The Hydroponics Blog

Growing indoors in the summer can be awful.  Excess heat can cause the plants to wilt or droop.

Some ways to reduce this :

- lots of big circulation fans.  But bear in mind too much wind blowing will in fact stress the plants.  So aim fans towards walls cools the air but lets it diffuse in wind speed.

- extraction.  Something I find quite ineffective unless you use huge 250MM or several 150MM fans.  Obviously for smell extraction is essential, it’s #1 use.  To much extraction makes the air dry and humidity drop so I do not advise this except for smell removal.

- reduction in lights.  I think this is something worth noting.  Maybe switching off 1 out of 3 lights will increase growth – the reduction in temperature will make the plants perform better and switching off 1 of the lights might not be so deterimental.  Check for stretching of plants if light is inadequate.

- low powered bulbs.  Well, they’re crap.  They don’t work much.  This isn’t a solution.

- put the light cycle on at night.  Probably the best thing you can do.  Make sure no light can escape however.

My computer went down a couple of months ago.

It just wouldn’t boot.  Further inspection noted C drive wasn’t recognised.

Basically my hard drive had failed.  Aaaaaargh!  I had many gardening photos and documents which I’ve been collecting for several years.

Seems my hard drive was dead to the world – along with my data.  Data recovery seemed to be the term for the solution I needed and a quick google search later I found a data recovery company.

6 days later, the data was recovered – a fully successful data recovery apparently according to data recovery company, 100% of my data was recovered.  The data recovery rescue comes in the form of DVDs with your data recovered.  Fine for me, I was happy to receive my defective Fujitsu HD and data on dvd.

As promised, all the data was recovered and I just want to say a thank you to 123 Data Recovery for bringing my computer back to life.

The hum of light ballasts/power supplies, the fans, the dripping of water…how to make it silent?

First of all if you are using flo-gro or buckets, fill them to near the top, the shorter drip gap will reduce the sound.

Ballasts can be hung from piano wire therefore not making a vibration or hum.

Silencers can be employed for air extraction and again, hung with chains from the ceiling which elimates vibration.

Finally, circulation fans can be bought which are super silent…they are expensive…around 10 times the price of a standard fan but they are truly silent.

Changing your fluids is paramount.  In NFT hydroponic systems, we’re talking every 7 days.  But for purists, try every 24-48 hours.  Does this yield results?  Yes, if you have every other factor right such as temp, humidity, correct light wattage and genetics.

Hydroponics is something that you either score 3/10 or 10/10.  Every factor correct, kaboom, monster flowers.

Pebble/bucket systems seem to survive the fluid better, although pH can rise dramatically so daily adjustment required.

If you have all the time in the world, I would change nutrient every 48 hours, assuming you have the perfect hydroponics setup.

Otherwise, every 7 days is fine.  pH adjustment daily for pebble systems (or wash the pebbles for 30 minutes continous to reduce this problem).  NFT seems to hold pH very well, so no adjustment needed.

Growing hydroponics in a flat has always been a problem.

I watched a Dutch DVD which shows some of the tricks needed.

- open the window slightly on it’s latch to let air in.

- draw the curtains

- board the window up from the inside.

Other things to do

- line the walls with mylar or B&W sheeting

- suspend the fans with wire to reduce noise

- use an environmental controller

- only use 1/3 of the room, the other 2/3 is needed for water tank and moving around.  3 x 600w works well.

Hydroponics growing means air to root.  This is the secret of hydroponics.

With air-ated roots, growth is superior.  In soil, there is less air to the roots so not as good.

Anabolic growth occurs with also constant feeding – motorised pumps feed the plant nutrients constantly.  This is far better than soil as eventually soil runs out of nutrient…so you’re always guessing the amount of feed.

But basically the principal is air to the roots – that’s why some people get great results with soil + pebbles to air-ate the soil.

I cannot stress enough the importance of curing.

 You know the difference between cured and non-cured meats, it’s the same for herbs.

Once your hydroponically grown herbs are completely dry (e.g.brittle to touch and the stems ’snap’ in 2 easily), it’s time to cure.  Any moisture will result in mould, so things must be completely dry.  I repeat, BONE DRY!

 The best way to cure is in a glass jar with a sealed lid (like Bodum jars ).  You’ll need a small air gap in the jar, so completely full to the brim is no good.

Alternatively, the Yanks love to use Ziplock bags.  This is pretty much the only way for large quantities of herb.  Make sure there is a small amount of air in the bag.

Now place your curing herbs in a dark place, fridge is OK too.  Open the bags/jars to smell for any mould.  If you smell anything mouldy, immediately open the bag and check for mouldy herbs.  Otherwise it will spread to your other herbs.

If your herbs are still dry, just keep the bag open a little for a day or two in a dark place.

Curing really only gets good from 3months onwards, 12 months can produce some of the sweetest herbs you’ve ever tasted, turning something quite danky in taste to amazingly ripe.

Flushing your plants at the end of the hydroponic cycle is essential to take all the chemicals out.

I favour a minimum of 2 weeks – although some people do only 10 days.

I don’t really feel if you’re been fertilizing at EC15-20 that’s sufficient.

Ideal is 4 weeks.  I have flushed smaller plants for 8 weeks.  The taste is excellent.

Remember though while flushing, just keep the light on them 12/12 – it’s just the feed you’re changing nothing else.

 Longer flushing = better taste and less chemicals.

The keys to the finest of the fine product is all about work.

You must change those hydroponic tanks every 7 days.  I know someone, let’s call him Mr P as he’s a perfectionist, who changes the solution every 1-2 days.  His hydroponic product is outstanding as a result.

Under fertilising (if you are not sure) is the way forward…once over-fertilised there is no going back with hydroponic plants.  The can detect the level of fertiliser by the depth of green on the plant.  I like a moderate green but some people go for dark dark green.  This promotes great growth but there is a distinct danger of over-fertilising and a debate wether you can flush out all the chemicals at the end.

Only careful experimentation will find the perfect EC levels for you plants, but I always recommend keep it on the moderated side.

Flushing is the final key, the longer your flush the better the hydroponic product.  I flush for 2 weeks min, ideally 4 weeks.  I have flushed for 9 weeks and the results were excellent but not effective from a cost-of-lighting.

I really have to talk about this subject.

Back when I started hydroponic growing, on ill advice I had my lights way too close to the plants.  Try a 250W about 12 inches from the tops of baby plants.  That’s just plain crazy.

Now I aim for 36 – 48 inches away from the baby plants, 48 ideally if you have space.

You can cover around 3 square metres with a 250W light, much more than you would expect.  The plants will stretch if light is inadequate, so don’t worry.

Too close to the light and the plants will stunt and stress…you’ll see the problems more during flowering.

Come flowering, I try to keep the light 36″ away also, too close and it nukes the flowers.  Tying plants down helps if the strain can take it.  I’ve always been a fan of 400W and 600W lights for flowering, because they might stress the plants less than a 1000W.

A good tip is to use a old 400W or 600W bulb for the initial flowering stages, this gives the plants time to get used to the new wattage.  Then move to a brand new 600W bulb for maximum flowering.