Best Hydroponic system for Mothers?

[green_tea]

What does everybody think is the best Hydroponic method for plants that you intend to keep only to clone from?

Right now, I have a ebb and flow tray, but that seems like its going to be too much of a pain if I use that for the actual mothers i decide to keep...

Do you think that a bucket system would be a bit better?

Also one more issue to take into account is that these mother plants (at most 4) will be in a somewhat small room Length and Width wise. They will be in a closet that is apx 2' x 3'

any other suggestions?

 

[Guest]

soil-less meduim. a nice blend of hydroton/grow cubes.

easily controls growth if needed, yet allows robust growth if desired. best of both worlds

 

[Seed Buyer]

Sorry to say but the flood table would be my choice. That way you only change one res as opposed to four buckets. Maybe some 5 gal pots of soiless pro-mix.

 

[MoleMcHenry]

How about autopots or easy2grow kits? They're run to waste, soilless, and all you have to do is add solution and cut clones.

 

[green_tea]

to clear up my initial post, when I mention buckets I mean a bucket system with a brain bucket, which would be outside the room to help easily fill up and measure out food.

Do you think I would be better off running an entire bucket filled with hydroton / grow cubes and just setup a dripper at the top, or something like this:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=26343
(recirculating DWC)

 

[Guest]

Don't dwc your moms. Use the soil-less mix (whichever you choose), in any size pot you want. Water by hand, or with a dripper if you are lazy/out of town. Put a small tray underneath to catch any runoff.

Treat it just like soil, but soil-less. Hydro doesn't have to be big buckets of water recirculating and rez's.

 

[green_tea]

any suggestions on the soil-less mix to use?

Watering this way (dripper or by hand) is the same as buckets / rez in the sense of PH and PPM still correct?


Thanks for the help so far Yat Yat

 

[Guest]

No problems green tea.

You can run the soil-less mix any way you choose. Using the hydroton/grow cube mix is just an example. This allows you to customize the amount of water the containers can hold. The grow cubes are essentially miniature rockwool pieces and hold water rather well. While the hydroton will dry out sooner but allow an adequate space for oxygen.

There are other products that can be substituted/used with the same effect. Silica stone, ect..

With soil-less mediums you rely on your ferts for nutrients. You will run the nutes just the same as if you were running a rez and buckets. Don't strictly rely on the suggested dosage, better to start off a bit weak and increase as needed. Just give them what they need.

To answer your question, Yes same sense of PH and PPM. Nute them as if they were hydro, but they will still be manageable like soil. This is basically a flood and drain, but with you flooding it when you water. You want something to be able to hold a little more water than a flood and drain setup, rather than a flood and drain that needs water once every few hours. This is what gives you the similarities to soil that is so great for moms. The buffer! Granted in soil its still a greater buffer for mishaps, but imo this is as close as you can get. Which is why I say to water by hand. Then you aren't depending on the drip! Though a drip would work fine.

A drip set-up with slow drip would be ideal, once dialed in this can be very easy. Hand water until you see what they prefer. Its still hydro, just really simple. This will work well for your space constrictions imo.

 

[Guest]

Just a tip of advice, pruning the growth helps manage growth as does trimming the roots. The container size will determine how well this works, but it all depends on how you intend to grow them. I am just assuming you are trying to manage growth and keep them on the smaller/bushier side.

How many clones you need at a time, and at what interval? <-- Should be a good question to ask when determining container size.

hope this helps

 

[The Son of Man]

i always clown from my plants that are about to go into flower...don't have to keep mothers.

 

[dongle69]

Waterfarms with a main res (controller) are great for mothers.
GH even has a recirculating kit for the waterfarms that uses an air pump (no heat).

 

[green_tea]

i always clown from my plants that are about to go into flower...don't have to keep mothers.

Interesting Idea...

 

[one Q]

how bout a Hugo Block, aka 6"cube RW. Add some wicks and a tray res underneath?

 

[green_tea]

Yat Yat, what about doing some pro-mix in the bucket?

maybe hydroton at the bottom to help run off, and then the rest promix?


My biggest concern with promix are these though: (so if anybody can answer them that would be splendid)

1) the starter nutrients in there, are considered organic correct?

2) how long should i wait (IE just watering the promix) until those starter nutrients are going to be gone?

3) I've heard / read that after a certain time, the PH becomes unstable? is this true or can someone explain what they mean by this and how it would related to having mothers in there?

4) I plan on just using a inorganic mix with it (Advanced nutrients / GH ), so how would you go about it with promix? my understanding is that it is the same as hydro, aside from #3 above, which may effect the way I PH my nutrient mix?

5) ~10 liter pot good enough for a mother? Will probably replace with a clone after a grow or two


Thanks again!

 

[Zizu]

I go with a hempy style bucket but instead of all that perlite/vermic I just use hydroton. Easy-peasy. Take any size bucket and make a hole a couple inches up the size and fill with hydroton.
Done.

If you want more clones just up the nutes, it's also impossible to overwater and depending on bucket size you can neglect and leave them unwatered for awhile.

Probably not the best system but definitely one of the simplest.

 

[icough2getoff]

I keep my mothers in beer cups filled with 100% coco. I hand water them with regular flora nova hydro nutes once every 5 days or so and it's been working great.

After doing that for a while it convinced me to try a full grow in coco and now I switched my whole setup to coco. Good luck whatever you decide on.

 

[mrred]

a drip system