jessor
New Member
Hey has any one done a hsp/mh light tutorial around here, I'v been looking and I cant find one.
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TheAnswer1776
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Not that I have seen, but if you have any specific questions ask away. I know allot of Deep Water Culture, including myself, use HID lighting.
Mama Train
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jessor
New Member
well i was wondering because I am already starting to plan my next grow, and I have been looking at a 1000w switchable silverstar reflector and upgrading to a grow tent and a pro 2 res.
SH Hydroponics, Inc. > 1000W Switchable 24-Planter Deep Water Culture Kit
this one basically.
The Silver Star is a top of the line reflector. Nice choice! Growing in a tent you'll also need to use a tempered glass shield and at least a 6" inline blower to pull the heat off the lamp and evacuate it from the room.
If you leave one end of the reflector open it can also work to eliminate odor and humidity.
Burple
Well-Known Member
Thanks for answering guys! 
I am using distilled water (for now - I'm going to use tap water later) that I bought from Wally World.
The way I did it was that I balanced each gallon before putting into the tank, and then I checked it once all 6 gallons were in.
However, the water I used to soak the air stones, pump, and rockwool in came out of my bathtub spout and sat for an hour in a 5 gallon pail before I adjusted the PH and put the stuff into it.
I'm also wondering if it might be because I had soaked the stuff a week before (before I had the PH meter), and it is a leftover imbalance from then.
Could heat have something to do with it?
The water in my res is about 75 degrees, but the air temp in the tent has been fluctuating between 80 & 90 degrees depending on how zipped up it is.
I don't have a ppm meter yet (will be getting it this month), so I can't say what my ppm is yet.
Thanks again
I am using distilled water (for now - I'm going to use tap water later) that I bought from Wally World.
The way I did it was that I balanced each gallon before putting into the tank, and then I checked it once all 6 gallons were in.
However, the water I used to soak the air stones, pump, and rockwool in came out of my bathtub spout and sat for an hour in a 5 gallon pail before I adjusted the PH and put the stuff into it.
I'm also wondering if it might be because I had soaked the stuff a week before (before I had the PH meter), and it is a leftover imbalance from then.
Could heat have something to do with it?
The water in my res is about 75 degrees, but the air temp in the tent has been fluctuating between 80 & 90 degrees depending on how zipped up it is.
I don't have a ppm meter yet (will be getting it this month), so I can't say what my ppm is yet.
Thanks again
TheAnswer1776
New Member
Thanks for answering guys!
I am using distilled water (for now - I'm going to use tap water later) that I bought from Wally World.
The way I did it was that I balanced each gallon before putting into the tank, and then I checked it once all 6 gallons were in.
However, the water I used to soak the air stones, pump, and rockwool in came out of my bathtub spout and sat for an hour in a 5 gallon pail before I adjusted the PH and put the stuff into it.
I'm also wondering if it might be because I had soaked the stuff a week before (before I had the PH meter), and it is a leftover imbalance from then.
Could heat have something to do with it?
The water in my res is about 75 degrees, but the air temp in the tent has been fluctuating between 80 & 90 degrees depending on how zipped up it is.
I don't have a ppm meter yet (will be getting it this month), so I can't say what my ppm is yet.
Thanks again
Air temp wouldn't effect PH, but it might be caused from the equipment. I have had a wandering PH level before and it stopped after a res change. I use the same distilled water from wally world, so it can't be that. If it doesn't settle in a day or so, I would do a drain and replenish.
jessor
New Member
I was planning on getting the 455 cfm inline fan for it too.
Hey Deep Water Culture I've got a lil' update on my hydro for you!
After one week in veg all is going great! I just did a rez change on both the buckets and I want to show y'all the beauty of check valves in case any of you have never seen this done.
I have a bad back. Lifting and moving buckets/plants around can be painful at times. To eliminate any lifting and disturbance to the plants by removing the baskets from the buckets I use the check valves to drain the buckets.
I simply move an empty bucket below the rez bucket and turn the check valve elbow 180 degrees downward and let the bucket drain into the bucket below. No bending and lifting except to take the catch bucket outside to feed my orange tree!
Check valves can be installed on any type of rez by drilling a hole slightly larger than 1/2", inserting a 1/2" grommet, and then a 1/2" elbow into the grommet. Use the blue GH tubing so you can see the water level at any time but still keep algae from growing in the tube. Algae has a hard time growing on blue surfaces.
Here's the girls one week in veg
After one week in veg all is going great! I just did a rez change on both the buckets and I want to show y'all the beauty of check valves in case any of you have never seen this done.
I have a bad back. Lifting and moving buckets/plants around can be painful at times. To eliminate any lifting and disturbance to the plants by removing the baskets from the buckets I use the check valves to drain the buckets.
I simply move an empty bucket below the rez bucket and turn the check valve elbow 180 degrees downward and let the bucket drain into the bucket below. No bending and lifting except to take the catch bucket outside to feed my orange tree!
Check valves can be installed on any type of rez by drilling a hole slightly larger than 1/2", inserting a 1/2" grommet, and then a 1/2" elbow into the grommet. Use the blue GH tubing so you can see the water level at any time but still keep algae from growing in the tube. Algae has a hard time growing on blue surfaces.
Here's the girls one week in veg
Thank you for the tip.
Yeah she is the prettiest one. I can't stop taking her picture..."pot-arazi".
Yes, straight up. Minor LST in the final weeks to keep light burn to a minimum.
I also have a milwaukee, what you describe is normal. It's hard to keep PH stable until you introduce nutes. You will find when you reach a full dose of nutes that PH is stable and easy to manage.PH question for the Deep Water Culture!
I germinated my seeds, put them in the rockwool (that I soaked for 24 hours in 5.8 PH'd water), stuck the cubes in the pots and cranked up the pumps & lights.
I checked the PH in the tank and it was reading 6.5 (I had filled it with 5.9 water), so I lowered it again to around 6.0, and left it.
When I checked it again it was reading 7.3, so again I lowered it to 6.0.
It doesn't seem to be affecting the babies any as all six have sprouted, and all but 1 already have 4 leaves (the 2 round ones and 2 pointed).
Anyway, since I haven't put any nutes in the water yet (of course), I'm wondering why my PH is dancing like this.
I bought a brand new Milwaukee PH meter and calibrated it at 7.0 and then checked some white vinegar which read 2.7 to get a reading on something else.
Since my PH has been bouncing around, I checked the PH meter against the vinegar and it still reads 2.7, so I don't think it's the meter screwing up.
Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be or is it even a problem?
Hey Deep Water Culture I've got a lil' update on my hydro for you!
After one week in veg all is going great! I just did a rez change on both the buckets and I want to show y'all the beauty of check valves in case any of you have never seen this done.
I have a bad back. Lifting and moving buckets/plants around can be painful at times. To eliminate any lifting and disturbance to the plants by removing the baskets from the buckets I use the check valves to drain the buckets.
I simply move an empty bucket below the rez bucket and turn the check valve elbow 180 degrees downward and let the bucket drain into the bucket below. No bending and lifting except to take the catch bucket outside to feed my orange tree!
Check valves can be installed on any type of rez by drilling a hole slightly larger than 1/2", inserting a 1/2" grommet, and then a 1/2" elbow into the grommet. Use the blue GH tubing so you can see the water level at any time but still keep algae from growing in the tube. Algae has a hard time growing on blue surfaces.
Here's the girls one week in veg
hey looking good bro
Burple
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing it must be whatever was still in the air stones & rockwool from the last time I soaked them.
I just checked the PH again and since last night it has only crawled up to 6.3, so it is rising less than it was.
I had to add about half a gallon of water (damn heat), so I balanced a gallon of distilled water to 5.5 and added half of it.
I'll check it again in about an hour, but I think it will be fine.
Okay, cool! I'm glad to know its not just me.
My nutes (Technaflora) say that the full strength dose should be 6.08, and the ppm should be 1100.
I just ordered my ppm meter, so I should have it sometime in the next week.
So far I don't have any roots showing out of the cups, but tonight is only 3 days since I put the seeds in the rockwool.
I have questions about the nutes, but I'll hold off on them until the time comes - I don't want to overload my wittle brain!
Thanks guys!
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Wally world around here has a couple of distilled brands. Does yours have a purple cap? It's got to be something either in the water or the system (duh!). If it's not the water it might be the RW if you really were off on the soaking ph. Tap water is going to do that kind of thing as the ph down reacts to the stuff in the water. It can really jump for a while after a res change.
I'd recommend you micro dose the ph down. Something like 1ml per gallon and no more than 10ml for the whole tank at a time with a goal of just keeping it between 5.5 and 6.5. It's good for it to travel in that range because different nutes are taken up at different ph levels. If you try to do it all at once it will overeact and your ph level will continue to bounce out of range.
You also might want to pour some 5.5 ph'd water right in the net cup to settle down that rockwool. Do it slowly so you don't disturb the plant. Was your hydroton fresh and rinced well? Any red dust in the bottom of the res?
I'd recommend you micro dose the ph down. Something like 1ml per gallon and no more than 10ml for the whole tank at a time with a goal of just keeping it between 5.5 and 6.5. It's good for it to travel in that range because different nutes are taken up at different ph levels. If you try to do it all at once it will overeact and your ph level will continue to bounce out of range.
You also might want to pour some 5.5 ph'd water right in the net cup to settle down that rockwool. Do it slowly so you don't disturb the plant. Was your hydroton fresh and rinced well? Any red dust in the bottom of the res?
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- #12,914
Well how about that! Glad it settled down. Thought it might have been temporary. When a system is new it needs a bit to settle in itself. Things like water running over the RW constantly can solve some of those set-up problems.
- Thread starter
- #12,915
Great tip, OB! You can use that blue tube as the water gauge too, right?
BootUmAll
Well-Known Member
There is always reward in doing a good job. Take care of business. When you get home you'll be able to relax and enjoy the grow. Good luck in all your travels. Its a jungle out there. Our thoughts will be with you Sam. Besides the internet is world wide. You can visit!
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- #12,917
Sam, have a good trip and we will be waiting for your triumphant return but Boot is right, the internet works!
I also use technaflora, are you going to use thrive alive b1-red in the res?Okay, cool! I'm glad to know its not just me.
My nutes (Technaflora) say that the full strength dose should be 6.08, and the ppm should be 1100.
I just ordered my ppm meter, so I should have it sometime in the next week.
So far I don't have any roots showing out of the cups, but tonight is only 3 days since I put the seeds in the rockwool.
I have questions about the nutes, but I'll hold off on them until the time comes - I don't want to overload my wittle brain!
Thanks guys!
Burple
Well-Known Member
Yup, it's that Great Value distilled water and it tested at exactly 7.0 when I opened it.
MostlyCrazy said:
I don't have the SH setup. My system is more of a drip setup. I have a large line that runs across the top of the res with "T"'s sending water to the individual cups.
The lines from the T's are long enough that they go below the hydroton and butt against the RW cubes - almost as if they were coming in from below like the SH setup, and the RW seems to be getting flushed with the water from the res pretty well.
I don't know how fresh the hydroton was, but I rinsed it really good - I don't see any dust at the bottom, but I did find 1 little ball in the res that must have fallen in when I was filling the cups!
I do believe your right! I think it was a matter of all the lines, the pump, the air stones, and the rockwool all being soaked in the wrong PH water - I just realized that when I soaked everything right this time I never did run the correct PH water through the pump and lines so along with any residue that might have been in the RW and stones, I'm sure there must have been some water in the lines & pump that was from the higher PH start.
I'll keep an eye on it, but I am happy it only crawled up .4 in 24 hours.
Thanks for answering!
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