Which is a good hyrdoponics setup?

[GrowingThe420]

http://www.ezhydrokit.com/product_in...roducts_id=118

or the bigger light one:

http://www.ezhydrokit.com/product_in...roducts_id=116


OR even better if someone has a way to make my own that would also be cool.

[v3d4]

build your own vedaponic system for a fraction of the cost, and put your money into a better light

Originally Posted by v3d4

the vedaponic system is an example of the recovery system given here: http://www.simplyhydro.com/system.htm

the plants, either clones or seeds, are started in rockwool or peat pellets and kept under fluros untill they are ready to go into the vedaponicator9000 under the big light.

when ready, the plants are placed in 18oz plastic cups that have been liberally perforated with a soldering iron and filled with hydroton. these cups go into the vedaponicator which is nothing more than a covered aquaduct meant to channel water back to the reservoir.
a $30 submersible aquarium pump forces the nutrient solution through plastic hose to the drippers postioned over the hydroton cups. gravity takes the water back to the reservoir (large plastic bucket.) theres an airstone in there to disturb the surface of the water and a small fan blows across the top of the water to provide good gas exchange.
thats it.

now i have left out some details about our specific system but they dont matter. with the exception of the waterpump and air pump and hose, the vedaponicator system can be built out of any storebought or found or liberated materials keeping costs low. variations include the use of plastic pvc pipe, wooden troughs or boxes lined with plastic sheet, or sections of rain-gutter which may have fallen (or accidentally pulled) off of a government building. the system can be made to be more or less NFT-like, without having to buy any of those long plastic boxes (NFT gallery) which are expensive, bulky and difficult to transport in a stealthy manner, and arent easily adaptable to other purposes.

vedaponics is better becuz:
this is among the simplest possible hydro systems and in my opinion has many advantages:
- the pump is always on, eliminating the need for an expensive specialized timer required by other systems. in a regular boaboabados hardware store all they have are appliance timers which only work in hour long intervals.
- the drip system doesnt require a powerful expensive pump, as most areoponic sprayers/jets need at least 40psi to work
-it can be very easily expanded or modified.
-it can be very easily dismantled or disguised.

i guess the main thing is that its beauty is in its simplicity and infinite adaptability- and the fact that even i can put it together and make it work, makes it in my opinion among the best all around general purpose hydro systems.

[GrowingThe420]

I guess I will build it with my friend Chris since he is really good at making shit quickly out of nothing, basically think of a Cuban with a Mexican's work ethic and the mind of McGuyver. lol

[Manolo]

Never tried hydroponics and never will.I like natures way(the most pure way)to grow my plants.U might have a bigger and sooner crop but purer????
Except of dealing(the God of our days MONEY) I couldnt explain why to grow unnaturally something natural.But I am oldfashioned in this issue.Soil,soil soil,no pesticides only little ferts.But thats just my opinion....

[v3d4]

oh pooh pooh i say, why dont you live in a cave then Mr. natural?

im just teasing of course, but honestly, when a plant takes in water, does the plant care if the water came from a wooden bucket or plastic pipe? when a plant absorbs some nitrogen does the plant care if that nitrogen came from bat poop or an industrial factory? when a plant uses light does it care if those photons came from the sun or a lightbulb? no, it makes no difference in the plant as long as long as it gets what it needs/wants in the right proportions at the right times.

i also like dwc for its ease and simplicity, the only advantage of drip recovery is that you can grow more plants per bucket.
oh the very easiest grow i did was in this big long hunk of rockwool wrapped in plastic, about 6 inches high by 6 inches wide by 6 ft long. poked a water hose and an air hose into one end, sealed with hotglue, poked a drain hole in the other end, and poked the plants into the top. absolutely the very least fussy grow i ever did with a great harvest. when it came time to get rid of the big hunk of rockwool tho, it was really really heavy becuz it was all full of water, and you cant just throw it in the garbage, or bury it in the garden, so that aspect kinda sucked. i ended up cutting it in half and wrapping it in garbage bags and stealthy throwing it into somebodys dumpster. if it werent for that, and the unrenewability then i think it do it that way all the time.

[generic_hippie]

Originally Posted by Manolo

Never tried hydroponics and never will.I like natures way(the most pure way)to grow my plants.U might have a bigger and sooner crop but purer????
Except of dealing(the God of our days MONEY) I couldnt explain why to grow unnaturally something natural.But I am oldfashioned in this issue.Soil,soil soil,no pesticides only little ferts.But thats just my opinion....

I had this very same attitude until recently.

Then I was taught to grow under lights organically, now I get purity and larger faster croppage.

Now I do both, but have cut back significantly on the outdoor this year to reduce the stress associated with fear of being busted or ripped.

[Manolo]

Well I can live with your teasing v3d4.The plant might not care but I do.
If I could grow outdoors I would but safety issues dont allow me to go outdoors.

A meal is a meal wright??MacDonalds is food and a homemade dinner also but are
they the same(quality speaking always)???
Anyway we all have our own opinion so go on with the way u preffer and will I.
Good luck with your grow either indoors-outdoors,hydroponica lly-naturally.

[El Condor Pasa]

I got a few questions for v3d4. First off you talk about using a drip system, and the way I understand it is you are talking about running it full time with out using any timers. All the hydroponics that I have ever heard about or saw that use a drip system have a timer. So there for is it really necessary to use timers or can one really drip continually and have the same growth potential. You talk about using a drip system it would seem that it would be a lot easier to use something like a NFT set up cuz that way you don't need a medium and you don't needa worry about timing or drip manifold or drip lines or anything like that.

Regardless of that though, where would be a good place to get a drip set up or how could I go about making is so it drips the right amount considering its running continually?

thanks a lot

[generic_hippie]

these little beauties, (or a local brand of the same thing) cost about $2 per packet, and they regulate water flow extremely well

[v3d4]

absolutely the efficiency can be greatly increased with a good timer, but the object was to keep it as cheap and simple as possible. so full time drip was the simplst way i could think to do it at all, using adjustable drippers like the ones shown above by dear hippie, just turned waay down low to 2-3 drops a minute, it is good for smaller seedlings/clones started in rockwool cubes, and when they get big they let you know when they want more flow.
maybe nft is better, and simpler, the problem for me was how to get nutrient solution to the smaller roots of smaller clones with the stuff i had or could get cheap/easy. so i already had some expanded clay pellets and the water pump from the aquarium so thats how i put them together. not having a timer means its more important to oxygenate the nutrient solution, like the dwc, bubble buckets, and those kind. note: dwc= dutch water closet
well-oxygenated nutrient solution is very important to the plants' health, but however it can be delivered doesnt seem to matter all that much, as long as the environment is right, the plants will take up nutrients and water and air and convert them into root stem and leaf as fast as they can, but absolutely cannot be forced beyond nature to go any faster.


so, im not saying everybody ought to do as i have done, im trying to put out the idea that anybody can do as i have done. people have the idea that hydroponics is so difficult and requires a labcoat and a clipboard and and theres dangerous chemicals and its expensive... nothing could be further from the truth. you can easily make your own good nft gallery just by making a long flat box out of anything and line it with plastic; you can use fence boards or cardboard, plastic sheet or plastic garbage bags. with a bucket, a pump, some hose and a measuring spoon you really can grow big healthy plants, and big healthy buds.

oops, sorry for the big long rambly post. the short answer is, you can use a drip system without a timer, but you have to be able to adjust the drip rate to very slow for smaller plants and faster for bigger plants, and your nutrient solution must be very well oxygenated.
drip drip drip

[El Condor Pasa]

Nice thanks a lot v3d4 for explaining everything =), and the picture helps quite a bit as well

[El Condor Pasa]

I am also wondering could someone explain or direct me to a thread that explains what type of mixture one needs to use well growing with a hydro system, and in what parts I mix them at certain times through the growing cycle? Also how to check the PH of the liquid, and what should the PH be? Thanks a lot

[Liquid Karma]

Get the 400 watt lite for about 200 USD from ezhydro

do active drip - 200 bucks more or try the bubbler buckets.

I know a guy who did the active drip and got a QP but with
constant airflow from outside, or u can use CO2 tank the
regulator is about 200 USD.

Dont forget a fan to vent hot air out.