General Hydroponics RainForest 36 - Manual (Page 3)

PLACEMENT:
Light & Temperature
Abundant light, proper temperature and adequate
ventilation are crucial to the fast growth, healthy
plants and higher yields made possible with your
RainForest Model 36. Remember that, while your
system provides plants with proper nutrition and
water, plants need adequate light to flourish.
Seedlings and cuttings generally develop faster
when the nutrient is warm (70-75° F). Keep the
RainForest in a warm room or place the reservoir
on a small electric heating pad. The RainForest
should be placed in bright, indirect sunlight or
directly under color-corrected or sunlight-simulat-
ing fluorescent lamps. If you are using artificial
lighting, set the light timer to simulate a normal
day/night cycle. Note: Young seedlings are deli-
cate: Avoid direct sunlight or high-intensity artifi-
cial light.
OPERATION
If you are using a timer for the RainForest motor,
connect and set the timer and plug in the spray
pump. For sprouting seeds, it is preferable (but
not required) to run the RainForest motor one
hour ON/one hour OFF. For starting cuttings, the
motor should be ON 24 hours per day.
Once roots extend into the nutrient solution, you
can use the timer to run the motor intermittently—
either one hour ON/one hour OFF, or ON during
the day and OFF at night. If the motor is OFF dur-
ing darkness, set it to turn ON for one hour
halfway through the night.
Assembling your RainForest
Connect air line tube to pump as shown.
Air line
Place pump assembly inside reservoir. The pump
output should point straight up so that the spray
hits the spray-diffuser under the center of the
reservoir cover.
Snap the reservoir cover onto reservoir. Guide
pump electrical cord and air line tube into the slit
in the lid. Slide the slit grommet around the air line
tube and electrical cord.
slit grommet
Press the slit grommet into the hole in the lid. The
air line tube and electrical cord should now be
securely locked in place. The airline tube must be
above the lid in order to properly aerate the
nutrient solution.
NUTRIENTS
For seedlings and new cuttings, we recommend
filling the reservoir with purified or distilled water
and adding no nutrient until roots begin to devel-
op. When roots appear, use very mild nutrient
solution. As the root system grows larger,
increase nutrient strength cautiously. For vigor-
ously growing plants with fully developed root sys-
tems, use a normal strength nutrient solution of
1,000 ppm with a pH of 5.8 to 6.5. Avoid strong or
aggressive nutrient solutions. Excessive nutrient
can do more harm than good!
As plants consume water, the water level in the
reservoir will drop. Top off the system with pure
water or very mild nutrient on a regular basis to
maintain the level between the upper and lower
marks on the drain/level tube.
Completely drain exhausted nutrient solution and
refill with fresh nutrient every two weeks. If nutri-
ent consumption exceeds 1/2 gallon per day,
drain and replace solution weekly.
Water quality can profoundly affect plant growth. If
your tap water is “hard,” use distilled or purified
water for mixing nutrient solution. Avoid mineral or
“spring” water; the minerals in this water can dam-
age your nutrient solution.
CLEANING
From time to time, clear nutrient deposits and
bits of plant matter from the pump intake filter.
Between crops, drain and dismantle the
RainForest system. Disinfect the reservoir,
drain/level tube, cups, lids, spray pump assembly
and GROROX with a dilute chlorine bleach solu-
tion (1/2 cup bleach per gallon of water). Rinse
well and reassemble.