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HYDROPONICS
SET UP
Before you start your hydroponics grow system
set up there are few things you should keep in mind to create your
own hydroponic room to suite your needs.
1. HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS, MANY DIFFERENT METHODS:
- Standard Hydroponic system work by dripping nutrients
into the growing medium, then the nutrient soulution drains through
holes into the reservoir and then the process is repeated.
- DWC (deep water culture) Hydoponic system have
2 or more air stones which creates an oxygen rich environment for
plants' roots leading to faster and more explosive plant growth.
- NFT (Nutrient Film Technology) Hydroponic system
by far the most popular form of hydroponics, tried and tested for
over 20 years with spectacular results. Very profitable and reliable
system.
- Ebb and flood Hydroponic table work at regular
intervals, which you set on your timer. Nutrient solution (nutrient
& water) is automatically pumped from the tank to FLOOD the
table and is then allowed to EBB away. Therefore your plants receive
all the water and nutrients they require as well as atmospheric
oxygen directly to the root system as air is drawn in on the ebb.
The result is a large output of high quality plants.
2. GROW LIGHTING KIT LAMP mimics the light spectrum
from the sun, essential for plant growth. Plant growth falls into
2 key cycles - vegetative and flowering stages.
For vegetative growth blue spectrum of light are ideal, and for
flowering red/orange spectrums are required. Easy guide to the right
grow light for you:
- MH are ideal for vegetative growth
- HPS-TS grow lights are suited for flowering growth
-AGRO bulbs have both blue and red/orange spectrums and are suited
for both stages
NB - You can grow plants through both stages with either a MH or
a HPS TS but results will not be optimum. The best way to grow is
with a different bulb at each stage, a combination of lights, or
choose a full spectrum bulb, such as the SONLIGHT AGRO Lighting
Kit
Ballast SAFETY is clearly one of the PRIORITIES for an indoor farmer.
Here we have drafted some guidelines for choosing the correct lighting
kits.
The choice of ballast should be made according to your interests
and according to the application and the place where the ballast
should be used.
It is always a good idea to give PRIORITY to SAFETY. For all domestic
applications, when the ballast is placed inside the grow box, the
only ballast suitable are those with double insulation Black Box
or Sonlight Electronic Ballast.
If you place your ballast outside the grow box you can consider
Easy Box Ballast.
3. EXTRACTOR to
draw warm air out from the top of your room with cooler air being
drawn in naturally from vents around the bottom of your room.
4. FAN is erfect for providing
air movement and air in from the bottom of your room.
5. ACTIVE CARBON FILTER removes
any and all airborne smells associated with your crop.
Basically to get rid of all smells from your crop you suspend a
carbon filter from the ceiling (with chains) and attach to the intake
of your extractor fan.
The air is then drawn through your carbon filter which absorbs ALL
the smell before being extracted outside. Simple and 100% effective.
6. CARBON DIOXIDE
(CO2) is essential for plant growth. In an enclosed growing
area, as plants use up available CO2, their growth will slow down
and may eventually stop.
Replenishing CO2 will not only maintain growth but dramatically
increase it!
7. RELAYS AND CONTACTORS is used to switch a large
amount of electrical power through its contacts.The benefit of this
is that you do not have a large start up power surge by turning
all the lights on at once.
8. CLIMATE CONTROLLER keeps
the room humidity & temperature constant and under pressure
to prevent odour from escaping.
It can be easily controlled, adjusting the required humidity, temperature
and the under pressure of your room on three knobs.
PROPAGATION with Rockwool
GRODAN is a natural product and the best way to propagate your seeds.
A
volcanic rock (basalt) that was originally a liquid of a high temperature
up to 1600 °. Through its treatment it is spun up to a volume
approximately 90 times higher than its initial size. The rock wool
is sterilized at 1600 ° so it is absent from infections and
diseases. It has an optimum water retention and a perfect relationship
air/water. Extremely easy to use (moist, pH and conductivity in
the plate are always under control and easily managed). Before using
cubes of rock wool it is recommended to leave them to soak for about
24 hours in root booster solution or a buffer solution of pH6 to
make the rock wool cubes less alkalised because their natural pH
their level is 7.0. The following day drip and wring the cubes.
Rock wool cubes retain much water so it is useful draining the cubes
to ensure correct replacement of water and oxygen.
Put the seed into the hole (of the cube 4x4cm) to a depth of 1/2
cm (half). Cover the cube with a mini propagator or another cover
and keep the temperature at around 26 ° with a high humidity
of about 80%. Once the roots begin to grow, they tend to escape
from the sides and bottom of the cube. Depending on use, the rock
wool cube 4x4cm once sprouted, can also be inserted into rock wool
cube 7.5 x 7.5cm which has a hole at the top 4x4cm. Once this first
stage is completed the cube can be inserted into any substrate (land
or coconut fibre), hydroponic systems, resting on NFT trays without
substrate. Initially the seed does not require any light. Once the
plants start to emerge it is essential illuminate with delicate
light (preferably neon to 1 cm away) or HPS lamp and/or MH (monitoring
temp and humidity). Plants that do not receive adequate light tend
to have a very long stem. Depending on the type, quality and age
of seeds, germination can take from 2 to 14 days.
NB: the seed during
germination is very sensitive and should not be touched.
NUTRIENTS/FERTILIZERS Only
use fertilizers/nutrients especially developed for hydroponics growers
which guarantee maximum results for plants in terms of yield and
quality.Hydroponics range consists of nutrient products that are
relatively easy to handle. The sophisticated N.P.K. proportion prevents
the yellowing of the plants and provides a maximum fruit yield until
the end of the blossoming phase.
BUGS / PEST CONTROL Prevent
disease and pest problems or combat them when they unfortuanately
occur.
GROWING MEDIA Hydrokorrels
is clean, pH neutral, pH stable and is used in hydroponic and aeroponic
systems.
PH pH is the measurement
of the hydrogen ion concentration in a particular medium such as
water, soil, or nutrient solution. More simply, it refers to the
acidity or alkalinity of that medium. Keep it at 5.5-6.0 in hydroponics
systems.
PH CONTROL +/- pH + solutions
is specially prepared for use in hydroponics to raise pH value.pH
- solutions is specially prepared for use in hydroponics to down
pH value.
EC meter measures the electrical
conductivity of the water in hydroponics systems.Clean water has
a low EC. When you add nutrients and pH adjusters, the EC will go
up.
You can use this for measuring how many nutrients can put in the
water without causing overfertilization. Keep it at 1.0 –
2.2
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