DIY versatile hydro setup!

[visajoe1]

@luv2grow gave some great advice there. I can understand the burnt out feeling. I went through that went I got into hydro, feeling like around every corner there is a new item you need. But its really just a combination of your desire to do well and the limitless options that exist nowadays. Embrace it! Have fun.

I'll explain what I'm doing on a weekly basis, hopefully that helps give you some insight into what may work for you

Currently flowering:
One 5g DWC waterfarm bucket, day 22 (I wrote 2 above, forgot I pulled one out; she hermied)
I check ph daily/ever other day (5 min if I need to adjust it, otherwise 2 min)
Bucket nutes change weekly (20 minutes to mix, dump old nutes, and replace with new)
Add ph'd RO water to top off as needed throughout the week (1 min)
Staring at the plant (several hours, lol)


A recirculating system would operate the same way, just with more gallon capacity, but the fundamentals are the same.

Unless your water is flawless, an RO system is needed. You also need to be able to maintain the bucket temps between 65-69. Some people are lucky with a a cool concrete floor, but most use a water chiller. You can find one on craigslist perhaps, ebay, or just buy one new

EC meter $15
Oakton PH meter $50
RO system $60+
water chiller $275+ (new)
Hydro system or DIY $35+
Nutes $40+
ph up/down $20

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

Just step into it slowly. A ppm/tds meter is a essential in my book regardless of your growing style. there's a lot of info and equipment to understand for sure. but it does come. In the end always go with the style that makes this hobby enjoyable for you. That's all that matters. And it shows through out your grow's

Yea, growing for me is very therapeutic so it being enjoyable is a must. I thought hydroponics would be a lot of fun getting involved with, it it's pretty mind blowingly expensive use taking into the amount of r/o water I would have to buy. I love soil but I do believe that for soil to be an efficient growing medium, it needs to be outside in more then just a pot. Hence why I wanted to grow in coco indoors. Soil is just not for indoors. It's still very fun growing, but not when you spend half your life looking at cannabis forums and seeing other newer growers getting better yields than you from buying an expensive pre setup hydro kit, frustrating

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

@luv2grow gave some great advice there. I can understand the burnt out feeling. I went through that went I got into hydro, feeling like around every corner there is a new item you need. But its really just a combination of your desire to do well and the limitless options that exist nowadays. Embrace it! Have fun.

I'll explain what I'm doing on a weekly basis, hopefully that helps give you some insight into what may work for you

Currently flowering:
One 5g DWC waterfarm bucket, day 22 (I wrote 2 above, forgot I pulled one out; she hermied)
I check ph daily/ever other day (5 min if I need to adjust it, otherwise 2 min)
Bucket nutes change weekly (20 minutes to mix, dump old nutes, and replace with new)
Add ph'd RO water to top off as needed throughout the week (1 min)
Staring at the plant (several hours, lol)


A recirculating system would operate the same way, just with more gallon capacity, but the fundamentals are the same.

Unless your water is flawless, an RO system is needed. You also need to be able to maintain the bucket temps between 65-69. Some people are lucky with a a cool concrete floor, but most use a water chiller. You can find one on craigslist perhaps, ebay, or just buy one new

EC meter $15
Oakton PH meter $50
RO system $60+
water chiller $275+ (new)
Hydro system or DIY $35+
Nutes $40+
ph up/down $20

Thanks a lot lot!!! Just saw this

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

What I cant

@luv2grow gave some great advice there. I can understand the burnt out feeling. I went through that went I got into hydro, feeling like around every corner there is a new item you need. But its really just a combination of your desire to do well and the limitless options that exist nowadays. Embrace it! Have fun.

I'll explain what I'm doing on a weekly basis, hopefully that helps give you some insight into what may work for you

Currently flowering:
One 5g DWC waterfarm bucket, day 22 (I wrote 2 above, forgot I pulled one out; she hermied)
I check ph daily/ever other day (5 min if I need to adjust it, otherwise 2 min)
Bucket nutes change weekly (20 minutes to mix, dump old nutes, and replace with new)
Add ph'd RO water to top off as needed throughout the week (1 min)
Staring at the plant (several hours, lol)


A recirculating system would operate the same way, just with more gallon capacity, but the fundamentals are the same.

Unless your water is flawless, an RO system is needed. You also need to be able to maintain the bucket temps between 65-69. Some people are lucky with a a cool concrete floor, but most use a water chiller. You can find one on craigslist perhaps, ebay, or just buy one new

EC meter $15
Oakton PH meter $50
RO system $60+
water chiller $275+ (new)
Hydro system or DIY $35+
Nutes $40+
ph up/down $20

get passed is that the actual hydro setups are cheaper than the tiny tools that require to come with a hydro setup. And to the person that thought an expensive ppm meter is necessary for any grow method, I've never used one and my dad has never used one with soil. Keeping my ph meter calibrated was enough "tinkering" for me to go nuts lol. Maybe hydro isn't for me?

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

I still have to set up a new flowering tent and that's never cheap. I think I'm staying with soil. Hydro is so freaking expensive!!! 250 for a water chiller lol? Maybe I'm being stubborn but I do run on a budget as most of us do..., and I always thought if I was going to really spend money, it would be upgrading fans, lights, filters, electrodes on ph meters. To me, those things are worth spending money on. Can anyone relate to the fear of what I'm talking about ha

 

[rkymtnman]

if you stay simple and do drain to waste like hempy buckets, you don't need a chiller. i bought one when i was doing rdwc. maybe it will go up on craiglist one day or keep it if i go back to rdwc.

as for RO, it is all i've ever used. i bought 5 of the 5 gal jugs at walmart for like 7 bucks each and fill them up for 37 cents/gallon. i use max of 15 gal a week so i'm spending less than a starbucks on water weekly.. no big deal.

look at it this way, the increase in yield from hydro over soil will pay for itself after your first harvest for you EC and pH meters.

 

[mytwhyt]

Remember this, it applies to everything, It doesn't matter If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right.. [wish i'd said that].

 

[visajoe1]

I still have to set up a new flowering tent and that's never cheap. I think I'm staying with soil. Hydro is so freaking expensive!!! 250 for a water chiller lol? Maybe I'm being stubborn but I do run on a budget as most of us do..., and I always thought if I was going to really spend money, it would be upgrading fans, lights, filters, electrodes on ph meters. To me, those things are worth spending money on. Can anyone relate to the fear of what I'm talking about ha

Sounds like your best bet is to stay in soil and invest in lighting and fans if needed. You'll need those things regardless of how you grow. Good luck dude!

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

Sounds like your best bet is to stay in soil and invest in lighting and fans if needed. You'll need those things regardless of how you grow. Good luck dude!

unfortunately, visajoe1 has got it right I think. I decided, to help with my love of growing, bought 5 candy cane autos and am going to run those to get some quick medicine. while doing that, I'm going to slowly start building up towards a hydro setup. the more I read about r/o water, the more I like about it, even to use in my regular garden. With that said, I do thank you guys so much for your input. more input is welcomed, but I think I came to the conclusion that it would be best to get started growing medicine, even if I stick with soil. I am going to be on the look out for an r/o machine as my first purchase towards my switch to hydro. the guy at my hydro store said that they are about 70 bucks. I see that 70 bucks is about the minimum. is there something a little better that not too much more pricey or do they all relatively do the same thing

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

just curious. being that I'm a long time gardener, I of course have a love for soil and the making of it....but do think that it can only be properly utilized when growing stuff outdoors. is there any hardcore veteran soil growers out there left that would persuade me to stick with soil lol. it would be so much cheaper, plus I grow my food organically, so it kind of kills to birds a\with one stone being able to stay in soil....I cant deny though, a lot of people are converting to hydro bc of the proved increased quality and quantity

 

[rkymtnman]

guy at my hydro store said that they are about 70 bucks.

did he tell you how much the filters cost? and how often they need to be replaced?

 

[luv2grow]

just curious. being that I'm a long time gardener, I of course have a love for soil and the making of it....but do think that it can only be properly utilized when growing stuff outdoors. is there any hardcore veteran soil growers out there left that would persuade me to stick with soil lol. it would be so much cheaper, plus I grow my food organically, so it kind of kills to birds a\with one stone being able to stay in soil....I cant deny though, a lot of people are converting to hydro bc of the proved increased quality and quantity

There's so many benefits to hydro. First one that comes to mind is water savings. I'd argue around 2/3rds over drain to waste soil grows. Although RO setups waste a lot of water depending on how they are plumbed up. We are still in the win here. Less Nutes per grow cycle. I'd say around the same cost vs a lucas style of res fill. Organic grows are difficult in hydro because they tend to clog equipment which costs coin to replace. Bigger yields, more control, faster grow rates. the list really can go on but I'll stop it there.
With that said Soil is good too. It all depends on how much or how little you want to work for it. Farming or gardening is not easy, if it was everyone would do it. But the more time, knowledge, equipment, space and it becomes quiet easy. Any grow is easier the more streamlined your setup gets.

 

[visajoe1]

did he tell you how much the filters cost? and how often they need to be replaced?

The one I use is below, I just hook it up as needed and fill my jugs. Takes about 90 minutes to fill 3g jug. replacement filters is about $25 for all of them. based on my usage, I should get at least a year out of these filters, probably more

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Reverse-Osmosis-Filtration-POQ-4B-50/dp/B00GJCE2X4

 

[rkymtnman]

The one I use is below, I just hook it up as needed and fill my jugs. Takes about 90 minutes to fill 3g jug. replacement filters is about $25 for all of them. based on my usage, I should get at least a year out of these filters, probably more

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Reverse-Osmosis-Filtration-POQ-4B-50/dp/B00GJCE2X4

that's the same one i bought. we're on well water and i just hated how much waste (grey) water it made to get RO water.

now i just buy it at walmart and let Culligan replace the filters. lol.

 

[visajoe1]

typical waste on any RO system is 3:1. (waste vs clean)

 

[luv2grow]

if ya plumb it into a container you can still water around the house with it. It's what i did at my last pad. Need to setup a RO at this one. Maybe thats todays project

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

I'm really considering hempy buckets now for my 5 autos I'm going to run. I think I will just buy r/o water for the time being.

 

[luv2grow]

my buddy started his growing days with hempy. He grew some nice trees in those buckets. You'll like it!

 

[rkymtnman]

I'm really considering hempy buckets now for my 5 autos I'm going to run. I think I will just buy r/o water for the time being.

good choice. you can grow indoors or outdoors with hempys too.

check out growstones for your medium. they hold the most water and air of any medium.

 

[Gilligan's Highland]

Thanks to all of you folks for the input. Sorry I haven't logged on in a while...been busy. But this has given me much to think about. I'm still waiting on my candy cane auto seeds from cropkingseeds. I'm starting to worry they are never going to show up :/. But I'm starting out other seeds (kale, corn, etc) in rock wool (as I've never realized how easy it is to drop a seed in rockwool and watch it germ). And today I'm going to make a hempy bucket and start trying to dial in a decent feeding hydro schedule. I have a lot of GH hydro nuts left,....I know they are about the cheapest next to miracle grow, but are they really that bad,...or should I buy a new line of nutes. I'm most likely going to be growing in a coco medium