What's the best and easiest and cheapest hydro system for someone who has 0 experience in Hydro

You also didn’t mention stainless when you said “metal shop” so I was thinking regular steel

Stainless is a different story but so is welding stainless.

You should do ok with stainless. Just seems like a massive amount of work and very expensive when plastic is so much easier and cheaper to work with hydroponically.

2 Likes

Yes I agree

1 Like

Oh no I couldn’t afford it myself buddy lol I guess I’m a bit like you not scared to put in the work on researching I’m even sure I could probably build and make a go of a hydro system but, I don’t have much experience but not scared to try. I was just saying is all i apologize if it came off wrong didn’t mean it that way. I will 100% use plastic everything food grade of course could you imagine the nightmare of tig welding a 100 connections on a hydro system of stainless steel OMG no thanks. I like to collect everyone’s builds and like most folks decide which one would work the best for my needs, And I figured there was a lot of folks that may want to get into it but had no idea where to start. Me for instance lol I seen plenty of hydro discussions but nothing really like this so I started it figured everyone could benefit you know? I have tons already thanks again.

2 Likes

Is this still your plan?

I would run two plants in their own totes via DWC. No reason to over complicate things.

I would run a pair of 30ga totes and a pair of 3x3 scrogs. Basically, two of these:

6 Likes

This is EXACTLY what I’m going to do on my next grow, using Tdub’s storage container and a single SCROG in a 2 X 4 for my winter grow. Bucket hydro, baby!

5 Likes

Did you see the picture I posted of the roots?

9 Likes

That looks like spaghetti for 20 haha! Yeah, but you @TDubWilly and @peachfuzz really rock the hydro. Always impressed.

6 Likes

Well, I finally had a grow that went south on me, so I’m not sure I “rock” anything. :stuck_out_tongue:

In the end the failure of the last crop was 100% because I didn’t care enough to stay on top of them - I was going through a lull in my desire to grow… needed a reset anyway.

6 Likes

That doesn’t count.

Kinda like that deer standing broadside at 100 yards you just missed and he’s still standing there: a Mulligan! haha

6 Likes

Yes that is the space I have but the room itself is 13’X20’ that was just the room I didn’t have a grow tent in already I could take them down and do whatever soon enough perpetually growing.I actually put it in the house as my tornado shelter its totally underground with about a foot of concrete on top and about a foot of soil. It’s attached to my basement its great I don’t know why but had the foresight to put 4x 6 in pvc pipes running out of the room. :laughing::thinking:

1 Like

Good on you.

I build and improvise as much as possible.

This year, I first tried a pure Kratky grow, but I found my 4 plants didn’t grow to their full potential.

For my second grow I’m trying Kratky + bubblers + water heater using a 145-litre tank.

You can read my thread to see if this method would suit your needs.

2 Likes

Thank you for taking the time to visiting and liking my thread.

I explained (in another thread), why I think a pure Kratky system is not ideal for growing cannabis.

I did get a crop and achieved my aim of producing enough seeds to be independent. The yield was low and the plants were stunted but they made it through.

During this year, I have carried out several experiments to determine why a pure form of Kratky works so well for lettuce and microgreens but struggles to produce a satisfactory Cannabis crop.

Lettuce and microgreens are a one cycle crop and use up all of the nutrients before finally being harvested. During the growth phase, I found that the root tips barely grew more than an inch in the water at all times with the majority of root mass accumulating in the air space of the tank.

I think the air in the tank is constantly oxygenating a thin layer of water through absorption. The oxygenized layer must play a role in the plant’s ability to take up nutrients while the air-roots keep the whole plant healthy. This leads to a bountiful and tasty crop.

Cannabis is a longterm two-cycle crop (veg&bloom) and seems to require far more root exposure to nutrients than root tips in a shallow oxygenized layer can provide.

In my grow, I needed to top up each Kratky pot a few times during the veg phase changing from two-litre pots to eleven-litre square pots. On each occasion, I filled up to the 2/3 point thinking that the more roots in water would mean nutrient uptake and improved plant growth.

This proved not to be the case. The roots now in the crucial oxygenized layer were further up the root stem and the root tips were in the unoxygenated layer and could not take up nutrients.

That is the reason why my yield was low and the plants were stunted but it is also why they made it through.

I’m in week three of flowering my 2nd grow using a Kratky + air stones + 145-litre tank system and I’m confident that the addition of bubbles and agitation with an increased water surface area has increased oxygen levels and overall plant health.

Good luck with your grows and experiments.

O’whee

1 Like

@xxpain4uxx I read your post and maybe I have a solution for you. A product able to make every Hydroponic system and grow room fully automated. In other words, a grower that works for you 24h, 7 days a week, checking and adjusting constantly the Ec and Ph level of the system, monitoring humidity and temperature of your indoor garden, driving your grow light, exhaust fan, humidifier and everything you need to make your plants happy. Would you like to know more? And good luck with your plants!!

1 Like

You selling something what ya got is it like 5000 usd? I am curious.

This product costs only $1490 usd and it really does everything.

Can we get to the pictures and details please seems pretty expensive though since I can do all that as well and if a computer does it for me then what am I learning? But still am curious they probably got hundreds of controllers that will control all that don’t they right down to a laptop running everything all the time?

1 Like

Google “NidoPro” and you’ll get hooked up with the info you want.

I perused the site briefly - definitely looks promising to me.

1 Like

Hi @Bogleg and thank you for your suggestion. Online you can find all the information.
@xxpain4uxx, I desire to explain also that NIDO will help you to set up your grow box with through your smartphone, you will choose which set up is better for your kind of harvest.
NIDO is not a simple dosing system. NIDO is a real advanced computer for the control of small and medium-sized Home grow box, greenhouses, vertical farming, grow container, etc…; it is ideal for all hydroponic systems from 2 to 660 gal of total water in closed circuits. It is managed by a digital platform and allows full control of every function through any smartphone connected via internet.

Some of the main features are:

  • pH control

  • EC / TDS control

  • Management and supply of fertilizers (max three-pack fertilizer)

  • Management and supply of pH- / pH+

  • Water temperature controls

  • Environmental temperature control

  • Environmental humidity control

  • Control and management of LED / HPS lamps

  • Control and management of irrigation systems

  • Control and management of extractor/climate

  • Control water level

  • Control and programming from the smartphone

  • Cloud Data

  • Automatic Formula for growing better

  • AI-driven analytics system

  • Charts in the app

2 Likes

@Peachfuzz do you have any written instructions on how to do this. I really want to try this out.

1 Like

What do you want to try…?
:exploding_head::upside_down_face::grin::wink::+1::v:
Let me know…
:v::sunglasses:

1 Like