Does using pH up/down affect your plants?

In a nutshell, yes.  pH up and down are acid/alkalie.  Both have to be used to calibrate pH typically to 6.0. 

Tap water is pH 7/8 and must be adjusted when mixed with nutrient.  Fortunately most nutrient mixes down and gives pH 6.0 once ready.

The argument for NFT systems can been seen further, because the pH stays solid 6.0 mostly.

WIthin flo-gros, the pebbles make the pH run away to 8.0 or 9.0.  So daily adjustment is required until the pebbles have been suitable used for a while and the ph variance reduces.

pH is critical, maybe not so much as eC strength but your plant will underperform if pH is all wrong.

EC strength for hydroponics?

An EC meter is required to measure the strength of nutrient.  You need one, plain and simple.  Mixing it up as it says on the side of the container may end in waste and you need to monitor pH throughout the growth cycle also.

It’s important to calibrate your ec meter (if it requires calibration).  Once that’s done you’re ready to rumble.

I use a weak nutrient such as Formulex.  It’s gentle on baby plants.

 For seedlings or cuttings, EC 6.

Once they reach 10″ I usually step it up to EC10.

Now you’re ready to move to a hydro system. 

I usually use EC10 also gradually increasing it to EC15 as the plant grows.  I also change to a grow formula for the first 2 weeks as the plant establishes into the hydroponic system.  Once established and the flowering cycle starts, I change the solution to Bloom formula and slowly increase to EC15.

Some people do EC20.  It’s up to you, it gives better growth but it can be hard to remove the nutrient afterwards during flush process.  It’s also running the gauntlet with overfertilising.

Finally I run flush for 3-4 weeks.  Some people do 7-10 days but for best taste 3-4 weeks works better.

Air in versus air out of your grow room

Air in versus air out….probably go for more air OUT than in if your climate is humid/damp.

If you live in a dry climate, AIR IN is probably more important.

Extraction of air lowers humidity and a 50% humidity or rH is the recipe for indoor growing success.

Too wet or humid, the plants will sweat – you’ll see spots of water on them.  In that case increase air extraction or use a humidifier.  Your flowers may also go mouldy so too much humidity is definitely a bad thing.  It is not something too bad during vegetation stages of growth and tolerable.  Make sure you’re not using too much plastic sheeting as this will increase humidity.

Too dry, that is easy to fix.  Just put buckets of water in the room and spray the plants with some water a couple of times a day.

As a rule I use 250m3 extraction and a 100m3 intake.  The reason for more extraction is as above, too dry is OK and easy to fix, too wet very bad and harder to fix.  And it removes any bad smells too using a carbon filter on your 240m3.

Distance from the light – so important

Distance your plants are from the light is critical.

With sodium bulbs, they can stress your plants very easily.

Start with fluorescent about 40″ from your cuttings or seedlings.

Once your plants are about 12″ high, they can take the strength of a 250W light.

However, NOT directly shinining onto them.

Instead position your light in the centre, and move your baby plants to the far corner.  Distance from bulb to floor should be 4 feet.

 Once they have grown to around 18-24″ and are looking thick in the stems, you can then move underneath the light.  Still make sure there is 3 feet of distance.  If the plants stretch you know they need to go closer to the light.

If you don’t follow these rules, you stunt your plant growth with stress and it shows up later down the line.

Black and white sheeting or mylar

 

The big debate – do I use mylar sheeting as above or plain B&W sheeting?

Although on paper, mylar is more reflective, B&W is also reflective to a degree.

I would anticipate 10-15% increase in illums with mylar.

But with this you have to weigh up some factors :

- cost of mylar versus B&W sheeting or just plain white walls

- mylar will give you a headache if you’re in the grow room too long

- do I really care about the lower flowers getting much light?

Personally, I think B&W sheeting is the most effective.  You best investment is maintaining your hydroponics system impeccably and changing your bulbs regular.

Why this blog?

 

I keep hearing and learning stuff about indoor growing and hydroponics…but never catalogue it or write it down.

So I thought I’d save some trees and put online on a blog so I can read it, and so can everyone else – information sharing!  I’m such a hippy.

So in a nutshell, why indoor garden?

Well, you can control the environment – which means you can grow plants out of season.

You can also use hydroponics to get monster sized strawberries and the likes.

And by keeping it all indoors with hydroponics, it’s insect free.  No pesticides required.