manual hydro wattering

CharlieMopps

CharlieMopps

New Member
Picture this, a 3ft x 4 ft x 8 in plastic tray on a short table. I'd only drill 1 drain hole, maybe 1/16 in with a skinny tube coming out to a drain container resivoir. When i need to water, i'd just dump in 15-20 gal of nute mix and cause of the small dain hole, it'd take 10 mins or so to drain. I'm more of a hand on soil grower but i'd like to try hydro just for the exp of it, and i don't have the money or the knowledge to set up a whole timed pump system. Plus i hear of plants dying cause of broken pumps, and i'm use to watering by hand anyway so i could cut out the problematic part.

-Do any of you guys have experience with hydro minus the pump?
-Could it work?
 
well if you have the time to return and re-pour the nute solution every hour or so for the next 3 months or more, then ya it would work. Re- circulation of nute mixture many times a day every day is what makes hydro work. But the moment you stop and miss a pour or two you will have catastrophy. Pumps and timers are what make hydro possible. I should say I have never done hydro though, plan to one day when I can afford it.
 
It would be a pain in the ass. Flood tables usually flood for a solid 15 minutes every few hours, between 4 and 8 hours depending on all the different variables. If you are worried about money, pumps are not expensive. You wouldn't need a large pump. If you have a pump with more than 125 gallons per hour you should be fine. If a pump is small you may have to leave it on for a half hour. This is because you want the medium, usually hydroton, to become completely submerged making it soaked.
 
Hi Crew!!
Question for anyone with their thoughts. If growing Aeroponics (Free hanging roots watered by sprinklers what are your thoughts on the optimum wter temp for both grow and bud I have read many books all aying a range is this because each strain tolerates different temp depending on genetics.
I ask this because 23 - 26 I have always thought was good but recently tested some clones from day 1 in aeroponics kit with no heater or airaitor and with only 1 x 15 minute watering at end of the day and these clones had 100% strike rate with roots bulging through rockwool in 4 - 5 days coludnt believe it, last time same strain 65% and some took 3 weeks to root with 4 -5 x 15 minute watering's and i if there are any certain signs to look out for please let me know there thoughts
Kind Regard's
Glenn Wilson
 
The cloners water needs to be cool but I if you are not cloning under hps/mh you should be fine if your room is at a comfortable temp. If the water is extremely hot you will have issues though. Should go to your closest hydroponics shop and buy rooting gel and nutrients for the cloner. I recommend Clonex for the gel and Root 66 for the cloner. Of root 66 the cloner needs 19 mL per gallon of water.

You will guaranteed need oxygen levels high in the cloner. Without the oxygen or the air bubblers the roots will not grow under proper conditions.

When you use an aeroponics style clone you want your sprayers on all the way until they have fully rooted (reason for air bubblers). If you follow some of the guides on cloning you should be set with this knowledge.

Also make sure for the first 24-48 hours that your plants have a dome to keep humidity way up. Humidity for the first few days needs to be about 90%. Although you want humidity high, you also need fresh air exchanged! This just means take the lid of as many times as you can for the first 48 and spray the plants down and the dome down. There are also foliar sprays that will help your mother and clones come back strong. I have not used these, but know that they are out there.

On your 3 weeks in a cloner. From my experience, cloners root in the first week and rockwool cubes roots become visibile in a few weeks. Your cloner should produce roots faster assuming all conditions are correct.

Good Luck!
Peace
 
charliemopps said:
...I'm more of a hand on soil grower but i'd like to try hydro just for the exp of it, and i don't have the money or the knowledge to set up a whole timed pump system...
Click to expand...

My advice... stick with soil. :grinjoint:
 
The Hempy bucket man. It's just a pail/bucket/anything that'll hold water with a single small hole 2 inches from the bottom. The hole's not a drain, it's a water level indicator. You fill it with perlite or a perlite/vermiculite mix, 3:1 perlite/vermiculite, and water it by hand with hydroponic nutrients.

They teach 13 year olds to make these systems and they grow pot great. No aeration, no recirculation pump, no chiller, no nothing. Root rot proof. People use them indoors, outdoors, essentially anywhere.

If you google "Hempy bucket" you'll find a lot of threads about them; they're undergoing a resurgence in popularity right now.
 
Holy old thread, Batman!!! I think hydro is a great way to grow. I have always been a soil medium guy tho, more of a buffer against problems. I agree that being versed in more grow styles makes you a better gardener.
 
it think you can....but a medium such as perlite , rockwool and or hydroton does need to be watered more then once a day. that's why i like using "CAna" coco mixed w/ perlite. Coco is pretty much like dirt but with no nutes. i like the 50/50 mix of coco and perlite. Coco will hold water in for a whole day. so you can hand feed them once a day.
 
Yeah, the coco medium is what i had in mind in my original post, now that you mention it. I am liking the results people are getting from aero systems lately. Man i need my own crib again.
 
dom42 said:
it think you can....but a medium such as perlite , rockwool and or hydroton does need to be watered more then once a day. that's why i like using "CAna" coco mixed w/ perlite. Coco is pretty much like dirt but with no nutes. i like the 50/50 mix of coco and perlite. Coco will hold water in for a whole day. so you can hand feed them once a day.
Click to expand...
Um....coir releases pottasium as it breaks down so it's not 100% accurate to say it contains no nutrients. (Just a technicality)
I've been using coir for over 5 years now. love it. hated the old stuff you had to rinse forever to remove the salty sand from.
 
Easiest way to break into the hydro world of growing is get down to the basics...and keep it simple...use the wick system....cut a couple of holes in your containers..if they don't already have them....cut a 2' length of 3/8" nylon rope....run the rope through your medium and leave 6" to 8" of rope hanging out of the holes you made in the container....place your containers up on blocks of wood or whatever in your watering panleaving the rope ends laying down in the pan.....fill with water.....instant automatic waterer...plants get what they need....nothing mechanical to go wrong...and you can still do a hands on care of the garden without all the timers and pumps....all my girls are on the self feeding plan...and doing quite fine:yummy:
 
I like the wick system... simple and easy. I've often wondered if the wick system can be adapted for soil grows....

Start your babies in rockwool cobes. Place the starts in soil covering them with 1 inch of soil. Then run the rope thru the soil so that the rope ends are sitting on top of the rockwool cubes with the 1 inch of soil packed in around.

I wouldn't call this hydro per se. It's really just an automated watering system. I suspect you could adjust the flow by using various width rope.

I've bailed on my hydro systems for the year. It's too hot in my neck of the woods, and I'm unable to properly control the heat. My original post was in anticipation of hurricane season.

Cheers!
 
fylthevoyd said:
Easiest way to break into the hydro world of growing is get down to the basics...and keep it simple...use the wick system....cut a couple of holes in your containers..if they don't already have them....cut a 2' length of 3/8" nylon rope....run the rope through your medium and leave 6" to 8" of rope hanging out of the holes you made in the container....place your containers up on blocks of wood or whatever in your watering panleaving the rope ends laying down in the pan.....fill with water.....instant automatic waterer...plants get what they need....nothing mechanical to go wrong...and you can still do a hands on care of the garden without all the timers and pumps....all my girls are on the self feeding plan...and doing quite fine:yummy:
Click to expand...

Do you have any problems with PPM increasing because of evaporation of the solution in your bottom pan?

SS
 
My first grows were pretty close to what you're describing except I used restaurant bus trays that stacked nicely. I drilled several holes in the top tray, filled it with lava rock, and I would water it by hand every couple days or so.

The top tray did not drain slowly, but the lava rock held enough water for a couple days and this passive hydro system worked just fine.

The plants loved the lava rock and root systems were large and healthy.

Pretty much impossible to over-water too.

regards,

SS
 
In regards to your question setting sun....I am a "kiss" grower ...keep it simple stupid....very basic and barebones set-ups....to be honest I don't monitor PPM's....I just alternate feedings with straight water...and don't let my trays go dry....I am sure that there are increases due to evaporation...but I have rarely noticed any fert burning going on....my main concerns with my grow room is the sleath aspect...since I live in an illegal state...so the less time I have it open the better for me...hopefully one of these days I will be able to take a more sceiniftic approach to growing
 

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