so, how often do YOU water your hydro garden?

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chrome9k

Well-Known Member
I have a hydro garden, but after doing alot of reading on the forums, i started to notice that alot of people were watering on once every 3-4 days...

little did i notice, is that all these people were using soil!!

i use rockwool inside of a hydroponic tray with a reservoir underneath the stand, which isnt even filled with water because i have been hand feeding my plants every 3-4 days

now... i have some bronzy dried out ish rubbery roots on the bottom (semi healthy plants) and new thought on watering system

HOW OFTEN DO YOU GUYS HAVE YOUR TIMERS SET TO WATER?

im going to hook up the reservoir, fill her up, hook up the timers and have it set to water a bit more often because, duh, the rockwool dries out alot faster than soil which retains better..

i wanted to see other people's experiences with watering using hydro and maybe revolving my watering cycle to those of people with a bit more experience than i do .

thanks everyone
 
grandpabear3

grandpabear3

New Member
if your gonna stick with rw...then 1 maybe 2 times per lights on but if you ditch the rw and go w/pellets or perlite then 3 times or more! hope my ignorant ass helped
 
N

NoDrama

Well-Known Member
I use rockwool, my timer is set at 830 pm and 830 am both for 5 minutes. So 2x /day for 5 mins each time. But the actual roots pretty much sit in water their whole lives since i run a DWC/Flood setup sorta. Works for me.
 
ALuckyShot

ALuckyShot

Well-Known Member
I use ebb and flow with just clay pellets, I flood about 16 times per day seems to be working very well.
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
aha.... lol well theres my problem rofl...

u guys water multiple times per day, my plants were seeing water every 3-4 days

im so stupid... i'm going to get the res filled tomorrow morning

whats temps and what ph's do you guys put your res at?

slightly acidic correct, because the rockwool is so alkaline?
 
grandpabear3

grandpabear3

New Member
5.5-5.8 amd dont adjust it till it gets about 6.3.....if you soak the rockwool in 5.5 water first you needn't worry about alkalinety

i dont worry about res temps but they damn sure shouldn't be warm!
good luck
 
U

unity

Well-Known Member
In used to have my drip on 24/7 when I was recirculating. Now I'm 'drain to waste' and water 30seconds every 60min.
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
u really water that much...

do you us and fungal control, or did you not have a problem with mold and mildew...

also... do you guys nute the res? or do you guys just ph water the plants and hand feed the nute once or twice a week?
 
Chumlie

Chumlie

Well-Known Member
Man, three times a day for 15 min. If your using ebb and flow and have big rockwool blocks cover them in expanded clay pelets aswell. fill the tray up.
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
im going to go get some rock pellets to protect the undersides of the rockwool and flood 3 times a day for 15 mins yea... thats the idea i was toying with for the past week

thanks guys, ill post how the plants do
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
cani get away with not using the rock pellets... i feel like they are dirty...

i would def wash them first, but can i get away with not using them until the roots show on the outsides of the rockwool?
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
ok.... i'm going to post pics of the plants and the setup tomorrow morning....

took me a few hours, but i finally filled up the res with nute water and ph'd it....

what a pain 20 gallons! ph is at a nice 5.5-6....

one quick question.... how far up the plants does everyones water go?

i was wondering if my overflow valve was too low... the water comes up the sides of the plants about an inch or an inch and a half...

i know due to capillarity , the water will flow to the upper sections of the rockwool.... buti just wanted to know how far up everyone elses plants the water goes at peak level


also... what type of aeration devices do you use to keep the water non-stagnant... i was going to get a little bubbler... but i dont know exactly what to get and whats a good price... i need something suitable for an 18 gal reservoir
 
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S

stucklikechuck

Well-Known Member
i fill up to about 1/2 or 1/3 way up my 6x6x6 RW slabs. and since i have a built in resevoir, i can only use a diffuser to aerate the water.
 
C

chrome9k

Well-Known Member
so is it only coming up and inch and a half too little?

u think there is a way to increase the overflow valve?
 
Chumlie

Chumlie

Well-Known Member
I really don't Know, but I watch a pro do it, and since he has being growing for 30 years or more... well you get the idea.
 
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