What's the best hydro setup and why

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KryptoBud

Well-Known Member
I like one that's easy to use and yields well, and why is the same reason.

Real honest answers are gonna require a little effort on your part.
how bout goals, $$$, size, experience level shit like that.

I want the biggest yield, of the best bud, as fast and cheap as possible doesn't cut it.
 
tiltswitch

tiltswitch

Well-Known Member
There is no answer, hydro is not easy!! One mistake and everything is dead. Reading all the forums won't help you either. Different set ups have different pros and cons. Pick and follow someone who's set up you like the sound of and read up about that. As above poster said.
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
Just for reference I do a rdwc for lots of reasons but mainly due to constant flow, I can do waterfalls back to my res keeps temps lower, constantly mixes your nutrients keeping it the same across the board, blah, blah, blah. But tilt is right one wrong move and your entire grow is dead, one long power outage, one night of anything and you’ll wake up to a bunch of dead or almost dead plants.
 
Somatek

Somatek

Well-Known Member
The best depends on the situation. For beginners DWC/RDWC or flood & drain are effective/easy/reliable. For maximum growth then usually aeroponics has the highest potential growth rate but that also means it the least forgiving.

With everything growing faster in hydro, you have less time to figure out nute issues & correct them. So the more you understand pH, EC, Temp, DO & how they relate to each other the better off you'll be.
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
My first ever attempt at growing (almost 40 years ago) was a simple F & D under a then 1000w street light and ballast. Man was that thing heavy. Had to use block and tackle to hoist it. I didn't now shit about EC, pH, ambient temps... but managed 2 giant plants with primary leafs that were bigger than2 hands side-by-side and a 2"+ diameter trunk. The problem was my lazy ass new bride who would not refill the rez while I was on the road a week at a time. One of many reasons wh that marriage only lased 13 months. the moral is: Don't lt your friends talk you into marriage
 
tiltswitch

tiltswitch

Well-Known Member
PetFlora said:
My first ever attempt at growing (almost 40 years ago) was a simple F & D under a then 1000w street light and ballast. Man was that thing heavy. Had to use block and tackle to hoist it. I didn't now shit about EC, pH, ambient temps... but managed 2 giant plants with primary leafs that were bigger than2 hands side-by-side and a 2"+ diameter trunk. The problem was my lazy ass new bride who would not refill the rez while I was on the road a week at a time. One of many reasons wh that marriage only lased 13 months. the moral is: Don't lt your friends talk you into marriage
Click to expand...
Street light?? Hahaha genius
 
bird mcbride

bird mcbride

Well-Known Member
PetFlora said:
My first ever attempt at growing (almost 40 years ago) was a simple F & D under a then 1000w street light and ballast. Man was that thing heavy. Had to use block and tackle to hoist it. I didn't now shit about EC, pH, ambient temps... but managed 2 giant plants with primary leafs that were bigger than2 hands side-by-side and a 2"+ diameter trunk. The problem was my lazy ass new bride who would not refill the rez while I was on the road a week at a time. One of many reasons wh that marriage only lased 13 months. the moral is: Don't lt your friends talk you into marriage
Click to expand...
My system uses a timer, to activate a valve I pull from an old washing machine or a person can get a new valve from an appliance store. A float valve is used to shut it down when the res is topped up. Timer/electronic valve/float switch. I use a screened connector and set the tap on low. Same attachment hose as the wash machine. It's set to top up every 24 hours with plain untreated tap water between two watering cycles where you know it's all drained back into the res. I've been gone for as long as three weeks and come back to find everything still fine.

If you want to add an automatic res change use an external pump, and pump it out from the lowest part of the res into the drain to get all the plant excrement's etc. Hook this pump to a timer and a relay and be sure the out put is higher than the res. Set this to empty the res just before top up. I use a pump to mix the res. The problem with automatic res changes, a person would have to shell out for automated fertilizer and ph down dispensers. This isn't needed unless a person is gone for a month or more.

Always use relays between timers and pumps. I figured this out because I noticed the plastic on the timer was getting kind of twisted and warped. This was a few decades ago :) I resorted to using 12 volt car relays and 12 volt adapters to run the relay. This way the digital timer is only running the 12 volt adapter that runs the relay which will keep the timer from over heating. I figured five bucks for a forty amp relay versus house burnt down and crop failure, wife in a shelter...
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i'd start with ebb and flow tables, just to get the hang of the pumps and timers, how to keep an eye on your res, all that good stuff. if you feel like trying something else after that, i would start with DWC, which is basically the same as RDWC without the central res and pump. that way if you have a problem, it'll be with one plant, not all of them. once you get the hang of that, then you can move on to rdwc with a degree of confidence. you can get great results with rdwc, but you can also lose a whole crop overnight.
 
Cold$moke

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
For less then 5 plants id do just an easy peasy dwc

In a tote not a bucket as its easier to do fills in a tote.

It does NOT get simpler the dwc

As long as temps arent crazy high most noobs should be just fine with it ....

The old school hydrofarm water farm buckets are a great intro to hydro as well

But i like dwc cause there isnt really anything you need to buy from a hydro store except mabey nutes which you can just order them online :)
 
Cold$moke

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Im sorry guys but how is it you can lose a crop in a night with a rdwc setup?

As long as you got some air it will be fine

Id say you could go days or forever without air stones just increase the air gap at the top.

Sure if your running water up to the crown and your air pump dies youll drown the plant

But if you give it an air gap you'd be just fine for days ie look up kratky method of hydroponics
 
U

upnsmoke13

Well-Known Member
Op, you have a nice line-up of growers giving you advice. Look up some of their setups & see what you like.
You might look into coco. It's not full on hydro but is more forgiving and with nice growth. May get you used to ph, ec, nute changes, reading plants, etc before going into hydro.
Just to confuse you more!
 
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