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Growing marijuana hydroponically involves lots of monitoring and checks to control lighting, irrigation cycles, and heating/cooling devices. Let’s face it, you’re busy and would love to have some automation of the marijuana growth process! For the light, use grounded timers like the Intermatic TN311C 120 Volt Heavy Duty Grounded Timer, rated at 15apms, to control the length of day time during the day. Marijuana is day neutral and so it stays vegetative when exposed to light and is triggered to flower when light supply falls to 12 hours or less. A programmable timers can be used to set the day and night lengths specifically for your cannabis.
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Simple timers can be used to control irrigation, an an example in an ebb and flow system. The timer is set to flood the plants with nutrient-rich water for 15 minutes, 3-4 times a day during the vegetative growth. Thermostats can be used in the control of the temperature and humidity, and float valves like the Kerick Valve MA052 PVC Mini Float Valve can be installed to automatically top off the reservoirs and with water/nutrients when you are not available. Although it is better to monitor your grow yourself, timers and controllers help make the job easier.
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If you plan on growing commercially, more advanced controllers may need to be installed to compensate for larger fluctuations in light levels, temperature and other variables. Some computer controls regularly monitor temperature, accumulated light levels, humidity, wind speed and direction, even the EC and pH of the nutrient solution. With computerized feedback controls, the entire hydroponic grow house can be automated for optimum quality and yield.
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If all this seems a bit daunting, and you made it through the entire series, you can still fall back on some kits that can make growing a bit easier. I always feel it’s best to get started slowly, then build on your knowledge for rounds two and three. Whether you ue a kit or build your own, you will definitively benefit from automation of the marijuana growth process
We hope you enjoyed our series on Growing with Hydroponics. Your feed back and suggestions are always welcomed and encouraged, so please drop us a line!
Authored By Adam.