Waterfarm experiment. Overview and some questions.

NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
Hey all!
Been a minute since I've been on the site and my first time in the hydro section.

I just inherited a waterfarm 4210 from a buddy decided to dip my toes into the world of hydro after being a soil only grower . I'll outline my setup first and then throw a few questions out there..

Space: 3x3x6 tent
Light: Solar storm 440 (pulled out of storage for this project)
Ventilation: 4" ducting with phresh filter, fans on the input and output sides
Container: Waterfarm 4210 (single standalone unit)
Medium: Hydroton
Nutes: Three part Flora series nutes (grow, bloom, micro) that i inherited with the waterfarm with some extras (tiger bloom and something else I'm not remembering at the moment) plus some of the basics I already have like calmag and ph up and down.
Water source: Halfway decent RO system.
Extra goodies: Timers and fan speed controllers galore.
High quality meters (ec/tds, pH, water temp)
Hygrometer

Think that wraps up what I have. Now a few questions .

The first thing I'm concerned with before I even start is water temp. Having such a small res and having it in the tent seems like a recipe for water that is the same temp as my tent. from previous experience with this tent/light/ventilation i know that the temp will be steadily between 72 and 78 degrees. Any advice for lowering the water temp without throwing down 500+ for a chiller for one single bucket? Already planning on Hydrogaurd or equivalent, but at those Temps I can't see it being enough.

Next up is drip scheduling. I've seriously seen opinions ranging from "just leave the damn thing on all the time" to "15 minutes every 6 hours". I just can't believe that there isnt some concensus considering the waterfarm has been around for like 20 year.

Lastly (for now, as this is my first experience with hydro I am certain I will have thousands more questions before this is done) are there any other benificials or additives that you guys think are a must have for a first time hydro grower?

I know this is a stupidly long post and I thank anyone who stuck with me and has wisdom to offer in advance..
 
trich0me$

trich0me$

Well-Known Member
Hi I'm a beginner but if you're worried about res water temps I suggest using great white it will fight off the bad stuff in your water I just began using it and it's got me already excited unexpectedly. It's about 10$ for 1oz use only 1tsp per 10 gallons!
A Cheaper but less effective method would be to use hydrogen peroxide it works but you'll get tired of adding it because it doesn't last!
And it's incompatible with organic nutrients from what I've heard!
If you can keep the res at 69 or less you'll have minimal issues and keep light out of the res will keep algae away as well that's all I've learned yet!:)
 
NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
Nice! anybody have any recommendations regarding my question about feeding schedule for this system?
 
GreenTools

GreenTools

Well-Known Member
I ran those units successfully for years without cooling the rez at all, just used beneficial bacteria....left the air pump on 24/7....if you are using the 3 part flora line try the Lucas formula....I used botanicare full line....largest haul I had was over an elbow in 1 unit, vegged forever.
 
NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
GreenTools said:
I ran those units successfully for years without cooling the rez at all, just used beneficial bacteria....left the air pump on 24/7....if you are using the 3 part flora line try the Lucas formula....I used botanicare full line....largest haul I had was over an elbow in 1 unit, vegged forever.
Click to expand...
Sweet! Thanks for the help! Did you run the drip 24/7 even when the plant was young (like right after transplant)? And what nute strengths did you use after transplant? I've heard half strength is good when you first start feeding, but I've also heard that a lot of people run the Flora line half strength anyway, so maybe quarter recommended strength to start?

Edit* Or is that last question explained in the Lucas Formula? I'll look into it.

Second Edit** I just looked it up. Seems legit and easy as hell. I'm going to give it a shot. Did you have to supplement with cal/mag or anything else? And did it self pH as advertised? Thanks again!
 
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GreenTools

GreenTools

Well-Known Member
My tap water sits at 90 ppm, seedlings nute strength I start at 300-400 PPM and gradually go all the way to 1500 ppm mid bloom....as for cal mag, you will have to read the plants and add accordingly.
 
Jimdamick

Jimdamick

Well-Known Member
NanoGadget said:
Anybody else have any advice or tips?
Click to expand...
I've used Waterfarm systems for over 3 years after switching from soil, and I love them. Right now I'm running 3 setups in a recirculating system with 12 pots on one, 10 on another and 4 pots in a closet.
1st off, forget the chiller and don't lose you mind on water temp. The reason water temp is important is because warm water doesn't contain as much oxygen as cold water, which will stunt your plant and cause root rot. But all you have to do is to keep your air pump running all the time, and that injects enough oxygen into the water so you don't have to worry. What you have to worry about is EC/PPM/PH, as because it's a single bucket and your PPM and PH will fluctuate rapidly, like overnight. The way around that is every 2 days you drain 1/2 the water and adjust, usually just the PH. The way you do that is get a gallon milk container and cut an opening around the top large enough to get your water level tube into it. You then will bend the water level tube into it (it will swing to almost 90 degrees.) and fill the jug. You then adjust the water by adding PH up/down or if necessary dump that water if your PPM is way out of wack, which it probably will be, as evaporation will increase it and refill the jug with adjusted water and pour that back in. It's a pain in the ass, but must be done for a truly healthy plant.
2nd point is do not overfeed, as as mentioned before it will increase due to uptake by the plant, evaporation and the medium fucking with it. Start at 900 ppm and you will see an increase up to around 1100-1300 (which is fine) in 2 day's. Then you do a partial drain and adjust. If you need more info PM me, and I will be happy to help. Good luck.
 
NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
Jimdamick said:
I've used Waterfarm systems for over 3 years after switching from soil, and I love them. Right now I'm running 3 setups in a recirculating system with 12 pots on one, 10 on another and 4 pots in a closet.
1st off, forget the chiller and don't lose you mind on water temp. The reason water temp is important is because warm water doesn't contain as much oxygen as cold water, which will stunt your plant and cause root rot. But all you have to do is to keep your air pump running all the time, and that injects enough oxygen into the water so you don't have to worry. What you have to worry about is EC/PPM/PH, as because it's a single bucket and your PPM and PH will fluctuate rapidly, like overnight. The way around that is every 2 days you drain 1/2 the water and adjust, usually just the PH. The way you do that is get a gallon milk container and cut an opening around the top large enough to get your water level tube into it. You then will bend the water level tube into it (it will swing to almost 90 degrees.) and fill the jug. You then adjust the water by adding PH up/down or if necessary dump that water if your PPM is way out of wack, which it probably will be, as evaporation will increase it and refill the jug with adjusted water and pour that back in. It's a pain in the ass, but must be done for a truly healthy plant.
2nd point is do not overfeed, as as mentioned before it will increase due to uptake by the plant, evaporation and the medium fucking with it. Start at 900 ppm and you will see an increase up to around 1100-1300 (which is fine) in 2 day's. Then you do a partial drain and adjust. If you need more info PM me, and I will be happy to help. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Lots of good information! I like the daily adjustment method you use as it sounds like a good way to keep the ppm and pH under control without doing a full res change every 2 days. Speaking if which... how often would you do a full on res change when using the technique you just described? Thanks again and I'm sure I'll probably PM you with a few more questions in the near future.
 
NanoGadget

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
Yodaweed said:
Sweet i have 3 water farms i love them, let me know if you need any help i got a lot of runs under my belt using them.
Click to expand...
Most definitely! In my estimation there is no better way to learn than to get guidance from people who have already had success in doing things the way that I am attempting. Thanks very much!
 
mytwhyt

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
This mod uses only the water pumping column in the waterfarm itself to draw water from the reservoir.... The advantage is that each waterfarm moves it's own water.... 6 gal an hour is about what a pumping column moves.....
It's laughable that GH tries to convince people that one pumping column, in the reservoir, will move enough water for 8 waterfarms.... Growers that have that setup know it isn't enough.... 8 modified WF would, on their own, move about 48 gal an hour.....Bumping the 1/2" tubing, to 3/4" is an improvement i haven't gotten around to yet..
 
mytwhyt

mytwhyt

Well-Known Member
click on the images.... not allowed to post that link, I'm not sure how to lead you there by the hand.... most of them are mine.. you'll know you're there when you see my dog...
 
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