Here’s a video #1 of a series that is long overdue (be sure to have sound on), the good folks over at House & Garden nutrients sent us some nutrients for a hydroponic “test grow“.

The reason we wanted to try House & Garden nutrients is because more than one experienced grower friend (whom we trust and respect) rave about them, telling us they are easy to use, less expensive than most on the market today and (VERY important) they have outstanding results!

So let the grow begin!

One of the things you may notice right away in the video are the paper plates

We have moved from clay pellets to the grodan mini cubes for our hydroponoc setup because 1) they are less expesnive than clay pellets, 2) easier and less expensive to dispose of and 3) provide a better home for the plants roots. So if you are growing hydrponically you might want to consider giving the grodan mini cubes a try.

Back to the paper plates. The reason we are using paper plates is because of an issue we did not have with clay pellets but did the first time we used the grodan mini cubes which was a small amount of algae. By using the paper plates to cover the cubes that negated the algae issue and had the added benefit of kicking some of the light back up into the plants.

A couple words about the paper plates, use plain undyed heavy duty paper plates (they are pennies per plate) but be sure to buy them big enough so that it will sit on top of the rim of the bucket (usually 10.5″) and not down inside that because that would bring them in direct contact with your hydroponic solution subjecting them to getting wet and possibly molding.

We use a 4.5″ keyhole saw to drill the center hole in them and that’s it!

Lastly, you’ll see that the plants are in a pouches, that’s because we pull the clones straight from our production line for flower in our grow rooms and we grow our clones in degradable bags filled with coco and perlite so regardless of how a person grows (dirt, coco, hydro) they are good to go planting them as is with no need to debag them, disturbing/breaking the roots and causing them to lag for a week or two while they regrow/regroup. Here is a picture of just how easy the roots pass through the pouch.

Be sure to come back next week and see video #2 in the series and in the meantime take a look over at the House & Garden website and their Facebook page, say hello and let them know we sent you over.

Stay warm and see you next week!