GROW ROOM 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 works 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 perfect 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 are 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 rooms 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 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 to 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 are clean, pH neutral, pH stable and are 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 are specially prepared for use in hydroponics to raise pH value.pH - solutions are 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 be put in the water without causing overfertilization. Keep it at 1.0 – 2.2 |