Lol man I’m glad I didn’t start out growing with hydroponics. Career probably would’ve been very short lived. So complicated, damn
but okay, I’ll put some black tubing on the list as well. So just using h202 and nutrients is considered “running sterile”?
I was totally the other way. Everything I tried to grow in real dirt was a fail but I figured out DWC on my own in '01 and even wrote into Ed Rosenthal's column in Cannabis Culture magazine, Ask Ed, about the system I came up with using RubberMaid tubs with just an airstone and he said he didn't think it would work. He's changed his tune since and it's proven to be the simplest and most efficient form of hydro.
Only one air pump to possibly fail. No chance of leaks unless your tub splits and I never had that happen. I would start my plants in the shrter tuns that hold 35L when filled an inch below the pots then when switching to flower would mix up a fresh batch of nutes in a taller tub and just pick the lid up with the plants and drop it on the fresh tub. I was running two airstones per tub and drill holes slightly smaller than the airline under one handle so they didn't get in the way. Even used clear airlines for a few years and never had any algae growth in the nutes. I see a lot of people cover the tops with foil or aluminum tape but I never did that either and no algae growth even when starting off with clones under a 400w MH so the lid was exposed to strong light. It's not a thing.
If I was running two tubs I'd use two dual outlet aquarium pumps with one line from each going into both tubs and plug them into different circuits so if a pump failed or the breaker went on one each tub would still have one working airstone. That never happened but the rubber cups in the pumps would crack after long use and need replacing so always had a few rebuild kits on hand for that 10 min repair. Got a couple of those ECOAir commercial pumps and they really push a lot of air. Burned out my big one when my dugout aerator packed it in and hooked it up. Ran OK for about 3 months then started making a hell of a racket. Guess they aren't made for the amount of back pressure they get when pushing out into water 12ft deep. Got a new aerator pump designed for dugouts this year and it's nice to have clear tap water that doesn't reek of swamp.
$400 tho.
The pump is down in the basement with a 1/2" line running underground with the 1 1/4" water line about 75yds out to the dugout. Noisy as hell but can't hear it upstairs hardly. I can use it for vacuum for my lab still or a DIY vac chamber for oil too. Would work great for a big hydro setup.
Last winter when you filled up a tub for a bath the water was dark grey and stunk to high heaven. Just a shotglass of 35% peroxide and it cleared right up and the smell went away. But then you got to rinse off with water from the tap but the smell didn't stay on you. At least no one looked at me funny when I went to the store.
I've learned a lot about how plants work since those days and now get pretty good results growing in a semi-organic media. They don't grow as fast but yield decently and just seem to stay happy all the time with little fuss. Trying to do more breeding in smaller pots indoors in the winter and planting autos outside to bulk up using the free light provided.
Happy New Year!
