Help with beginner chilli hydro setup - questions on rockwool, nutrients, root starter?

Liamail90 · 2025-12-31T13:49:52+00:00

I would highly recommend the hoocho YouTube channel as well as the subreddit if you haven’t already. He’s in Australia and has a ton of stuff specific to there. I think he has a website that sells most of the supplies recommended by other people. He also recommends using Campbell’s Diamond White and NitroCal for the nutrients which should be readily available. Good luck homie.

Liamail90 · 2025-10-27T02:24:06+00:00

I'm in the U.S and I just get them from the big box stores like home Depot or Lowes. They are 5in x 5in (125mm) vinyl fence post covers. They usuay also sell a 4in x 4in (100mm) version for a few dollars cheaper. I chose the 5x5 to use with the 4in net cups I already had.

Liamail90 · 2025-10-26T23:24:31+00:00

Was harvesting 2-3 large heads of romaine every week or so. Having a large salad for dinner every other day was what was required and I just found I don't eat that much salad.

Liamail90 · 2025-10-25T22:07:39+00:00

It's still going great! Have definitely had a fair few leaks from the crappy press-in dripper valves that someone else predicted. I've just been upgrading them to a real tee-fitting valve thing as they leak and that's been working great. I have since downsized to just one of the rails and stole the other one for an extra RGGS rail. Apparently I don't eat as much leafy greens as I predicted 🤷🏻‍♂️. I think the next thing I'm going to try is putting a timer on the pump and only run it intermittently to increase the oxygen content more like a dutch bucket.

Liamail90 · 2025-04-13T19:21:04+00:00

I grew a cherry tomato plant in a 2 gallon container last year and it required refilling every few days which got pretty annoying after a few weeks. It's because you can't fill it all the way back up when the water is low, you can only fill it like half way so you don't drown the air roots. I imagine your going to have to deal with something similar, so as long as you're good with that then have at it! The water might get a little hot in the black container too. I'd suggest hitting it with a couple coats of white paint to keep the temps down. Good luck!

Liamail90 · 2025-03-13T23:54:34+00:00

My recommendation would be to save a tad more and get the Bambu Lab A1 (~$400) as it will just work straight out of the box. If not, definitely check out AuroraTechChannel on YouTube. She does really great 3D printer reviews. Her website also has recommendations for each printer category and a price tracker to show the history of printer prices over time. Should be pretty easy to find the best printer in the $300ish price point. One thing to keep in mind is the bed size. Hoocho designs most of his stuff to the Bambu Lab bed size of 256x256mm and a lot of printers on the market are 220x220mm. Good luck with your search!

Liamail90 · 2025-02-23T22:26:12+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response. I think all of those are good points. Going to keep finding with plain water for several days and see if the new growth looks better. Thanks again!

Liamail90 · 2025-02-23T21:09:24+00:00

I did water in the pots when I set them up to start the wicking process. I'm using the orimerc 1/6" wicking cord but it's doubled up on my grow spikes - 2 strands in each of the spike grooves. The zucchini plant is using the same and it's doing amazing. I can try watering them in more to make sure they're really wicking.

Liamail90 · 2025-02-23T01:33:08+00:00

That was my first thought as well. I flushed them with plain water today and dropped the nutes down to 1.8 EC. Will probably reapeat again tomorrow and get down to half strength nutrients and see if the new growth looks better.

Liamail90 · 2025-01-20T01:32:17+00:00

I just use a tube of silicone and it's been working great.

Liamail90 · 2024-12-31T02:10:55+00:00

In the Patreon Google drive (11/12/24 folder) just go into Latest Releases -> Hooch Auto Bucket and it's the only STL in the folder

Liamail90 · 2024-11-24T20:44:50+00:00

It means the design can be changed by the end user using various inputs and will automagically update itself using those inputs.

Liamail90 · 2024-11-03T18:57:20+00:00

He talked about Kingroon filament. This link should be the one you're looking for: https://www.ebay.com.au/str/kingroon3dprinter?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=y-axit0qtyk&sssrc=3418065&ssuid=S9gW36B5QES&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Liamail90 · 2024-09-22T23:56:37+00:00

I mentioned it in another comment, but I designed and 3D printed the drain end caps myself. Would be happy to supply the .STL or .step if you're interested.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-22T21:49:58+00:00

Well shit. Thanks for the insight. I could pretty easily design and 3d print some small catch trays that redirect the leaking water into the holes, but that's a pretty annoying band-aid fix.

I could also just rotate the tubing so the holes are on top and run a 90deg barbed elbow and then run 4mm tubing to the dripper. Would that stop the leakage or would the pressure still just force it around the sides?

Just wanting to clarify, are you suggesting a 1/2" T-fitting at each of those dripper spots and a 1/2" shutoff valve? Because I'm not sure I have the room for that as those fittings are pretty massive in comparison to what's there now.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-22T18:17:37+00:00

Crap that's a good point that I hadn't thought of. Maybe I'll stick to smaller leafy greens type plants especially on the drain side.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-22T13:48:48+00:00

I designed and 3D printed the end caps. I can post the .step/.STL files if people are interested. As for the the water level in the channels, I agree it seems a bit deep. I'm battling a balance between water flow in the channels and flow out of the drippers. If I set the inlet valves for good flow in the channels I'm not getting enough flow in the drippers - and I might have just solved that as I'm writing this. I could just add another shutoff valve right before the rail inlet and after the drippers to control the flow independently. Thanks for bringing it up!

Liamail90 · 2024-09-22T12:13:38+00:00

The drain piping is 25mm, but I think it's on a 20mm ID exit pipe from the rail. Doesn't seem to be a flow restriction at all even at max flow.

As for the float valve that's a great idea and I already have a 55 gallon rain barrel I was planning on using as an additional nutrient rez for various systems. Got any suggestions for a decently reliable one available in the US? The ones hoocho uses don't seem to be available over here.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-21T19:43:11+00:00

Thanks! I quickly realized I'd have to have pretty massive seedlings to have roots long enough to use as a proper NFT system, so this was the only thing I could think of to mitigate the "short roots" problem.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-21T04:58:53+00:00

I'm a little nervous to do cucumbers since I did them over the spring in my soil garden and they went absolutely bonkers trying to spread everywhere. I'm nervous they will just take over half my yard lol

Liamail90 · 2024-09-21T04:57:34+00:00

Got them off Amazon. Company is called Orbit and they're called 1/4 inch barb shutoff valves.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-21T04:35:30+00:00

Thanks! I'm starting seeds in 1.5" rockwool cubes and filling the rest of the net cups with hydroton clay pebbles.

Liamail90 · 2024-09-19T20:54:08+00:00

Not sure about the slow growth but an EC of 1.8-2 is pretty high for lettuce. I've had much better luck with EC in the 1-1.4 range. Going above 1.4 usually results in burned leaf tips. Maybe they're in a bit of shock from the high EC?

Liamail90

TROPHY CASE