Hydro with Zero water.

Shroomhog · 10-10-09, 11:50

I recently decided to give hydroponics a try, so I went out and bought ph and ppm meters, ph up and down. For fertilizers I have Floro nova grow and bloom and also have some Humbolt grow, micro, bloom. Got four 5 gallon buckets, 4 wally world air pumps, and 4 four ft. flexible bubblers, Is this considered bubbleponics or dwc? I'm going to put 2 3in. net pots in each bucket with expanded clay pellets. Now on the water side of things this spot has no running water just an old hand pump. I tested the water and it was 205 ppm and a ph of 7.8, so on a whim I bought a Zero water filter now I can get average of 5 ppm and a ph of 7.0. Is this a good starting point? Well I'm an old set in my ways dirt farmer and this is just going to be hard on me, I can just imagine me being a meter whore checking things every 15 min. Any advice, comments on stuff like a nute schedule with what I got and anything else to ease my hydro pain would be welcome.

jay-pheno · 10-10-09, 12:48

lets say you have 200 ppm tap water .. you wanna add 400 ppm nutes to it ,, that would read 600 ppm on the ppm meter ..

swim stoped useing ro water ,, swims tap water has calcium ,etc,, in it an saves him from needing calmag ,etc,,, from the tap its like ppm 288 and ph 8+

swim does dwc/bubbleponics an tops off with fresh tap water daily then adjusts ph an ppm in the rez .

Stonehenge · 10-10-09, 17:14

I agree with Jay. I would do bubblers over ebb and flow any day. E+f is a pain in the butt and a disaster waiting to happen. All it takes is one leak somewhere and you have however many gallons of solution on your floor and flooding through the house. It's hard having flooding with dwc or bubblers (though i've done it)

I tried ro a while back and returned to tap water. Your plants are going to like it a little more acid than that. They will do best in around 5.5. I'm sure i'll get some argument on that point. In dirt you want around 6.2 but in hydro they just do better with a little lower ph.

mushmind · 10-20-09, 18:43

in my area our water is so fucked with chems that an ro system is necessary. they are not hard to install under your sink and mine puts out one gal every 15 mins.

[Home]	[The Vaults]	[Glossary]	[Sponsors]	[Affiliates]
[Search]	Today's Posts	Mark Forums Read	[Register]	[Activate]	[Resend Email]

10-10-09, 11:50	#1 (permalink)
Shroomhog Mycophiliac Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 43	Hydro with Zero water. I recently decided to give hydroponics a try, so I went out and bought ph and ppm meters, ph up and down. For fertilizers I have Floro nova grow and bloom and also have some Humbolt grow, micro, bloom. Got four 5 gallon buckets, 4 wally world air pumps, and 4 four ft. flexible bubblers, Is this considered bubbleponics or dwc? I'm going to put 2 3in. net pots in each bucket with expanded clay pellets. Now on the water side of things this spot has no running water just an old hand pump. I tested the water and it was 205 ppm and a ph of 7.8, so on a whim I bought a Zero water filter now I can get average of 5 ppm and a ph of 7.0. Is this a good starting point? Well I'm an old set in my ways dirt farmer and this is just going to be hard on me, I can just imagine me being a meter whore checking things every 15 min. Any advice, comments on stuff like a nute schedule with what I got and anything else to ease my hydro pain would be welcome.

10-20-09, 18:43	#4 (permalink)
mushmind campus radical Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 299	in my area our water is so fucked with chems that an ro system is necessary. they are not hard to install under your sink and mine puts out one gal every 15 mins. __________________ democracy is not a spectator sport! so get out there and be heard!

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-10-09, 12:48	#2 (permalink)
jay-pheno swad Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 370	lets say you have 200 ppm tap water .. you wanna add 400 ppm nutes to it ,, that would read 600 ppm on the ppm meter .. swim stoped useing ro water ,, swims tap water has calcium ,etc,, in it an saves him from needing calmag ,etc,,, from the tap its like ppm 288 and ph 8+ swim does dwc/bubbleponics an tops off with fresh tap water daily then adjusts ph an ppm in the rez .

10-10-09, 17:14	#3 (permalink)
Stonehenge Mycophage Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 112	I agree with Jay. I would do bubblers over ebb and flow any day. E+f is a pain in the butt and a disaster waiting to happen. All it takes is one leak somewhere and you have however many gallons of solution on your floor and flooding through the house. It's hard having flooding with dwc or bubblers (though i've done it) I tried ro a while back and returned to tap water. Your plants are going to like it a little more acid than that. They will do best in around 5.5. I'm sure i'll get some argument on that point. In dirt you want around 6.2 but in hydro they just do better with a little lower ph.