Indoor The Squid wants a small hydro setup. Help?

[The Squid]

Aye folks. So I've been thinking about making myself a little hydro tote type setup to try out and had some questions.
First, yes I have searched around and got Some of the basics but couldn't find exactly what I needed to know. Sorry if they are nube questions, I am a nube. I'd appreciate any help and/or personal advice or experiences. My gratitude is here beforehand. Thank you people of AFN.

>>>How far apart would my net pots need to be if I wanted to grow all the way to harvest?
I was hoping to be able to grow 7 plants in a tote type setup all the way till the end. Wasn't sure if they could grow close as I would think that the roots would grow into each other, not sure.
>>>Can/Is the reservoir the same as the reservoir that the plants are in?
>>>Or do you have to have a separate reservoir and cycle the water to and from the grow reservoir with a pump?
>>>And you ph that, nute it when needed, and keep it air-stoned 24/7?

Thank you so very much. This will definitely get me in the right direction from what I already know. Add anything you wish on top of answers.

 

[surffreak23]

With so many different types of hydro, anything you say or imagine can be done... Many hydro set people I know started out doing Deep Water Culture, as it's cheap to get the equipment and there is no drip line to tangle and much less vulnerability to flooding if something goes wrong. Spelsylver was one of the people I watched learn this way and she is getting great results. Even in the realm of DWC there are many different types of set-ups, so get your brain going and be creative maybe you'll end up with a system no one has heard of before! Usually all the parts you'd need for a system can be purchased cheaply at Home Depot or something similar, so don't waste money at the hydro store, just go in and see how the systems are built, and copy it using cheap materials and you should be happy!

 

[The Squid]

Oh yeah I'm all over the materials. Not sure if you know Nelson on here. He had a cool thread where he made a tote with 12 small 3 1/2 inch buckets for starting then he would move them over to a bigger tub for flowering, same size buckets for ease of move. It looks super cool, cheap and easy. I can make it myself. Just order the buckets and hydro balls online, and some root plugs or something similar. What do you recommend? Should be all I need besides things I can get at Walmart or the Depot. Thanks man.

 

[The Squid]

Screw it I think I know enough to get one going. Got some cool ideas that might be new who knows? You're right I could accidentally come up with something cool. haha. I researched a lot more on other sites and I get it enough to pull it off I think. Maybe I will make a smaller version and see how it goes from there. I will still take any advice from anyone though. Thanks.

 

[insert name here]

Are you doing the tote as in the rubbermaid style tote?, I would strongly recommend one of the bigger air pumps, there is a company called Hialea, I think that is the spelling, and they make a 30L/min and a 60/min, I don't know for sure, but it seems like that is the one the Seymourbuds uses, and you are going to get tons of o2 for those roots like that. I have two "Large" aquarium pumps pumping into my hydro res, out of one big airstone, and the result is less than spectacular, I am thinking about doin a DWC next timeand if I do I am def going with one of those Hialea pumps...

And on a different note, I paid around 100 euro for the ten pot atami top feed system that I have, I dont know how much is invested in the diy system... but this one was plug and play, came with the pump tubing, lines, drippers, everything but the rocks. Hope it all goes well

 

[The Squid]

Thanks for the info man. I will have some trial and error I'm sure. I think I'm going to make a small little one to test out my ideas. Like enough for two pots. And then make a bigger version if it works well.

 

['smax]

Just a little heads up on making your own DWC rez.
1. Make sure the tote is as light tight as possible.
2. Make sure to place your net cups far enough apart to allow for the plants to grow as big as they're gonna get.
3. It's a good idea to buy 2 of the same rez to make for easy rez change/clean.
4. Have fun. I always macgyver my own shit together and I've learned more about hydroponics from my own failures then I ever did from any book/website.

That said good luck and grow on bro. Peace

 

['smax]

Also, make sure your net cups have a nice wide rim. The last ones I bought have almost no rim and I've had to super glue or reinforce them to keep my plants from falling in the rez. It's the little things that cause the most headaches.

 

[The Squid]

Hey zero thanks a lot man. I've read about being light tight. Got that. How far apart should they be to grow full size? And how big of a deal is it if their roots grow into each other? Good idea on the double res clean out. Thanks again.

 

['smax]

As for how far apart... gonna depend on the strain your growing. You could fit more single cola pheno's on one tote than bushy etc... The only real problem you might get from root entanglement is stunted plants when you cull males (if their roots were tangled and pulled apart) ,unless your using fem'd seeds. I've grown 4 photo plants on a 15 gallon tote and even though I spaced the cups as far a part as I could that tote got crowded quick when flowering time came and ultimately hurt my yield. Also when growing different strains in the same rez keep in mind that they may not handle nutrients the same way. I've upgraded to individual DWC buckets so I can monitor my plants feeding habits and ph/ppm more accurately. Hope this helps.