HYDROTON DISCOVERY INDOORS 5-gallon buckets: 6 HRS BETWEEN 2 QUICKY FLOODS. my experience: 40 yrs, have tried all ways. i mean all. anything new comes out i try: hempys are simplest, and productive, vs work. soil experts win on aroma/taste if they have the know-how/secrets. must be witchcraft, definitely an art. hydro done well is up there too IF rarely not overnuted. then not over rinsed. 3 days w/little epsom salt and unsulphured molasses. for any rinse. yum. trick: maybe even cut stalk at hydroton level and quickly put in above rinse type bucket 3 days more grow. SHE will cry but will drink the rinse as no roots can feed her more nutes/water. remember grade school? the cut plants soaked up the food coloring, right? right. if overnuted you will need to rinse 5-10 days before any cuts. so reduce nutes before end...2 weeks?!
basic three 5-gal bucket hydroton *hybrid EnF/dwc system* is my favorite for most efficient, rewarding, quality production vs work:
ebb and flow on a digital timer. (add 24/7 bubbler/dwc idea later when roots breach 1st bucket by raising it somehow within the 2nd bucket. I use a 4-5 inch block of wood in 2nd bucket myself). SECRET is 2 quicky floods two inches from top of hydroton, and a SIX hr 'drying' cycle.
START: 5 gal bucket of hydroton. yes 1 bucket full, 2 or 3 seedlings. don't worry; lots of drilled holes in bottom for water and roots to go through eventually, placed *inside* an identical size 5gal bucket that has a water outlet for tubing very near the bottom. (imagination is needed here.) I use yard of 1/2 inch black tubing connected to pump which is placed in your final 3rd 5gal bucket/reservoir, which will need to sit a foot or so below the above two buckets. this system is fully re-useable. I have a 3 x 3 x 4 flower area. I dont use mothers, I just take a few clones a week before flowering and put the clones in a smaller veg closet. So just under 3 month cycles. I try to cut and trim before flowering. During flowering minimize stress else hermies odds increase. ive found 24 hrs on is begging hermies. 24 to 12 can stress too much. (hormonal imbalance). also I believe cuts then can cause disease/mites. I also bend plants under a scrog screen to maximize canopy to 3 x 3. I can then lower my air cooled 400w hps to 10 in. I also use 6 100w equivilent cfls, each uses 26w. some pros and cons in my opinion:
hydroton....reuseable for years, clean by boiling 15 min. dump the gunk.
.............. flood every 6 hrs then 2 quicky 1 to 2 min floods due to no
................overflow outlet. The pump can run dry for a little while. That
................means the water is at max height for a few secs or minutes.
grow shops want your money. read ingredients. I just use earthjuice.
same medium for years is my attraction to hydroton. lots of root/air space.
perfect. overwatering causes roots to search for oxygen. underfeeding is rare.
soil, lava, perlite, rockwool...not very re-useable. hydroton lets the roots breathe...and get thick. If I were a root I'd want space and air and pellet to wrap myself around.
just flood every 4 hrs if using gh 3 part...organics takes 6 hrs. also try organic teas. Bubble your own in a sock/bucket for 48 hrs starting with warmer water to get things breeding. plants think its filet mignon. we like that. tea needs some unsulphered mollasses and worm castings or whatever in the bubbles remember. manure I think attracts pests. a worm and a cow are not similar. I once toasted a crop using excess worm doo. all leaves fell off, etc. ..mixing organic with pure minerals does work somewhat.
but test results for appearance, taste, aroma. experiment...super duper grow
parts 1 thru 10, big buds galore plus, ninja pow pow additive/stimulants. its mind-boggling..gets ya drunk. remember they want your money. I kinda get ill when I see so much competition for our dollars. KISS forever.
If I owned a hydro store my labels would help customers buy epsom salt for 10 dollars instead of a dollar at freddies. always DIY when possible. work
a little and be joyful. This 6 hr 'dry' cycle for 5 gal of pure hydroton EnF/dwc/scrog organic indoors earthjuice teas grow is furry, sparkly, eye-watering, but best of all is the great taste. close to best soil grows Ive seen. Oh yea, if the roots need it you may want to raise the 5 gal reservoir up to a level that keeps the roots in dwc conditions. So...2 quicky floods every 6 hrs
beginning at first light. no floods during dark. pour some slightly warm water
over hydroton each week/nute-change. also think about leaving 25 percent
old water during change if doing organic. I read that somewhere it keeps needed bios healthier. elec went off last week. thats when i tossed dwc
ideas. growing is addictive. lets us unfold...carl sagan, kristen dunst smoke or smoked everyday...2012 make weed legal sane persons. one person one vote.
thats what they are afraid of. follow the green. peace. oh yea don't do tomatoes or anything really in dwc unless you check ppm daily. dwc requires lots o2, steady ph vital, and closely monitored. otherwise the plant gets a piano keys affect. slightly stresses. She gets mixed up. We now have discovered that MJ is alive like u and me, spiritual, and wants us to treat her nice till she gives us flowers we all want . repeat, PPM and PH is more important to keep it right daily. Bamboo affect otherwise. quality dwc takes good daily monitoring for good results. Research the science library on dwc. I am confident MJ will be legal in my lifetime, vote. one voter, one ringy dingy. what prevents 99 to 1 vote from winning? YOU
ahhhhhh... .... ....ahhhhhhhhh...cof, cof...ahhh. MJ told me to vote and tell one other person to vote. they promise to tell 1 other person to vote and lets keep the pyramid going. Is this not a democracy? do your duty, VOTE or else don't complain. 1 life means 1 vote, right?..
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2012 update: ph drifting up too much daily. solved: water less often. due to hempy conditions
the roots at bottom sat in water which reduced water needs to once a day, wow, we learn.
