Confusion!

[Cultivator]

Ok so I know there are lots of links and journals of different types/styles of growing on here, which is great. However I have a question that more likely than not gets asked on a daily basis and am certain there are many answers to my question on here. Problem is I really dont have the time to scroll through all the journals etc to find what I am looking for so I am hoping someone can send me a link or describe/help me with what I need.

So to the point.......

I have been growing in soil from seed for 2 or 3 years now with some fairly decent results learning by trial and error, improving along the way. But the time has come for me to experiment with hydro or nft. I am really eager to start a grow using one of these methods but I dont know where to start....

What medium? What system? What nutes and schedule?

I have been growing Nirvana wonder woman feminised from seed for last 6 or 7 grows so would like to stay with that strain to first of all compare with a soil grow and second because it yields well and is decent smoke.

Can someone with some experience please give me a simple but effective way to hydro grow without too much technical jargon? I'm not totally dumb but trying to understand some of the terms used which I am unfamiliar with has been confusing me when reading some info.

I have a bluelab ec truncheon and ph meter so am sorted for those readings and plan to run 3 or 4 600w hps after vegging under 2 250w cfl. Ideally want to have 16/18 plants. I will be building from scratch the hydro system or I have thought of purchasing a couple of large 8 pot wilma systems ( has to be the longer narrow tray to fit through loft hatch) but unsure wot medium to use and how to use effectively.

I would be eternally grateful for detailed info or breakdown of wot to do from start to finish, alot to ask but I really would be grateful.

Thanks guys.......

 

[Vapedogg223]

Hey Cultivator,

I'm a dirt grower myself, so take my advice with that in mind. I've researched quite a few hydroponic methods, and their are a couple reasons I'm in dirt. The first is because I think the taste is better! The second is because of the complications associated with pumps, timers, hoses, fittings, etc. that comes with hydro. If you had the time to read through some journals you'd see that there's all kinds of stuff that can, and probably will go wrong at one time or another. Power outages, leaks, lines getting clogged or a whole host of things that can cause floods (I wonder how many people are in jail because a landlord had to enter an apartment because of water running into a downstairs neighbor's apartment)...even something as simple as forgetting to plug a pump back in can cause disaster.

That being said, I'll assume you already took all of that into account and still want to try something different... Well, I had one of the guys at my local grow shop recommend aeroponics, which just happens to be one of the easiest methods to screw up. His logic was "everyone tries all the different methods and ends up with aeroponics eventually, so you may as well start there". I'm not really sure I'd agree with him, but it's an interesting viewpoint.

That brings me to my advice... How about getting your feet wet (pun intended) with what's probably the simplest hydroponic method called "hempy". With hempy you are growing in perlite (or some other medium) and using hydroponic nutrients, but are still watering by hand, each bucket has it's own reservoir and you water as needed.

There's a really great thread here that discusses this method in detail, and I would suggest you take a look and see what you think:

https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/guide-hempy-just-put-hole-bucket.121141/post-1080462

And if you'd like to see a great example of what can be achieved with hempy, take a look at the last page of this journal:

Come SOG With Me: 112 Plants, 2 Liter, Hempy SOG

Anyway, it's just a thought...there a lot of folks on this forum that have great grows with all types of setups, and I'm sure they all have their favorites. Good luck!

 

[Cultivator]

Thanks man, i;ll check it out