Ok, to set this up. As most do, I feed, water, feed, water, etc. And on feed days, once in a while, time would limit me, and I would not always be able to siphon out all of the runoff. The next day, the saucers would be dry as a bone. That evolved into doing it on purpose with a measured amount (half way full).
So I decided one day to try a modified version of that. Problem one: standing water. Added a pump and a mist stone or three. I wanted to try a 2ft flexible misting tube, but those start around $10 a piece. However, had bought a 6-pack of mist stones and a few T joints for under $4. I figure the upward flow of bubbles would be enough to move the little amount of water sufficiently. I also positioned the bubblers right next to the holes in the planter bucket to help get some bubbles in the soil directly. The aerated water is a secondary delivery method for Oxygen. If you do research on aeroponics, you will find that many people agree that cannabis production potential is a balance between oxygen and nutrients. Hydroponics representing the heavy nute limited oxygen delivery while aeroponics focuses on high oxygen and limited nutes.
Side note - I keep my water in a 5 gal jug and keep the air running through it all the time to keep the water as saturated as possible.
Problem two: We all know runoff water is not necessarily the balanced mix we initially feed the plant. The ph is changed, the ppm changes, some nutes get used up quicker than others, some nutes stick to the soil better than others, some are soluble and others and not.
Fix: I simply top hand-fed my plants until the very first trickle of overflow. I let the plant/soil soak up and saturate. I start doing the same thing to my other two plants. Then going back to the first plant I fill the fresh mix of feed directly into the bucket. A slightly deeper bucket that I used to replace the over flow saucers. This way, fresh nute water is fed on top and from the bottom. The plant will soak up the "reservoir" over time. But now I can extend that time by a day or two.
Now, as I said, the days the plants are exposed to the nutrient rich water is increased. And naturally when I give the plants just straight water [and cal-mag], the overflow is diligently siphoned and I "till" the top half inch of soil to help promote evaporation.
All of these may seem like small additions. But isn't the simple fact that we give nutrients and have schedules and well managed environments evidence enough that we want to push our plants genetics to the maximum potential. And they all add up to a lot. Another measure I take is to move leaves into the optimal position to allow the most light penetration.
I thought to myself, why is soil better? Or, why is hydroponics better? Of course, some say soil "tastes" better. And almost all would agree that hydro produces more. Potency, however, is to much of an argument to use as one of my own. I wanted to combine the idea of increasing the plants' exposure to nutrients while maintaining proper nutrient delivery.
Also, keep in mind that my situation allows me to tend to the plants in this detail. I only have 4 plants going right now and this will last me about a half a year. I grow for personal only.
Anyway, here is a link to a video I uploaded which shows the idea. Now, the way my camera works, when I snap pics, it records a few seconds before, so you will not get any narrating. Instead, there is some info in the description and the comments.
http://youtu.be/cWI76Zuz3LU
In the comments, I wrote a short update on day 54 which was 3 days after video was taken.
Sorry for the long read. for those that get this far, thanks for listening. If anyone has any input, I make my decisions on how I grow based on many sources and deciding for myself which points I agree with, as a lot of people do to customize their grow to their needs and desires. (I am going to paste this in another forum, so if you see it directly copied it is because I want to share my experience and I'm medicated and lazy to retype or even summarize after this).
So I decided one day to try a modified version of that. Problem one: standing water. Added a pump and a mist stone or three. I wanted to try a 2ft flexible misting tube, but those start around $10 a piece. However, had bought a 6-pack of mist stones and a few T joints for under $4. I figure the upward flow of bubbles would be enough to move the little amount of water sufficiently. I also positioned the bubblers right next to the holes in the planter bucket to help get some bubbles in the soil directly. The aerated water is a secondary delivery method for Oxygen. If you do research on aeroponics, you will find that many people agree that cannabis production potential is a balance between oxygen and nutrients. Hydroponics representing the heavy nute limited oxygen delivery while aeroponics focuses on high oxygen and limited nutes.
Side note - I keep my water in a 5 gal jug and keep the air running through it all the time to keep the water as saturated as possible.
Problem two: We all know runoff water is not necessarily the balanced mix we initially feed the plant. The ph is changed, the ppm changes, some nutes get used up quicker than others, some nutes stick to the soil better than others, some are soluble and others and not.
Fix: I simply top hand-fed my plants until the very first trickle of overflow. I let the plant/soil soak up and saturate. I start doing the same thing to my other two plants. Then going back to the first plant I fill the fresh mix of feed directly into the bucket. A slightly deeper bucket that I used to replace the over flow saucers. This way, fresh nute water is fed on top and from the bottom. The plant will soak up the "reservoir" over time. But now I can extend that time by a day or two.
Now, as I said, the days the plants are exposed to the nutrient rich water is increased. And naturally when I give the plants just straight water [and cal-mag], the overflow is diligently siphoned and I "till" the top half inch of soil to help promote evaporation.
All of these may seem like small additions. But isn't the simple fact that we give nutrients and have schedules and well managed environments evidence enough that we want to push our plants genetics to the maximum potential. And they all add up to a lot. Another measure I take is to move leaves into the optimal position to allow the most light penetration.
I thought to myself, why is soil better? Or, why is hydroponics better? Of course, some say soil "tastes" better. And almost all would agree that hydro produces more. Potency, however, is to much of an argument to use as one of my own. I wanted to combine the idea of increasing the plants' exposure to nutrients while maintaining proper nutrient delivery.
Also, keep in mind that my situation allows me to tend to the plants in this detail. I only have 4 plants going right now and this will last me about a half a year. I grow for personal only.
Anyway, here is a link to a video I uploaded which shows the idea. Now, the way my camera works, when I snap pics, it records a few seconds before, so you will not get any narrating. Instead, there is some info in the description and the comments.
http://youtu.be/cWI76Zuz3LU
In the comments, I wrote a short update on day 54 which was 3 days after video was taken.
Sorry for the long read. for those that get this far, thanks for listening. If anyone has any input, I make my decisions on how I grow based on many sources and deciding for myself which points I agree with, as a lot of people do to customize their grow to their needs and desires. (I am going to paste this in another forum, so if you see it directly copied it is because I want to share my experience and I'm medicated and lazy to retype or even summarize after this).
