my first questions are what was your cost?
nutes i use are. sunleaves rockwool formula one part A and B. fat flower micro nutes. folks here and another site has made me see through my hydro store guy. everything i have is sunleaves. 1000w ballast, t5s, nutes, hood. he must be getting a kick back. i told him i was thinking about changing. he swears i will come back to sunleaves.
everybody else uses General Hydroponics or fox farms. when i look at these line in the store there tons of them. it confuses my stoned ass. then again everybody uses them. it seems.
here a link to each. both have a schedule that tell you what to do week by week. 2nd link. GH 3rd.
http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/
http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/hydrofeed.pdf
http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/nutrient_buffers.html
as far as how much. everything i read is different. the best i can come up with is 1/4 strength of the recommended amount on the bottle. hydro store guy says the same.
the last clones i started nutes on day 8 at 200ppm. (nothing really) then bumped to 500ppm around day 15. the one in flower are 37 days, they are at 1400pmm. next change i going to bump it again to 1600ppm till flush.
i noticed all plant are different. i have not successfully harvest any strains. mostly bag seed.
as far a cost. there 2 tools you have to have. before you even start really. if not you will be in the dark IMO. PH pen and TDS meter. i dont know maybe you already use these with soil.
the one on the right a cheap flebay from china. $20 it works. the one in the middle was $65 its water proof. the TDS meter was $45. this will be the next TDS meter i buy.
http://www.botanical.com/hydro/accessories/meters/meters.html
pumps are cheap. 396gph $25 (cloner/veg)
i have 1596gph on the res going through the wall to the tube. it was $100. (overkill)
air pumps are cheap $20 stones $5
all the little shit spray, heads,pipe, air hoses, water lines, trays. there pretty cheap but add up quick.
depending on what system you use, and the condistion of your room, will gauge what it going to cost.
for example if your blazing 1000w HPS or wanting to add one later. you better have cool room temps.
DWC, ebb n flow, and NTF have the resavours in the room with the lights. even some drip and aero usally are in the same room. if you can keep your res temps around 68f-72f you would be ok. root rot is what gave me so many problems this summer. a chiller would solve the problems. for $330. the wife would divorce me if i spend any more money like that.
i moved the res out of the room. behind the wall. in this room i have a window. with it being winter it works. AC for summer. the res stays 65f. the pumps feed through the wall to the tube, out a spray line. there is a 3" reservoir in the tube that drains back in the res behind the wall. the constant flow keeps the res in the tube at 68f. i use a Stanly blower to push the cold air into the flower room. the room temp stay at 71f at the canopy. i have a fan that blows above the tops of the plants right at the light. and a 6" inline fan pulling the air through the hood.
i have seen recirculating DWC set up this way. or if you already have the ventilation in place. thing about DWC i didnt like was the root development. it was slow compared to what i have seem in the areo setups. hell clone in ready for veg in 20 days was enough prof for me. that is why i arrived at this set up. IMO aero is the most effecient growing method. then again what do i know. i still learning.
i have babbled on long enough. tomorrow if i get time i will post pic of all the systems i have used. drip, DWC, areo in 5gallon buckets, areo/DWC tubs, ebb n flow.