First time recirculating hydro, looking for suggestions

After a few successful soil grows, I have decided to try a hydro setup. Not sure what this method would be considered, I guess it is RDWC

I have 2 x 5G grow buckets that get water pumped from a 5G res tank via top rings. The water is constantly flowing and the grow buskers are slightly elevated(on top of 2G buckets) and drain back to the res via 3/4" hose. Water flow from the pump to the rings is regulated using a valve near the res tank. I currently have the flow to the water rings up to where it is a constant stream, but the bulk of the water stays in the res where I have 2 large air stones.

No airstones in my grow chambers
No chiller, though water temps will likely be in the 70s - this must be able to go up to 5 days unattended
Using GH trio, Floricious+, KoolBloom and Cal/Mag



I plan on putting some reflectix (covering) over the hydroton, but not sure if it is needed, the res tank is covered, just not in this pic.

Concerns are -
1.) Will the clones get enough wicking with the water streaming a ways from the rock wool?
2.) Should I slow the flow down further or use a timed drip system?
3.) Should I be concerned about slime in my tanks?
4.) Should I put 1 big air stone in the res bucket and 1 in each of the grow buckets?

Thanks for reading, more details in the journal I started in my sig.

Hey bud, so when first setting one of these up it is best to just observe that the Rockwell remains moist enough. Sometimes new clay dust or whatever clogs up the system yadayada and it can dry, also a good flow will increase oxygen to answer another one of your questions. Lastly the more oxygen in that water the better, to help prevent things like slime avoid light getting into rex, I'm high sorry for typos and whatnot.

Thanks Wristy. I checked tonight and it seems the hydroton is adsorbing enough water to keep the rock wool damp, at least as far as I could tell. I figured for now no reason to put stones in the grow buckets since no roots could get down there, but the bucket slime you bring up is a good suggestion. I will move the double pump in to aerate the grow buckets, and put the single large on in the res busker to help prevent slime.

I rinsed the clay, but interestingly it seems my pH went up to 6.8, and my ppm went up from 550 to 580. I added about 1" of water to the res and readjusted ph tonight to 5.5. I am assuming this is just the "setting in" period during the first 24 hours and I hope to not have wild fluctuations, unless the girls are actually drinking

Just a few suggestions from a newb. You may want to get the PH up a bit at the start and let it slowly drop as it usually does between res changes. I start out at 6 ish and watch it drop, when it reaches 5.6-7 i am ready for a change. Also you say roots won't reach into grow bucket, not sure why not lol. Also I noticed the last few times when using rockwool my seedlings did much better with a timed pump cycle but I run flood and drain and sprayers so there may be a huge difference. With the flood and drain I would turn it into kind if a recirc system once roots were established. It seemed that they were being over watered. I have started to not use starting cubes and just put germed/clones directly into the hydroton, seems to work much better for me. Good luck!

Thanks, I just meant the roots are not reaching the water in the grow bucket yet. They are still working their way through the hydroton (hopefully). Once they work their way through the hydroton, they will be in the water. Interesting on the pH, since mine when from 5.8 to 6.8 in the first 24 hours, possibly just from my hydroton not being rinsed enough, certainly not from the plants getting nutrients from the water.

hbbum said:

Thanks, I just meant the roots are not reaching the water in the grow bucket yet. They are still working their way through the hydroton (hopefully). Once they work their way through the hydroton, they will be in the water. Interesting on the pH, since mine when from 5.8 to 6.8 in the first 24 hours, possibly just from my hydroton not being rinsed enough, certainly not from the plants getting nutrients from the water.

Click to expand...

Ahhh ok cause yup the roots will hit and fill the pail hopefully lol. And yes probably the hydroton caused the swing but its really not suppose to. Also I keep a journal and know approx. how much of everything to add. if I take readings even 15min after It will always raise a little bit 12 hours later but not alot. So just keep a really close eye on the seedlings, if the leaf tips turn light yellowish it may be overwatering. Happened with this run so I timed the sprayers and stopped using rockwool, had way better results. Not sure if you've done any reading re bennies for slime prevention (I've only had root issues once) but you should, I just started using them and it seems to be beneficial lol, and yes the water stays clear! I'll stroll over to your journal and have a look. And fyi I really struggled at first with PH, i found adding a bit at a time and recording it helped to establish a base amount. Good luck!

Thats again. I just got some StressZyme+ so I hope that prevents any issues with slime, time will tell. The clones look fine as far as water for now, will know more once the roots begin to spread out. My theory with keeping the stones in the res(vs in the grow buckets) was to protect the tank, and to make sure all of the water that is coming out of the drip is highly oxygenated.