TheCapn’s Simple Hydroponics - 420 MAGAZINE€¦ · TheCapn’s Simple Hydroponics Editor’s Note: This is my summary and reference of TheCapn’s simple hydroponics thread. For

TheCapn’s Simple Hydroponics Editor’s Note: This is my summary and reference of TheCapn’s simple hydroponics thread. For more detail and grow journals, please see the original thread. I tried to preserve all of TheCapn’s original words and added none of my own commentary. All of TheCapn’s threads are must­read. You should go and read through all of them first before using this reference guide. http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic­gardening/190831­how­simple­hydroponics.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic­gardening/190198­how­10oz­per­plant­perpetual­indoors.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/vegetative­cycle/190958­how­bend­top­your­way­1­pound­monster.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic­gardening/191899­live­sterile­why­i­choose­live.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic­gardening/193337­thecapn­s­ultimate­flowering­machine.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/seeds­clones­strains/190068­how­clone­rock­wool.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/seeds­clones­strains/190073­sexing­male­female­plants­why­we­clone.html

Chapter One ­ Vegetative Growth (also known as veg)

First, I'm going to give you a quick tour of how I take a plant from seed (or clone) and grow it through the vegetative stage. Again, this article will show you one of the simplest ways of hydroponic growing, top fed rockwool cubes (not blocks).

Grow your seed or clone in a rockwool block; I prefer to get clones started in a 3" block, seeds in the smaller blocks. Once roots start to poke out, fill up an ordinary $1 nursery pot with grow­cubes. Soak the pot with the gro­cubes in plain water (for a few minutes) at ph of 5.5­5.8. It is not necessary to soak them longer. Now, stick your rockwool block in it, as if you were planting in dirt. Here you can see I planted the seedling in the tiny square pot, and now I'm transplanting to the 6" net pot. Sometimes I use the netpots because when the roots grow out the sides, they air prune themselves, causing new roots to grow. You should transplant up a size a few times. This gets a nice root system growing. If you go with a giant pot right away, roots tend to grow to sides and then circle.

Then I move up to a one gallon pot 10 days later:

Once the plant is about the size of this one, you will notice rapid growth. One nice thing about rock wool, is that it is hard to over water it. Over watering is a common mistake, especially with new growers, and rock wool takes the guess work out of it. The disadvantage: You need to water every day. At this stage of growth, I water once a day, with two cups of water, by hand. I use General Hydroponics nutrients. I'll show you my recipe for veg which is all I use up until the last week of veg To make up your water, Fill a 5 gallon bucket with water, then add:

20ml of botanicare cal mag plus or cali magic 20ml flora blend 15ml flora grow 10ml flora micro 5ml flora bloom

This is about 25% of the suggested dose on the chart, and should put your mix around 600ppm @.5 conversion. After mixing, check the PH. Mine lands right at 5.8, but you may have to "adjust" your PH slightly.

Chapter Two ­ Flowering If we want BIG piles of smoke, we want to "VEG" for 8­10 weeks.

Our plants are huge and it's time to flower them. First, we need to transplant our plant to the final, 5.8 gal superoots airpot. We can see some circling of roots, but not too bad. Look at those PEARLY WHITE ROOTS! Soak some rockwool cubes for 20 minutes, in your nutrient solution at about 500PPM, with a PH of 5.8, and then add some to the bottom of the airpot. You can do this with absolutely no shock to the plant. I’ve been asked about fungus gnats in rockwool. I have never had them, but rockwool is a less inviting medium than dirt for pests. gnats lay their eggs near the surface of the growing medium, so it is best to add a layer of hydroton on top of the rockwool cubes. This prevents algae from growing on the rockwool, which could become a house for fungus gnats to lay eggs.

Add rockwool cubes all around the plant, and then tap the sides of the container, to make sure

the cubes are packed all around the root ball.

Now the fun part!

Building our flowering

system. Before putting

your plant into flower,

check out “Bend and Top

your way to a 1 pound

monster ”. Is your plant

REALLY ready to flower?

Many times I have

flowered a plant too

early, and then

disappointed with the

yield. It takes 2 months

to flower a plant, why not

veg for the same amount

of time? A difference of

two weeks could literally

be a difference of 4­5

ounces of bud in the end.

We've been "top feed to waste" in vegetative growth for about two months. When using

Rockwool during flowering, I have found it is TOO wasteful to "top feed drain to waste". The

plants are so thirsty, we need to water them frequently, so I will show you how to set up a

recirculating system "recirculating top feed". You will have some type of reservoir with an air

stone in it, a small water pump on a timer, and you'll need to build a little drip ring like this:

You only need a 185gph water pump, some pvc pipe, some 1/2 hose (don't use clear hose), and a couple 10 gallon totes. The concept is easy, and the picture explains it all. The 10gal tote that the plant sits in, just collects the water and funnels it back to the 10gal tote sitting on the floor.

You probably have pumps and totes laying around the house, and you can get creative, and

use any combination you like, as long as you follow the same basic principle. The advantages

of these systems:

1. Allow you to leave them for up to a week at a time.

2. Immune to power outages. Power can be out for several hours at a time and roots

won’t dry up.

3. DWC comparable results, with less chance for root rot.

4. When compared to dirt, there is less chance with rockwool attracting pests. Rockwool is

CLEAN. Price is same as high quality dirt.

5. Simple to set up, almost impossible to over water, easy to flush... need I go on???

If you choose to set up a system like this, here are a few rules of thumb.

1. Light proof your reservoir. If the reservoir water gets light, it could grow algae or

anaerobic bacteria, causing root rot.

2. Put an air stone in the reservoir. The water should be aerated (pronounced "air­ated",

not "air­eee­ated"). If you are using beneficial bacteria, it will die if the water is not

aerated. We don't need a TON of air, just a basic flow of air will do, to prevent the

water from growing any anaerobic bacteria.

3. It is important all of the rockwool gets saturated during irrigation. Adjust your pipe

properly to ensure good penetration. oh yeah! TheCapn likes good penetration!

4. Irrigation times. Get a cheap 15min on, 15 min off timer. If you are using straight

grow­cubes, I would start with 3­4 x a day, 15 minutes each time. If you are using a

mix of hydroton and grow cubes, I would start with 6 times a day. After irrigating, wait

30 minutes and then lift your pot slightly to see how heavy it is. Then, come back in a

few hours later. If you notice a difference, up the frequency. The beauty about

rockwool cubes, is that it is difficult to over water. But we do want to let the roots get

plenty of oxygen.

5. As with any system, keep your timers and plugs up off the floor. We don't want you

getting electrocuted.

Chapter Three: Water Quality, PPM, and pH

I could write a book on this, but I'm no chemist, so it would be all wrong. My point is I'll need to keep it basic here and tell you what you need to know to grow. Let's start with equipment. Hear me now and believe me later. If you want results like you see in the pictures here, you need a PH and a PPM / EC meter. I use a meter that stays plugged in all the time. The difference between a good meter and a poor meter is... a good meter stays calibrated and gives consistent readings. I bought a $20 ph pen from china and threw it away after the first few times I used it. You don't need to spend $500, but don't buy crap either. This one goes for $150. PPM: A ppm / EC meter, measures the electrical conductivity in the water. You can't measure how much nitrogen or potassium, calcium, etc is in the water easily, but we can measure the conductivity, and "estimate" the parts per million of nutrients. When you read the nutrient calculator from the nutrient website, the ppm could be at a .5 conversion or a .7, or different yet. So pay attention. For example, my meter is based on the 500 scale. So when My meter reads 750ppm, the EC is 750 / 500 = 1.5EC. As plants get bigger, and thru different stages of growth, your nutrient recipe will change, and you will use a higher PPM in flower, than you will during vegetative growth. PH: ph is the measure of acidity, or alkalinity in the water. Nutrients are able to be drawn up by the plant in hydroponics, in a PH of 5.5 to 6.5 (some better than others). Typically, in hydroponics, most people agree 5.8 is the optimal. I shoot for 5.9, so if I drift one way or another, I'm still in range. In hydro, you will keep that range of 5.5 to 6.5 for the entire grow. YOU WILL NEED to buy both PH UP and PH DOWN. These are chemicals we use to adjust PH. Stoners say, "..you need to PH your water". "PH" is not a verb. It is nearly impossible to "guess" at ppm and PH. Don't try it in hydroponics. You can get a PH meter for around $50 and a ppm meter for around $20 on ebay. If you can't afford that, this is not a good hobby for you. RO water: Reverse Osmosis water is more pure than tap water. My tap water has a starting ppm of 300! If this your case, you need to add 300 to the top of whatever nutrients you mix up. So, if you want a ppm of 500, you set it to 800, and assume that 300ppm of it is garbage. I ran tap water for a long time, and it was fine. It is ok if you set it out with an air stone in it overnight. This will help dissipate the chlorine in it. Chlorine kills beneficial bacteria (more on this later). After some time, I bought an RO unit. I can't say I notice better growth, but it is convenient, and my PH swings less with it.

Here are my recipes for the different stages of growth. I always start with about 4 gallons of water in a 5 gallon bucket, then I can add water to dilute to the ppm I desire. Remember these recipes are PER 5 GALLONS of water, not per gallon. Vegetative Growth (until one week before flower) 500ppm: Fill a 5 gal bucket with water, then add:

20ml Cal mag plus, or cali magic 20ml florablend 5ml flora bloom 10ml flora micro 15ml flora grow 5ml rapid start (optional) 5ml liquid seaweed (optional)

For ROOTED clones, I dilute this mix down to about 300ppm until I see new at least two new sets of leaves. DO NOT use ANY nutrients on a clone until you see a good root system or at least a little new growth. Once I see substantial growth, I go ahead and use this at 500ppm. I use this throughout vegetative growth, up until a week before going to flower. Transitional Stage (one week before and two weeks into flower) 700ppm: Fill a 5 gal bucket with water, then add:

20ml Cal mag plus, or cali magic 20ml florablend 15ml flora bloom 15ml flora micro 15ml flora grow

Full Flowering (3rd week of flower, until flush) 800ppm: Fill a 5 gal bucket with water, then add:

20ml Cal mag plus, or cali magic 20ml florablend 60ml flora bloom 40ml flora micro 10ml flora grow

Note, I have taken this ratio as high as 1400 by adding more bloom and micro, but it doesn't make the plants grow faster. Bloom Boosters

I use GH kool bloom to take this from 800ppm to 900 or 1000ppm in weeks 6 to 8. You can experiment with different bloom boosters. I wouldn't use any "ripening" agent, or anything sugary or gooey until weeks 7 and 8. The reason for this is you risk feeding the bad bacteria in your res, and this could lead to a case of pythium or root rot. Personally, I don't use anything beyond the koolbloom. I don't use "floralicious" for the same reason.

Chapter Four: What Would Jorge Say? I wanted to talk about a few things that aren't really related to "simple hydroponics" but are things we should all keep in mind at any point in your grow. Sometimes we KNOW we have a problem in the grow room, but we ignore it, and hope for the best. I'm guilty of it too. Before you spend money on co2, super bloom boosters, or the latest gadget, make sure our "basics" are covered first. One thing I have learned, it doesn't matter how much money you throw at it, you can't "force" healthy plants! Keep your ppm under 800 the first 5 weeks of flower, and under 1000 weeks 6­8. More nutrients does more harm than good. With most hydro systems, ppm wont be anywhere near what the vendor says on the bottle. When unsure, you can usually follow the RATIOS. For example, if the nutrient calculator says 10ml/gal of micro and 15ml/gal of bloom, that is a 2­3 part ratio. So start with something like 4ml/gal micro, and 6ml/gal bloom. What would Jorge say? Before you spend money on CO2, fancy controllers, or additives, make sure your basics are covered. Ask yourself, "If Jorge Cervantes saw my grow right now, what would he say?"

1. Is my grow room clean? Am I inviting pests by providing a place for bugs to nest? How long has that bag of dead fan leaves been sitting there?

2. What's the temp in the room, and in the water? If your air temps are over 80, do whatever it takes to get them down. Put ballasts outside room. Air cool your lights. Increase your exhaust fan size. Water temps over 75? This method is somewhat forgiving for water temps, but you still want to keep them as low as possible. Put your reservoir directly on concrete floor to keep it cooler. Locate air pumps outside of room so they pump cooler air into the res. Make sure reservoirs are not getting light. Paint them white.

3. Don't let dirty $hit get into your reservoirs. No leaves rotting in res, don't use a dirty cup (or your dirty hands) to scoop water out of res, use new airstones instead of used ones, rinse meter probes in h2o2 / water solution when going from res to res.

4. Is your flower room light proof? It may have been last week, but is it still? You may have inadvertently changed something and light could be leaking in. When standing inside it, you shouldn't be able to see ANY light.

5. Are roots getting enough oxygen? Make sure no roots are sitting in stagnant water. Does your medium drain well? For high yields, flood the root zone with nutrients as frequent as possible.

Start small but think big When buying / upgrading equipment, start small, but think big. What I mean by that is.... for example, instead of buying 2, 400watt lights with cheapie hoods, just buy ONE 600w light, with a nice 6" large, air cooled hood. It is difficult to keep your room cool without an air cooled hood. Light directly affects yield. Don't skimp here. NO IMPULSE purchases at the grow store!

Minimize the chance for human error Minimize the chance for human error, and after making a change, check it repeatedly several

days after you make that change. For example, let's say you have an outlet in your grow room

where your irrigation timer is plugged. You unplug the timer, so you can plug in something

else temporarily... then forget about it, and leave your plants un­watered for days. Or you

adjust a drip line, walk away, and it pops out and plant doesn't get watered while you are on

vacation in las vegas (me). TOO MANY TIMES I have made these mistakes and it can end up

in disaster, or a flooded floor, etc. Once I set my light timer to "on" and left my flower lights

on for 2 days straight!

Don't flower your plant until it is ready Flowering a plant from seed too early could cause it to produce male flowers, pollinating your

crop. Remember, increasing vegetative growth stage, exponentially increases final yield. What

I mean by this is... double your veg time, could triple your yield.