hydroton beds
- Thread starter Max Reefer
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Max Reefer
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all the reading I have done about using peroxide indicates that you don't want to put any more than 3% solution at a rate of 2 or 3 teaspoons per gallon in your res. even if you are using the 35+% peroxide, you will still dilute it to 3% solution before applying it to your res.
the beds have only so much clearance under them and the main res will only last for 2 to 3 days before needing refilled. the aux reservoirs allow me to go a full week before needing serviced.
I use a 20lb cylinder of co2 and it lasts about 3 weeks before I have to change it. I would use a larger cylinder if I had the space for it.
MR
Max Reefer
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I originally put the cuttings in dwc and almost killed them. if you look at the first pic above, you will see that they were very small. they had lost more than half of their vegetation at that point. I didn't want to veg them any longer for a couple reasons. one I only have so much growing space, two I want to harvest sooner than later. third, I have a bunch of auto flowering seeds I want to get growing.
temp fluctuation doesn't seem to make much difference as my plants are all super healthy without even a single necrotic leaf. while I understand the whole ph fluctuation thing, my tap water is ph 6.0 and after mixing the nutes, it is the same. and again, there are no necrotic leaves indicating a problem.
MR
Max Reefer
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Max Reefer
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if you do the math, you will find that the 35+% and diluting it to 3% is more economical.
MR
Max Reefer
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wow! 90 degrees? I have never heard this before. in fact I have read that if you are not comfortable (and I am never comfortable in a 90 degree temp), then your plants are not comfortable. my grow 20 years ago was in a basement and the temps were low but I cant remember how low.
MR
Max Reefer
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Max Reefer
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I have thought about this before but when I was trying dwc, it caused all kinds of problems, so I decided sterile was better than effed up. what bacteria are you using?
MR
Max Reefer
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here are some current pics.
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Max Reefer
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there is a lot of food for thought in the replies here. I have decided to raise the room temp to 75, that has increased the res temp to 68 from 66. I am thinking I could maybe go up to 80 and that might result in a 70 degree res temp which would still be acceptable. I also discovered that I can program my ac unit.
this thread has prompted me to do some google searching on the subject of grow room temps. it would seem that the temp swing (the max difference having to do with inter nodal length) is more important than overall max temp. I think I will try to do some programming to further control the environment in my grow room...
that being said, my plants look great! they are very healthy looking without so much as a brown tip on any of the leaves.
MR
this thread has prompted me to do some google searching on the subject of grow room temps. it would seem that the temp swing (the max difference having to do with inter nodal length) is more important than overall max temp. I think I will try to do some programming to further control the environment in my grow room...
that being said, my plants look great! they are very healthy looking without so much as a brown tip on any of the leaves.
MR
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Hydroburn
Well-Known Member
aquashield or great white works well. recently I have been bubbling them together in a bucket of r/o with ancient forest humus and a dash of unsulphured black strapped molasses.... roots are loving it despite my warmish water. probably do even better in ebb n flo because the bennies can use the hydroton for housing.
I have never even tried bleach or h2o2... seems like it would just gas off in a day. I always run bennies for slime prevention (prob why your cuttings died in dwc) and only dose the res once a week.
have you tried other mediums like perlite? wonder how it would compare. I used large net pots of hydroton once in dwc, and it took forever for the roots to push through the rocks.
I have never even tried bleach or h2o2... seems like it would just gas off in a day. I always run bennies for slime prevention (prob why your cuttings died in dwc) and only dose the res once a week.
have you tried other mediums like perlite? wonder how it would compare. I used large net pots of hydroton once in dwc, and it took forever for the roots to push through the rocks.
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Max Reefer
Member
I was using aquashield before h2o2 in my dwc, I also tried michorizae. after a long and fruitless battle with slime, I opted to go back to the sterile approach (less is more). I also tried molasses and that just made things worse in dwc. there are a lot of differing opinions an what to use. it's my opinion that keeping it simple is the best approach. and as you can see, it is working for me.
MR
Max Reefer
Member
isn't that pretty much the same as putting it in the res? ultimately I decided to go back to what I know and what worked for me in the past. as you can see, everything is going great.
these three new york sour diesel's are flowering their little hearts out! it has only been 10 days since I flipped the switch. these girls were cut from plants that were 6 weeks into flowering.
MR
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Max Reefer
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do you have a journal of your grow up anywhere? I would love to know the details.
MR
Hydroburn
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nah I dont keep a journal. I pretty much learned the theory and shit in the Heisenberg tea thread under DWC forums. it is long as fuck so I only read his posts... took me like a month to get through it but learned a lot about bennies. The main thing of course is cold dark rootzone and not to run organics... that will solve most problems. my tap water kills bennies unless I use tap water conditioner from petsmart... get slimed every time I have tried not dechlorinating.
I had good results with straight aquashield in the res for a long time... but lately I have been bubbling tea. aquashield and great white are good products... bubble it up for 2 days in a bucket of r/o water with ancient forest humus and a drip of molasses to feed them... hundreds of species will multiply in the millions and colonize the roots and eat everything in the res. the key is to run salt/mineral based nutes so there is no food in the res to support any life. pathogens are out competed by bennies, digested by bennies or starve to death. only thing is the bennies also die because the res is otherwise sterile... which is why we dose with fresh bennies once a week or so.
here is a link about why chose bennies vs sterile that I thought was pretty good.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/191899-live-sterile-why-i-choose-live.html
I had good results with straight aquashield in the res for a long time... but lately I have been bubbling tea. aquashield and great white are good products... bubble it up for 2 days in a bucket of r/o water with ancient forest humus and a drip of molasses to feed them... hundreds of species will multiply in the millions and colonize the roots and eat everything in the res. the key is to run salt/mineral based nutes so there is no food in the res to support any life. pathogens are out competed by bennies, digested by bennies or starve to death. only thing is the bennies also die because the res is otherwise sterile... which is why we dose with fresh bennies once a week or so.
here is a link about why chose bennies vs sterile that I thought was pretty good.
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/191899-live-sterile-why-i-choose-live.html
Max Reefer
Member
I read about the Heisenberg tea but have not tried it. thanks for the link to the other thread, I will have to read it later when I have the time.
MR
MR
AdamBlack760
Well-Known Member
Standard growing conditions typically include concentrations of CO2 at 300-500 ppm, temperatures between 65-80°F, and relatively low humidity (20-40% rH). Studies have shown optimal growth and yields at 90-95°F, 1,500 ppm CO2, 45-50% relative humidity, 7,500-10,000 lumens/square foot of light, and vigorous air movement both above and below the canopy. CO2 enrichment under 80°F, under 7500 lumens/sf, or above 50% humidity is not recommended because plants will not be conducting photosynthesis quickly enough to benefit from the enrichment
Max Reefer
Member
interesting, my girls seem to be the exception to the rule. they are 2 weeks into flowering and I just gave them a trim because they were getting too thick with leaves.
MR
