Quality control manager Kitty Powers has doubts about the efficacy of hydro. (Too much water/not allowed to eat leaves)

  • Alteon@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I haven’t tried DWC yet, but I’ve had insane results with drip hydro… How much water do you go through weekly?

    • A_magician_named_GobOP
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      1 year ago

      This is actually an ebb and flow bucket system with a black 55-gallon plastic drum as a reservoir. I haven’t been keeping up with water usage lately, but it’s a few gallons/week once the plants are really going.

        • A_magician_named_GobOP
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          1 year ago

          I drain the water weekly with a good sized Harbor freight pump, rinse/wipe it down, then refill and add nutes.

          • Alteon@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Your nutrient costs have got to be insane. You’ve got be running $300-400 per grow if not more, yeah? If your up for making a change in your next grow or two, try swapping over to drip. You go through about 5-10 gallons over like 2 weeks, and your nutrients don’t get recycled, meaning you get a consistent nutrient load per feeding. You drip what you need to wet the plant and then flush with water 2-3 times a day. I’ve only gotta dump a bucket of water once every few days so you don’t have to worry about dealing with a full drum of water.

            • A_magician_named_GobOP
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              1 year ago

              I only fill the res to 30 gallons. This is my second run with this setup. The first yielded a pound dried and trimmed from 4 plants in the 3x3 tent. Used about $80 of nutrients.

    • A_magician_named_GobOP
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      1 year ago

      I’m glad I switched from soil. No more hand watering is what convinced me. Just get a good pH/ec/ppm meter and you’re golden.

      • kakler bitmap@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Thats encouraging to hear! Was there anything that surprised you/that you weren’t prepared for when you switched?