Hi Fletch , welcome back brother, i kinda remember some of what you went thru back then & im glad to see ya back , there are alot of growers here that could benifit from your posts as i did , i dont visit much anymore but when i had the time i enjoyed being a moderator , it was nice to help stop all the drama , im trying to visit more as my time free's up so hopefull i see you around , again welcome back , your diy skills are invalueable here .
Cues .
Damm i wish i had the ability to post pics so i could show you EXACTLY how my systems are set up , i learned hydroponics at this site from guy's like Filthyfletch & Albfuct , i used Al's method before going mediumless out of necessity , i had 8 seperate 4ft x 8ft flood tables all in the same room & humidity was a m-fer to control , i tried a single table at 1st & it wasnt more than 2 weeks in i knew i was on to something far better than flood & drain , having 7 other flood tables to compare results against was an enormous help .
Like you i tried using a rigid board type material to cover my table with & i found problems , the board let light in around the sides of the table & also allowed moisture to escape , then i tried panda plastic for covering the table & shit went nuts nearly overnight & i'll explain in detail how i did that 1st table , this version isnt mediumless & is along the lines of what your gonna do with a layer of hydraton in the table , only better & cleaner .
I cut white panda plastic large enough to hang over all 4 sides 4 to 6 inches ,i stretched the plastic tight over the table & to keep it tight i used little squeeze clips/clamps that are spring loaded , along the lines of a potato chip bag clip but a more industrial version from home depot at 50 cents per clamp , i clamped one side & then stretched the plastic tight & clamped the other side , then the other 2 sides were clamped every 6 inches , this made for a very taught surface with no sag in the plastic .
Next i put all fifty 5 inch net pots upside down on the plastic & alligned them into 5 rows of 10 pots , i used a black magic marker to trace the net pots circumference so i'd have a cutting guide , i traced the tops of the 5 inch pots so if i cut along the traced outline the pots would fall thru so i only cut 3 inch holes usint the magic marker circles as a guide , i then cut 2 service holes , one directly above the pump & the other directly above the drain , i cut 5 inch holes & used 10 inch peices of plastic to cover the service holes & secured 1 side of the inspection cover with white duct tape .
I took my clones & put them in the net pots & filled the 5 inch pots with hydraton & slid each pot in its hole in the plastic covering the table ,cutting 3 inch holes means you gotta work the pot into the hole but the plastic stretches nicely & allows zero light in , allways remember that light prunes roots no matter where the light is comming from , the hydraton net pot system was started out with watering every 4 hrs & the plants showed signs of under watering so i increased to every 3 hrs , better but not perfect so i watered every 2 hrs , again better because it took care of the plants water needs but not the results i was looking for so i had to figure out why , after a few days thought i decided to monitor temps in the table , with my room temps at a constant 75 degrees via climate control & the rez at a constant 65 degrees via the rez chiller i figured root zone temps wouldnt be an issue , boy was i wrong , after the fill cycle completed root temps were at 65 degrees but started climbing fast as the water drained , once the table was fully drained i watched the temp climb to 82 degrees & i was like WTF , the room is at 75 & water at 65 but i never thought about the temp of the plastic covering the table , having 3 600 watt hps beating on the white plastic made the plastic act as a heat conductor which warmed the root zone within about a half hour .
The plants were getting enough water every 2 hrs but that left 1.5 hours of a hot ass rote zone so i increased flood cycles to one 15 minute flood per hour & remeasured root zone temps , at 1 hr flood the root zone never got above 66 degrees & the plants were much happier , using hydroton filled net pots & flood cycles once per hour that tables plants gave me my 1st grow ever to hit a gram per watt using hydroponics , i hit a tad above 4 lbs on that table while the other 7 tables were pulling around 3 lbs , there was a 17 ounce difference between the covered table vs non covered & there was no going back after that .
Ive made other changes since that 1st table which resulted in even better results which has taken my yeild well over a gram per watt to 1.25 to 1.35 grams per watt consistently , another change was to block all light from touching the hydraton by cutting circles out of the reflective panda plastic to keep the top of the pots covered so the hydraton cant radiate heat into the root mass , another change is when i set the tables up at dead level , this allows a slight amount of water retention in the drain channels , ultimately creating a 100% humidity root zone which makes the roots twords the top of the root mass grow tons of ultra fine roots thinner than a human hair & massive pencil size roots fill the drainage channels while a carpet of normal size roots cover the entire table up to an inch thick where no black from the table can be seen, except around the drain where you'll need to keep pruned, this method has also shortened my finish time , after running the pots with hydraton i started experimenting with things like styrafoam chunks , perlite inside womens panty hose & ended up with natural sponge tore up into chunks , it gives the roots a way to stay wet when their developing just like hydraton does & adds stability to the stalk .
Stick with it & once you nail it you'll never do another method , try using net pots with hydraton & white panda plastic with once an hour watering & you'll see results .
