Hydro 101: The Lazy Man’s Guide to Growing Pot
I have a confession: I’m a dumbass. And a tad bit lazy. It’s okay. I’ve made peace with it. Still, there are some things that even I can’t screw up. One of them is growing cannabis. See, with the help of my lil Cousin and some brilliant bastard at the local supply shop on 8 Mile and Lahser, I’ve developed what I like to call a fool-proof hydro system. Settle in while I outline exactly how did it.
Laying the Foundation
When it comes to cannabis cultivation, hydro is the only way to grow. For me, that is. I tried soil and failed miserably … every single time. First time out with hydro, I hit paydirt and a marvelous yield at that.
The secret to that success is based on a simple bucket system. I tried to emulate the elaborate drip system my Cousin told me about. Shit was tricked out with a centralized reservoir, dual air pumps, fittings for drill spots, C02 integration, and much more. Honestly, it was a lot. Mind-boggling complexity aside, I was up for the challenge. That’s until I went to gather all the supplies, and the dude at the store told me there was a much easier way to accomplish my goal. He proposed the simplified, dumbass-proof system I’m still using a whole decade later.
The Bucket
The foundation of the system is the bucket. Preferably a 5-gallon bucket. One bucket for each plant. And preferably black. Cause Black Buckets Matter!, Na, seriously, lighter colors help create ideal conditions for algae growth. And while not necessarily dangerous, unresolved algae growth can steal precious nutrients from your plants. For this reason, some experts suggest spray-painting orange or white buckets black or darker colors. I say skip that step and start with a black bucket. Easy peasy.
Bucket Basket
Next up, the bucket basket. Hence the name, these baskets are inserted in the basket for the purpose of supporting your grow medium. They come in a variety of sizes, but I’ve found the 6-inch wide lip buckets to be the best fit. Bucket baskets are essentially housing for the next item on our list …
Rockwool Cubes
What happens when a rock bangs a piece of wool? You get rockwool! No? Whatever. Your mother. Any way, rockwool is the growing medium I swear by for my system. These spongy cubes are unique in the sense that they both retain and drain water, which facilitates growth while preventing dreaded water log. Think of them as a soil alternative. I recommend the six-inch blocks. Perfect fit for your bucket baskets. Grab them in individual pieces or cheaper slabs that you can cut to fit yourself.
Air Pump
When I was a teen smoking the crappiest of the crappy, I thought hydro was actually grown in water … I mean like underfuckinwater. SMH. Of course you can’t just toss a seed in a cup of water and expect it to grow. A hydroponic system requires some very specific conditions, and proper airflow is one of them. Plants need to breathe, too. An air pump does the trick by providing oxygen through the water. I suggest a model that supports the number of plants you intend to grow. For instance, I have a six-line pump, which means I can run as many as six lines for six plants on that one pump. Sweet!
Air Stones
Air stones are perhaps best known for their use in aquariums. They are also essential to a hydro-based growing system. In simple terms, they distribute oxygen from the pump into the water, allowing the plant to breathe through the roots. Pretty straightforward stuff. I’ve used the teeny tiny stones that came included in my very first air pump, and they worked, but I prefer the middle-sized ones pictured in the link.
Air Tubes
You’ll need some tubing to connect your air stones to your air pump. You can buy this stuff in a roll and cut individual pieces to fit your needs.
Hydroton
Sure, it may sound like the newest and coolest prescription opiate, but hydroton is yet another critical component in most hydro setups. These little clay pebbles are essentially the top layer of your substrate as they lay atop the grow cube and regulate water drainage while providing support for the base of the plant. Plus, they’re cheap and reusable.
Lighting
If you think you’re gonna grow some awesome pot with the 60-watt light bulb in your grandma’s lamp, you’re in for a hard reality check. I mean, who does that? Definitely not me (I swear!). Cannabis thrives best under the sunlight, so the more you can replicate those magnificent rays, the better your precious pot plants will do.
When it comes to lighting, you have a range of options: LED, MH, and HPS to name a few. I chose the latter. High pressure sodium lights are immensely powerful — and hot AF! A single bulb can provide enough coverage for roughly four to six plants depending on wattage.
My lighting system is made up of three key components:
- Bulb: The power of your bulb will have a major impact on the size of your plants and the harvest they yield. While you may be tempted to reach for the sky, the most powerful light isn’t always the best option. I’ve seen firsthand how these uber-potent lights can quickly leave you dealing with a small jungle. Before you know it, your plants are so huge you can barely keep them under control. If you’re just starting out, a 400-watt HPS bulb should be just right for one or two healthy plants.
- Ballast: A ballast allows you to run those super powerful high-wattage lights from a conventional wall outlet. You’ll want one that matches the exact specifications of your bulb.
- Hood: The hood, or reflector, plays a small, but key role by reflecting light from the bulb and distributing it more efficiently to the plants. They also come in a variety of styles. You’ve got your winged hoods, umbrella hoods, and air-cooled hoods, which come in handy by lowering the amount of heat radiating off those hot ass bulbs. So far I’ve had great success with both the winged and umbrella varieties, which I often deploy simultaneously on each side of the room.
With a little research, you can find your bulb, ballast, and hood in one affordable package.
Cool is a Fan
As we go through this guide, you’ll find me committing the crime of downplaying the importance of aspects the community at large feel are paramount to growing marijuana. This is partly because I’ve learned what works through trial and error. And partly because I’m a habitual short-cut taker. I’ll discuss this in more detail later, but the fan is one of those aspects. A fan is no doubt important, and I wouldn’t recommend going without one as it helps keep your plants cool and breathing fresh air. Most indoor systems use an inline fan for air circulation, and an oscillating fan for cooling.
Seed and Plant Essentials
We’ve mapped out the foundation. We’ve talked about grow light dynamics and air circulation. Now we’ll go over some of the actual plant essentials. It all starts at the seed. If you’re serious about growing really good weed, you need to ditch the idea of using those seeds you’ve been saving from street bags. FRFR. Okay, it might work, but maybe not. Or it might work, but a couple months later, you find that you’ve birthed a dude — a male plant that won’t yield a single solitary bud.
I exclusively use feminized seeds. I’m not going to dig into all the sciencey stuff, but these seeds are designed to yield only female plants. And while not every seed is guaranteed to germinate, the success rate is very high. In fact, I’ve never, and The Count means NEVER, had a male plant in my garden. That’s why I only fuck with the Seedsman, a veteran vendor located in the Netherlands. No affiliation. It’s just I’ve been using these guys from day one for every one of my projects and they’ve never let me down.
Now if you want to make this whole process even easier, consider giving auto-flower seeds a try. As the name implies, these seeds produce plants that automatically flower at a certain point — whether you adjust the lighting cycle or nute schedule — they’re gonna do their thing regardless.
Speaking of nutrients, it’s another one of those complex ordeals that I think falls in between critical and optional. Having a good fertilizer is vital in a hydro system, and more optional when using soil with nutes already baked into the mix. Of course there are TONS of options when it comes to nutrient brands. I’ve tried a few, but always come back to General Hydroponics, specifically their A/B solution. Basically it’s all the nutrition your plants need to thrive in two simple products.
Break Time
That’s it for part one. In part two, we’ll dive into setting this stuff up and the simple steps you need to take in order to care for the precious. Til then, peace!!!
