes in for 3 days, or 2 days, or 2 minutes during flower. And it's just as easy to take out.
Thedillestpickle
Well-Known Member
Im already set on growing in a soilless medium such as coco and mixing non organic fertilizer to feed. Not sure if that makes me "hydro" Im going to see what I can do to have a drip system setup... seems like it might be a bit tricky bringing the drained solution back into the reserviour with pots sitting 6 inches off ground... how do I do that? I will be doing more research, but hydro in one form or another has got my attention. definately not using soil.
would you consider it hydro if i give my plants a feeding of water/nutes every 2 days in a coco/perlite mix... what would that be considered?
how can I pump res solution to 6 plants in airpots and bring the drainage back to the reserve with the pots being only 6 inches off the floor?(for max height ability for sativas and a 7 foot ceiling)
would you consider it hydro if i give my plants a feeding of water/nutes every 2 days in a coco/perlite mix... what would that be considered?
how can I pump res solution to 6 plants in airpots and bring the drainage back to the reserve with the pots being only 6 inches off the floor?(for max height ability for sativas and a 7 foot ceiling)
Most drip systems are drain to waste. Meaning you don't have a recirculating reservoir. The system you're talking about most certainly is a form of hydroponics. First of all, why would the pots be off the ground? In coco, most growers treat it like soil by using 1-2 gallon pots and simply putting them on the ground. The advantage is the sterile medium, and exact control over nutrients.
All you would need is a reservoir placed above the pots so you can gravity drain to your dripper system. That's it!
All you would need is a reservoir placed above the pots so you can gravity drain to your dripper system. That's it!
Thedillestpickle
Well-Known Member
Im going to bring the plants off the basement concrete a few inches to keep the roots from getting cold, I just bought some styrofoam boards to lay down on the concrete. I am not neccessarilly going to go 6 inches high, I guess what I was trying to convey is that I dont want to have to go any higher(such as an ebb and flow where I would have to bring my plants up at least a foot so gravity can pull the runoff down back into the res. With a drip system I am imagining I will still have to have my pots at least a few inches up so i can fit a large dish under the pots to hold all the runoff. Drain to waste? so pretty wastefull. how much extra solution is usually wasted with that?
Thedillestpickle
Well-Known Member
haha what a thread... anyways I went with Coco coir, so I guess that technically puts me under the "hydro" catagory. But its so easy to work with, didnt have to set up any DWC or ebb and flow system and for now I only water once a week. I also went with Air pots. I guess I cant really expect the same boost in harvest one gets with a constant drip DWC or Ebb and flo, but do you think I will see a better harvest using coco over soil?
jeeba
Well-Known Member
The name says it all drain to "waste",IMO alot is wasted.The more you pour in the more comes out.So try and figure out the exact amount to cut down on loss,count as you pour in nutes then use that number as a baseline for all your plants.Obviously if your dripping into them you cant do this,so try and time the drip for optimal results.Hope this helps good luck.As far as coco over soil I have no knowledge of either.
I don't have personal experience with coco, but the main properties of hydro are still present. It's still a sterile medium, with hydroponics grade nutrients, and an ideal mixture for fast uptake. Personally, I don't think you'd see maximum growth compared to other methods, but I have no sources to back that up. My reasoning is with dwc you have near constant nutrient uptake, ebb and flow you have the main root ball moist for 6 of 12 hours. If you grow in soil-like hydro feeding once a week, the amount of nutrient uptake is less.
Bosejammin
Member
That reply rocked.