Hydroponic Growers Group!

[farmerjim]

Check out the new setup... all for less than $100! Just in time for 1 of my 2 dark harvest tents! #diyrdwc

[farmerjim]

Thanks all! I'll put together a writeup as part of my dark harvest thread and will link to it here. I may be building another for someone soon so can take some short videos on assembly.will likely post to instagram but will link that here also 👍

[farmerjim]

Just listed out the required materials and it was not actually less than $100....

it was $100.12

[Trichomefarmer88]

Nice thanks man

[IGH]

using similar reservoirs to Farmer Jim, not as fancy but functional enough. hard to see the whole thing but i cant find pics without all those pesky leaves in the way.
did 2 grows dwc, then built these 2 recirculators. makes things much more convenient and easier to keep even and stable than multiple individual reservoirs.

[farmerjim]

you guys (and gal) will probably like this dudes setup... i want my grow space to end up something like this...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmrHkLMFZ1t/

[IGH]

oh wow thats hot! 4k watts of light is a LOT of flowers!

[alltatup]

Yes, it's mighty bushy!! Will need good air circulation.

[IGH]

DankwingDuck
you mean rdwc with a plant per bucket, or individual self contained system buckets?
i ask because ive been thinking that using (4) 7 gal buckets instead of 2 big reservoirs might make it even more handy.

[DankwingDuck]

Noted . And hello Obi-Wan haven’t heard from you in awhile I hope all is good .

[Obi-Wan]

DankwingDuck Doing very well thank you... been busy with work and my grows, not much time for posting. I must say you’ve graduated from a padwan to a Jedi master in a short time!!! Nothing but respect ✊

[DankwingDuck]

Ty my brother . I’m a fast learner . And I had some great teachers.

[IGH]

farmerjim
yeah, uniseals. the sealant is just silver colored industrial silicone i grabbed from the shop, lol.
uniseal says no sealant required, but i would never suggest NOT using it, lol.

[farmerjim]

I hear ya. Haven't figured out how to neatly apply yet lol I'm using marine epoxy right now whichseems logical

[IGH]

lets get nerdy. thats funny farmerjim .

ok. each system is powered with a 635 gph water pump and a 1/4h chiller.
both systems share a 3800 gph air pump with 3 large cylinder stones each reservoir.

this rdwc system came along with an entire system upgrade early this summer. after 3 grows i realized how risky hydro can be, and how expensive and high maintenance! so i figured my previous successes and the opportunity to be provider for a couple other medical patients justified the expense of setting things up for better control and less risk. oh yeah, and significantly higher yields!

Gave the 5×5 tent setup to my wife, she is in week 1 veg of her first grow! (whoohoo! git em girl!) and put up an 8×8 tent in its place.
this garden is sealed. slammed a 14kbtu dual duct a/c in there with an 80qt dehumidifier. 16 in hurricane oscillator fan, and a simple co2 system that comes on n off with the lights.
2 xxl air cooled hoods on a pass thru with 1000w dimmable to 600w ballasts.

so im running a 4×8 growspace split to (2) 4×4 grows.

think thats all the nerdy system equipment info.

[IGH]

im still not good at this (hydro) enough yet to count on success, and im helping others now too who cant grow or afford the dispensaries.
havent lost a harvest yet, but roots have been an issue before, and i have no backup for the air pump when the power goes out.
this will only be my 3rd run in hydro, and im sure it will be less risky with more experience, lol.

[alltatup]

IGH I can't remember if I already wrote this: I couldn't do hydro without my chillers. I didn't want to put a window ac unit in the grow room, and I wasn't willing to lower the thermostat to 68-69 degrees for the whole house.

[IGH]

oh yeah, i was there when u got the first one! im using them now too and no issues this grow!

[IGH]

DankwingDuck
just saw ur holy rootball and saw ur style of grow. hell yeah, the way you roll the monster bush, individual systems all the way!!!
im middle ground vegging 6 to 8 weeks. gets em thick and mature enough for quality bud formation, and leaves me in a position to get a relatively efficient monthly harvest rotation when i get to that point.
god i do love the XL plants tho. seem to get much larger, more dense buds and higher overall quality.

this thread is kinda fun!

[DankwingDuck]

I’m on a monthly harvest . Everything else is coco right now . I bought the grow from a friend who was struggling to grow and running out of money and became 70/30 partners with him . So I’m working on converting everything to hydro . But it is currently a monthly harvest . He was getting about 1/8 - 1/4 pond a plant . The current coco in flower is projected ed to be double that . And only going to get better . I also don’t use a chiller . As you can see my roots are doing good without it .

[IGH]

yes, those roots are gorgeous!

[Cannabliss]

DankwingDuck

I use individual buckets . I like the rdwc ,but if something goes wrong in one bucket it goes wrong in them all . If one gets root rot It spreads to them all . If one plant is growing slower then the others then you have to remove it and make it its own bucket system or just let it grow with the bigger ones and possibly lose weight .

My point is the individual buckets allow you to treat each plant as an individual.

Don’t get me wrong I like rdwc . Just all those things I listed above keep me from hooking it all together . I have everything I need to do it even . But I keep making excuses not too .

I just feel like I can get the most out of each plant if I am able to treat each as an individual instead Trapping them all into a cycle together .

Same here. I think RDWC is great, always been fascinated by it, but for my own personal growing needs and demands, individual DWC buckets seem more convenient and easier to work with. Last year, for example, I gave this RDWC a shot and built myself a little diy 2 bucket RDWC system using another 5-gallon bucket as the main reservoir and that black 3/4" hose to connect them all and a submersible pump, using the inline feature. It worked very well, but once I put it together in the grow room and started to add the rest of my grow equipment, things began to get a bit crowded in there. I kept tripping over the hoses haha. I ended up just removing it altogether and replacing it with 2 individual buckets. Perhaps the way I had the system set up may have contributed to my tripping and hitting my head...many times lol. Still, they seem to work very well for others and I enjoy looking at people' diy projects like the ones from farmerjim and IGH above. Lots of great ideas I'm picking up from this thread.

[IGH]

oh man i hear that!
was in a hurry to set back up and didnt think my layout through far enough ha!
it will be much easier to navigate on the next run for sure!

[Cannabliss]

IGH Yea that was my mistake lol. I had all 3 buckets in a sort of triangle formation. Later I realized the main reservoir would've been best in the corner somewhere. The 3/4" hoses weren't very well-places either. So many diy mistakes, but I learned from every single one of them and I had a LOT of fun building it.

[farmerjim]

Farmerjims $100 (and 12 cents) 3-chamber diyrdwc


Hello hydro friends! Without further ado, here's my "blueprint" on my latest diyrdwc setup. I will be putting together a more formal writeup in my Dark Harvest thread when I get some time to catch that thread up. Until then... enjoy!

There are 3 tabs in the embedded file. Plan, Prep, and Assemble. Be sure to look at all 3...

There are hyperlinks to where you can buy each item which is where I got the cost numbers. If you see numbers different from what is listed in the cost column then it means the price changed.

(let me know if you do not see the embedded information - you may get a google sign in page)

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

nice going FJ! :-)

can see the embedded tabs without needing to sign in.

what's Ggl Analytics telling you on where traffic is coming from / page views ? ;-)

[farmerjim]

Lol, 12 total views so far for that link above with an avg time on page of 2:06 ;o)

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

Hi All,

I was wondering, are plants grown in RDWC systems also subject to the same 'root bound' effect as with soil; small container = small plant -> root bound?

Reason for asking:
I've got a 4 bucket system from Plant!t, and i've seen the kinds of buckets that farmerjim has in his setup (https://www.diygrowdata.com/farmerjims-joint).

I've got this idea in my head that with the totes FJ uses, plants's roots can grow all they want and not be as space contrained, or growth limited as with the system I use.
(10 Gal / 35.5L per tote vs 4 Gal / 15L per bucket).

Is this idea wrong?
What are your thoughts and experiences?
What are your observations?

Thanks

[DankwingDuck]

You can’t clone an auto so it had to come from seed

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

So farmerjim , If i'm understanding you correctly, you would seem to agree with the idea.
In hydro or DWC systems plants can also be 'growth limited' by the working water volume of the tote.

smaller tote, roots can't grow as big due to space constraints, smaller plant... growth limited by volume roots can develop in.
big tote, roots can really spread out in the larger space, bigger plant... potential for plant to overtake the grow space if left untrained

with the assumption that lighting conditions are equal.

Does anyone have any experience with growing in a smallish RDWC system and top-fed DIY 10-13 Gal totes in the same lighting conditions, possibly over multiple grows?

[Baphomatt]

DankwingDuck - Good catch, thanks! Senior moment. (I guess technically you *could* clone an auto, but you'd probably have a 6" tall stem with one node and a 3" flower!)

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Can anybody point me to a write up/discussion/thread about air pumps for DWC?

I know more air/bubbles is better

I can find the GH dual diaphragm pump - it's only rated for 320 GPH (little over 20 L / min). Manufacturer suggests it can run 8 of their 'waterfarm' sites - I just haven't found what the stones in those sites are, yet.

I have an ecoplus GL56728450 (793 GPH)
I tried to run 4 x 4" discs - but it wasn't quite enough and had to supplement with another pump

I am prepping a new space to accomadate 10+ sites. So I need a new pump. I would love to get a pump to cover 10 sites (to keep what I have for supplementing/experimenting)

[Obi-Wan]

For 10 buckets I would recommend this at a minimum.


EcoPlus Commercial Air 7 - 200 Watt Single Outlet 3804 GPH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003FUOB4S..._KlXIBb2JJTZC1

[IGH]

go big. i use a 3800 gph to run (4) 20 gal reservoirs, 3 large cylinder stones each raises water level nearly 2 inches. its enough to run a 10 site system of 7 gal buckets no problem.
big pumps get hot tho so have at least 10 ft of line to your manifold or you will be blowing HOT air into your res!!

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Thank you both
Obi-Wan and IGH

Much appreciated!!

[IGH]

My fellow bucketheads and builders!

been doing tons of research and pondering remedies for my cluster F of a tent arrangement. this thread has been a good help hearing what others try and likes n dont likes and why.
ive decided on another major overhaul. major.

i ordered zippers, and the entire wall on the right side will be able to open.
site space will be moved from center to the right side half of the tent.
equipment on left wall stays in place.

im also building a new system. i want a racecar. hydro is expensive to run, so efficiency is important. up to this point ive been filling 5x5 with 4 plants and 8-10 week veg, and 8 plants at 6-7 week veg.
the plan is to build a 12 site system that will accomodate a 4x6 canopy space that will fill n flip in 4 weeks, and still maintain my harvest weights. (4×4=1lb+, 5×5=1.5lbs+).

individual square bucket sites...no more tubs and round buckets. everything will fit within the growspace out of the way, and i will have WIDE open access from both sides to do my work.

the 2 grows presently in the tent went 12-12 this past weekend, so i have plenty of time to get it all together and ready to install as soon as those come down.

thats the plan. will update with pics n progress.

[SinsemillaScientist]

I do believe ive found a product that knocks out root rot and its various counterparts. And it only cost me 5 bucks! I also run sevral large aquariums and when algae breaks out i use algaefix its doesnt alter ph, its safe for plants and animals and it knocks out alage in a day! Good for in a pinch without sm90!

[alltatup]

Scientist, you might want to re-think that: there's dangerous stuff in your product: http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...ient-LC50-data

[SinsemillaScientist]

It's not a perfect fix, but i use a 1/8 dose on my plants and 1/2 dose in aquariums, it will knock out any beneficial bacteria as well sadly. But its gentle enough that my guppies or aquatic sword plant arent affected. Pictures to come afterall scientists experiment right?

[Farmall]

So this is my 3rd post of beginner questions and I am thinking about going with a full hydroponic system when the time comes. I had asked this question elsewhere in the forum but since all of you are hydro guys, the answer might be right in front of me. I saw what appears to be a recirculating system that top feeds the buckets for 15 minutes every hour and drains into a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone under the net pot. An overflow strainer is mounted to retain about 3 gallons in the bucket and the rest of the solution is returned to a 17 gallon reservoir with air stones and a water pump. 24/7 on the air.

my question is... is this how a system like this will operate throughout the entire grow period? I am aware of solution changes and maintenance over the course of time but I have read top feed is good to start but then I’d would question how do the plants continue to be fed fresh nutrients if the top feed of solution is discontinued?

Also, what can be done to clear up something called Botrytis... apparently from excessive rain or dampness ( sorry that it’s not a hydro question)

[DankwingDuck]

Once the roots grow down into the bucket they are submerged in the water . The top feed ring is for the seedling prior to the roots growing out on the net pot and into the bucket below.

[FlyingDutchPaddy]

Hi Farmall,

What I noticed with top fed watering is that the plant will grow a dense root system in the container the plant is held in, spread out beyond the container and the roots that find the water below will continue developing into a big "root ball".

if you were to discontinue the top fed water and feed the bucket itself, the roots in the water will continue to soak up the nutrients in the water.
I don't know what happens to the roots in the container if they will dry out, but theres nothing wrong with continuing the top feed of water throughout the grow.

[Farmall]

Thanks DankwingDuck...I seem to be missing something.... is it not necessary to refresh the nutrient solution by filling and draining from the reservoir Tank then a week or so later change the entire solution and keep the process going? I seem to be not understanding : once the roots are established the same old air stone water just gets refreshed weekly or so?..... lost for sure

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Have a look here. I pretty much followed the guide

Http://www.growweedeasy.com/high-yield-bubbleponics-technique

Yes - you need to refresh your reservoir (drain and refill) every week to ten days, all the way through the grow.

Once the roots get into the aerated nutrient solution, you take the top feed off - they get everything they need from below

[Baphomatt]

Any of you hydro folks have any experience with O2 emitters?

[Baphomatt]

O2. They replace air pumps/stones.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjPcrCwgGIoO2.

[alltatup]

Baphomatt I just looked this product up: it looks intriguing, and I'll bet it works way better than air stones. I'ma have to save up for one...

[LurkingInTheGrass]

I can't remember where, right off, but I read about a guy who found a medical O2 pump - and was using it, with great success

If I can find the link, will post it