Set-up Questions

[Guest]

Want to run a 4x4 E/F. So far I have a 10 gal rez and a ECOPLUS ECO396 Submersible Pump. Also assembling PVC framework to support the table. Using 1 1/4" PVC pipe. My questions are about the rez and table parts. First off is the rez and pump big enough? Also cant seem to find a diagram of what my plumbing should look like on the table. If anybody has a simplistic E/F plumbing diagram I would greatly appreciate it. And I mean simple as it gets this is my first hydro set-up so I want to keep it simple. I have a few soil grows under my belt but Im not a pro. I have had great success in soil/soilless though. I tried a water farm with failure(im sure it was my fault adding nutes too fast). Also maybe a suggestion on a ppm meter. Is it best to buy the meters that mount into the rez so you always know what your nutes ph and temps are? Or do PH pens and ppm pens work just fine? The diff is price isnt really all that much so I just want to buy whats gonna work the best. Thx for the help.

 

[Guest]

I cant comment on the E/F setup but if you havent bought a ppm/ph meter yet...GET A COMBO METER! You will love yourself in the end. Most combo meters are high quality but pricey. Most mount into the res but the people I know that have them only put the micro probe in the res to check levels..then let it set in a glass of alcohol.

 

[Guest]

The combo meter I am looking at is the bluelab combo meter 289.99 retail but I can get it a bit cheaper through my hydro store buddy. There is also the Truncheon Meter that I was kinda interested in. I already have a PH pen and if I can get away with just checkin the PH/EC once a day that would save me a bundle. I mean shit the trays alone are 250 each and I want to run 2 4x8 trays. As far as lighting atm I have 2 400w ballasts with Hort Blue bulbs and 1 1000w ballast with Eye Hort HPS. I will be buying one more 1000w ballast/bulb/hood set-up. I want to run the 2 400watters on one table for vegging and one table with 2 1000watters for flower. And also run perpetual so I always have something going into flower and some getting chopped.



Its wierd they run a hydro store but they all grow in dirt LOL. They really dont know a whole lot about hydro set-ups so I have to ask here.

 

[gaiusmarius]

if you leave the messureing probe from a ph or ec meter in the tank the whole time, you are greatly reduceing its life. it puts it to much more use then if you use it only when you need to check on things.

i've heard and seen good thing achieved with E&F, but i'm not really a fann. its still too complex and too many things that can go wrong imo. if i was you i'd look into a coco slab setup on a table with drippers and a tank under the drain with the pump in it. this setup works wonders and the canna nutes are easy to use. its also an incredibly forgiving medium. check my PP thread if you want to know more about cocoslab growing.

 

[UNREGISTRD]

bro first off you need a 40gal res atleast! american agritech makes the best trays&res.
im thinking this is what u got so far???
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=TR4X4AA&eq=&Tp=
and here is the reservoir youll need:
http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=TR4X4AA&eq=&Tp=

Go to home depot and get cynder blocks(there in the concrete section@ .79cents) get a piece of plywood and cut it a bit bigger than your tray and you got yourself a really damb sturdy table to put your 4x4 on.

yes a pen u have should be fine and you really dont need to check it everyday!!
maybe every couple days if nescesarry..
Recommended General hydroponics nutrients...
And yes USe the 400for veg..r they Hps or MH??
GET a 600 u can put them closet to the plants...get an air cooled hood aand you can put your plants 6'' from the glass with no problems..
U mentioned also u want 2 4x8 trays?? Get 4 4x4's its cheaper and youll have better control of the situation..
Run 2, 70gal res. and 4, 4x4trays would be ideal...

 

[Guest]

Wow thx for the info guys. I really want to go with E/F because f the simplicity. I mean it seems to me its like one of those set it and forget it chicken ovens right? As long as no leaks and everythings in order. I will deffinately look into the cinder blocks and plywood for a table that sounds cheaper and more sturdy than the route Im going. As far as hods for lights and fans I already have those. I have 2 465 CFM ECOPLUS squirrel cage style fans and a sun system cool tube for the 1kw HPS. The 2 400s are MH and both have uncooled hoods in which I have had no heat troubles with because of the way I draw my air outta my room. I set it up to draw the air across the 400s when it pulls it out. For hoods I use the sun system econo wings on those. I planned on using the GH nutes in the Lucas Formula along with Kool Bloom and Floralicious.

So maybe to start with Ill just go with 2 4x4 tables and a 70 gal rez. That pic of the tray is exactly what I am going to use. I was thinking 2 4x8 but then I did realize 4x4s are cheaper. I also noticed the tray covers that have net pot inserts. The only one I can find is the Netwell Insert and its $85 is there better/ cheaper ways to achieve this? I need to look into a medium too I was considering the hydroton but I remember how it got EVERYWHERE with my water farm. Is there other mediums out there that arent quite as messy?

The Coco Slabs are deffinately intriguing. You say you got almost 5 pounds off that one grow? I dont understand how coco works it looks like some sort of a drip system. Is there better threads explaining step by step of how to build one of these set ups?

 

[UNREGISTRD]

honestyl bro your on the right track to the set it and forget it chicken oven!!
thats gotta be the best one ive heard for a while. lololol
But seriuosly it is practically...
Basically bro use the Gh nutes luca formula so u dont have to buy the grow and use KOOLbloom and Floralicous(minimal amounts here) and youll have some dank nugs..
Change your nutes every 2 weeks top off with fresh water every week and like you said its a set it and forget it chicken oven at least for a week at a time it is..
And only if u use Rockwool as a medium...Use the 4x4 cubes and your golden.
Get some digital timers and flood 2twice a day once an hour after the light goes on and the second time 5 hours later after the first for 3 to 4 min ull figure out how much u need..but yea thats it man u gotta plug and play setup waiting to be turned on..

 

[Guest]

Do these timers need to be the ones with 1-30 min increments on em? You know the $100 timers? Or can I go with any regular timer I want to? Also I still need a plumbing diagram so I know where to cut my holes and what parts Im going to need to plumb the tables. I take it my ECOPLUS 396GPH pump is more than enough to run 2 4x4 tables in a 70gal rez?

 

[UNREGISTRD]

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=80520-207-TE05WHBL&lpage=none
These are the exact timers we use! for our lights and pump..
There the cheapest ones available and have the same specs as the 30$ hydrofarm ones.
These ones work great and have an internal battery for memory of time so when power goes out,, your timers dont stop that way you dont fuck up the plants flower schedule..
And for feeding they work awesome you can program them to pump as less as a minute which is perfect cause u only want to flood for 3-5 minutes when all the hydrofarm timers etc are in 15min increments..if u flooded for 15min and then waited for it to drain thatd probably be a 25 min feeding leaving your rockwool overwatered..

And for a diagram bro its really easy...u get some 1/2 black poly hose and hook one end to a fill plug on your tray and the other to your pump that sits in the res.
right next to it run a drain plug,,its that easy here is a link to fill/drain plugs:
http://www.hydroasis.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=H&Category_Code=DF
And yes that pump is fine to fill those trays youll find basically any pump will its just how fast it can fill em up.. THis is where your watering lengths come in to play..
Some pumps are slower than others so when u get setup youll have to see how long it takes to get the water to the level you want usually just an 1nch up the cube is good..and set your timer to that time usually a couple min...
yea run those two 4x4's with one res and one pump just run a T line one running each tray..its really that easy man.

 

[Guest]

Im not a very good artist but I drew this up and tried to label it as best as I could. Is this what your talking about?

 

[UNREGISTRD]

Right on the money bro! pretty easy huh! If u buy good trays like the ones in the links they have areas to put the fill/drain plugs at!! il try and get a shot of em for u!
but other than that man u got it down to the T know...LOL..

 

[Guest]

Does it make it harder to use hydroton in this sort of set-up? Im not exactly sure I want to grow in Rockwool. I want to minimize waste. Is perlite a usuable medium too?

 

[UNREGISTRD]

negative!! for a perpetual harvest and ease of work only use rockwool cubes.. some peeps put hydroton arond the rockwool but its a mess and pointless ull get the same results with a 4x4 rockwool cube..and its alot easier to take the plants in and out and u can move them around with any other medium u got to buy 5" square pots and u have to water 15min every hour and theres more to go wrong! Would NOT advise it..

 

[Guest]

So there is no way to grow hydro easily w/o using rockwool? I was hoping to stay away from fiberglass but if thats the way it goes then I guess Ill use it. Thx for all your tips/advice really appreciate it.

 

[gaiusmarius]

ok you seem to have made up your mind about the setup. thats cool, one point though, if you give each tray its own tank and pump you can run different strains on the seperate trays. if its all fed by one rez you'll have to stick with one strain at a time. just my 2 cents, specialy as you are talking about a perpetual setup, which really needs a rez for every step in the perpetual setup. just a thought, peace out.

 

[UNREGISTRD]

Thats not true GAIS..We run all our strains side by side bubba, Purple cream, GC, OG there all on the same tray with the same reservoir...The bubba is more of a nute hog but theres no need to segregate it in its own tray and res...it just takes more from the res that the others dont take.. There all Happy as can be And with a perpetual setup u dont need a different res for each step..LoL...We rock 4 plants a week! you just slide the plants across the tray starting from the right to left...They always get the same nutes in all stages...ONly ONce have Burned em and thats due to putting the 40gal mixture in a 25gal tank...OOPS..I Forgot that was the smaller res.. Yes the babies on that tray got FRIED..OH well...shit happens...
WITH The setup your talking about yes ROCKWOOL Is the only easy way to do it...
you only water twice a day and I wouldnt worry bout the fiberglass issue its not really a big deal its never been an issue here...
Where as with Hydroton, DWC etc you have to water 15min every hour casue the roots are exposed..where with the rockwool the roots are not exposed...

 

[UNREGISTRD]

u up and running yet????

 

[Guest]

Nope! The god damn wholesalers got shit on back order. So Im at teh mercy of them atm. Oh well I got other things to play with atm=) Prolly wont set-up now for a couple months for current meds to finish up. I seen a whole new set-up though in the 2006 NGW Catalog. Its called the EBB-N-GROW. Its basically a 55 gallon drum rez with a controller bucket that feeds hydroton filles buckets. I assume the rockwool is used in the hydroton? Here is a link http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.com/detail.php?id=04_HG&prod=1620 That and 2 of the 6 pack add ons would be great and as I am told this is in stock.

 

[UNREGISTRD]

hey that pretty cool! I always thought of something like that due to the waterfarms but there not really ebb/flow so this should be good..Us hydro users can now grow trees as well!!
THis is what your planning on getting right the 414$ setup:
http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.com/detail.php?id=04_HG&prod=1621
Thats ridiculous bro go here and get it for half of that price!
hey Not sure why there not in stock but this place has em and there cheap with free shipping! dont buy the system buy them seperate like this and SAVE...
100$tray 4x4
http://www.hydroempire.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/4_33/products_id/293

75$res 25$cover 40gal with cover.
http://www.hydroempire.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/4_34/products_id/302

Then all u gotta do is buy a 20$ rio pump and a 3$fill/drain plugs and your set..
U cant go wrong there...
Check out this pic with the BABY BLOOMERS by GH.. u can do the same thing in these 4x4 trays though and it makes it less maintance than this guys..

 

[Guest]

No NO! I ordered just trays and the stuff to build my own. I know the combo sets are a rip. And I got a better price on those trays at the local hydro store.