About 4 months ago I decided to do a personal use grow. I went with hydro- well, aero using a bubbler/drip system. Growing in a very small space- 3 X 3 1/2 shower stall. I replaced my 400 watt HID/HPS with a new generation UFO LED. I bought a starter/clone set up and grow set up from aerocustoms- good prices and good service.
Alas, I made almost every mistake possible, too high ppm, nutes too warm, light too far away. I found the drip head to be a pain and the large tank too deep, which required me to use way too much water and nutes to get within an inch of the nets. I set the tote on a plastic crate that had a much smaller footprint. The water weight caused the tote to buckle. It turned out to be a pain in my ass, but I would not be deterred. It was the wrong choice the way I was using it, but I see now it would be great for a spray bar/stacked res set up.
I replaced this with a 15 liter (16 qt) tote. FYI- as your roots break free of the nets, and hang, it is no longer necessary to have the oxygenating nutes within an inch, BUT the more air space the greater the chances the roots will dry out. Bubblers ain't all they're cracked up to be, at least beyond germination/cloning.
I added a fogger, but it made the nutes too warm. At first I manged the high temp by adding jugs of frozen water. Then I put the fogger in a separate tote (side by side) connecting the two totes via a 2" diameter tube. That worked, but I had to cut a hole in the top of the fog tote and aim a small fan to push the fog into the grow tote.
Within two months the roots were 6" long and hanging in the nutes. I started to get algae (this can also cause root rot!), but even with the fog the roots were too dry. Growth came to a stand still. Time for yet a deeper tote, but not the original 18 gallon. I ordered a 14 gallon (with a spray bar), which should be here any day.
I read that the key to keeping spray heads from clogging is to use organic nutes! The spray bar will solve the roots drying out problem and provide considerably more nutes to the roots, BUT the pump will be submerged in the nutes and will no doubt add heat. What to do?
While Youtubing, I came across a DIY video. This guy is using 2 totes- stacking one the other with cut outs in between. He simply uses a long riser between his pump and spray bar, which is attached directly into the pump! This is beginning to make the sense. Doubling the air chamber will help the pump heat to dissipate. I am thinking of adding lava rock to the bottom to further cool the nutes. Also, will try the fogger in here as well, but due to the increase volume I may need several foggers or a multi-head fogger.
Aerocustoms makes a 14 G spray bar set up with pump, 6 nets, net holes cut, and hydroton for $80! (For my next grow I will replace rockwool/hydroton with 'suretogrow' - google it. Once the 14 G arrives, I will go to Walmart/K-Mart... and get a second tote. Cut holes in the bottom of the plant tote, and the top of the reservoir to connect the riser and to allow for the spray nutes to return to the reservoir. I might even experiment with lava rock around the drain holes for further cooling. This set up should be easy to maintain, and allow me to really push the grow.
Due to guests in November, I had to go to 12/12 on this crop, but plants still grow so it will be interesting to see how much with this new set up.
Alas, I made almost every mistake possible, too high ppm, nutes too warm, light too far away. I found the drip head to be a pain and the large tank too deep, which required me to use way too much water and nutes to get within an inch of the nets. I set the tote on a plastic crate that had a much smaller footprint. The water weight caused the tote to buckle. It turned out to be a pain in my ass, but I would not be deterred. It was the wrong choice the way I was using it, but I see now it would be great for a spray bar/stacked res set up.
I replaced this with a 15 liter (16 qt) tote. FYI- as your roots break free of the nets, and hang, it is no longer necessary to have the oxygenating nutes within an inch, BUT the more air space the greater the chances the roots will dry out. Bubblers ain't all they're cracked up to be, at least beyond germination/cloning.
I added a fogger, but it made the nutes too warm. At first I manged the high temp by adding jugs of frozen water. Then I put the fogger in a separate tote (side by side) connecting the two totes via a 2" diameter tube. That worked, but I had to cut a hole in the top of the fog tote and aim a small fan to push the fog into the grow tote.
Within two months the roots were 6" long and hanging in the nutes. I started to get algae (this can also cause root rot!), but even with the fog the roots were too dry. Growth came to a stand still. Time for yet a deeper tote, but not the original 18 gallon. I ordered a 14 gallon (with a spray bar), which should be here any day.
I read that the key to keeping spray heads from clogging is to use organic nutes! The spray bar will solve the roots drying out problem and provide considerably more nutes to the roots, BUT the pump will be submerged in the nutes and will no doubt add heat. What to do?
While Youtubing, I came across a DIY video. This guy is using 2 totes- stacking one the other with cut outs in between. He simply uses a long riser between his pump and spray bar, which is attached directly into the pump! This is beginning to make the sense. Doubling the air chamber will help the pump heat to dissipate. I am thinking of adding lava rock to the bottom to further cool the nutes. Also, will try the fogger in here as well, but due to the increase volume I may need several foggers or a multi-head fogger.
Aerocustoms makes a 14 G spray bar set up with pump, 6 nets, net holes cut, and hydroton for $80! (For my next grow I will replace rockwool/hydroton with 'suretogrow' - google it. Once the 14 G arrives, I will go to Walmart/K-Mart... and get a second tote. Cut holes in the bottom of the plant tote, and the top of the reservoir to connect the riser and to allow for the spray nutes to return to the reservoir. I might even experiment with lava rock around the drain holes for further cooling. This set up should be easy to maintain, and allow me to really push the grow.
Due to guests in November, I had to go to 12/12 on this crop, but plants still grow so it will be interesting to see how much with this new set up.
