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Types Of Hydroponic Systems For Cannabis

ByClare Louise

Dec 23, 2021

If growing cannabis is legal where you live, you might have considered starting your own business and offering various products made of this plant. In case you’ve decided against looking for a supplier and want to grow your own, you want to learn as much as possible about the process before you begin. From purchasing quality seeds to finding the right facilities, there are a lot of aspects you have to keep in mind. Something else you cannot overlook is adopting the right growing system. While you can stick to traditional methods, using hydroponics has been shown to require a shorter grow time and produce higher yields. Here are a few ways how you can grow cannabis in hydroponic systems.

Ebb and flow

The ebb and flow hydroponic system is usually reserved for experts in the field but you can give it a try as well. For this, you will need a tray, a reservoir, and two tubes that will connect them. You will place the plants on the tray and put it over the container which will be filled with water and nutrients. This approach entails flooding the tray where the plants are a few times a day for a couple of seconds and then draining the water back into the reservoir. How many times you will water depends on the grow room conditions as well as the climate you live in.

Deep water culture

Deep water culture is a widely used system among cannabis growers. Here, your plants will be in a container and suspended over a tank of water. The reservoir should be filled with water and all the necessary nutrients while you also need to add an air pump to make sure there is plenty of oxygen in the water. This setup means that the roots will naturally gravitate toward the water source and help your plant grow. As too much water and humidity can lead to rot, you need to keep an eye on your plants to be able to act on time.

Drip system

Another popular cannabis hydroponic system you can opt for is a drip system. Its principle is quite straightforward – instead of watering and feeding your plants from below, you will be using a pump or gravity system that will provide them with nutrients from above. You can use a large container from which the water will be delivered to each plant. If you implement a circulating drip system, you can reuse the water that runs back into the large reservoir through the gutters. This approach provides aeration while individual drip systems also reduce the risk of mold and pests.

Nutrient film technique

The nutrient film technique (NFT) will provide your plants with a balance of watering and aeration. The planting bed will be set up at a slight angle so that the water runs down when released on the top of it. The plants will then come into contact with water and nutrients before the water goes back down into the tank. An airstone in the reservoir will oxygenate the water and stir the nutrient solution. Relying on NFT means that you can easily check the roots for rot while you will also make efficient use of water and nutrients. It’s often not recommended for beginner cannabis cultivators as long roots can easily clog the system.

Wick system

Although there are many other hydroponics systems out there that might be more efficient, you should also consider the wick system as it’s great if you’re working with a smaller budget. For starters, you will not need a pump that will deliver the water and nutrients to the plants. How this system works is that you will have a planter bed filled with water-absorbent mediums, like coco coir and perlite, and a tank with water and nutrients below it but completely separate. You will also need wicks or nylon rope that will run from the reservoir to the root zone and thus provide the plants with the nutrient solution through capillary action. However, keep in mind that this system can limit the amount of water that plants get and they might grow slowly.

If you’ve decided to start your own cannabis manufacturing business, you certainly need to try a few methods of growing to see which one works best for you and produces the highest yields. Keep the above-listed in mind when looking for the right solution.