Dumb question… is this hydro?
Yes it’s one of a few different types. There’s ebb and flow, DWC or RDWC, NFT, aquaponics, and I think aeroponics falls into hydro as well. There could be more that’s just the main ones I can think of.
Yes this is a Ebb and Flow system. Flood and Drain. I just wanted to try something different i use DWC/Bubblebuckets mostly. So i built this myself. The Res Tank hold 8 gallons of water then it pumps the water onto the flood table once a day this action pushes all the Co2 dead air out of the rockwool and when it drains it pulls Air down into the rockwool. You must make sure not to overwater like i did. I was flooding to often and not giving the rockwool enough drain time so i about killed one of my plants. It was totally drooping for the last few days i have not flooded her in a few days and today when i went to check on her one of her leaves has finally perked up so i might be able to save her. Yes there are a lot of different hydro systems i might go as far as making a 4 bucket RDWC/Undercurrent Or i might redo my set up and get a different flood table and run hoses to and from a res tank outside of my tent. Hydro has a lot of different options. I am just trying out new stuff. I have some Auto’s coming and i am going to toss a few of those outside and see how well i manage pests LOL
End of Week 1 all the other plants are for my veggie garden cucumbers squash green beans tomatoes pepperoncini the bell peppers are being total bitches and do not want to germ grow 4 seed and i think i got 2 plants. The top right is another power plant but it is a few days behind the others. Top left is Northern lights and bottom left is Jack here. Bottom right is the Critical Kush and i have not watered her in 2 days and today 1 of the leaves perked up so i might be able to save her.
Update she is alive. She perked up and the last time i flooded the table to she sprouted a new set of leaves on the top. So she is alive
great to hear Ray
Took a little longer than I expected but I knew she’d pull through.
So much is learned growing this method. I have heard people say that growing in hydro is using DWC Aeroponics and RDWC. And soilless growing is like growing in coco or rockwool some other medium. I would say this is soilless growing they do not have that explosive growth like you get sitting the plant in a bucket of nutrient rich solution. Its just a lot different in this system they are growing really nice its just not that super fast growth its pretty cool tho. I wonder if i could set up a drip system using the flood table to recirculate the water. Maybe next season.
So you feel that the ebb and flow system doesn’t provide the same growth rate as DWC? That it’s less?
I think it because i am using rockwool cubes that i am not getting the growth as if i just used net pots with hydroton. I think the roots are just not getting the oxygen in the rockwool cube. Next time i am going with net pots. I am going to post pictures tomorrow and you can see the huge difference between this grow and my last grow. The first set of leaves are about half the size of the ones i got in DWC. I am still experimenting with different growing techniques but i strongly believe that the rockwool is not letting the roots get the oxygen they want and i am draining really good now. I am going to look at my northern lights grow and see is that compares to what i am seeing in this grow.
Here is the weekly update (a day early because i am off today so i did the res change) Start of Week 3.
I am going to post 2 pictures 1 is of the ebb & flow and the other is from last season DWC 2weeks Notice the big difference the wool seems more like a soil grow.
This is the DWC from last season notice how big the leaves are.
This weeks E&F Picture
I am not saying one is better then the other only that one grows a lot differently in rockwool then a DWC.
The top left is the Critical Kush that i almost killed she is doing well now tho glad she pulled threw.
great job on the save of CK. on the other stuff just make sure that you are not comparing apples to oranges. they the same strain? for the first time i have two different strains growing after only growing white widow for first try. the purple pinecone is completely different than the WW in shape, leaf growth, and way it grows.
I agree that sounds like the problem. The solution is flooding less often but that kind of negates the idea behind hydro.
Yes they are all the same strains from the same breeder. I have another order comming this week that has my autos and other strains i have not grown yet. I agree @DoobieNoobie i have adjusted my flooding now. I am going to try flooding every couple days at least threw veg i know that she will drink a lot more when she goes into flower.
The weather needs to stabilize lol i have tons of plants that need to get into the ground befor i can put up my scrog net and start training these little ladies
When i change the res this week i am going to adjust the table so it will flood more even. The back plants do not get the same amount of water then the ones in front and i think i have found a solution to that problem.
O i totally forgot HAPPY 420
So i was moving the covers around and checked under my Northern Light and saw this. It was just odd that the roots are growing upwards lol and coming out of the top of the rock wool cube.
So i just got a order of seeds in the mail. 1 Cheese Auto going down now lol Because of the way this is growing i am going to run this auto outside in a 5 gallon pot. Its going to take some time filling up the tent like i want. There is no way i will be doing a 4 week veg on this grow. So the auto will be a summer harvest (late spring maybee) still needs to bloom for 8 weeks right? Also what was cool is that the seed bank sent me 2 freebies along with 5 starkiller (i have never even heard of this strain) I definate know what the winter season will be lol i have a bunch of seeds now
@Rayofsunshine not necessarily. I think it could change with your climate and the plant will decide when it’s time.