Active hydroponic disaster prevention

[ttystikk]

nasty? i dont see how.

Potentially dangerous? ofc but it's potentialy dangerous to drive a car as well. as long the wool is moist, theres no danger.

replace it every run or not, you can reuse if you wish.

i understand you prefer your method tho

When it dries out it's a great way to get silicosis. It only takes once...

Not here to start an argument. I found RDWC and hydroton pebbles to be indefinitely reusable and friendly.

 

[JSB99]

The only thing worse than losing a crop to pump failures is having a pump failure because a fitting blew out and emptied the entire res on your floor. 30 gallons on your floor sure is a bitch, so make sure you use hose clamps and tighten them down. I avoid the nylon clamps now since that's what I had break on me, Stainless Steel all the way.

I would also advise installing a water alarm or two, they are pretty cheap and can alert you to a problem before it gets too bad.

Another option is to frame the area in and use a pond liner to catch spills.

 

[ttystikk]

Another option is to frame the area in and use a pond liner to catch spills.

This is a good idea in general, there's always a way to have leaks you didn't realize- until the system shows you!

 

[JSB99]

This is a good idea in general, there's always a way to have leaks you didn't realize- until the system shows you!

Exactly! No matter how much you prepare, and no matter how solid your system, water on the floor is inevitable. A lot of times it's from human error.

 

[silly rabbit]

great share. thanks everyone

 

[JSB99]

Hey-hey… It’s the Rocket man and one of his boy aimlessly sitting around the “honey pot” just a shuck’in and Jiv’in and telling tall tales… pour another 5 gallons of diesel in the honey pot small-stick and stir that pot it again and breathe in that black smoke.

Any of you old timers remember that unmistakable chronic “honey pot cough” from too many SB Details?

I recall some of the S Burners claiming they could get high breathing that “honey pot” smoke (the Rocketman type dude). Glad I never was on that detail. I’d rather crawl down a small, dark, wet VC tunnel full of spiders, snakes and little VC’s with a flashlight, a clean 45 with a ½” line tied to my left foot at 4 AM than be on that SB Detail.

This is an example of how some things look better on paper, but falls apart, or isn't feasible, in the real world.

If you could post some pics of the results of your grow, where you've used these methods you're describing, then that's one thing. But if you're just sitting here throwing out unproven theories, then you're talking out of your ass!

Do you even know how to grow inside? Have you ever grown?

And by the way, @rkymtnman isn't short for "Rocket Man"! It's short for "Rocky Mountain Man"! You, being a "member" do not have a lot of weight when it comes to challenging one of the legitimate "Well-known Members" who has many grows, and a lot of experience, success, and and failures under his belt! Someone who can give good advice, based on experience, not ill-advised hypothesis that confuses or misguides others.

It might be better for you, and better for others, to do some more reading than posting

 

[firsttimeARE]

Bout to start my rdwc this week. Wondering if I should clamp those fittings now. Way i see it is I needed extreme force and vegetable oil to put them together, surely they shouldnt pop loose due to water pressure.

 

[DrGhard]

Active hydroponics requires a pump to supply plants with hydration, duh. But I have killed so many crops that I have pretty good reasons why it happens. Sometimes the fault lies in the machine, but usually fault lies in man. So maybe others too can learn from my fuckups.

· Never go a day without checking on the crop! Complacency syndrome is a killer. High performance hydroponics comes with high frequency checks.

· Assumption is the mother of all fuckups. Never assume things are fine just because they were the last time you checked. That last time could have caused something to switch off. This has happened with every crop loss.

· Flipping switches and settings are sacred events, they become like your basal life settings, each and every operational state must be minded with highest care. The “Oh fuck I forgot to switch the pump back on” can easily happen after tedious res changes.

· Like piloting aircraft where people’s lives are at risk, you are piloting a hydrocraft where plant’s lives are at risk.

· The pump is the greatest weakness. Of many possible factors, it takes only one to kill it: dodgy timer, loose connections and plugs, frozen impellor, blockage, are all things that have killed my crops.

· The pump is like your heart, it dies, you die. A beating heart is the price for improved oxygenation.

· Distraction is the father of all fuckups. Holidays, people, studies, work, personal issues etc. can undermine your mindfulness for plant-care.

can i add:

- check plants daily for air pumps as well, roots without oxygen cannot go more than 24h without having some stress

- always have in your house new spare pumps. the few bucks/euros/pounds they cost are well worth the added value of having a replacement in case they fail (and they do will fail from time to time).

 

[ANC]

Look at some of the pumps in favor with aquarists. Some have nice features like soft start, or the ability to be air-cooled.

 

[HydroRed]

Make every precaution you can to have the least amount of fittings, connections etc as possible. The less you have, less places to develop a failure or leak. Always keep extra pumps, fittings, grommets etc on hand. If you can, build a system that is housed above the reservoir like a tray above a tray etc. Then if/when a leak occours it will only leak right back into the reservoir. Make sure you level everything a few degrees so that it will always drain where it should no matter what.
When it comes to pumps, you basically just have to put faith in your pump and the brand that you choose. I've had no worries leaving my grow for days at a time. My only restriction was my res size and how much extra I can add to give me a few days away not handcuffed to the hydro system.

 

[HydroLynx]

OP here. Well, it happened again. It seems my pump (Boyu or some shit) likes to stick. Dam glad I made the habit by checking-up every day! Switched off the 600W hps and misted plants, door is ajar so dimmer sunlight can still come in to maintain photoperiod state. They have started bouncing back, and I'm glad its really only a test crop. Guess I'm in the market for a better pump!

 

[ttystikk]

OP here. Well, it happened again. It seems my pump (Boyu or some shit) likes to stick. Dam glad I made the habit by checking-up every day! Switched off the 600W hps and misted plants, door is ajar so dimmer sunlight can still come in to maintain photoperiod state. They have started bouncing back, and I'm glad its really only a test crop. Guess I'm in the market for a better pump!

As counter intuitive as it might sound, continuously operating your water pump tends to be more reliable because there's no stop/start cycling.

 

[HydroLynx]

yeah I thought too. But that defeats the purpose of my flood n drain feature. I do ask myself is that extra lil bit oxygen worth stopping the pump...

 

[ttystikk]

yeah I thought too. But that defeats the purpose of my flood n drain feature. I do ask myself is that extra lil bit oxygen worth stopping the pump...

Consider a smaller pump and a bell siphon. This combination would continuously flood and drain the table while the pump runs nonstop.

 

[HydroLynx]

Nah. I use the pump-pipe to drain and/or overflow plumbing to drain my growtubes. Basically just at night it cycles on/off every 30min. When the res drains back, ideally/hopefully soon my arduino can take accurate readings and actions, eg res volume, EC, etc. While that happens, the roots should be exchanging gases quicker, in theory.

Pump on:

Pump off::

 

[ttystikk]

Nah. I use the pump-pipe to drain and/or overflow plumbing to drain my growtubes. Basically just at night it cycles on/off every 30min. When the res drains back, ideally/hopefully soon my arduino can take accurate readings and actions, eg res volume, EC, etc. While that happens, the roots should be exchanging gases quicker, in theory.

Pump on:
View attachment 4039275
Pump off::
View attachment 4039276

Are you aware of what a bell siphon is and what it does?

 

[dstroy]

Nah. I use the pump-pipe to drain and/or overflow plumbing to drain my growtubes. Basically just at night it cycles on/off every 30min. When the res drains back, ideally/hopefully soon my arduino can take accurate readings and actions, eg res volume, EC, etc. While that happens, the roots should be exchanging gases quicker, in theory.

Pump on:
View attachment 4039275
Pump off::
View attachment 4039276

Sounds like a fun project. The atlas scientific stamps are easy to integrate, you can get temp/EC. I bought a bunch of float switches on eBay for pretty cheap.

 

[HydroLynx]

Are you aware of what a bell siphon is and what it does?

I think it drains a grow-tub periodically with continuous pumping, if I understood the concept right. I prefer the elegance of basic flood n drain plumbing.

 

[HydroLynx]

Sounds like a fun project. The atlas scientific stamps are easy to integrate, you can get temp/EC. I bought a bunch of float switches on eBay for pretty cheap.

Yes I was looking at those, pricey tho. Do like the industrialness of them.

 

[ttystikk]

I think it drains a grow-tub periodically with continuous pumping, if I understood the concept right. I prefer the elegance of basic flood n drain plumbing.

A bell siphon has no moving parts. That's pretty elegant in my book. But it's just a suggestion.