So, I've gotten everything I think I need... just waiting on my light to come in the mail. Now that I've got a good PH meter, and a PPM meter, and my hydroponic system is running, I have some newbieish questions, but please bear with me.
SOUNDS LIKE YOUR HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
How do you know how much nutes to use? I'm using General Hydroponic's Flora series. Following the label on the bottles, and using what they recommend for vegging, gives me a PPM of 770ish, and drops my PH down to exactly 5.8(it's 7.4 coming out of the tap). Most of the guides I've read have PPMs way higher than that, yet say they start out with less than the recommended dosage
I MUST SAY THAT YOU , SIR , GIVE ME HOPE...I'M SHOWING MY BUDDY SPARKAFIRE THIS POST SO I CAN RENEW HIS FAITH IN THE PEOPLE TRYING TO LEARN. YOU CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE A BASIC "RUNNING" KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT IT IS YOU INTEND TO DO. YOUR QUESTIONS ARE WELL THOUGHT OUT AND IT SHOWS THAT YOU HAVE READ....HOW SIMPLE IS THAT BUT NOONE WANTS TO FUCKIN DO IT....I CANT STOP MYSELF.WELL BUDDY THIS SENTENCE WAS THE REASON I DECIDED TO ANSWER YOUR POST. I USE THOSE NUTES EXACTLY AND IF YOU FOLLOW THE CHART ON THE BACK FOR FULL STRENGTH YOU WILL BE FUCKIN PERFECT. IT TRUELY IS A NO BRAINER FEEDOING SYSTEM. THATS WHY I LOVE IT. TELL ME WHAT SIZE YOUR TUBS ARE AND I'LL BE ABLE TO GET IT FOR YOU IF YOU CANT FIGURE IT OUT.THEY HAVE A CHART ON THEIR WEBSITE ...THAT'S WHAT I GO BY.
. I think I also read somewhere that you can check the ppm, and if it's going down, that means you can raise the nutes, if it stays the same, you're just right, and if it's going up or your plants start burning, back off. This makes sense to me,
SERIOUSLY.....I THINK I LOVE YOU
THAT IS CORRECT
but I don't even know where to start at, and since I'm an idiot using 6" rockwool, it takes my plants a good 24-48 hours to even be affected by any changes I make in the nutes... so I wanna play it safe.
RW IS AWESOME SHIT....JUST A PASIN IN THE ASS FOR ME TO CLONE IN. JUST MAKE SURE THE BOTTOM OF YOUR CUBE IS 1/2" ABOVE THE FLOOD LINE IN THE TRAY....YES ABOVE....THEN YOU CAN FLOOD YOUR PELLETS OR PERLITE AS MUCH AS 6 TIMES PER LIGHTS ON WITH EXPLOSIVE ROOT GROWTH....COMPERABLE TO DWC.DO THIS AND YOUR CHANGES WILL BE NOTICABLE QUICKLY....FOR THE GOOD OR THE BAD UNFORTUNATELY.
When you're doing RoG, what do you do for nutes? Do you use the same throughout the whole thing(I think I read that Al B does that), or slowly raise it.. and do you change proportions at any point from veg to preflower to flower, or does that stay all the same?
THESE FUCKIN QUESTIONS ARE GIVING ME WOOD
I KEEP MY FIRST TABLE AT 1300 AND THE OTHERS AT 1400 AND THE MOMS AT 1600 AND THE CLONER AT 0. AND ONLY FEED ONCE EVERY TWO WEEKS WHEN I CHANGE THE WATER AND CLEAN THE TUB. THE PLANTS DO THE REST....NO TOP OFF'S OF NUTES, JUST WATER AND H2O2 EVERY 3 DAYS AND CORRECTING PH TO 5.8 WHEN IT RISES ABOVE 6.3
Oh, and another quasi-related question. About growing mediums... I think most of you have mentioned that you have your plants in 1" rockwool, which is then in hydroton.
SOME ARE LIKE THAT MINE AND ALS ARE RW FLOC IN THE BOTTOM, JUST ENOUGH TO COVER THE HOLES SO MY CHUNKY PERLITE WONT FALL OUT....HE USES FLYTOCEL INSTEAD OF PERLITE.
I think Al B said he puts rockwool pellets at the bottom of the pot to help keep it from floating.
SEE ABOVE
I don't have hydroton, and I'd either have to buy it in bulk, travel a long ways to get it, or pay a ton in shipping to get it off of ebay.
FUCK HYDROTON
Amazingly enough, I can get rockwool. I can also get perlite for cheaper than dirt,
GOOD MAN ...NOW YOUR COOKIN WITH GAS!!!
but I remember from my days working at a nursery, that I hate that stuff.
TOO BAD....
Any other recommendations? How does that coconut stuff work? I think I've read about someone growing in shredded newspaper or something like that... but that seems like a horrible idea for so many reasons.
AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF COCONUT COIR.....FUCK THAT SHIT TOO
And that made me think of another question...
I've made some assumptions about how you 'transplant' when growing this way, but I just want to make sure I'm on the right track...
DRUMROLL.........................................
When you start a clone aeroponically, I'm guessing you just wait for the root nodes to appear, then put it in the 1" rockwool, but then when does it go into the hydroton? Right away?
NO ROCKWOOL AND NO HYDROTON....LOOK IN MY JOURNAL IN MY SIGNATURE ON PAGE 2 I BELIEVE I DID A TUTORIAL WITH POP UP PICTURES FOR ALL THE KIDDIES AND ITS A MUST READ FOR ANY OF US WHO LOSE OUR WAY. JUST IGNORE THE RAPID ROOTERS BECUSE I GOT THE NEOPRENE COLLARS NOW
My seeds were extremely effective at growing roots in the 1" rockwool even when I had it saturated. Before I knew any better, I had 2" roots sticking out the bottom into my tubberware container. Can I do the clones that way, then transfer them into the hydroton/whatever once the roots hang low enough to get to the water when the table fills... or how do you guys do it?
YOU PRETTY MUCH GOT IT....I NESTLE MINE IN THE PERLITE AN INCH BELOW THE FLOOD LINE ON THE POTS AND THEN FILL THE REST OF THE WAY WITH PERLITE TO SUPPOR THE STEMS.
One last thing... is there any trick of the trade to make it so that my system's quieter when the water drains out(without making it drain slower)? It's quiet filling up, but makes this horrible glugging and slurping sound when it drains. I'm afraid my roommates are going to think I'm drowning cats in my closet.
NOPE YOUR SCREWED ON THAT ONE....THAT BITCH IS GONNA SLURP...........
Sorry the post is so long, but I ramble when I'm high, and I figured more details was good.