First Hydro Grow

[dray86man]

Here we go again, trying a hydro w/ small ebb & flow tables (Botanicare Turbogardens).

Clone & mother plant room. Growing AK-47, Afghani Kush, and Headband.

Exterior of main grow room:

Electrical center:

Tank for mixing nutes. Transferred inside via thru wall hose:

Interior of grow room:

Turbogardens.

Interior of grow room looking out:

Hose from exterior nute tank:

That's it.

Growing about 7 each of Headband (Indica), Afghani Kush (Indica), and AK-47 (Sativa)
Please see latest journal entry for state of growth.
Will veg until plants are about 12" max.
Indoor
Hydro
1000W
Adjust A Wing (L) reflector
In/Out Ventilation system w/ Can Fan vent fans
Room temp = 72F
RH of room fluctuates
PH target of 5.6
Pest control is one Hot Shot pest strip per
200 cubic feet growing space.
Ionice line of nutes.

Put the clones down 8-10-13.

Running Ionic nutes w/ Sea of Green method.

 

[J189RFC]

Oh man, this is going to be good! Nice big setup! I like!

 

[KingJohnC]

subscribed. you want an drinking water safe garden hose commonly referred to as a rv water hose to run your water through, regular hoses leach chemicals used to make them pliable.

 

[dray86man]

subscribed. you want an drinking water safe garden hose commonly referred to as a rv water hose to run your water through, regular hoses leach chemicals used to make them pliable.

Interesting point. The chemicals of most concern seem to be BPA and Phthalates, both of which are alleged to work on hormone balance and such in humans.

Unsure of how they would affect plants, but you make a good argument. RV hose is available & cheap, plus I have rotten nutes in mine & they need to be replaced anyway.

 

[dray86man]

Oh man, this is going to be good! Nice big setup! I like!

Thanks. It was fun to design & build. Favorite bit was the electric.

 

[J189RFC]

Damn, thanks guys! I didn't know about garden hoses! Thats kind of scary!

 

[KingJohnC]

i use drinking water safe hoses for all my indoor plants even to drain my reservoirs, i do not want to have to use a hose i know will leach chemicals indoors.

 

[dray86man]

Wasn't totally pleased w/ my city water; it's about 0.5-0.6 EC w/ the usual municipal water stuff.

Decided to add a 50 GPD RO unit. Arrives this weekend. I'll just dump the holding tank and connect the tank feed line to a float valve mounted in a 55 gallon plastic food-grade drum :

I have another small pump that I can use to move the RO water over to the conditioning tank for nutrient treatment, and then dump to the reservoirs.

 

[dray86man]

Here's the clones, which were put down 8-5-13 in 2" rockwool cubes w/ 25% nute soln & root & growth stimulators:

Clones even have a bit of new growth. Nice and healthy:

Should be ready to transfer early next week.

 

[KingJohnC]

you will also need to supplement additional calcium and magnesium to make up for what is lacking in Reverse Osmosis water.

 

[dray86man]

you will also need to supplement additional calcium and magnesium to make up for what is lacking in Reverse Osmosis water.

Already seeing that a bit in the AK-47 & Afghani Kush mother plants, and I would anticipate the same during the grow.

Have it noted in my lab notebook and will be mindful as things progress.

 

[dray86man]

9 days or so post-clone. The chunky 2" Rockwool cubes can take bit more time for the roots to poke through. Humidity dome removed 8-18-13 and all clones standing tall & proud, so that is evidence of roots enough to support the existing leaf structure, i.e. no wilting. Leaves of clones beginning to yellow slightly; plant sending nutes from leaves to build roots.

Meantime, thinking about brewing some compost tea. Here's some recipes I found; thanks to original poster:

What we have been waiting for...

The core of these recipes are known on the net as "Heisenberg Tea".

Recipe #1 (most aggressive)
- 1 ga water (if tap, let sit 24 hours or aerate)
- 1 tsp (5mL) Mycogrow soluble
- 1 tsp (5mL) ZHO powder
- 3/4 tbsp (11.25 mL) unsulfured molasses
- 1/8 cup (30 mL) Ancient Forest EWC

Recipe #2
- 1 gal water
- 15-30ml Aquashield
- 1/4 scoop ZHO (enclosed scoop small end)
- 1 handfull of EWC
- 3/4 tbsp unsulfured molasses

Recipe #3 (simplest but not as aggressive)
- 1 gal water
- 1 handfull EWC
- 3/4 tbsp unsulfured molasses

Recipe #4 Here's one I came up w/ on my own.
-4L water treated to remove chloramine, about 75-80F
-40 ml Aquashield
-40 ml Liquid Karma
-1 scoop ZHO powder
-1/4 sock EWC's*
-50g sugar

*1/4 sock is about one handful, full sock holds about 4 handfuls. Knee-high nylon stockings used to hold EWC's.







Application Rates
- 1 cup per gallon of total system water for fixing problems
- 1 cup per 10 gallons for general system health maintenance
- add a cup or so directly to roots every 3 days or so



Leftover tea can be refrigerated for use up to 7-10 days. The cold will slow down biological activity and keep the population diverse. If tea starts to smell like anything besides "mossy" or "earthy", throw it away, especially if it smells like shit.

 

[dray86man]

Here's the clones, which were put down 8-5-13 in 2" rockwool cubes w/ 25% nute soln & root & growth stimulators:

Correction: These clones were put down on 8-10-13.

 

[dray86man]

Here's the RO Unit & water storage tank:

Waste Stream

 

[GreatLife4All]

Everything is looking very good. Very interested in that headband and AK-47...

With an R/O filter running into a large storage tank - you should use both a backcheck valve and an auto-shutoff valve. Both are easily found by doing a google search - and they are sold as a package.

I have had people tell me that I am full of shit on this issue - but it is recommended by the manufacturers if you check your manual and extrapolate to how you are using the system. You are maintaining zero pressure on one side of your membrane and about 60 lbs on the other - for a very long time while your container is filling. That is why R/O systems have very small storage tanks. Very hard on your membrane and you will lose efficiency in the system (efficiency is measured in these systems by the amount of waste water per unit of clean water).

 

[dray86man]

I have had people tell me that I am full of shit on this issue - but it is recommended by the manufacturers if you check your manual and extrapolate to how you are using the system. You are maintaining zero pressure on one side of your membrane and about 60 lbs on the other - for a very long time while your container is filling. That is why R/O systems have very small storage tanks. Very hard on your membrane and you will lose efficiency in the system (efficiency is measured in these systems by the amount of waste water per unit of clean water).

Don't think that's unreasonable at all. I was thinking the same myself. The membrane that came w/ the unit wasn't branded, so I don't know about manufacturer or quality. I was planning on replacing it w/ a Filmtec membrane as soon as the current one is spent.

Right now the system is producing about 31 GPD, rejecting about 93% of dissolved solids. Rated at 50 GPD, the temp is well below the ideal rate 70-something F, although pressure is about 50-55 psi.

Source TDS = 511 mS, pH = 9.18. Product = 36 mS, w/ pH = 7.65.

 

[Growingnow]

very nice set up was worried at first with the large black water reservoir as it looked difficult to maintain being up that high but the new one looks much more manageable. So far it all looks A ok. The water hose part is funny, I can remember the hose taste when drinking out of a water hose as a child 25 years ago.

 

[dray86man]

very nice set up was worried at first with the large black water reservoir as it looked difficult to maintain being up that high but the new one looks much more manageable. So far it all looks A ok.

Thanks for the view & encouraging words.

I use a small pond pump to move the water from the RO barrel to the large black res for conditioning, and then I dump to the tables. May be a bit too tall, but gravity is my friend here and I can manage a small stool for get to the top of the mixing tank.

 

[dray86man]

Here's the clones 9 days after being put down. Leaf margins are beginning to yellow a bit.

Compare that to the pics posted just three days ago on 16 August 2013:

First Hydro Grow

 

[dray86man]

Clones in Dappled Sunlight

Parked the clones in the sun for the late afternoon. It's about 85F and partly sunny here today...perfect outdoor conditions. Also gave them a light feeding of 25% grown along w/ root & growth accelerators.

First roots spotted on a few. Not long until they're ready for the tables.