Organic Hydroponics (Flood and Drain)

100% organics in hydroponic systems, I have read mixed thoughts and opinions on the subject, some say its best of both worlds and some say its a nightmare slime city, do to aeration of nutrients in the res... throwing off the fungi to bacteria ratio and making ph adjustments a nightmare?... I know most folks that use hydroponics use salt based "chemicals" or a mix of chemicals and bio derived nutrients, nothing wrong with other non organic nutrients, just would like to go the natural route

It will be my first official grow, done some bag seed with flours, and miracle grow..garbage. I have some seeds going ( breeder ) and will be growing in soil, until I get them cloned and sexed and I would like to get going on a flood and drain system in hydroton, and go 100% organic with all the beneficial microbes, strengths plants immune system and make nutrients uptake more efficient.

Do you think I might run into these problems, erratic PH fluctuation, Microbial overload, nutrient lockout, rancid smells, clogged pump ect..... I was planing on using Blue Mountain Organic Nutrients, <---- if that makes a diffrence, price is great and a few folks say they love the stuff.

If it did cause some problems my only thoughts were to time the duration of oxygenating the solution (only when flood cycle start) in the Rez or leave it stagnant as roots get amble amount of oxygen in the hydroton. The Rez will be light tight and chilled with frozen water bottles to around 65f and be made out of portable insulated cooler, is this a bad idea?

Any input and feed back be great....thanks, keep it safe, fun and enjoy

never done hydro organics, as it is a contradiction of sorts. but i will say that you can just grow in peat or coco (soil-less organic media) and have great results way easier. or grow in soil.

You may be able to automate feedings for these medias using refined organic nutrient options (not many). But you will still have to change your res up frequently. Can I ask... why organic hydro? you do understand that organics is generally based on feeding microbes which feed the plants, and that these microbes don't live in hydro medias ie rockwool, hydroton, perlite.

Matt Rize said:

never done hydro organics, as it is a contradiction of sorts. but i will say that you can just grow in peat or coco (soil-less organic media) and have great results way easier. or grow in soil.

You may be able to automate feedings for these medias using refined organic nutrient options (not many). But you will still have to change your res up frequently. Can I ask... why organic hydro? you do understand that organics is generally based on feeding microbes which feed the plants, and that these microbes don't live in hydro medias ie rockwool, hydroton, perlite.

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I've been considering running a flood and drain with coco coir & hydroton in five gallon smart pots to try and get the best of both worlds. I'd have to switch nutrients, probably to either Canna or H&G, currently I'm using the GO line.

Wolverine97 said:

I've been considering running a flood and drain with coco coir & hydroton in five gallon smart pots to try and get the best of both worlds. I'd have to switch nutrients, probably to either Canna or H&G, currently I'm using the GO line.

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i know a lot of commercial growers doing a system like that, not organic of course. the trick is getting your flood timing down. folks are using canna or hg, like you said.

Matt Rize said:

i know a lot of commercial growers doing a system like that, not organic of course. the trick is getting your flood timing down. folks are using canna or hg, like you said.

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Yeah, to me that is the only way to develop a true "hydro-organic" system. The bennies can colonize the coco, and if you incorporate a bio filter into your reservoir I think this system could kick serious ass. Smart Pots are the key, IMO.

Matt Rize said:

never done hydro organics, as it is a contradiction of sorts. but i will say that you can just grow in peat or coco (soil-less organic media) and have great results way easier. or grow in soil.

You may be able to automate feedings for these medias using refined organic nutrient options (not many). But you will still have to change your res up frequently. Can I ask... why organic hydro? you do understand that organics is generally based on feeding microbes which feed the plants, and that these microbes don't live in hydro medias ie rockwool, hydroton, perlite.

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Just a brainstorm I had, would have been something I would like to do, no going...just going over options as for organics, well its organic and I will be growing fruity flavored herbs and want every last drop of flavor I can muster out of the plants. Far to many chemicals all round us, of course last 2 weeks of flowering give it a good flush and nothing but water, let the plat use it stored reserves for nice clean favorable burning smoke or some chemical free cookies

But I am thinking now Less is Better use some nice soil less mix and buckets no need to make it overly complicated just keep it simple, and for buckets i can put them outside to get natural light if wanting to, thanks for input

all I can say in my experience that organic hydro fro chilli and tomatoes has been absolutely brilliant. and both times of organic bud have been a nightmare with lots of reservoir changes and b.s.

I found the hardest part was managing the balance of nutrients and watering. With Soil + Canna Veg + Flores it was great. With Bio-Juice organic ferts the result was great but seriously a lot more work and no different that hydro nutrients that have been flushed thoroughly. I found organic nutes with soil in 3 gallon pots didn't need to be watered much either (once a day was often too much...) Outside however, I have mildly fertilised under the sun on a daily basis pouring liters of water over plants and they never suffered from over watering.

My rule is : If its under a lamp, use the nutrients developed for the task and a suitable medium.

If it's outside, do whatever you want! too damn easy outside! (...in the right country of course!)

I am doing a Ebb and Flo Grow with AN organic line. At first the smell was hard to take over soil but after adding a ozone generator (runs 15 mins every 3 hours) there is no smell in my house.

Ph has always drifted high but stablizes after the first day (6.5-7) and is easily adjusted. Ph floats 5.8-6.5 with only changing res every 14 days. Slime build up on the res isnt all that bad but I keep my res temps to 66-68 to keep growth down.

I am 45 days since germination and have been feeding per AN's calculator since they got their first set of 3 leaves.

d7b said:

all I can say in my experience that organic hydro fro chilli and tomatoes has been absolutely brilliant. and both times of organic bud have been a nightmare with lots of reservoir changes and b.s.

I found the hardest part was managing the balance of nutrients and watering. With Soil + Canna Veg + Flores it was great. With Bio-Juice organic ferts the result was great but seriously a lot more work and no different that hydro nutrients that have been flushed thoroughly. I found organic nutes with soil in 3 gallon pots didn't need to be watered much either (once a day was often too much...) Outside however, I have mildly fertilised under the sun on a daily basis pouring liters of water over plants and they never suffered from over watering.

My rule is : If its under a lamp, use the nutrients developed for the task and a suitable medium.

If it's outside, do whatever you want! too damn easy outside! (...in the right country of course!)

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I have found the answer i been looking for and looks very promising check it out http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1534.htmlI could not get any easier then that, no PH'ing the rez water no waisted nutrients, lots of oxygen to roots, tons of happy friendly microbes in soil less mix above, I am gonna follow the guide lines in the link, just mix up the soil differently... beans just sprouted today..WOOT

Going to sex them first with some left overs from my last crumby grow Technaflora Recipe for success , and some pro potting mix with some vermiculite.. then it will be moving on to the good stuff once i get clones established

Thanks for dropping by

When I run out of my normal g.h.nutes, Im gonn aswitch to there organic keep it simple schedule. I do ebb and gro in 5 gallon buckets. We already do a once a week full day flush now, Im thinking the same schedule will be fine. The meduim we use is a grodan water absorbent "insulation" type material. So u dont have to run the pumps like the hydroton, but it not being organic could defeat the purpose. We'll its still better than not going organic. Anyways Ill letyou all know what happens in 6 months.

Look up bio buckets or bio tubs. I grew pure organics in them and they are a recirculating dwc.

KAL EL said:

Look up bio buckets or bio tubs. I grew pure organics in them and they are a recirculating dwc.

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Thanks for the Idea, deff bookmark that article, but I made up my mind on how I am gonna do this "Organic Hydro" it seems less complicated, less stuff to go wrong, less hassle of PH'ing stuff, but have to see feed schedule's for my set up, 1/2 strength feedings once a week? , as the plant is the boss and the microbes supply what the plant wants and when it needs it, and the microbes tends to PH the soil its self.

Mabe later I will seal off the pots to the flood table, make it air tight and pump fog into the table when its not flooding to give the MAXIMUM amount of oxygen to the roots, but for now I am gonna K.I.S.

I'm trying to get some input on a really simple "organic hydroponic" system that I thought of
Here is the thread
https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/489158-soil-hydroponics-together-any-experience.html

the only time ive heard of this was from heisenburg's thread. he was making teas full of good bacteria and fungi, then pouring it into his hydro buckets. these good bacteria/fungi fight off any bad bacteria or fungi that may be in there. they dont contribute to the nutrient side of things because you are using hydro nutes, which the bacteria cant break down. the bacteria/fungi soon die off after putting them in because they have no food, so he kept replenishing it every so often. i think he did it once a week or something

Luger187 said:

the only time ive heard of this was from heisenburg's thread. he was making teas full of good bacteria and fungi, then pouring it into his hydro buckets. these good bacteria/fungi fight off any bad bacteria or fungi that may be in there. they dont contribute to the nutrient side of things because you are using hydro nutes, which the bacteria cant break down. the bacteria/fungi soon die off after putting them in because they have no food, so he kept replenishing it every so often. i think he did it once a week or something

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But what is their function if not to break down nutrients? Fighting bad organisms? H202 will do that. If you're running hydro, it should be chem based (which is why I don't).

I should say, I'm all organic, all the time. I focus on the soil life, that's how I get my results.