Types of Hydro Systems

[Texas Kid]

Types of Hydroponic Systems

Drip System:
Uses a timer, pump and plumbing to deliver nutrients via a tube to each plant. Growing medium, usually rockwool,Hydroton or perlite, allows plenty of oxygen to the roots. A favorite system of commercial growers and home hobbyists. Our Living System? pages 4 and 5, is an example of a top-feed, recirculating drip system.

Active System:
A pump circulates water from a reservoir to the plant roots. Large gardens are especially for active systems

Passive System:
Relies on a special growing medium or wicking system to draw water and nutrients into the plant roots.Works well with small scale gardening or growing single plants such as orchids, African violets or foliage.

Ebb and Flow System:
Also called flood and drain, this system uses a pump to deliver water from a reservoir to growing medium.The Pump is controlled by a timer that activates to flood the medium with solution and then shuts off, allowing it to drain back into the reservoir. Good for a starter or large hobby garden.

Nutrient Film Technique:
NFT systems have nutrient solution flowing on a thin film of plastic that the roots grow next to. No growing medium means roots get optimum oxygen exposure. Requires a continuous flow of nutrients during the daylight and at least one exposure at night to keep roots from drying out. Preferred by lettuce and herb growers.

Aeroponics:
Uses no growing medium other than a seed cube. Spray fittings produce a fine mist of nutrient solution for the suspended plant roots. This is an excellent method for establishing roots from cuttings. Also ideal for lettuce, spinach and basil.

That may be over simplified for some but it's a good place to start.

Tex

[Tiberon]

Good post tex
Im curious what category the bubbler buckets go into?
I know that is an easy way to begin hydro.
I tinker around with hydro some....mostly soil though.
heres some shots of my hydro debut....that ended up goin hermi.
http://www.growkind.com/gardens/Tiberon/1320/2005_0101_180346AA.JPG
http://www.growkind.com/gardens/Tiberon/1320/2005_0107_164731AA.JPG
http://www.growkind.com/gardens/Tiberon/1320/2005_0107_164808AA.JPG
http://www.growkind.com/gardens/Tiberon/1320/2005_0114_172046AA.JPG

[Texas Kid]

Bubblers are basically DWC's with a friggin lot of air kickin

Nice setup Aya, I am building a similar setup for a fridge grow I am working on

Tex

[SD.]

Too bad those plants went south Tibs they were looking real good. Dont let that stop you though hydro can be a blast. We started with a hydro wick system 6 inch net pots very passive and easy. Weve upgraded to the Hydrofarm buckets(thanks to Mary getting them under control) have to tell you these buckets are fantastic for a small hydro op grower. They leave plenty of room for root growth you dont find yourself having to deal with root bound issues at all. Thing is you have to drill the holes out some in the pot before you begin and add a few more holes if you want. IMO once you do the needed adjustments these buckets are hard to beat. Theyre square so you can fit them into small spaces relatively close to one another. If you grow ALOT of plants they probably arent for you because they are pretty big but if you grow just a few theyre perfect. Hope it helps some and good luck.

[Tiberon]

Yeah SD... I hear ya. I was bummed about those plants. I really had the hydro thing down.....BUT MY GOD....ive never used so many nutes before. My phdown bottles dwindled 2 weeks faster than usual too.
Once I have a strain that roots better than the bogbubble I will use my equipment again for the hydro. As of now my hydro tubs and buckets are being used as stools for my bogs in flower. At least it hasnt been a complete waste. LMAO

[SD.]

Gotta prop em up on something right? LMAO

Once you get it down and if your using some decent water Tibs you can start to learn how to bring you pH 'up or down' with the ferts and additives you have and also at times with simple water meaning you'll use a helluva alot less ph than you think. Once you get a little more experience under your belt using Ph up is nearly obsolete and using Ph down is rare as compared to often.

For example When I need to bring my ph down and its almost always needing to come down (very rarely up), I use ferts mixed in good water to do it with or straight ferts pumped into my res(different ferts bring ph up and down thats something youll have to figure out) you also have to be aware of how much ferts the res can take at the moment or you run the risk of over fert

Now when Im using 'crappy water'(too much sediment) Im going through ph down like mad because the ferts just arent bringing the res solution down enough neither is the water and at the risk of using too much fert youre forced to use ph down

(thats one of the reasons its so important to use good water when going the hydro route unless you want to go through bottle upon bottle of ph down).

I never use ph up, if I want my ph to go up I let my fert mixture sit for awhile but heres the secret DONT bring the ph of your newly mixed ferts up because you can use them to bring the ph down in your res if need be rather than having to use ph down.

Its a system you learn over time through experience. You learn what your specific water quality and individual ferts will do to your res ph and use them to your advantage. Ive got monsters growing in the closet and Ive used ph 'up' once in 2 months and ph down only here and there mostly when my water qualities bad because I couldnt buy bottled water that week and our filter is out. When my water qualities good that ph down bottle can sit up on the shelf for days without even being touched and my ph stays around 6.0 by using only ferts and water to adjust it.

[marymaryquitecntrary]

when i started growing 3 years ago, i chose hydro in bubbling buckets. it just looked easy to me, so i tried it. and i recommend it to all you soil-growers to try someday!

here are a few pictures of my set up ... you may have to wait til webby 'tweaks' them to see them, as they're posted on og right now.

under a 270w HPS :light:

http://www.420-genetics.com/mp/mm01.JPG

http://www.420-genetics.com/mp/mm02.JPG

http://www.420-genetics.com/mp/mm03.JPG

http://www.420-genetics.com/mp/mm04.JPG

[SD.]

Mary your pictures at GK and success youre having are what originally inspired me to put down hydro wick and begin using the buckets. The buds youve been growing under a 270hps are beautiful and the personal advice you have offered has been invaluable, a key component to the success we are having right now. You are imo the Queen of hydro.:bigok:

[marymaryquitecntrary]

well, bless you my son, SD! http://e4u.deltait.com.au/dressed/bek032.gif

[SFC]

I would love to try out my water farm buckets , but I fear my water is way to mineral rich ie hard. I believe out of my tap it has a ppm of 300 the last time I checked it . thanks Tibs. Will a brita filter help that at all? I need to find out what the minerals are I'm dealing with. Our water doesn't seem hard though. Soap lathers just fine. Our water actualy tastes pretty damn good too. I know it isn't iron. No rust stains. Well water probably isn't the best choice for hydro ,eh?

[Tiberon]

Yes SFC, a Brita will bring the PPM down. You could always buy RO(reverse osmosis)water which has a PPM of 0-50. You know those 5 gal water dispensers? Those are the ones.....cheap too.
I believe I saw a fertilizer that is specificly designed for hardwater grows. Ill see if I can dig it up again.


EDIT: Heres that link......there is more products out there, but this is the first one that caught my eye.
http://www.growroomsuk.com/Vitalinkhardwater.html

[GhostDog]

Brita filters dont do shit really. my tap ppm is 450 and comes out of a well. dont even try growing hydro with hard water, its a lot harder to figure your ppm if you have hard water. i buy my water at the grocery store from a reverse osmosis machine for 39c a gallon. has a ppm of 10. you going hydro tib? i think you will be happy with it, ive never had plants this healthy until i stopped using soil. im not satisfied with the growth rates in ebb&flo anymore though. probably going to make some sort of NFT system with gutters and rockwool....also replacing my 1000 watter with 4 600w lights for better efficiency.

[kindkid]

Brita filters don't help with the ppm so much but the do control ph. Our water is very hard and has a ph of 8-9! after being filtered through the brita pitcher it tests at 6.5 which is kinda nice. I don't have the means to test ppm but I've heard that brita filters only get the water down to around 250ppm's but I could be wrong about that.

[Greenkitty]

I have had the hard water problem at the last place i lived but still grew great plants. There are ferts for hard water that work very well. I was in organics at the time but did use Ionic for hard water and worked well. Buckets were alot cleaner also. The Ionic was alot more stable as far as ph so less adjustments were needed. Anyways, with doing bubblers(if you don't have to many) Walmart water is only 58 cents a gallon.