220 Gallon Hydroponics - First Hydro Grow & Murphy´s Law Indeed Apply to Me

[c526]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

cool set up

I see what you are saying, badpublicity about using such a large amount of water, BUT

as the plants use up the nutrients, how will you know what to add back?
I change mine every 7-10 days, that way I know they are getting fresh food, and way less deficiency's

 

[DC420]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

usually 30-55 gallon res feeding ebb & flow pots. i dont understand why you are using 110 gallons for each 6 plants. even starting with 5 gallon bubble pots would have been better. What is your ppm? ph? water temp? doing hydro you want 5.8 ph 500 ppm for the little plants and 58-64 F degree water temp.

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Hey subbed, about the res, i live in Europe to, you have loads of hydroponics stores based in different Europe countries some send to all the Europe some send worldwide, if you need i could send you PM with some shops, i speak for me but here in Europe in most countries the nutrients are heavily priced, in special the most known brands, and that is indeed two big res

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

C526.: Funny u ask, I was talking with my mate about this today, and I do see the problem, I might have to reconsider, or stock up on the individuel nutrients, and as soon as I see trouble, I look at sickness chart and indentify the problem, and add the given nutrient like magnesium and so on... I got 3 bigger res. these are 1.2x0.8x0.6 got 3 1.2x1.0x0.6 so this is why im trying the big tank theory! PS. Canna Aqua is supposed to be used in recerculation so maybe they last longer or hold more nutes?

DC420.: Hi! Its 8 plants pr container atm, I have the option of making it 12 and going screen of green, but like i wrote many times this is mostly to get some knowledge under my belt, before I throw my self into to advanced stuff. The info you want is to be found in the journal, but here we go.: E.C 3.0 I KNOW! way to much but if you read up you´ll know why, Temp 15 C. Dunno what it is in Fahrenheit. and P.H 5.8 in 1.5 month without adding any P.H +/-

Fr3d.: Welcome and PLZ do! all info counts, just ordered from Basementlighting, and 8 day´s later still not here, so I called em yesterday, I don´t live in England, nor am i English, so kinda annoying, having to call, well they did not have my ventilator, even though it said in stock, but it would arrive today. and they would send it asap, WTF? Well not using them again anytime soon, counted on quick service, since they were 20% more expensive, but had ok rep, and got all the brands I wanted, so said wtf.

 

[CronicHempHog]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

if you want a big res try one of those monster ebb and grows
or even one of our sponsors oxygen pot runs a 55 gallon res for up to 18 plants
and is expandable to more with a bigger res its a sponsor check it out
easy to check res and clean etc.. always can add one of those meter to check ppm temps and ph too

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Well I was down to take a look at the ruins, and it looks like 4 of the girls are gonna be fine, iv been wondering if i should get 4 bucket and put them into, and make em Motherplants, since its 1 of each who survived almost without a scratch.

And then start over in the big res.. these pics are from yesterday, they look much better today...

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

So I think I just made a great deal.... All these nutes...

2x5L Aqua Flores komponente A+B
2x1L Boost accelerator
2x1L Aqua Flores Komponente A
2x1L Aqua Flores Komponente B
1L Cannazym
1L Rhizotonic
3x1L PH minus
1L PH plus
1L Mono Kalium
1L Mono Calsium

For 140$ Just one Question, can nutes get to old? And aprox how long do they last, 1 year? 5 years? forever?

 

[Hiker]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

grats on surviving the surprise visit from the exterminator!

Your ladies look a little worse for wear, but that's not surprising. You're doing a good job nursing them back to health.

I have to agree your res size sounds out of proportion, but that doesn't mean there is anything wrong. There are as many ways to grow Cannabis as there are growers.

The idea of only adding nutes once for the whole grow sounds like trouble to me. Maybe I misunderstood?
I grow hydro too. We have fantastic nutrient products on the market these days. There is some great science going into providing our plants exactly what they need throughout the life cycle. That being said, the plants don't use ALL of the nutrients. They will be using up some of the compounds faster then others. Eventually you will have a build up of something and when you get that kind of high concentrations of something, it tends to lockout something else. If you do want to keep the large reservoir, consider using a lower strength solution you change periodically.

Every nute bottle I've read says to change the res every 7-14 days. From my experience, that's about when my reservoir starts to "go bad". I judge this by the ph. A fresh res will always settle out around 5.9. In MY garden, during veg/early flower, my ph will drift up during that res's 'lifetime'. In late flower, it drifts down. I don't for sure know why, but I know it happens. This usually takes about 7-10 days after the res change to start happening. I prefer not to add the ph up and down, so I just change my res when it starts to "go". I do use the up and down sometimes during if I see a large swing and cant get to a res change that day, but I think I've used it twice this round.

Don't take any of this to mean you're doing anything wrong at all. Your plants look great considering what they went through. Your ideas make sense. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. I'm just uneasy about the plan to not add nutes.

keep 'em green

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Welcome Hiker ! Thanks for your thoughts..

My intention next time around is to start at 5-600 ppm, when i start veggin, then add to 800 ppm at the end of veg, and during bloom slowly add to 1200 ppm, this way i keep adding new nutes, and hopefully the plants wont run out of individuel nutrients, next time one res is gonna be Rhizotonic, Canna Aqua + pk 13/14 + booster. since its used in re-cerculation systems, and I read that many rates it high, the other will be GO Bio Root, GHE + booster since I wanna test whats best.

"Every nute bottle I've read says to change the res every 7-14 days. From my experience, that's about when my reservoir starts to "go bad". I judge this by the ph"

That´s also what I´v heard and read, when the PH goes beserk its time to change it, just my res has been stable at 5.8 for 1.5 months, this is the reason I started thinking about not changing the water/Nutes durin the whole process. Because i was also kinda tired of the big res, not very handy, but everything iv read and heard about hydroponics, is PH is the most important factor to control, and if by having a 110 gallon tank make is stable for months, well when I get other stuff under control, it will save me from alot of hazzle, witch I do appreciate So im sticking with it. Maybe ill add 4 extra holes, so each contain 12, then there´s just not enough room without doing scog imo.

Thank you for the input. What you think about my plan to start over and keep the 4 best as MP? the yield if I don´t, is gonna suck dont you think? with all they have been through...

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

I would change your nutrient solution every 7-10 days, the only journal I have read where someone did not change his reservoir the whole grow resulted in all of his plant turning hermaphrodite and abandoning his journal.

 

[c526]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

couple of other questions

how big of an air pump are you using?? plants don't like to swim in water with little oxygen, believe it or not, they can drown. would seem to me the size of pump to oxygenate 200 gallons would almost be a car engine

with doing that many strains in the same water, it could be hard to feed,, ive had some plants do well with 1500ppm, and others that would burn to a crisp at 1000ppm

and remember hydro/dwc is not a lazy mans game,you need to be on it ,water growing to me is way more work/stress than soil grows, but I wouldn't change back to soil for any reason.(mother plants excluded)

good luck in this man, you have my wheels turning, ive got those same containers(or similar )

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Hi folks!

"I would change your nutrient solution every 7-10 days, the only journal I have read where someone did not change his reservoir the whole grow resulted in all of his plant turning hermaphrodite and abandoning his journal."

I think there´s a big difference in how often u need to change water, If i was running 10 gallon buckets I would agree in a heartbeat, but these tank surely dont need to be changede every 7-10 days, If im gonna change it, it will be at the halfway point, and only once, at least before it see signs of the opposite, I do appreciate you guys comments and keep em comming, even if i don´t follow, I always accept an argument better than my own, and If someone had tried it themselves, and after 2-3 runs come to the conclusion it cannot be done, well i might accept that.. But for now im potcommited and wanna try it out.

Do you have a link for the journal where he did not change water? And do you remember how big his tanks were?
Btw its not like its a religious thing, if it dosent work ill change the water, its more because i´v given up on most plants, to hard a start on life, then might as well make an experiment out of it, and again p.h stable at 5.8 for 1.5 months, must indicate I could be on to something? or am i grasping at straws?

C526.: how big of an air pump are you using?: 4 x 50 gallon airpumps pr. tank, 8 outlets pr tank, with goes to a airstone placed directly under plants.
"with doing that many strains in the same water, it could be hard to feed" yeah, I´v read that 2, so next time im gonna fill a tank with Blue mistic and the other one with Peppermint kush.
"and remember hydro/dwc is not a lazy mans game" I agree, but handling my own Business and a 4 year old, time is of the essence, ergo the more "automatic" I can get, less time I need to spend later on, witch imo is worth a try..

But I appreciate all the question and the remarks... Keep it up guys

My Pride and joy, This plant is indestructable.. #01 in Background and solid P.Chunk in front

 

[Hiker]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Welcome Hiker ! Thanks for your thoughts..

My intention next time around is to start at 5-600 ppm, when i start veggin, then add to 800 ppm at the end of veg, and during bloom slowly add to 1200 ppm, this way i keep adding new nutes, and hopefully the plants wont run out of individuel nutrients, next time one res is gonna be Rhizotonic, Canna Aqua + pk 13/14 + booster. since its used in re-cerculation systems, and I read that many rates it high, the other will be GO Bio Root, GHE + booster since I wanna test whats best.

"Every nute bottle I've read says to change the res every 7-14 days. From my experience, that's about when my reservoir starts to "go bad". I judge this by the ph"

That´s also what I´v heard and read, when the PH goes beserk its time to change it, just my res has been stable at 5.8 for 1.5 months, this is the reason I started thinking about not changing the water/Nutes durin the whole process. Because i was also kinda tired of the big res, not very handy, but everything iv read and heard about hydroponics, is PH is the most important factor to control, and if by having a 110 gallon tank make is stable for months, well when I get other stuff under control, it will save me from alot of hazzle, witch I do appreciate So im sticking with it. Maybe ill add 4 extra holes, so each contain 12, then there´s just not enough room without doing scog imo.

Thank you for the input. What you think about my plan to start over and keep the 4 best as MP? the yield if I don´t, is gonna suck dont you think? with all they have been through...

Part of me wants to see you try as it will make all of us more knowledgeable. I want you to succeed too though, so your plan still worries me. If you've seen it stay stable for 1.5 months, then maybe it's fine. I just read what your plan is and my first thought is, "what about all that unused stuff that is staying in there?" If I add a bunch of nutrients, the plant uses up all of some of them, so I add more, the plant uses up all of something again, so I add more, etc. I'm not adding ONLY what the plant is using, so that means I'm getting a buildup of the "leftovers". With your huge reservoir, maybe it's OK. You might have a large enough volume that the buildup never becomes a problem during one grow cycle. There is a growing technique, popular on another forum mostly, called the "Lucas" method. He advocated never flushing a res and just adding back nutrients. There is MUCH discussion from folks trying this, in DWC, and having problems and then hundreds of pages of discussions of how to solve the problems.

Hopefully you will be fine. Maybe that res IS big enough to buffer for the whole 3-4 months.


As to the mothers... it depends... did you already plan to keep mothers? If so, do you already know these are good genetic specimens you want to keep?

You don't need to start over. Think of it this way... you can start over and you will lose how much time? What if you just veg up those plants for that amount of time? In general, the later will have a larger end yield, but then you're dealing with larger plants which have their own set of challenges.

Now if you want to grow more small plants, and plan to keep mothers, then your plan could be a good one. Make the survivors moms and clone them.

I get it now you're trying to make the system lower maintenance. If I didn't change the res once a week, I wouldn't have anything to do for periods of a few weeks. That's no fun! LOL

 

[c526]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

C526.: how big of an air pump are you using?: 4 x 50 gallon airpumps pr. tank, 8 outlets pr tank, with goes to a airstone placed directly under plants.
"with doing that many strains in the same water, it could be hard to feed" yeah, I´v read that 2, so next time im gonna fill a tank with Blue mistic and the other one with Peppermint kush.
"and remember hydro/dwc is not a lazy mans game" I agree, but handling my own Business and a 4 year old, time is of the essence, ergo the more "automatic" I can get, less time I need to spend later on, witch imo is worth a try..

everything is worth a try,its how most of us learn.
for the air pumps I would use something like,100 watt-95l/min, maybe even a couple of them, I would think that for 100 gallons you would want the water almost turbulent, instead of bubbles. but also ive never been through more than 55gal at a time

trust me I understand the quest for more time in the day,lmao its the reason I switched from soil/rdwc to the capns method
with his system,as little as 10 minutes a day worth of work--and I personally (not by choice)have left it for 7 full days
Do it Capn Style - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

also check out cultivator, lots of water info in his thread
Cultivators 7200w Build And Grow Perpetual

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

everything is worth a try,its how most of us learn.
for the air pumps I would use something like,100 watt-95l/min, maybe even a couple of them, I would think that for 100 gallons you would want the water almost turbulent, instead of bubbles. but also ive never been through more than 55gal at a time

trust me I understand the quest for more time in the day,lmao its the reason I switched from soil/rdwc to the capns method
with his system,as little as 10 minutes a day worth of work--and I personally (not by choice)have left it for 7 full days
Do it Capn Style - Blogs - 420 Magazine ®

also check out cultivator, lots of water info in his thread
Cultivators 7200w Build And Grow Perpetual

Hmm Why use such big pumps? I made the mistake of setting my timer on the pumps instead of my fan, for a couple of day, so for like 6 hours the water stod still, over a period of 3-4 days, no problem, atleast no signs of anything, not root rot, no nothing, I use these pumps because of the stealth, bigger pumps tend to make more noise, and so far i haven´t had any problem, oh yeah, one of the airstones is broken, does not give much air, the plant above it does not grow just as well as others, so i agree at some point that more air could be needed.

Hiker.: "I get it now you're trying to make the system lower maintenance. If I didn't change the res once a week, I wouldn't have anything to do for periods of a few weeks. That's no fun! LOL"

Checking P.h every day, must be more than enough! Nah im also thinking about when I get motherplants, I wanna use my time taking clones and nurture them, and still be able to run the company.. So yeah time is of the essence.

Plant update, Today I got a call from the nice lady living above my basement, the Rat IS still there, and making sounds in the walls, so she called the Exterminator once again, so he´ll prolly be by midweek! Yeah
Then I went down there stuffed all holes I could find with paper, so I can find out where the bugger gets in and out, since if I can present a dead rat before he comes Im in the clear, just not gonna be fun for the rat, since im not sure, im gonna be able to withhold the Geneva-convention. Being totally ready to use Torture, Chemical weapons, and inhumane traps! Rat MUST DIE..! Say Bye Bye..

 

[c526]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

those freakin rats, I hate those buggers

 

[CronicHempHog]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

did you find the sucker yet?

 

[Badpublicity]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Lousy #¤%&#& Rat...

Unfortunately the rat is still in the building, I tried stuffing all holes with fabric to find out where it got out and in, but that rat must be from Japan, bacause its totally ninja, got 3 traps all with food, did not take it, but it did jump my garbage, making a big mess. And ate something in there... Wtf? its even 2 different types of traps, this is no ordinary rat, im calling it splinter! From the Teenage mutant ninja turtles..

With all the fuss going on, I Decided to give away most of the plants to a friend, hopefully he can do something with em, only keeping 5. But not having room anywhere else for the plant but home, I transplanted my favorite 4 into soil. Yeah I know! Or I´v read its almost impossible to do, I went and did it anyway. Im now gonna test if its really impossible. And treat em as houseplants until i can plant em outside.

Im gonna keep the thread up, so you can assist me in my next setup.

For those looking to hear about the Big Tank Theory, my tanks finally went bad during the last 3 days. going from usual 5.8 to 6.0 and next day 5.2 and today finally 4.2 ... But looking back its has been solid at 5.8 for nearly 2 months. Starting 07-01-14 and after a week/week and a half is was stable, until 3 days ago. so 2 months is absolut maximum for this size tank. Im gonna change after 1.5 months in my next grow.. Just need that DAMN rat out of there... until then its gonna be about setting up... I would really like to use my lightrail, so thats gonna be included, furthermore im gonna build a room out side the tent because its easier to control the temp of 6 Square meters than 84, and it will screen, being able to put things up against the wall and camoflage it, in case people NEED to come into basement. %"&"##/ Rat

I will give you the results on the transplant in the next days...

 

[Lester Freeman]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

Peanut butter and cracker crumbs worked for me pretty much every time.

 

[c526]

Re: 220 Gallon Hydroponics, First hydro grow, And Murphy´s Law indeed apply to me

sorry to hear of all these issues man, ninja rat,eh? I've had pretty good luck with live traps, slice of bread and peanut butter as bait,or I wait them out and blast them, I understand you being in a basement,that is not an option.

I would think running those tanks for half cycle may be more feasible, I hope you can finish this project out