My First Hydro Grow STG

Moved to a Hydro System a little over a month ago.

The point is I’m trying to avoid the hassle of soil and also granular medium while getting a faster harvest for patients and with attention to detail a larger and better harvest.
I have had alot of people advise not to do Hydro as soil is overall better. However so far the operational cost has been at least half. That not even accounting for the saved time in watering, cleaning, ect..
Currently I have cloned into small Rockwool cubes and then into 4x4x4 Rockwool cubes. After using what Rockwool I had laying around, I bought STG (Sure To Grow) Cubes which are 6x6x4 and cut away a layer on the top to sink in the 4" Rockwool cubes. To avoid bottom roots from drying I use the 1" STG mat and cut to match the bottom of the 6x6 STG cubes. I have found this results in more water left in my reservoir and less needed to reach the overflow. At first I did have a 4ft x 4ft STG mat and found it retained ALOT of my reservoirs water, to the point of almost needing a bigger reservoir. There was about 50% more Medium that didn’t need to be saturated with nutrients.

Over the 4" Rockwool I have installed 4 GPH drip lines that runs water down the base of the Main stock to help push down any salt build-ups that Ebb and Flow systems are known for as your nutrients are raising up to the top rather than normal from the top down. The drip lines are feed from a 12 output dripper kit purchased from Home Depot for $12.00 which is attached to a Brass 4-way garden hose manifold with shut off valves. $14.00. That is attached to a 1200 GPH sump pump $85.00 (a little overkill but its valved). My reservoir holds 30 gallons which is just enough and will be getting a larger one soon. On the flood attachment, I made my own customer bulkhead fitting from some PVC parts and cut my own rubber bushing. Cost around $8.00 for all the pieces I needed to make the Flood/Drain and the OverFlow fittings. Just had to drill some holes flush with the bottom of the table into the Flood/Drain fitting. The way I did it probably helps with oxygenating and mixing the nutrients up good.

My table is actually mostly built with 2x4s and particle board with a thick tarp as a bottom. All stuff I had laying around and at the time didn’t want to pay for a flood table.
Currently I am flooding once a day for 5 minutes and takes roughly 20 minutes to completely drain to under 1 cm of water. The 1 cm usually stays around for a few hours and then the water evaporates or little my get sponged up.
I have chosen General Hydroponics 3 part Flora Series. Its not as expensive as others and found its easy to work with, great manufacture instructions and helpful info on their website too. I have heard this is NASAs choice for their hydro test as well. So far its been getting really good results with changing the solution every 10 to 14 days. Usually start around 1100 PPM and top off the reservoir every 3 to 4 days.

My PH,PPM, and TEMP are monitored by a Hanna 3 in 1 device. $200.00 and well worth it! Helps me keep my PH right around 6.0 to 6.2 with ease! My solution temp is naturally staying around 65F to 68F. I do have a Chiller wand setting in the solution but don’t use it currently. To add oxygen I had two small air pump T-connected to 1 12" long air stone. This is placed close to the sump pump.

Right now I do have rapid growth with great root expansion but I do have a few things I am unsure of.


The most curious is the Purpling of my fan leaves stems. Most of the new growth is not showing this.

I have considered cold temps on the dark cycle (6 hrs) but I get a minimum temp of 18c/64.4F. The Maximum temp by the way never reaches over 26c/78.8F.

Picture above was during the off cycle of the lights and Exhaust.

My lighting consist of 2 XtraSun Reflectors with 1 600w HPS and 1 400w MH. Total lighting cost around 500.00. The reflectors are inline to each others 6" air duct vents which are T-connected in the middle and hooked up to a 8" Can-Fan. The Fan is also overkill and turned down with a Speed controller. $25.00

The 2 reflectors are zip tied securely to 2x4s to get a pretty level and even light distribution. I have used a level to assure it is balanced on the x,y, and z axles. Pretty close to perfectly balanced. Constructing everything symmetrically and opposite placement of the reflectors socket sides help assure this result in balancing.

Please look at my pictures and if you have any suggestions, please comment.

The Final picture below I took today and is in my Flower Room (AKA R2). All Plants in R2 are finishing the last of the soil method and in final stage of phasing out soil! I hope to incease yield by at least 30%, reduce by cost 30% and reduce labor by 30%

Updated Pics STG loose fill in 5 gallon pots

Updated Pics STG loose fill in 5 gallon pots


All 12 just barely fit onto my table. $2.50 each. They are cheap black plastic nursery pot inserts that have a slightly larger lip than a regular 5 gallon bucket so later in my flower stage I can place them in thoses with a drain fitting at the bottom which may recirculate back to the reservoir or go right to the drain. They have 5 main holes in a star pattern at the bottom and I added another with a Spade drill bit.

The rockwool cubes are about 2 inches down from the brim of the pots. Planning on adding more loose fill tonight after stopping at the grow store. 4 cubic ft($50.00) almost did the job for all 12 and has around 2.5 to 3.0 gallons of actually STG loose fill in them. So now I have started with Rockwool cubes, to 4" Rockwool cubes, to 6x6x4 STG cubes with an addition STG mat underneath, to 5 gallon nursery pots with STG loose fill on the bottom couple inches and everything else stacked on top with the loose fill softly packed into the open areas. I used the nutrients and water the plants have been recycling for the last week after transplanting to avoid any root shock as there was some exposed on the bottom and a little on the sides.

Give you guys an update in a day or two with come new pics!

thanks for posting the info on STG.. I have been wondering about it for some time now.. Im pulling up my chair

I know alot of people are wondering about this product. So far I really like the product. It has good drainage but the best part is the ease of working with the product in comparision to others.

The downside is I think I will have to keep my plants well supported. I was planning on doing the regardless, but if you dont you will certainly have your plants tilting WITH THE LOOSE FILL. The larger bucket Inserts look to be as sturdy as the 6x6x4 blocks and probably provide more support.

Ill certainly keep you posted!

impressed , looks like a good first run for sure! Tagged!
Keep up the nice work , crystal clear buds peace!!

Thanks Mane! I may build up to 6 or 7 water cycles a day but I dont know If I will ever require 12 times a day as the STG manufacture recommends. Maybe, but i cant see that being nessassary at this point. More the merrier. =) I am finishing my second room (R2) tonight and will hopefully have these 12 in a new bucket system tonight and under 3000 watts of HPS! 4 plants/1000watt reflector. New Co2 monitor too! Ill Upload some pics after Im Finished!

Flower Room(but still on 18hr photoperiod)

Flower Room(but still on 18hr photoperiod)

Moved all 12 into a 5 gallon Ebb and grow TYPE of setup. Basically does the same as a C.A.P. "Ebb and Grow" but instead of flooding from the bottom, it fills from the top via 1200GPH sump pump ($80.00). That is attached to a 12"riser($2.00) fitted to a valved garden hose Y-Connector($5.00) that feeds two 10' 5/8" poly hose lines($10.00). At the center of each bucket are plastic y fittings ($15.00) with the "T" part is pointed straight down on top of the 4" rockwool cube. These lines take about 5 minutes to fill all buckets completely. The drain process takes about 20 minutes to return all the nutrients back to the 55 gallon plastic drum(thrift find for $10.00). All but the control bucket is setting on top of 1" of mold resistant building insultation sytrofoam sheeting($10.00) mainly to assist with more draining back the control bucket and returning to the drum. Add $75.00 to $100.00 for the buckets, inserts, rubber gromets, wood dowels, timers, and zip ties, this entire "hydro" setup cost me around $275.00 to $300.00. A simiular setup from a manufacture will cost roughly $600.00 to $700.00.

The best part of the system is my DIY control bucket. Its more of a drain/return bucket then a controller. Theres 2 rows of 6 buckets and at the end, in the middle is the control bucket. After they fill from the top, they drain back to the control bucket slowly which has a floater switch(40.00) that activates at about 1.5 inches of water. That is hooked to a 250GPH aqua pump($15.00) which returns via a 5/8" poly hose zip tied to the top of the 55 gallon drum. This allows a spill back height into the drum at least a foot of so at its shortest fall. Resulting in extra oxygenation and mixing the nutrient solution. After a full water cycle of 5 minutes the 250GPH pump in the control bucket turns on for about 15 seconds and shuts off until the bucket floods a little more a reactivates the pump which is about in 10 seconds. Very relaxing to hear and watch in action, kinda like a water fall.

I have added my CO2 and have a line running in between the 2 rows of plants! This turns on with an analog timer for 15 minutes of each hour the light is on(18 hrs). i will soon hook up my timers to turn off the Ozone Box and exhaust fan while the CO2 is running.

ENJOY THE PICS!!!!

More Pics!

More Pics!


the SPOT 074 My beauties in a nice, balanced, feng shui position! MMM feel the positive energy flowing.



A/C in the far top right (8000BTU) is cooling 3x1000 hortilux super HPS bulbs and staying at 74 degrees on a lower settuing!!! Thats amazing, considering usually a room with 3000 watts would require at least a 1 ton a/c (12,000BTU).



a wood dowell goes thru the outer bucket, thru the middle black insert, across the rockwool and thru the buckets again on the other side. this has provide a huge amount for support!!!!

Ill wait a couple days and post some updated pics to give a reference to the productivity of my DIY system.

Nice work!

Update as of 11/20/10

Update as of 11/20/10

Thank You!

Here is some updates,

I have removed the plastic around the Rockwool and added some more STG Loose Fill around the rockwood. Hoping the roots that were behind the plastic will now expand out.

Changed my nutrient solution to a late Veg to Prebloom transition solution(2 tsp/gal of each part of the GH Flora Series).

Sprayed them down Last night with Pure Neem (seen a few little mites still hanging around) used Pure Neem mixing 1.5 Tsp per Liter and .5 Tsp Dishwashing liquid. Took 2 full liters to do all 12 with a generous spray. Makes them nice and shiny but not a thick residue left over. Just keep shaking up the bottle after each plant is treated.

Added a Sunbeam Digital Humidifier (60.00) as my humidity was about 5% too low. Digital one was well worth the extra $25.00 or so, for the fact is saves on water, electricity, time filling, and best of all it gets you to almost exactly where you need to be!

I also Have my CO2 synced to the exhaust fan via cheap 15 minute timers. Now my 650CFM exhaust fan will turn off while CO2 is running. Still not the most effecient method but better then before and will allow alot more CO2 uptake. Temp Raised from 75 Degrees to 77 Degrees before the CO2 cycle ended and the Exhaust fan restarted.

Soon I MAY be adding a Scrog Screen made from 3/4" PVC piping and netting wire.

THANKS FOR LOOKING EVERYONE, I APPRECIATE THE VIEWS!

Dr.Greenthmb420 said:

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lookin great man. glad i got to see the new set up. mine will make you chuckle (lol just trying to make sure i have good week to smoke so got a little 250... )

later g keep killin it

btw... after you post your pics, click on "edit" and delete everything instead the [u_rl]...[/u_rl] (there won't be an underscore in the actual code), then just take out the "&thumb" in the code that is left, and wallah -- your pics will be full sized instead of thumnails. hit me up if you need an instructional. i created a microsoft word macro (recording of key-strokes that does this for you in one click..

RIGHT ON MANE, Have them in the flower room to get the extra light on a 18/6 cycle and will be moving them to flower on 12/12 cycle half way through transition period. (in a week) So I am Going over and doing some cloning tonight! I Think I will clone off the one in the pic above. She is looking promising!

Put together my "exact" feed schedule and record chart tonight to find a perfect balance in my nutrients. I have broken my schedule into 5 parts growth, aggressive growth, transition, bloom, and ripen.

And I walk around in a white lab coat...JK

11/27/10 Update Before going to 12/12

11/27/10 Update Before going to 12/12


11/27/10 Overcoming a few deficiencies, I beleive it to be mostly Mg. Had a few red spots, appears to be intervienal chlorosis of the Mid-Older leaves. Sprayed with 1/4 strength MgS (magnesium sulfate). They Seem to be less curled upward in this pic.


11/27/10 You can really see the Mg deficiencies here. EEK. This is what happens when you have a leaky valve in the reservior. PPMs diluted from 1200 to 900. Since there is also only about 2.0% Mg in the solution to start with this can happen within a few days with the type of media I grow in. (STG).


11/27/10 View after a night of cloning and now ready to flip into a 12/12 cycle in a couple days.


11/27/10 Put in my Hanna Grocheck in the new room to make checking my PPM, TEMP, and, pH levels easier. (Went a little low in PPM to 900 without)

Looks like alot of the issues are curing and should be fine to go to 12/12 soon!!!!

FLOWER STAGE IS HERE!!!!

FLOWER STAGE IS HERE!!!!

Gave the Ladies a 24 hour Dark period to give a unmistakable signal to start to flower. Started Flowering on 11/30/10.

Nutrients have been changed to a full bloom solution and reading 1250 PPM @ 5.8 pH. Temps are staying at 76 most the time on day cycle, high of 80 for a short time and low of 65 at night.

Flooding/filling cycles has changed to 5 times a day for 6 minutes each. Added a little more STG around the rock wool and is still filling up most the way to the top of the Rock wool.

Starting to smell so I had to hook up the Ozone generator box tonight.

Gave them a nice foliar feeding with carbonated water (low sodium) and 1/4 strength nutrients.

Also did some cloning a few days ago and should be rooting in a few more days. I just have two 12" air stones powered by a 45 liter/min air pump with the cloning cubes uncut and sitting on top off the air stones in about 1" of light nutrients. (phosphorus for rooting) We will see how this works out.

Dr.Greenthmb420 said:

Put together my "exact" feed schedule and record chart tonight to find a perfect balance in my nutrients. I have broken my schedule into 5 parts growth, aggressive growth, transition, bloom, and ripen.

Click to expand...

why stop at 5.. someone else will come along with 6 or 7 then you're screwed. lol sounds like a lot of planning. good stuff. i love planning. should put all that on an outlook calendar and sync it with your smart phone. can color-cordinate in outlook, dude. would be bomb.

i once heard someone say hold a bird too loose and it flies away, too tightly and you kill it. girls are looking great man.

And I walk around in a white lab coat...JK

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lol that is a good mental picture.

Thanks Mane. Gonna get some 10ft 3/4" PVC and with plant training wire, make a scrog stand this weekend. Hopefully I can get some more VTW babies to try this with!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=25178&pictureid=550559 Picture from earlier today during the dark cycle.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=25178&pictureid=550559