My First Hydro Setup

So since my drawing looks like a 3 year olds writing I went with pics instead. My hands can do a lot of things but sure as shit drawing ain’t one of them lmao. Here is one way you could convert to a circulating system giving you the chance to be able to work a little more comfortable from one spot outside of the space.
This would be your two buckets and the bucket with the pump is the res. The pump pumps water to each bucket through a half inch line. Then the water flows out the bottom through the 2 inch white pvc back to the res. The water being pumped in the half inch line enters into the buckets through a grommet and nipple.
The blue lines r air lines. In your case this pipe would be longer to get the res out of the space.
This is a very short version and you may want to look at UC systems as they run their pumps external keeping the heat down in the res as well as they don’t run feed lines to each bucket. They just basically circulate the water through under current. For myself I can run a pump in my res because I don’t battle heat issues. By keeping the pump in the res you have less chance of leaks. In the pics above it is possible to run the pump externally as well to keep the heat down. I did the pump out for a wile.
i prefer to run pump in res.
One pump for chiller and the big pump for feed lines.
 
I have a range of water pumps from my Wilma systems so maybe that might work with it only being two plants, plus these are only 19L pots.

So this morning I have trimmed one leaf off each plant letting the light penetrate the lower branches.

One question I'd like help with is the Liquid Oxygen says top up 1ml per day but I don't know wether or not it's for a recirculation system but my water levers barely move so am I safe to keep adding daily?








 
I have a range of water pumps from my Wilma systems so maybe that might work with it only being two plants, plus these are only 19L pots.

So this morning I have trimmed one leaf off each plant letting the light penetrate the lower branches.

One question I'd like help with is the Liquid Oxygen says top up 1ml per day but I don't know wether or not it's for a recirculation system but my water levers barely move so am I safe to keep adding daily?








I think it would be ok at 1m a day to 19 L as it depletes as the week goes on. I add on day 4 of my weekly cycle at half the rate. Maybe try it on one and c. I would think it would help because your temps r up there and the dissolved oxygen in your mix would b falling off quickly. I can’t see any down fall but as I said try it on one just for a test. I do see a few things with those leafs (spots). Is your ph still rising and ppm the same or falling??
 
Hello bud, they don't seem to be drinking anything at the moment I feel like I'm really effing this up as for being 26 days from seed I imagined there would be more growth.

The left plant has roots and garden and looks horrible inside the res and the other didn't and there much better.

Transferred them from the 90x60x90 tent into the 1x1x1.60m tent so hopefully the heat should disappear and the lights been lifted so hopefully that will induce some stretch in the branches.

When I have finished these two plants I will create a new system like yours so around December I will be needing your help, could even drop you a voucher for helping me along the way lol.

I have added 2.5ml more of the Liquid Oxygen but I have not topped off with water as it doesn't look to have moved will this be bad for them?










 
Hello bud, they don't seem to be drinking anything at the moment I feel like I'm really effing this up as for being 26 days from seed I imagined there would be more growth.

The left plant has roots and garden and looks horrible inside the res and the other didn't and there much better.

Transferred them from the 90x60x90 tent into the 1x1x1.60m tent so hopefully the heat should disappear and the lights been lifted so hopefully that will induce some stretch in the branches.

When I have finished these two plants I will create a new system like yours so around December I will be needing your help, could even drop you a voucher for helping me along the way lol.

I have added 2.5ml more of the Liquid Oxygen but I have not topped off with water as it doesn't look to have moved will this be bad for them?










Hey man so the water level has not dropped but is the ppm the same? And is the ph rising?? I’m just trying to figure out if they r still pulling food from the mix. Your not screwing it up your just figuring out the do’s and don’ts. If you r liking growing hydro I can absolutely help you build something for your space no vouchers required. Back to the grow and even though you keep adding the liquid oxygen with the water level not dropping it should be ok just don’t add more then they recommend. As far as those spots what strength of nutrient r you feeding??. What r manufacturers recommended strength.?? It’s very hard to know what they want as far as feeding without ppm readings. Last time we spoke about food you were only at 500 ppm. I’m just guessing because with out ppm and ph numbers regularly I can not tell how they r feeding but you may want to bump the nutrient up. What kind of nutrient r you using now.? You can still make these plants yield at least a qp each dry maybe more if you get this train back on track. Those plant will double maybe triple in size once you flip them. The lessons you learn now will help you hit home runs in the future. Plz let me what nutrient your using? I believe it’s GH three part?
 
I'm using the Remo nutrients kit bud, I'm using less than they say to use, my water is around 80ppm, add cal mag up to around 200-250 as it runs a little N in and the micro and grow up to 500-525 bud.
 
I'm using the Remo nutrients kit bud, I'm using less than they say to use, my water is around 80ppm, add cal mag up to around 200-250 as it runs a little N in and the micro and grow up to 500-525 bud.
K cool I remember you mentioned Remo to me in the past. Forget what I said about bumping the nutrient if the ppm is not dropping there’s no point. This is most certainly why those spots r getting worse. Those roots r having a hard time taking up the nutrient already. Hopefully the added liquid oxygen and the bigger tent help get the res temps in check. I believe you need to make those plants sweat up top to get the nutrient flowing through the plant to remedy those spots and fading. (Your HPS would make this happen)Around 26 c is good but the problem is if turn the heat up for the plants the res temps will get even worse. I hope this makes sense I know I don’t explain things the best lol. What’s the temp in the tent??
 
What about and this night sound stupid but if it could work I will go for it.

What if I add a pipe in the middle of the pots joining the pair and then buy a water chilled and connect that on either side of the pots so like a circulation circle?
 
What about and this night sound stupid but if it could work I will go for it.

What if I add a pipe in the middle of the pots joining the pair and then buy a water chilled and connect that on either side of the pots so like a circulation circle?
The smallest hydroponic chiller I found was 450 Canadian(new). They recommend pump in res running through the chiller back to the res. I mean your way would work if you connecting the two buckets with inch and a half or two inch pvc at the bottom then you would put a pump in bucket number 1 run the half inch line to the chiller. Then from the chiller with half inch line back to bucket 2. However the bucket with the pump would be a nightmare because the roots would constantly getting sucked into the pump a the pumped through the chiller. Maybe screwing the chiller. If your that serious just build a system for that space then it’s done correct.
 
What about and this night sound stupid but if it could work I will go for it.

What if I add a pipe in the middle of the pots joining the pair and then buy a water chilled and connect that on either side of the pots so like a circulation circle?
I c you have pulled some successful crops down in soil. Is hydro how you want to grow in the future?? If it is then the biggest recommendation I can give is do it proper from the get go and chalk this one up to getting your feet wet. Not to say you ain’t doing it properly now but the problem with DWC is keeping the nutrient temp cool and the ambient temp up top warmer so the plants can utilize the nutrient. It’s very hard and many run into problems right here. Not to mention lifting them to maintain is killer on the back wile working in a tent. Don’t give up yet on the oxy pots. maybe start getting parts for a new system??
 
Yeah i started off in coco and hit my biggest yield yet of 21.3oz in a 4x4 it never seem to have got that close again, I think the temps are now stable and if for the an blowing on the base of the pots so I'm hopeful, if things get worse I will try get a cooler of some sorts.

Decided after this run I'm going to have a play with breeding, got a few 6 week old flowering strains I want to cross a few big yielders that finish at 8 weeks so if I make make the 6 week old plant the most dominant then at least I could try and genetically cross them into being 6-7 week old strains.
 
So what is worrying me is the fact they only have 13 days left of veg and the actual speed of the growth isn't the best, I will do another res change on Thursday but the new growth as you can see us trying to push through but do you think I should clip some of those big fan leaves covering branches?




 
Plugged my seedlings into the hydro system yesterday and with the light on and everything running the temps. rose to 78f. in the room. The res temp. also started to climb up there so on went the new diy evaporator (cooler) and the res. temps dropped and holding at 70.5f. So far the damn thing is working, going to be so much easier then the ice chiller of last year
 
So what is worrying me is the fact they only have 13 days left of veg and the actual speed of the growth isn't the best, I will do another res change on Thursday but the new growth as you can see us trying to push through but do you think I should clip some of those big fan leaves covering branches?




I would take maybe the bottom few leafs to let the light in and air flow. To get faster growth you may need a bigger light. That led you use may b only like 100 watts if I had to guess pushing 150 PPF. For fast rapid growth you should be up around 500 PPF. Not that your light won’t work it just takes a little longer. Lights at 150 PPF work in veg just not as quick. My veg LED is 190 PPF and it is slow as fuck compared to my 400 watt MH. However it uses a lot less power so I run them side by side in veg. More light more growth but =more heat. Did you ever try Foliar spray for the deficiency popping up?? It’s a way to help with those spots. Just make sure it’s the right product. I’m glad to c you have got the temps down. How’s the ppm and ph today??
 
I will take a few close ups tomorrow and see what you think about trimming.

I have got a 600w MH bulb I could use on my adjustable ballast down to 250 to keep on top of heat but it's a bulb that I bought around November 2016 so it's been used a fair amount of hours and the central parts is black and really white so it's basically used up and I don't think I would get the value as well as best quality out of it, or I could use this T5 on 1 plant which is 96w total to 1 plant, no idea on the PPF it puts out and I could also get a 300w veg cfl to one plant.

The LED I had was borrowed and it out quite a lot of heat out so I returned it after a few times use, I could do with buying one of those new SP 250's but finds are needed else where, I wonder if I should use a dual hps maybe?it

So this is them today, I believe the roots may be getting better, the one with the roots excelurator in is getting better and the fish style bones like you said so I'm going to add it to the right one tomorrow.

There still not really drinking and the leaves are getting worse, oh gets adjusted every time it hits 6.5 from being set to 5.5.

Lower plant growth is catching up so hopefully these next 12 days gets some good growth, it maybe not be a act of of sorts this time around but I will get one eventually, so the net will still probably get used to support colas, I am still planning on using a 250w hps for each side of the tent for each plant as I somehow need to get 5oz minimum from each plant and it needs to be high quality so when I trim up before flower or after I will only be leaving a good 3 bud sites to each stem and even the canopy out.

One thing for sure is I am buying an ultra silent air pump, these are so loud and the vibrations are something else and in tried to adjust by there's no difference unless I'm doing something wrong or because there just basically started cheap pumps, so if you know of a good silent one that would be great I think you have already told me actually lol going to get one good one and put a T piece on, hopefully if I can get an overpowered pump it could possibly benefit the overall yield.







 
I will take a few close ups tomorrow and see what you think about trimming.

I have got a 600w MH bulb I could use on my adjustable ballast down to 250 to keep on top of heat but it's a bulb that I bought around November 2016 so it's been used a fair amount of hours and the central parts is black and really white so it's basically used up and I don't think I would get the value as well as best quality out of it, or I could use this T5 on 1 plant which is 96w total to 1 plant, no idea on the PPF it puts out and I could also get a 300w veg cfl to one plant.

The LED I had was borrowed and it out quite a lot of heat out so I returned it after a few times use, I could do with buying one of those new SP 250's but finds are needed else where, I wonder if I should use a dual hps maybe?it

So this is them today, I believe the roots may be getting better, the one with the roots excelurator in is getting better and the fish style bones like you said so I'm going to add it to the right one tomorrow.

There still not really drinking and the leaves are getting worse, oh gets adjusted every time it hits 6.5 from being set to 5.5.

Lower plant growth is catching up so hopefully these next 12 days gets some good growth, it maybe not be a act of of sorts this time around but I will get one eventually, so the net will still probably get used to support colas, I am still planning on using a 250w hps for each side of the tent for each plant as I somehow need to get 5oz minimum from each plant and it needs to be high quality so when I trim up before flower or after I will only be leaving a good 3 bud sites to each stem and even the canopy out.

One thing for sure is I am buying an ultra silent air pump, these are so loud and the vibrations are something else and in tried to adjust by there's no difference unless I'm doing something wrong or because there just basically started cheap pumps, so if you know of a good silent one that would be great I think you have already told me actually lol going to get one good one and put a T piece on, hopefully if I can get an overpowered pump it could possibly benefit the overall yield.







Hey man hope things r good. The plants do seem to be growing. A few things the roots, you said the ph was still rising this is good the water level will not be dropping to much at this stage because the light is not to warm(like HID)as well you r probably doing everything possible to keep the temps down around the buckets and the plants r small. I do c some new growth so keep adding the liquid oxygen. About that liquid oxygen correct me if I’m wrong plz. That stuff is 17.5 % H2O2 my H2O2 is 29%. I believe we r both mixing at 5 ml to 10 Litres,again correct me if I’m wrong. Why does the liquid oxygen have a much lower concentration rate?(Weird)I may be missing something but I would have expected those roots to clear up a little better by now. Those spots r they on the new growth or is it sticking to those lower fan leafs??If you think you can control the heat I would drop the hps in there for the last 12 days of veg. I have ran veg with hps mor then a few time in my earlier years and it’s not ideal but it will get faster growth then that LED all day. A dual Spectrum light like my HLG is 3000k and hps is around 2700k so not a big difference and it will get those plants sweating and moving some nutrient. That being said I would not change a thing if I figured it would raise the res temps. If those roots cheer up you should be able to turn this in something decent and all things considered your doing great. Try to keep that ph a little lower if you can as 6.5 is not doing those plants any favours. I know it’s a pain and if your back is anything like mine it would b a real pain but it should help with the nutrient uptake or you could try some Foliar spray. Swing by my journal when you get a moment I have done some trimming on my ladies I just dropped into flower.
 
I will take a few close ups tomorrow and see what you think about trimming.

I have got a 600w MH bulb I could use on my adjustable ballast down to 250 to keep on top of heat but it's a bulb that I bought around November 2016 so it's been used a fair amount of hours and the central parts is black and really white so it's basically used up and I don't think I would get the value as well as best quality out of it, or I could use this T5 on 1 plant which is 96w total to 1 plant, no idea on the PPF it puts out and I could also get a 300w veg cfl to one plant.

The LED I had was borrowed and it out quite a lot of heat out so I returned it after a few times use, I could do with buying one of those new SP 250's but finds are needed else where, I wonder if I should use a dual hps maybe?it

So this is them today, I believe the roots may be getting better, the one with the roots excelurator in is getting better and the fish style bones like you said so I'm going to add it to the right one tomorrow.

There still not really drinking and the leaves are getting worse, oh gets adjusted every time it hits 6.5 from being set to 5.5.

Lower plant growth is catching up so hopefully these next 12 days gets some good growth, it maybe not be a act of of sorts this time around but I will get one eventually, so the net will still probably get used to support colas, I am still planning on using a 250w hps for each side of the tent for each plant as I somehow need to get 5oz minimum from each plant and it needs to be high quality so when I trim up before flower or after I will only be leaving a good 3 bud sites to each stem and even the canopy out.

One thing for sure is I am buying an ultra silent air pump, these are so loud and the vibrations are something else and in tried to adjust by there's no difference unless I'm doing something wrong or because there just basically started cheap pumps, so if you know of a good silent one that would be great I think you have already told me actually lol going to get one good one and put a T piece on, hopefully if I can get an overpowered pump it could possibly benefit the overall yield.







Forgot about the pump. Mine was 230 Canadian and it is worth every penny so far. Very expensive so make sure you will put it to good use in the future. It’s not ultra quiet but I have to be within 2 feet of it to hear it. I hear the air in the buckets over the pump I believe it’s around 30 decibels. If you goggle 30 decibels or something like that it will give you a list of things in your everyday environment that r 30 decibels Just to give you a idea as they r not cheap. I do know a few hydro growers that have switched after standing beside mine. Some of those pumps r absolutely brutal.
 
I'm using my stuff at 1ml per L I have no idea why it's less maybe so it doesn't cause to many problems maybe?

I will put the cfl up first so each plant have a light to each other then once I get around 6-8" i in which I hope I can get that much growth in the next week or two then I will put them under the hps, I just need them a little higher so that the light doesn't heat those pots up.

Good news on the tent front is I think I'm going to go with a Mars Hydro tent seeing as they have windows in the tent door so at least around the 25th these two should be in there.

I'm going to order a pump the same time as my tent so yeah I will be spending a good amount, I have seen one for £60 it says it's silent and does 60 lpm so there a big pump and are rated to be quiet.

I have done a little training, opened the top as much as I could without trimming any so at least I should see some vertical growth now, there's around 10 stems at the moment, so instead of being a scrog it may look more how a main lined plant would look like.









 
I have just checked the pots, ph was 6.2-3 which is a lot better than before, it seems the fan is doing it's job at the bottom and keeping the water really cool, roots are much better with the fish bones style growth so hopefully we are on track as of now!
 
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