TheCapn's Simple Hydroponics

8/10/2019 TheCapn's Simple Hydroponics

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TheCapns Simple HydroponicsEditors Note: This is my summary and reference of TheCapns simple hydroponics thread. For more detailand grow journals, please see the original thread. I tried to preserve all of TheCapns original words andadded none of my own commentary. All of TheCapns threads are must-read. You should go and readthrough all of them first before using this reference guide.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/190831-how-simple-hydroponics.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/190198-how-10oz-per-plant-perpetual-indoors.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/vegetative-cycle/190958-how-bend-top-your-way-1-pound-monster.html http://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/191899-live-sterile-why-i-choose-live.htmlhttp://www.420magazine.com/forums/hydroponic-gardening/193337-thecapn-s-ultimate-flowering-machine.htmlhttp://www.420magazine.com/forums/seeds-clones-strains/190068-how-clone-rock-wool.htmlhttp://www.420magazine.com/forums/seeds-clones-strains/190073-sexing-male-female-plants-why-we-clone.html

Chapter One - Vegetative Growth (also known as veg)

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

Grow your seed or clone in a rockwool block; Iprefer to get clones started in a 3" block, seedsin the smaller blocks. Once roots start to pokeout, fill up an ordinary $1 nursery pot withgrow-cubes. Soak the pot with the gro-cubes inplain water (for a few minutes) at ph of 5.5-5.8.It is not necessary to soak them longer. Now,stick your rockwool block in it, as if you wereplanting in dirt.

Here you can see I planted the seedling in thetiny square pot, and now I'm transplanting to the6" net pot. Sometimes I use the netpots becausewhen the roots grow out the sides, they air prunethemselves, causing new roots to grow. Youshould transplant up a size a few times. This getsa nice root system growing. If you go with agiant pot right away, roots tend to grow to sidesand then circle.


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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 aboutrock wool, is that it is hard to over water it. Over watering is a common mistake, especiallywith new growers, and rock wool takes the guess work out of it. The disadvantage: You needto 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 untilthe 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 around600ppm @.5 conversion. After mixing, check the PH. Mine lands right at 5.8, but you mayhave to "adjust" your PH slightly.


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Chapter Two - Flowering

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

Our plants are huge and it's time to flower them. First,we need to transplant our plant to the final, 5.8 galsuperoots 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 yournutrient solution at about 500PPM, with a PH of 5.8,and then add some to the bottom of the airpot. Youcan do this with absolutely no shock to the plant.

Ive been asked about fungus gnats in rockwool. Ihave never had them, but rockwool is a less invitingmedium than dirt for pests. gnats lay their eggs nearthe surface of the growing medium, so it is best toadd 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 layeggs.


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Add rockwool cubes all around the plant, and then tap the sides of the container, to make surethe cubes are packed all around the root ball.

Now the fun part!Building our floweringsystem. Before puttingyour plant into flower,check out Bend and Topyour way to a 1 poundmonster . Is your plantREALLY ready to flower?Many times I haveflowered a plant tooearly, and thendisappointed with the

yield. It takes 2 monthsto flower a plant, why notveg for the same amountof time? A difference oftwo weeks could literallybe a difference of 4-5ounces of bud in the end.

We've been "top feed to waste" in vegetative growth for about two months. When usingRockwool during flowering, I have found it is TOO wasteful to "top feed drain to waste". Theplants 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 airstone in it, a small water pump on a timer, and you'll need to build a little drip ring like this:


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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 10galtote that the plant sits in, just collects the water and funnels it back to the 10gal tote sittingon the floor.


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You probably have pumps and totes laying around the house, and you can get creative, anduse any combination you like, as long as you follow the same basic principle. The advantagesof 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 rootswont 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 isCLEAN. 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 oranaerobic bacteria, causing root rot.

2. Put an air stone in the reservoir. The water should be aerated (pronounced "air-ated",not "air-eee-ated"). If you are using beneficial bacteria, it will die if the water is notaerated. We don't need a TON of air, just a basic flow of air will do, to prevent thewater from growing any anaerobic bacteria.

3. It is important all of the rockwool gets saturated during irrigation. Adjust your pipeproperly 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 straightgrow-cubes, I would start with 3-4 x a day, 15 minutes each time. If you are using amix of hydroton and grow cubes, I would start with 6 times a day. After irrigating, wait30 minutes and then lift your pot slightly to see how heavy it is. Then, come back in afew hours later. If you notice a difference, up the frequency. The beauty aboutrockwool cubes, is that it is difficult to over water. But we do want to let the roots getplenty of oxygen.

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


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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 needto keep it basic here and tell you what you need to know to grow.

Let's start with equipment. Hear me nowand believe me later. If you want results likeyou see in the pictures here, you need a PHand a PPM / EC meter. I use a meter thatstays plugged in all the time. The differencebetween a good meter and a poor meter is...a good meter stays calibrated and givesconsistent readings. I bought a $20 ph penfrom china and threw it away after the firstfew 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 measurehow much nitrogen or potassium, calcium, etc is in the water easily, but we can measure theconductivity, and "estimate" the parts per million of nutrients. When you read the nutrientcalculator from the nutrient website, the ppm could be at a .5 conversion or a .7, or differentyet. So pay attention. For example, my meter is based on the 500 scale. So when My meterreads 750ppm, the EC is 750 / 500 = 1.5EC. As plants get bigger, and thru different stages ofgrowth, your nutrient recipe will change, and you will use a higher PPM in flower, than you willduring vegetative growth.

PH: ph is the measure of acidity, or alkalinity in the water. Nutrients are able to be drawn upby the plant in hydroponics, in a PH of 5.5 to 6.5 (some better than others). Typically, inhydroponics, most people agree 5.8 is the optimal. I shoot for 5.9, so if I drift one way oranother, 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 PHmeter for around $50 and a ppm meter for around $20 on ebay. If you can't afford that, this isnot 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 mixup. 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 itovernight. This will help dissipate the chlorine in it. Chlorine kills beneficial bacteria (more onthis later). After some time, I bought an RO unit. I can't say I notice better growth, but it isconvenient, and my PH swings less with it.


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Chapter Four: What Would Jorge Say?

I wanted to talk about a few things that aren't really related to "simple hydroponics" but arethings we should all keep in mind at any point in your grow. Sometimes we KNOW we have aproblem in the grow room, but we ignore it, and hope for the best. I'm guilty of it too. Beforeyou 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 atit, you can't "force" healthy plants!

Keep your ppm under 800 the first 5 weeks of flower, and under 1000 weeks 6-8.More nutrients does more harm than good. With most hydro systems, ppm wont be anywherenear what the vendor says on the bottle. When unsure, you can usually follow the RATIOS. Forexample, if the nutrient calculator says 10ml/gal of micro and 15ml/gal of bloom, that is a 2-3part 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 arecovered. 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? Howlong 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, dowhatever 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 somewhatforgiving for water temps, but you still want to keep them as low as possible. Put yourreservoir directly on concrete floor to keep it cooler. Locate air pumps outside of roomso 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 dirtycup (or your dirty hands) to scoop water out of res, use new airstones instead of usedones, 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 mayhave inadvertently changed something and light could be leaking in. When standinginside 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 asfrequent as possible.

Start small but think bigWhen buying / upgrading equipment, start small, but think big. What I mean by that is.... forexample, 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 cooledhood. Light directly affects yield. Don't skimp here. NO IMPULSE purchases at the grow store!


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Minimize the chance for human errorMinimize the chance for human error, and after making a change, check it repeatedly severaldays after you make that change. For example, let's say you have an outlet in your grow roomwhere 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 un-watered for days. Or youadjust a drip line, walk away, and it pops out and plant doesn't get watered while you are onvacation in las vegas (me). TOO MANY TIMES I have made these mistakes and it can end upin disaster, or a flooded floor, etc. Once I set my light timer to "on" and left my flower lightson 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 yourcrop. Remember, increasing vegetative growth stage, exponentially increases final yield. WhatI mean by this is... double your veg time, could triple your yield.

TheCapn's Simple Hydroponics

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